2023 NBA Trade Deadline: Notes and numbers to know

It was a pretty incredible trade deadline, highlighted by a blockbuster that went down early Thursday morning. And over the last 18 days, only two teams – Cleveland and Chicago – didn’t make a trade. Earlier this week, we looked at numbers and film regarding Kyrie Irving in Dallas. Here are some notes on the players and teams involved in the other deals that went down at (and before) the deadline.

Note 1: There were future draft picks involved in a lot of these trades. For this notebook, we’re just looking at the active players involved, and we’re combining trades when a team has made more than one.

Note 2: All stats are through Wednesday, Feb. 8.

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1. Suns land KD

In: Darius Bazley, Kevin Durant, T.J. Warren

Out: Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Cam Johnson, Dario Saric

Quick take: Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, with Chris Paul setting them up and Deandre Ayton able to take advantage inside? Whoo boy.

SUNS NOTES

• Durant is the only player averaging at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and one block per game.

• Durant has a true shooting percentage of 67.3%, the highest mark of his career. It would also be the highest mark in NBA history for a player averaging at least 28 points per game.

• Durant‘s 57.1% from mid-range would be the best mark on at least 200 mid-range attempts in the 27 years for which we have shot-location data. Warren (27-for-52) is one of the other 11 players who’ve shot better than 50% on at least 50 mid-range attempts. Durant (1.4 mid-range attempts for every 3-point attempt), Warren (1.1) and Deandre Ayton (5.0) are three of the 14 players who’ve taken at least 100 shots from outside the paint with more of those shots coming from mid-range than from 3-point range.

• Durant leads the league in free-throw percentage at 93.4%. Two seasons ago, the Suns had the second-best team mark in NBA history (83.4%), with Chris Paul leading the league at 93.4%.

• Bazley has averaged 1.37 blocks + steals per personal foul (48/35). That’s the sixth-highest ratio among 320 players who’ve played at least 500 minutes.

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2. Lakers add talent

In: Mo Bamba, Malik Beasley, Rui Hachimura, Davon Reed, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt

Out: Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones, Kendrick Nunn, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Russell Westbrook

Quick take: The Lakers desperately needed more playable guys around their two stars, and they got that while sacrificing only one of those two first-round picks that everybody had been talking about for the last several months.

LAKERS NOTES

• Bamba is one of four players who’ve played at least 500 minutes and averaged at least two 3-pointers and two blocks per 36.

• Beasley has taken only 19% of his shots in the paint. That’s the lowest rate among 102 players with at least 500 field goal attempts.

• Beasley ranks seventh in total made 3-pointers (169) and fifth with 118 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. The 35.4% he’s shot on catch-and-shoot 3s ranks 102nd among 166 players who’ve attempted at least 100.

• Beasley has shot 6-for-25 (24.0%) with the score within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. That’s the worst clutch field goal percentage among 82 players with at least 25 attempts.

• Hachimura and Russell have shot 50-for-96 (52.1%) and 68-for-133 (51.1%) from mid-range, respectively. Those are the second and third best marks among 76 players with at least 75 mid-range attempts. Westbrook has the second worst mark (32-for-102, 31.4%).

• Hachimura has shot 34.0% from 3-point range, down from 44.7% last season. That’s the biggest drop among 188 players with at least 100 3-point attempts in each of the last two seasons.

• Russell has an effective field goal percentage of 56.7%, up from 50.2% last season. That’s the 20th biggest jump among 217 players with at least 200 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons.

• Vanderbilt has grabbed 16.4% of available rebounds, a rate that ranks 20th among 290 players who’ve averaged at least 15 minutes per game.

• Opponents have shot 69.4% at the rim when Vanderbilt has been there to protect it. That’s the fourth-worst rim-protection mark among 52 players who’ve defended at least 200 shots at the rim.

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3. Wolves get a steadier hand

In: Mike Conley Jr., Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Out: D’Angelo Russell

Quick take: Russell was flammable, but Conley will give the Wolves more consistency and leadership at point guard.

WOLVES NOTES

• Conley has recorded assists on 40.3% of his possessions, the third-highest rate among 227 players who’ve averaged at least 20 minutes per game. ranks fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 4.46. He’s recorded assists on 17.2% of his drives, the highest rate among 123 players who’ve averaged at least five drives per game. New teammate Kyle Anderson has the eighth-highest rate (14.9%).

• Conley’s usage rate (15.9%) is the lowest of his career.

• Alexander-Walker’s effective field goal percentage of 59.1% is the highest mark of his career by a huge margin.

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4. Nets hit the reset button

In: Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cameron Johnson

Out: Kevin Durant, Kessler Edwards, Kyrie Irving, Markieff Morris, TJ Warren

Quick take: It’s pretty amazing that this team was 17-2 in the last 19 games that Durant played, and ultimately was forced to trade its two most talented players. The Nets got decent returns for both Irving and Durant, but while they have a lot of really good players (and a lot of draft capital), they’re now without a true star.

NETS NOTES

• Bridges leads the league with 58 corner 3-pointers. The 46.4% he’s shot on corner 3s ranks eighth among 44 players with at least 75 attempts. Dinwiddie (43-for-76, 56.6%) has the best mark among that group.

• Bridges has an effective field goal percentage of 52.9%, down from 60.1% last season. That’s the sixth-biggest drop among 217 players with at least 200 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons. Finney-Smith has seen the 12th biggest drop (from 59.5% to 54.0%) among that same group.

• Bridges has traveled 154.2 miles this season, most in the league.

• Dinwiddie has shot 40.5% from 3-point range overall, up from 33.9% last season. That’s the fifth-biggest jump among 95 players with at least 200 3-point attempts in each of the last two seasons.

• Finney-Smith has taken 70.0% of his shots from 3-point range, the highest rate of his career and the seventh-highest rate among 228 players with at least 250 field goal attempts.

• Johnson has shot 43.1% from 3-point range over the last two seasons. That’s the third-best mark among 258 players with at least 200 3-point attempts over the last two seasons. New teammates Seth Curry (42.3%) and Joe Harris (42.1%) have the fourth and sixth-best marks, respectively.

• The Nets now have nine of the 133 players who’ve shot the league average (36.0%) or better on at least 75 3-point attempts this season. That’s two more than any other team has. The nine are Bridges, Curry, Dinwiddie, Harris, Johnson, Patty Mills, Royce O’Neale, Cam Thomas and Yuta Watanabe.

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5. Clippers re-make their bench

In: Eric Gordon, Bones Hyland, Mason Plumlee

Out: Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, John Wall

Quick take: Swapping Kennard for Gordon and taking a chance on Hyland seems to indicate that the Clippers were looking for more off the dribble. They currently rank 21st in drives per game.

CLIPPERS NOTES

• Gordon has an effective field goal percentage of 52.8%, down from 58.5% last season. That’s the ninth-biggest drop among 217 players with at least 200 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons.

• Gordon has grabbed just 3.3% of available rebounds while he’s been on the floor, the lowest rate among 227 players who’ve averaged at least 20 minutes per game. Jackson had the 11th lowest rate (4.3%).

• Hyland accounted for 42.3% of the Nuggets’ 3-point attempts while he was on the floor. That’s the highest rate among 320 players who’ve played at least 500 minutes.

• Hyland has shot 17-for-59 (28.8%) on pull-up 2-pointers, the third-worst mark among 142 players who’ve attempted at least 50.

• Plumlee has taken 96% of his shots in the paint. That’s the eighth-highest rate among 229 players with at least 250 total field goal attempts. His 67.5% shooting in the paint ranks 11th among 141 players with at least 200 paint attempts.

• Plumlee leads the league in clutch offensive rebounds, having grabbed 20 offensive boards with the score within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

• Plumlee has shot 7-for-23 (30%) on clutch free throws, the worst mark among 36 players who’ve attempted at least 20.

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6. Eastern Conference notes

Some other key additions in the Eastern Conference:

Atlanta: Saddiq Bey

Boston: Mike Muscala

Milwaukee: Jae Crowder

New York: Josh Hart

Philadelphia: Jalen McDaniels

Toronto: Jakob Poeltl

• Bey has drawn fouls on 18.2% of his drives, the second-highest rate among 123 players who’ve averaged at least five drives per game.

• Crowder has taken 69.3% of his shots from 3-point range over the last five seasons. That’s the eighth-highest rate among 240 players with at least 1,500 field goal attempts since the start of the 2018-19 season. New teammates Pat Connaughton (67.5%), Joe Ingles (67.3%) and Wesley Matthews (67.1%) have the 10th, 12th and 13th highest rates, respectively. Crowder’s 35.1% from 3-point range ranks 166th among 246 players with at least 500 3-point attempts over those same five seasons.

• Hart has grabbed 12.5% of available rebounds. That’s the best rebounding percentage among 157 players 6-foot-6 and shorter who’ve averaged at least 15 minutes per game. He ranks sixth in offensive rebounding percentage and second in defensive rebounding percentage among that group.

• 29.8% of Hart‘s points have been fast-break points. That’s the second-highest rate among 297 players with at least 200 total points scored. McDaniels has the seventh-highest rate (25.0%)

• Muscala has averaged just 1.12 seconds per touch, fewest among 354 players with at least 500 total touches.

• Poeltl has grabbed 17.5% of available rebounds while he’s been on the floor. That’s the 10th-highest rate among 227 players who’ve averaged at least 20 minutes per game.

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7. Western Conference Notes

Some other key additions in the Western Conference:

Denver: Thomas Bryant

Golden State: Gary Payton II

Memphis: Luke Kennard

New Orleans: Josh Richardson

Portland: Matisse Thybulle

• Bryant has shot 73.1% in the paint, the third-best mark among 141 players with at least 200 paint attempts. New teammate Nikola Jokic has the sixth-best mark (69.8%).

• Opponents have shot 69.9% at the rim when Bryant has been there to protect it. That’s the third-worst rim-protection mark among 52 players who’ve defended at least 200 shots at the rim.

• Kennard has shot 249-for-555 (44.9%) from 3-point range over the last two seasons, the best mark among 258 players with at least 200 3-point attempts since the start of last season. New teammate Desmond Bane has the second-best mark (43.6%).

• Payton averaged 5.2 deflections per 36 minutes last season, second most among 375 players who played at least 500 total minutes.

• Payton shot 168-for-222 (75.7%) in the paint last season. That was the second-best mark among 328 players with at least 100 field goal attempts in the paint.

• Richardson has shot 35.7% from 3-point range, down from 41.5% last season. That’s the sixth biggest drop among 95 players with at least 200 3-point attempts in each of the last two seasons.

• Thybulle has averaged 4.9 deflections per 36 minutes, fifth most among 320 players who’ve played at least 500 minutes.

• Thybulle has a usage rate of 9.1%, the third-lowest mark among 320 players who’ve played at least 500 minutes.

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