Remaking the Top Of The EC

With 3 of the top 4 teams in the EC making significant trades which team improved the most?

Let's start with the team at the top, the Milwaukee Bucks.  They have been by far the most consistent team in the East and maybe the entire league after  having played all season with no back to back losses.   Do you realize how difficult that is to do?  The Bucks had an easy candidate to trade.  Thon Makers was not getting playing time and asked out.  In comes a 6' 10" sharp shooter in Nikola Mirotic who averages 16.7 PPG and 8.3 rebounds.  He is a modern day stretch 4 and takes 7.2 three point attempts per game and shoots .368%.  The Bucks can now dare you to double team the freak as they have enough knock down shooters to surround him and force the defense to play honest.  The best team in the NBA just addressed their only weakness and are set up for a deep playoff run.  

The Raptors swapped centers, sending 26 year old Jonas Valanciunas to Memphis for 34 year old Marc Gasol.    Gasol can pass and he can also shoot a little from deep.  Jonas has been coming off the bench and then injured his thumb in December but is expected to be back in a few weeks.  I see this move as an upgrade for the Raptors but it is far from a major upgrade as  Jonas has produced a solid 12.8 PPG and 7.2 rebounds.  He shoots .575 from the field and 82% from the line.  Gasol can help stretch the floor and he is a very could passer for a big man, a skill that Jonas has never developed.  The downside is that Gasol has never played in an uptempo offense.  The Memphis teams that he has played for were pretty much low scoring teams because he was too slow.  I do not think that they addressed the biggest weakness on the team.  They really needed another quality guard .  The Raptors will come to a crawl if you start Gasol and either Serge or Siakum have to go to the bench.    I do not like mid-season trades that impact your starting 5.  It is a big gamble.

The Sixers, after tanking for at least 1/2 of a decade are all in.  With the trade for Tobias Harris the Sixers  have the  size and length to match up with any team in the East .  Harris is one of the 2nd tier upcoming free agents that is a proven scorer and rebounder.  The missing piece on this team however is at guard.  They do not have a lock down defender in their backcourt.  Simmons is a decent defensive player but he cannot check smaller guards.  JJ Redick cannot defend a ham sandwich.  It is going to take some time for all of these pieces to fit together.   Top guys on their previous teams like Butler and Harris will not get as many looks.  Embid needs the ball a lot and Simmons job as the main distributor just got harder.  The Sixers however are now a more dangerous team capable of beating anyone.  

Looking at all 3 teams I have come to the conclusion that the Bucks are the ones that best addressed a pressing need and are set up to run this thing out to the end of the season and the playoffs.  They have not done anything to disrupt their rotation.