NBA Power Rankings: Lakers, Suns, and Mavs rise after big moves at trade deadline

Brooklyn Nets Kevin Durant (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
Brooklyn Nets Kevin Durant (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
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Jakob Poeltl (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)

18. Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves ended up trading D’Angelo Russell and landed the veteran point guard that they were seeking. It remains to be seen if this swap will end up working out for the team but you have to credit the organization for at least rolling the dice on quite a big move at the trade deadline.

The Wolves still have some figuring out to do and need to hope for some better results than they’ve gotten so far from the Rudy Gobert trade.

17. Toronto Raptors

After weeks of speculation that the Toronto Raptors could emerge as a surprise seller at the NBA Trade Deadline, they didn’t do much selling. In fact, they didn’t do any of it. Instead, they were…a buyer?

The lone move that Toronto made at the trade deadline was acquiring Jakob Poeltl from the San Antonio Spurs. They’ll have to figure out what to do with Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby moving forward but at least they have their center?