Thursday's NBA trade deadline was an "unbelievable day with twists at every turn and a record number of players moved," according to Matt Moore of CBSSPORTS.com. The transactions made for "constant surprises and Twitter was absolute chaos when the deals started flooding in" at the 3:00pm ET deadline. The action was a "throwback to when the deadline was a thrilling event every year, and really shook up the league" (CBSSPORTS.com, 2/19). NBA.com's Shaun Powell writes the deadline "came and went with the subtlety of a hurricane." There were "enough moving parts landing in different places to reshape a half-dozen teams if not the big picture in the 2014-15 regular season and maybe the playoffs" (NBA.com, 2/20). In Toronto, Bruce Arthur writes it was "difficult to even assess which pieces of furniture had been moved, and where they had gone." He jokes that "approximately eight dozen point guards were exchanged," and the action in the final 90 minutes had even NBA players "tweeting their bewilderment." Around 8% of the league "got traded, which was the most in league history" (TORONTO STAR, 2/20). A record 39 players were traded. The "previous high since 1987 was 29," which was reached twice (USA TODAY, 2/20). NBA TV's Rick Kamla said the "last 15 minutes leading up to the deadline created just a flurry of activity" ("Trade Deadline," NBA TV, 2/19). ESPN's Keith Olbermann said the "extremely active NBA deadline day" saw the flurries turn "into a true storm" ("Olbermann," ESPN2, 2/19). In Phoenix, Andrew Joseph writes Twitter "wasn't ready for the sudden burst of activity with just minutes to go" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/20). Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban appeared on CBS Sports Radio's "The Doug Gottlieb Show" and joked, "I got traded to Seattle and I've been trying to catch my breath and talk to my agent." Cuban: "We're still trying to figure out who gets released, who's getting bought out, who got traded where. It was a crazy day" ("The Doug Gottlieb Show," CBS Sports Radio, 2/19).
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING? ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser noted there was a “lot of movement in the NBA at the trade deadline," but most of it involved "marginal teams and no All-Stars." Kornheiser: "A lot of sound and fury. Did it signify anything?” ESPN’s Michael Wilbon replied, “Mostly nothing.” Kornheiser noted top teams like the Cavaliers, Hawks, Warriors, Clippers, Spurs, Rockets and Bulls “didn’t do anything." He said, "They like what they got. A lot of people moved like rats in a maze. I mean nothing really happened” ("PTI," ESPN, 2/19).
FEELING PRESSURE TO MAKE CHANGES: ESPN’s Tom Penn said one general observation to come out of the trade deadline is there are a "lot of empowered coaches who don’t like their players and made a lot of changes.” Penn said, “When you’re in the front office, you have two times to really make a difference: It’s around the draft and free agency, and it’s right now at the deadline. The pressure to do something is strong.” ESPN’s Marc Stein said, “You must feel real left out if you didn’t make a trade” ("NBA Trade Deadline Special,” ESPN, 2/19).
