Of all the trades made, this final one is the one that seems to make the least sense. Or perhaps makes the most.
Ridding ourselves of the Western Conference team, the Suns got a solid player in Brandon Knight, but completed their concession of the season by trading away both Dragic and Thomas. Knight is solid but not nearly as good as those two and the team was slipping anyway.
So to the Eastern teams.
The Bucks acquired the rookie of the year in Carter-Williams, but many do not believe him to be the rookie of the year anyway. Victor Oladipo, arguably, put in a better statistical season. Carter-Williams just had the gaudier numbers and flashier games before the teams fell into tanking obscurity.
Carter-Williams continues to struggle with his jumper but the Bucks saw enough to buy into him. Or had decided they were not willing to match the “market max” that Brandon Knight is sure to get.
The Bucks had a sixth seed all but wrapped up in the Eastern Conference and this move seems to send them in the opposite direction. Carter-Williams does not make the team immediately better. Carter-Williams could anchor a great defense with Giannis Antetokounmpo there, but it is hard to tell right now.
Who knows what they are trying to build.
The Sixers seem to have resigned themselves to another two years of tanking.
TWO YEARS!
Nerlens Noel is still figuring things out as a rookie in the league. Joel Embiid and Dario Saric are on the bench. The last two drafts have pretty much netted the Sixers nothing. Philadelphia is still working from the bottom. It just feels so depressing.