Breaking down the Southeast Division trade deadline deals

There is nothing like the NBA trade deadline. General managers work to improve their franchise, but how did the Southeast Division fair?

This year’s trade deadline was fairly lownt. Teams were reluctant to trade away draft picks because of a loaded class, while pseudo-contenders were reluctant to make a move knowing the difficulty of beating Cleveland and Golden State in the playoffs.

But guess what? The Southeast Division was popping. Well, considerably.

Over the last few weeks five trades were made involving teams from the Southeast. The Atlanta Hawks were especially active, flip-flopping between selling and buying assets…but we’ll talk about that later.

Related Story: Atlantic Division trade deadline breakdown

Ultimately the big move happened a week before the trade deadline, as Orlando traded away former Thunder Buddy Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors. Of any move, this was the one that may have created another true contender alongside Cleveland and Golden State…but we’ll talk about that later.

Instead of beating around the bush, let’s get right to it.