What a week. Luka to the Lakers, AD to the Mavs, Zach LaVine to the Kings, De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs, and Jimmy Butler to the Warriors. Those players combine for 23 all stars. And they were all traded in only 1 week. The entire league’s power has just shifted. This week has easily been the most important week in NBA history. Teams that were known for one thing are now going to be known for another. Whether it’s the Warriors performance relying on Steph or the Spurs on Wemby, things are just different now. The NBA always has news. There’s always a lot going on. But in no way shape or form did I expect the last week to go like this. I of course already mentioned all of the trades, but along with that, the Super Bowl also happened. If you don’t al;ready know, the Eagles were victorious over the Chiefs with a final score of 22-40. As a huge Eagles fan myself, I am currently overjoyed. Things are going well for my teams across all sports.
Looking at each trade, it’s hard to tell how things are going. Starting with the Luka-AD trade, Luka scored 14 points in his debut with the Lakers. At a glance, this looks like a low number for a player as good as Luka. Even I looked at this number with confusion. But, if you take a slightly deeper look, you will see that Luka only played 14 minutes. The Lakers currently have Luka on a minutes restriction. I suspect that this won’t last very long and that Luka’s numbers will improve drastically in the coming few games. Next, let’s take a look at Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis had what I would describe as the fastest impact in a debut ever. Right away AD’s presence was felt on the court. He scored a total of 26 points. He also set a new record on the Mavs. He became only the 3rd Maverick in the play-by-pay era (from the 1997-98 season on) to score 20+ points, have 10+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in one half. Unfortunately, he was forced to exit the game early with an injury. In the third quarter AD had an off-ball injury. He said that it was an injury to his groin and quad. Luckily, he stated, “It’s nothing serious” in his postgame interview. Although the Mavs gamble is already not looking too good, (read my article about it!) I have a gut feeling that AD has a few strong seasons left in him. Do I think this justifies the trade, no, but I don’t think it will be as horrible as some suspected.
Next up is the De’Aaron Fox trade. De’Aaron Fox, similarly to Anthony Davis, was an instant fit for his new team. In his debut, he scored 24 points, had 5 rebounds, 13 assists, and 3 steals against a (yes I will admit it) struggling 76rs team. This is a very good statline for a first game with a brand new team. In his post game interview, De’Aaron stated“He is different,” when referring to Victor Wembanyama. Fox also said, “He is special. Just the type of defensive attention he receives allows you to do things you don’t normally do.” I believe that the Fox+Wemby combo is going to develop into one feared league wide. As De’Aaron Fox said, Wemby’s offensive pull is different from anyone else in the league. He’s quite literally a threat from everywhere on the court. Whether it’s a lob, a drive, or a step-back 3, you always have to be on your toes when guarding him. Along with that game, Fox just put up 30 points against the Wizards, who are also not doing too well this season. Looking at the other side of this trade, we have to take a look at Zach LaVine. Unlike the players we have talked about so far, Zach LaVine had a down game in his debut for the Kings. In his first game in Sacramento, he recorded only 13 points. The Kings were destroyed by the Magic. The Magic did have an amazing game. They had 104 points across 3 quarters. Looking down the road for Zach LaVine, I think that Zach LaVine might take some time to adapt into the Kings offense, but he will eventually find his fit into their system.
The final big trade of the week is the Jimmy Butler trade. This is the only debut that I watched all of. Jimmy’s presence was instantly felt. I could feel the sigh of relief from Steph’s shoulders after carrying the team for so long. Jimmy Butler fit the Warriors well. The Warriors really are lacking in a man who can drive into the paint and consistently get to the free-throw line. Jimmy fits that role to the tee. He recorded a modest 25 points, but his impact was felt beyond that. Steph was able to play more useful minutes and didn’t have the entire defense hounding him as normal. Jimmy made the defense have to think a lot more. Before him, all you had to do to beat the Warriors was have someone or a few people completely hound Steph around the court. With Steph aging, he can’t play as much and will eventually need a rest. Once Steph is on the bench, then the Warriors opponent would strike and there was virtually nothing that the Warriors could do to stop it. Jimmy completely changes that. Enemy teams now have 2 superstars to guard instead of 1. Looking into the future, I feel that Jimmy will only get better and better for the Warriors.
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