Some general observations on West coast Trades

Was looking at all the teams out West that made moves.  I am sure I have missed a few players changing teams.  Some Celtics fans may be unhappy that we did not do more.  However, the Celtics are the #1 team in the NBA.  None of our starters were  going to be moved.  Grant was the only player among our top 8 core guys that may have been moved.  In the end the Celtics remain the gold standard for  stability.   Teams like Dallas, Phoenix, LAL and LAC all made positional changes that impact their starting  lineups.  Anytime a team does that, the overall team chemistry will be impacted.  Not every player that was traded will be a good fit for his new team.  It takes time for new players and old players to get on the same page. Even for players that do fit into their new teams, the cost of getting them may very well compromise their depth.
 
The big block buster trades that the Mavs and the Suns made with the Nets  were both desperation moves on the part of all 3 teams.

The Nets have come full circle.  They acquired a lot of useful pieces but they did not get one "star" in return for either Irving or Durant.   Idiots like Cedric Maxwell was once again calling for the Celtics to move Jaylen Brown. I will not get any deeper into the Nets current situation except to say they still have one more string to cut.
 
Pairing KI with Luka accomplishes the goal of having 2 excellent allstar players on your team.    Their defense will take a hit because like Luka, Kyrie is not a high quality defender and they will miss Dinwiddie's size and Dorian Finney-Smith's at PF.  They do not have depth at that position.   That team is a poor rebounding team (38.8 per game) so that remains an issue that has not been addressed.

The Suns now have 2 top of the line scorers with Durant joining Booker.  I have no idea who the 5th starter will be.  Chris Paul remains one of the very best distributors of all time but the injury bug at his age (will turn 38 in May) has to be a concern.  The quality depth on this team took a big hit especially with their best defender and quality scorer, Bridges moved and Cam Johnson's 3 and D skills will be missed.  They never found a replacement for Crowder.  They still have a hole or 2 to fill.
 
The Lakers got better by dumping Westbrook and adding Russell.  The 2 big issues with LA are keeping AD healthy and shooting the ball well from the perimeter.  Russell is a good shooter but I still do not see where their additions will make a big upgrade in the team's 33.8%  three point shooting.
 
Denver added Thomas Bryant which improves their center depth but their PG depth behind Murray is lacking.  Bones Hyland was also moved.

The Clippers moved both Reggie Jackson and Wall and they added Bones Hyland.  Going into the trade deadline they needed to improve their PG depth.  They did not do that.  They added Eric Gordon a 34 year old undersized shooting guard and they also added Plumlee.  That was a redundant move because Zubak = Plumblee.  Neither center can stretch the floor and they cannot play them together without clogging up the paint on offense.  Their team resembles a collection of players from a decade gone past because they do not have a big who can stretch the floor from deep.  

Warriors gave up (5) 2nd rounders to get Gary Payton II back.  That has to be a misprint.

5:03 p.m. ET: The Washington Wizards are working on a contract buyout for veteran wing Will Barton, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Also saw a report that Terrence Ross is going to be bought out by Orlando

so who do you like the best Ross or Barton.  Their numbers are very similar but Barton is having a slightly better year rebounding and his assists are higher in fewer MPG..  Ross has more size at 6' 7"  while Barton is 6' 5" Ross is the better defender.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6619/terrence-ross

or Barton

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6579/will-barton