For most of Thursday afternoon, It was looking like the NBA trade deadline was going to disappoint. It looked possible that JaVale McGee was going to be the most well-known player to change teams. Then, just minutes before the 3pm EST window to make deals closed, absolute chaos broke out. A record 37 players were traded on Thursday. When the smoke settled, the Phoenix Suns had completely revamped their line-up, a Hall of Famer was set to return to the team that drafted him and the Oklahoma City Thunder finally ended the Kendrick Perkins Era.

It’s not entirely surprising that the Suns and Thunder were apparently scrambling to make deals until what was almost literally the last minute. The two teams were in the same situation: aiming to stay in contention for the eighth seed in the Western Conference while attempting to accommodate players who wanted out. The Suns and Thunder could not stand still and letting the deadline pass really wasn’t an option for either franchise.

Heading into Thursday, reports marked the Suns’ Goran Dragic as the player most likely to be on the move. Just a day earlier, Dragic had publicly said “I don’t trust them anymore” when talking about the Phoenix front office. With no hope of reconciliation, the Suns sent Dragic, along with his brother Zoran, to the Miami Heat in exchange for two first-round picks, Shawne Williams, Danny Granger and Justin Hamilton. The Heat also sent out Norris Cole in the deal, but the Suns flipped him to the New Orleans Pelicans for John Salmons.



The Suns needed to get something back for Dragic despite having little leverage: the entire league was well aware of the player’s lack of interest in re-signing with them. They probably found the ideal trade partner with the Heat, who were desperate for an upgrade at point guard and willing to sacrifice pieces of the future for a deal that makes them a better team now.



It was thought that a Dragic deal would mean that the Suns would keep guard Isaiah Thomas. Instead, they dealt Thomas to the Boston Celtics for Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first-round draft pick. The Celtics also apparently sent Tayshaun Prince to the Detroit Pistons for Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome, in what was clearly the greatest trade of the day when judged solely by players’ names. Sorry Zoran.



That deal made little sense in a vacuum, but the Suns weren’t done making moves. They instead made a deal for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Knight, who had been flourishing underneath head coach Jason Kidd this season. The Suns picked up Knight in a three-team deal that also featured the Philadelphia 76ers. In the transaction, Phoenix sent Miles Plumlee and Tyler Ennis to Milwaukee, who also acquired reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams from the 76ers. Philadelphia are getting nothing but draft picks in return, because that’s what Philadelphia do.



Ok. So maybe the other reason why all of these deals had to be completed so close to the deadline was that it took the teams this much time just to sort things out. With this many moving parts, it’s something of a surprise that no team ended up accidentally trading a player back to itself.

Meanwhile, the Thunder were in a similar situation with Reggie Jackson as the Suns were with Dragic. Jackson, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, reportedly requested to be traded after spending most of the season grumbling about being a bench player. The Thunder obliged, sending Jackson to the Detroit Pistons in yet another three-team deal, this one also involving the Utah Jazz. In the deal, the Thunder received center Enes Kanter, forward Steve Novak from Utah and forward Kyle Singler and guard DJ Augustin from Detroit.

Kanter will replace Kendrick Perkins, no stranger to unexpected deadline deals, in the Thunder lineup, to the delight of a fanbase who had been urging the team to amnesty the offensive liability for years. Perkins is probably the most notable name in the underwhelming package of players and picks that the Jazz are receiving in the deal and he might not even suit up for them. Utah are expected to buy Perkins out, making him a free agent.

If you haven’t gotten all of that, it’s OK. Even players’ family members found it difficult to keep track of it all.

Jerian Grant (@ThatGrant22) Is my brother still on the Sixers?!?!

So, both the Suns and the Thunder dealt away players that they essentially had to move on from while also revamping their rosters for a possible playoff push. It’s not certain whether either team is better off now than they were on Wednesday, but they should be complimented for at least attempting to remain competitive despite having to jettison key players. Still, if the Thunder do eventually overtake the Suns in the chase for the West’s eighth seed, it’s likely that the Dragic deal will be looked on as the turning point.

These complicated mega-deals overshadowed the ones made earlier in the day. The officially rebuilding Denver Nuggets finally gave up on the idea of trying to build a team around the utterly erratic JaVale McGee and sent him to the 76ers, where presumably he will help with the tanking process. Then Denver sent perennial trade rumor target Arron Affalo to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a five-player deal.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings traded Ramon Sessions to the Washington Wizards for the venerable Andre Miller, presumably because if there’s any team desperate for that whole “veteran presence” thing Miller has, it’s the Kings. The Houston Rockets made moves to pick up Pablo Prigioni from the New York Knicks and KJ McDaniels from the very busy 76ers.



Oddly enough, the most famous player on the move on Thursday was part of the deal with the fewest potential postseason implications. The Brooklyn Nets, who are more interested in shedding contracts right now than sneaking into the Eastern Conference playoffs, sent Kevin Garnett to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team with the worst record in the Western Conference.

In a day filled with involved and occasionally convoluted transactions, this trade was refreshingly simple. In the deal the Nets landed Thaddeus Young while the Timberwolves received a chance to have Garnett, the greatest player in franchise history, end his career where it began. It might not be a move that means much in purely basketball terms but the Minnesota front office should be credited for coming up with a way to give fans a reason to actually come to Timberwolves games. That might end up being the most impressive accomplishment of any organization this trade deadline.

