NBA trade deadline winners and losers: Lakers, Suns make their move
By Ian Levy
An unbelievably busy NBA Trade Deadline saw 28 teams make at least one deal. Who came out as the biggest winners and losers of the day?
Twenty-eight teams. Fifty-four players. Eight first-round picks. Forty-four second-round picks. Six current or former NBA All-Stars. The 2023 NBA Trade Deadline certainly delivered activity and excitement.
The power structure of both conferences has been altered and the championship race has gotten a lot tighter. As the dust begins to settle, here’s how I see the biggest winners and losers from the past week.
Loser: Chicago Bulls
All of that trade deadline action and the Chicago Bulls couldn’t get in on any of it. They are currently No. 9 in the Eastern Conference and will almost certainly owe their top-four protected first-round pick to the Magic. They’re not good enough to really make a run, even with the Brooklyn Nets out of the picture, and Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Alex Caruso are all pieces that could have been moved.
It’s fine if the Bulls didn’t want to move ahead with a full-scale rebuild and flip LaVine or DeRozan but Vucevic is an expiring and they’re going to get nothing when he leaves. And even on their bench, there are bits and pieces that could have nabbed them one of those second-round picks or a flyer on a young player like Bones Hyland. To sit and their hands and do nothing is a huge missed opportunity.