NBA Daily: Post-Deadline Rankings – Pacific Division

The craziness that was the NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone with multiple deals being made, including some big ones that sort of shook up the landscape of the Eastern Conference. Not only that, but buyout season has arrived as well with teams looking to add pieces for a playoff push.

Here at Basketball Insiders, we started a new series this week highlighting each division in the NBA and how each team stacks up following the trade deadline. We started this week with the Central Division, and we continue with the Pacific Division. The Golden State Warriors are the obvious cream of the crop, followed by a few teams fighting for a playoff berth, and the lottery-bound Phoenix Suns.

Here’s a look at how each team in the Pacific fares after the deadline.

Golden State Warriors (41-15)

Deadline Moves: None

The Warriors didn’t make any moves, either by trade or a buyout signing, and let’s be honest, did they really need to?

The defending champs experienced a little bit of turmoil early in the season, but have since righted the ship. They currently sit atop the standings in the Western Conference. If anything, we could consider the return of DeMarcus Cousins to the lineup as their mid-season acquisition. In his first game back against the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 18, Cousins was aggressive offensively and moved well on defense.

Since then, he’s fit seamlessly into the Warriors starting unit. He provides yet another offensive weapon who can score from anywhere on the floor, and he is a willing passer; one of the best big men in the league at making plays for others. The Warriors have so many offensive options on the court that for the first time in Cousins’ career, teams cannot afford to double-team him.

While teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and even Houston Rockets have hoped to emerge as legitimate threats to a fourth straight finals appearance for the Warriors, it’s going to be a daunting task. As of now, the Warriors should remain the favorites to emerge from the West, as well as win the title. Their lack of moves at the deadline does nothing to change that.

Projected Finish: First Place

Sacramento Kings (30-26)

Deadline Moves: Acquired Harrison Barnes from Mavericks, Alec Burks from Cavaliers, and Caleb Swanigan from Trail Blazers

What a season it’s been for the Sacramento Kings. They currently have the longest playoff drought in the league; it’s been over a decade since they last made the playoffs. This season, they’re looking to change that. It’s been quite a while since Sacramento was heading into the All-Star break with a winning record.

If it wasn’t clear before, the new acquisitions from the Kings left no doubt that playoffs is the goal. Harrison Barnes is a legitimate scorer capable of putting up 20+ points a game. He is another option for budding star De’Aaron Fox to feed the ball to. Alec Burks wasn’t doing much in Utah to start the season, but after the trade to Cleveland, he looked once again like a capable rotation player. He’ll do well to fortify the Kings bench.

Caleb Swanigan is a prospect who hasn’t shown much yet in the NBA. He was among a couple players battling for backup big man minutes for Portland in training camp, but the majority of those minutes have gone to Jake Layman. He probably doesn’t figure much into Sacramento’s plans.

After what has seemed like an eternity, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for the Kings and their fans. All of their futility finally seems to have paid off.

Projected Finish: Second Place

Los Angeles Clippers (31-27)

Deadline Moves: Acquired Wilson Chandler and Landry Shamet from Sixers, Garrett Temple and JaMychal Green from Grizzlies, and Ivica Zubac from Lakers. Waived Marcin Gortat, Milos Teodosic and Michael Beasley

The Los Angeles Clippers had quite a bit of movement at the Trade Deadline. They opted to ship out budding All-Star Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers. Harris was in line for a pretty big raise this summer and by dealing him, the Clippers ensured that they will retain cap space to pursue a marquee free agent this summer.

The return they got from Philadelphia was pretty solid, however, Landry Shamet had emerged as a key rotation guy off the Sixers bench, and he’s already fit in well the Clippers. Wilson Chandler is currently nursing a quad injury and isn’t expected back until after the All-Star break, but once he returns, he gives the team another dependable veteran on the wing.

The Clippers also acquired Mike Muscala from the Sixers, and they were able to flip him to their crosstown rival Lakers for promising young big man Ivica Zubac. Zubac has seen sporadic playing time since entering the league, but this season, in particular, he’s put up some big performances when given the playing time. He’s only 21 years old, and he’ll get plenty of opportunities to develop.

The trade with Memphis, that saw them ship out Avery Bradley, was also a good one. Bradley was in a prolonged slump and Garrett Temple gives them a guy who can do similar things; play defense and knock down the three. JaMychal Green is a tough, blue-collar player who isn’t afraid to do the dirty work.

Although they started out the season strong, the Clippers have faltered somewhat over the past few months. They’re still in contention for a playoff spot though, and the moves they made at the deadline ensure that they’ll still remain competitive this season, while adding some nice young talent and ensuring they’ll have cap space to go after big-time free agents.

Projected Finish: Third Place

Los Angeles Lakers (28-29)

Deadline Moves: Acquired Mike Muscala from Clippers, Reggie Bullock from Pistons

It’s not going out on a limb to say that it was a very disappointing deadline for the Lakers. All the chatter leading up to last Thursday was that by the end of the week, Anthony Davis would be wearing the purple and gold. Instead, different iterations of potential deals leaked throughout the week with the Pelicans seemingly holding out for an impossible asking price.

The aftermath of that seems to be a broken and dispirited team that aside from a thrilling win in Boston, has suffered some humiliating defeats against teams they can’t afford to lose to with a playoff berth on the line. It takes a toll on players mentally when their names are constantly thrown around in trade rumors. The majority of the young guys on the Lakers have never had to deal with that before.

The Lakers did manage to bring in some veteran guys; Mike Muscala and Reggie Bullock are solid veterans that you know what they’ll bring to the table. In theory, they should help for a playoff push, but it remains to be seen how much the deadline rumors affected the rest of the team.

They did make one puzzling move, however, and that was shipping off Ivica Zubac to their crosstown rival Clippers. Zubac hasn’t seen much playing time throughout his short career thus far, but this season, in particular, he really showed some solid potential. If anything, he could’ve been used as a piece in a potential Davis trade over the summer.

Projected Finish: Fourth Place

Phoenix Suns (11-47)

Deadline Moves: Acquired Tyler Johnson from HEAT

The Suns have been one of the top contenders for the worst record in the league since the season began. They’ll be one of the favorites to land the No. 1 pick in the draft this summer. They didn’t stand pat at the deadline, however.

They made a move that actually made some sense. Ryan Anderson hadn’t been doing much for them this season and his contract was a hefty one too. They shipped him off to Miami and brought back Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington. They waived Ellington and allowed him to sign elsewhere, but Johnson is a guy who might help them now.

The Suns have had issues at point guard all season long, and Johnson is a decent stop gap for the rest of the season until they can address it in the offseason.

Projected Finish: Fifth Place

With the deadline now in our rearview, the compelling storyline in the Pacific Division is who will make the playoffs. The Kings, Lakers and Clippers are all fighting for that final spot. It would a massive disappointment if the Lakers, with LeBron James, fail to reach the postseason. And what an epic storyline that would be if the reason the Lakers don’t make the playoffs is because of their one time nemesis, the Sacramento Kings.