CHICAGO - Here's what best describes today's NBA trading deadline.
Lackluster.
For one condensed season at least, blockbuster did not enter a scene where an ongoing pandemic continues to decimate the league's basketball-related income and souring the appetite for bold moves and wild spending.
The biggest asset that got moved, literally and figuratively, was Nikola Vucevic, a 6-foot-11, 260-pound center who has survived the league's purging of giants on the strength of his mobility and ability to shoot the 3.
Vucevic, a nine-year veteran from USC, has All-Star credentials and is averaging 24 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per. He is only 30 with lots of gas in the tank and mileage on his knees.
While mid-season trades used to be associated with contenders adding a piece or two to make a championship run, the Bulls acquisition of Vucevic is a mere attempt at getting into the postseason.
With a 19-24 record, the Bulls are currently ranked 10th in the Eastern Conference and are qualified to participate in the five-team play-in tournament that will determine the seventh and eighth playoffs seeds
With Vucevic on board, Chicago now has its own version of a Big 3 with Zach Lavine and Lauri Markkanen completing the trio.
This collaboration won't lead to a ring this July, but the arrival of Vucevic reflects the team's commitment to winning. And that is a big deal for a fan base that had ceased going to the United Center on account of years and years of frustration and losing.
While the Bulls did make the playoffs in 2017, they really haven't been relevant since 2015 when their winningest coach since Phil Jackson left, Tom Thibodeau.
They sure are now.
A NUGGET OF GOLD. If this year's No. 1 trade deadline "winners" is measured solely on a team's chances of capturing the title, the Nuggets take the cake.
They just received former Orlando Magic Aaron Gordon, a highly physical, freakishly athletic forward who can help contain LeBron James or Anthony Davis assuming Denver's march to the playoffs goes through the Lakers in L.A.
Gordon, 25. is averaging 14.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season and his presence will allow Nikola Jokic to not have to constantly defend opposing power forwards, a task that has mired him into early foul trouble in the past.
Another power source had just landed on Jamal Murray's lap. And that's not a good thing for the rest of the league.
ANTIQUE SHOW. The Clippers traded one relic for another. They shipped 34-year old Lou Williams to Atlanta for 35-year old Rajon Rondo, who won a championship with the Lakers last year.
Williams was having yet another fine season, shooting 37.8 percent from 3 while coming off the bench scoring 12.1 points an outing.
But the Clippers need a point guard to stabilize their offense late in games and make sure the ball gets in the hands of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Handing the keys to Rondo allows Patrick Beverley to play off the ball and focus more on his specialty - defense.
The boldest in Los Angeles was the one the Lakers did not make.
Well, it wasn't for the lack of will. They neither had the assets nor the flexibility to rearrange a diminished roster that just plummeted to a fourth consecutive defeat which dropped the Lakers to No. 4 in the West with a 28-17 slate.
The Lakers are hoping and praying that LeBron and AD will be nursed back to good health in time for the playoffs.
And when they do, none of these moves we saw today will matter.
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