NSL Insider - Premium: Deadline Winners Losers

by gc6, updated on Tuesday, May 11 2021, 08:12 am EST

The NSL trade deadline is officially a wrap and now we’re on to the road for the playoffs. Lots of deals were made and lots of deals wernt and who knows how many people will be bothered reading this now that the "rebuilding" teams have gone in to hibernation until draft time.

In the meantime, the contending NSL teams will continue assessing how they’ve improved themselves and where they still need to improve to have a legit shot at taking home the championship this season. Some teams did a great job, others struggled. Some players are in a better situation and some are left shaking their heads. Here’s a look at some of the winners and losers from the end of trading season.

Winner: Chicago Bulls

Merencio must have a folder of naked photos of numerous GM's, that has to be the only reason he managed to get some of his deals done towards the deadline. Somehow getting rid of Eric Gordon's awful contract is a huge win because he certainly isn't "balling in the NBA right now" as the last time he played a game was 2 months ago, and will probably be out for the rest of the season. He also managed to slash his luxury tax in more than half, to a very manageable 100 point fine, whilst not really losing any talent. So the bulls are primed for a championship run and have their salary under control.

Hot Dog we have a Weiner.

Loser: Dallas

Lots of talking about how he got all his trades done that he had been banging on about for months turned into absolutely nothing. Reminds me of the famous call from Matthew Hasselbeck in the overtime coin toss in the 2003 NFC wild card playoff. "We want the ball, and we're gonna score" only for him to throw a pick 6 and lose the game. So now he is taking Victor Oladipo, Dennis Schroder and Kelly Oubre into unrestricted free agency with no secrets as to which player he wants to keep. Expect dennis and kelly in new team colours next season, so get your gm points ready.

Wait and see: Utah Jazz

well its official, the jazz are now on of the worst teams in the league after the trade deadline, which is exactly what jason wanted. But as everyone knows its a long way back from rock bottom unless everything goes right. He managed to get a couple of first rounders in the kevin love and bojan bogdanovic deals, which are wins but if they arent in the lotto who really cares. The wizards pick certainly wont be , but the Orlando Magic could always have a meltdown next season. The Jazz only really have two players who are definite keepers on their list in Rui and Devin Vassell and a couple of extra first round picks which is why the jazz are a wait and see. And we will be waiting a while, so hopefully jase is in for the long haul.

Winner: New York

Only making one deal at the deadline, but it was a good one. Getting a star forward for a star big man is a win, and ive always been on the side of vooch's stats and impact being overrated in real life and the NSL. He has a lot more options with middleton being able to play positons 1 to 4 and Jo Val is a great player to slide into the vacant centre spot. So the knicks look absolutely stacked is what im trying to say. Smokey also managed to get Deandre Jordan in the deal as a throw in after klemm was rumored to be offering him around in deals like his trade value was that of Michael Jordan.

Loser: LA Lakers

One of the greatest franchises in all of sports history in the NBA, the lakers have been anything but that so far in the their NSL tenure. The lakers have to be on this list purely for the fact they got a trade vetoed by the league admin. Correct me if im wrong but i belive this is the first one ever? which is a shock in itself as the admin are usually quite lenient on trades, for better or worse. I have heard rumours circling about what the trade actually was, and if my sources are correct then yea it was a shocker. But heres to hoping that Justin can turn the lakers franchise around after they have been neglected by the the two previous GM's.

Wait and see: Indiana Pacers

Wasn't really sure what category to put the Pacers in, cause im not sure if i like what they did at the deadline or hate it. So im going to sit on the fence. They bailed out the bulls with Eric Gordon's contract and took on Bledsoe and his money as well, which i didnt like. But then they brought it back by getting in TJ Warren and Bojan Bogdanovic and look to have a really solid team that could cause a few headaches in the off season. So i guess we will have to find out how this grades out as the season rolls on.

Looking forward to seeing what happens for the rest of the season and how the play off picture shapes up now that there wont be too many more surprises, and teams are locked in besides a few play book choices.

	MIL	108
	UTAH	119

	BOS	113
	TOR	120

	ORL	85
	MIL	103

	NY	98
	BOS	108

	GS	94
	MEM	109

NSL Insider - Premium: Deadline Winners Losers

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