NBA trade deadline winners and losers: Lakers, Suns make their move
By Ian Levy
Loser: Denver Nuggets
To be fair, the Denver Nuggets are still in pretty good shape. They have the best record in the Western Conference and Nikola Jokic is cruising toward his third-straight MVP with another historic season. They have depth and talent up and down the roster and are absolutely an inner-circle contender.
But they also watched several other Western Conference contenders make significant improvements at the trade deadline. The Suns and Mavericks added stars. The Lakers dramatically remade their supporting cast around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Clippers added depth at key positions and will be looking for more on the buyout market. The Grizzlies added Kennard, addressing a key need.
And the Nuggets … sold Bones Hyland at a rock-bottom price (future second-round picks) and added Thomas Bryant who, while useful, isn’t the additional wing defender they needed and will have his impact capped by playing mostly behind Jokic. The Nuggets may still be the best team in the West. But their competitors got better and they didn’t.