It seems like such a long time ago, but I'm between two trades that happened early on in the offseason, and they both involve my pod pal JNR. I talked about the Ja Morant trade with Doug in my GMOY nomination and how well that worked out for the Bucks. I'm not in love with Harker or Zylan Cheatham individually, but I do think that was a good return for Raby...two y/b rookies who have plenty of time to grow or improve, and I think that it was totally a worthwhile move for both of them.
I also liked the Timberwolves/Nets trade, where JNR got OG Anunoby...another rookie who has incredibly high potential (but will need some care in training). I like Anunoby better than Harker or Cheatham, and while Luka was a great player, getting Harvey Daniels, and the Nets 1st (projects to a green potential guy) is a nice return. While Luka's an incredible player, and I really like seeing Ed make an aggressive move like this, Luka didn't have as much of an impact as he could've for the Nets. I would've loved to see the Nets strike a followup deal or somehow have pulled off the Luka trade while keeping Phoenix, who would've been a fantastic defensive and rebounding big to pair alongside Luka.
It's a tough call. I commend Raby for getting a solid, non-slimy deal in both cases...especially with Doug. I think that Quail might have gotten a little more bang for his Bucks because his team was in a better situation to onboard a guy like Morant, but Ed NETted the better player (in a vacuum). Raby also got a stronger return for Doncic, but that's the way it should've been...and I think he definitely maximized the return on Morant to get the best deal possible.
As much as I hate to nominate the Sultan of Slime for yet another award, my vote goes to Bucks/Timberwolves
Bucks send:
Peter Harker
Zylan Cheatham
Timberwolves send:
Ja Morant
It's a clean deal that maximized the return for both teams by swapping players that were efficient fits for each destination team.