The action never seems to seize in basketball and the NBA 2022 offseason was yet another example, especially when it came to trades. Major players swapped squads, greatly improving their new teams as well as their own personal outlooks. Take a look at the top five trades thus far.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks made a terrific run to the Western Conference Finals last season, eventually falling short against the Golden State Warriors<\/a>. Of course, Luka Doncic<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was the star, but he was assisted by\u00a0Jalen Brunson<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>on offense. Brunson left to the New York Knicks<\/a>, so Dallas needed to address scoring.<\/p>\n Christian Wood<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was brought in from the Houston Rockets<\/a>. The Mavericks got him<\/a> for relatively cheap too, sending Houston four rarely used players in Sterling Brown<\/a><\/strong>, Trey Burke<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Marquese Chriss<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Boban Marjanovic<\/a><\/strong> along with the team’s first-round pick.<\/p>\n Wood averaged about 18 points and 10 rebounds per game last season. He scores at all three levels, and his skills will only get maximized with Doncic running the point. Dallas hasn’t had much offensive production from the frontcourt since\u00a0Kristaps Porzingis<\/a><\/strong>, but of course he spent a large portion of his Mavericks career on the sidelines. Bringing in Wood replaces Brunson’s scoring production, but also gives Doncic a different kind of weapon.<\/p>\n The Celtics made the Finals last season, but like the aforementioned Mavericks, fell short against the Warriors<\/a>. This team is capable of a return to the promised land, but needed to address ball handling issues.<\/p>\n Boston swiftly acquired<\/a>\u00a0Malcolm Brogdon<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>from the Indiana Pacers for a relatively cheap price. They sent over\u00a0Daniel Theis<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Aaron Nesmith<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Malik Fitts<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Nik Stauskas<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Juwan Morgan<\/a><\/strong>, and a 2023 first-round pick. Theis saw decent playing time for Boston, but that’s about it.<\/p>\n Brogdon averaged about 19 points, five rebounds, and six assists per game. He’s a fantastic shooter who’s sure to see open looks on this Boston offense. He also sets up his teammates with relative ease, which will mean a better run offense for stars like\u00a0Jayson Tatum<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Jaylen Brown<\/a><\/strong>. Brogdon is also a bigger guard which allows him to play solid defense and provide rebounding.<\/p>\n Marcus Smart<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>still retains starting point guard duties as the reigning<\/a> Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>, but Brogdon adds another dimension to the team’s offense.<\/p>\n The Timberwolves<\/a> are all in. They finally made the playoffs last season and have a promising core of\u00a0Karl-Anthony Towns<\/strong><\/a> and\u00a0Anthony Edwards<\/a><\/strong>. Minnesota knew the Utah Jazz were ready to rebuild, and swung for arguably the best defensive player in the entire NBA.<\/p>\n That, of course, is\u00a0Rudy Gobert<\/a><\/strong>. It definitely didn’t come cheap. Minnesota sent\u00a0Malik Beasley<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Patrick Beverley<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Walker Kessler<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Leandro Bolmaro<\/a><\/strong>, four first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap. It’s safe to say Minnesota is now all in.<\/p>\n Perhaps they overpaid, that can be debated. This move, however, helps Minnesota<\/a> firmly establish themselves as a playoff mainstay. Towns can focus more on offense alongside a budding star in Edwards. Minnesota also made a couple other moves firming up other positions. Gobert will be doing what he does best – protecting the paint at all costs necessary.<\/p>\n The Hawks<\/a> were ready to change things up after a disappointing playoff outing this past season.\u00a0Trae Young<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>remains an All-Star, while the team also had a number of other strong pieces. What was missing, however, was a true backcourt complement to Young who also covers defensive deficiencies.<\/p>\n Atlanta acquired<\/a>\u00a0Dejounte Murray<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>from the San Antonio Spurs. He does all what was mentioned, and then some. Atlanta sent San Antonio\u00a0Danilo Gallinari<\/a><\/strong>, three first-round picks, and a first-round pick swap. It was a somewhat hefty price, but nothing too far reaching for a 26-year-old All-Star.<\/p>\n Murray averaged about 21 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and two steals per game last season. In short, he’s a menace on both ends of the floor. Murray scores with relative ease, but also has a knack for setting up his teammates. The defensive end will be key, as Murray is one of the better backcourt defenders in the entire league.<\/p>\n This move sets up Atlanta to compete with the upper-echelon of Eastern Conference squads.<\/p>\n Cleveland<\/a> is another team that took advantage of Utah’s rebuilding efforts. The Cavaliers already have a fantastic defensive presence, so they targeted a veteran scorer and star. That, of course, is\u00a0Donovan Mitchell<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Like the Gobert trade, the Jazz were looking for a lot. Cleveland sent them<\/a>\u00a0Collin Sexton<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Ochai Agbaji<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Lauri Markkanen<\/a><\/strong>, three first-round picks, and two first-round pick swaps.<\/p>\n Again, that’s expensive. It looks to be worth it, however. Mitchell has been one of the best players in the league for the last couple of seasons and averaged about 26 points, five assists, and four rebounds per game. Also, he’s only 26 years old. Mitchell now joins a strong young core of\u00a0Darius Garland<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Evan Mobley<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Jarrett Allen<\/a><\/strong>. Cleveland is set to be very good for a long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The action never seems to seize in basketball and the NBA 2022 offseason was yet another example, especially when it came to trades. Major players swapped squads, greatly improving their new teams as well as their own personal outlooks. Take a look at the top five trades thus far. NBA 2022 Offseason: Top Five Trades […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2248,"featured_media":48636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,4,1608,5,9,30,21],"tags":[3145,1262,900,609,394],"class_list":["post-48635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-cavaliers","category-mavericks","category-timberwolves","tag-christian-wood","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-malcolm-brogdon","tag-rudy-gobert"],"modified_by":"Michael Love, Associate Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}4. Boston Celtics Cheaply Address a Need<\/h3>\n
3. Minnesota Timberwolves Bet the House<\/h3>\n
2. A Stellar Atlanta Hawks Backcourt<\/h3>\n
1. The Cleveland Cavaliers Are Legit<\/h3>\n