05-21-2024, 01:04 PM
Here’s something I find fascinating: two of the three teams who made significant changes at or just before the trade deadline are still playing.
I have long observed that deadline additions almost never amount to a significantly moved team-ceiling for the rest of that season. The really good ones seem to help much more the FOLLOWING season, after a training camp and much more comfort and continuity for the newly formed team. You can think about all the Mavs’ deadline additions to verify this: Van Exel, Butler/Hayward, Kyrie Irving…etc. And, it’s the same with other teams usually, too.
But THIS YEAR, the Washington addition for the Mavs worked basically from the jump, raising the team’s ceiling IMMEDIATELY, and the Siakim addition for Indiana might have been an even easier/better fit. Both of those teams are in the final four because they made those deals.
Is this just coincidence that both players fit like gloves so easily? Should we glean something about how similarly all teams play these days, as in there’s just less of a learning curve when going to a new team? Is the top level of the league just easier to break into these days than it used to be because of the increased roster turnover?
I have long observed that deadline additions almost never amount to a significantly moved team-ceiling for the rest of that season. The really good ones seem to help much more the FOLLOWING season, after a training camp and much more comfort and continuity for the newly formed team. You can think about all the Mavs’ deadline additions to verify this: Van Exel, Butler/Hayward, Kyrie Irving…etc. And, it’s the same with other teams usually, too.
But THIS YEAR, the Washington addition for the Mavs worked basically from the jump, raising the team’s ceiling IMMEDIATELY, and the Siakim addition for Indiana might have been an even easier/better fit. Both of those teams are in the final four because they made those deals.
Is this just coincidence that both players fit like gloves so easily? Should we glean something about how similarly all teams play these days, as in there’s just less of a learning curve when going to a new team? Is the top level of the league just easier to break into these days than it used to be because of the increased roster turnover?
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