👍👎 NBA Trade Evaluations: Warriors Get 'Big Face' Lift, Lakers Just Get Bigger
Plus we evaluate the Heat, Hornets, Raptors, and Pelicans after their trades
Let’s examine Wednesday’s three big trades — which range from brainy to head-scratching — and evaluate how six teams came out of those moves.
Who got better, who got worse, and who got less than meets the eye?
Trade 1: Butler to Golden State, Wiggins to South Beach
Golden State Warriors get: Jimmy Butler
Miami Heat get: Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, P.J. Tucker, protected first-round pick
(The four-way trade also involved the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz.)
👍 Warriors improve by addition and subtraction
Golden State lost no player of significance in the deal to acquire Big Face Coffee proprietor Jimmy Butler — between Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder, Kyle Anderson, and Lindy Waters, not one of them rates as positive in xRAPM.
Schröder, in fact, was an unmitigated disaster for Golden State. Acquired in mid-December, he recorded a total plus-minus of -130 in his short time there, almost twice as negative as the next-worst Warriors player.
Simply removing Schröder from the lineup will probably get the Warriors back to above .500 ball.
Butler, at least according to my xRAPM numbers, is still a top-15 player in the NBA. When fully motivated — which seems likely, thanks to a new contract extension — he might be even better.
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