Tag: Eastern Conference

Taking stock of the East playoff picture post-trade deadline

The Boston Celtics saw several East teams make moves at the deadline while they stood pat; how — if at all — did it change the East playoff picture?

While the NBA’s 2020 trade deadline wasn’t the busiest in recent memory, there were some moves that may affect the Boston Celtics playoff picture.

Boston, which stood pat at the deadline, saw several East teams make moves that could conceivably impact playoff seeding and team ceilings.

Several Western conference teams did as well, but we’ll restrict our analysis to the East, seeing as there will only be one team coming out of the West that could collide with the Celtics in the postseason, and if they get that far, midseason trades probably won’t be a major factor for the outcome.

We’ll keep it simple, with a basic framework of each trade East competitors made and whether their aggregate changes made the team better, worse, or to be determined.

That rubric in place, let’s take a look at what the Joneses of the Eastern Conference have been up to.

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Report: Hawks ‘have discussed’ Steven Adams as potential trade target

Per The Athletic, Steven Adams ‘has been discussed’ as a player the Atlanta Hawks could pursue via trade in an effort to help at center.

Thus far things have been fairly quiet on the trade front since the restrictions on free-agents singed over the summer were lifted on December 15.

But that doesn’t mean that discussions haven’t been going on in front offices across the league.

Oklahoma City has made it known that Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari, and Steven Adams are available to be traded. Paul so far hasn’t drawn any interest, but Adams has apparently caught the eye of a team in the East.

Per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk “told season tickets holders the team will have to address the center position in the coming months”. To do that, one of the players Atlanta has its eyes on in Oklahoma City big man, Steven Adams.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Oklahoma City is open to accepting the higher salaries that teams want to move, including long-term deals. The Thunder’s Steven Adams is one of those players who could be dealt before the deadline, and he is someone who has been discussed by the Hawks, according to a source inside the organization.

A trade for Adams would be appealing for the Hawks because Adams is slated to make $27 million before becoming a free agent in 2021, which, as noted by Kirschner “would not impact the Hawks during what could be a loaded free agency class”.

That being said, to give up Adams, Sam Presti would certainly want something significant in return.

Should Atlanta want to move forward in a deal for Adams, Kirschner believes that the player the Hawks would be most likely to part with would be Chandler Parsons, “because the salaries would match.”

Parsons is making $25 million this year and will hit unrestricted free agency this summer.

Atlanta does have a first-round draft pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but don’t get too excited, Kirschner doesn’t think that the Hawks would be willing to part with it unless it got them a bonafide NBA star in return.