Former Kentucky Wildcats headline wild NBA Trade Deadline
If you follow the NBA, then you know that yesterday was just insane when it comes to transactions and trades. A total of 10 trades went down, with three of those trades involving former Kentucky Wildcats.
First up on the transaction slate was Enes Kanter. Reports rolled in at 1:54 pm ET yesterday that a deal was occurring between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder that would land the Jazz center in an OKC uniform. Kanter was apart of a three team deal that sent Thunder guard Reggie Jackson to the Detroit Pistons, and Kendrick Perkins to the Jazz (Utah is rumored to buy out Perkin’s contract), while OKC acquired Kanter along with Kyle Singler and D.J. Augustin from the Pistons. Kanter was drafted in 2011 and has spent all of his time since with Utah. This season Enes has been averaging 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting a not too shabby 49.1 percent in 27.1 minutes per outing.
Kentucky Wildcats
While they never took the court together, Kanter’s Kentucky teammate
also received notice he would need to pack his bags yesterday as he is headed to join former Wildcat
in the Phoenix backcourt. Knight was apart of a separate three team deal that landed him with the suns, with the other major headliners in the trade heading to Milwaukee in
,
, and
. Knight looks to take the two-spot in phoenix alongside Bledsoe, combining what should be a pretty entertaining backcourt for NBA fans. Knight replaces
in the backcourt, who earlier in the day was sent to the Miami Heat. So far this season Knight has averaged 17.8 points and 5.4 assists in 32.5 minutes per game. His new teammate Bledsoe has averaged 17.2 points and 5.9 assists along with 1.7 steals per game. These two Cats could be fun for Phoenix.
Our last Wildcat to move locations will head back to his first destination; Tayshaun Prince is headed to Detroit. Prince spent 11 seasons with the Pistons from 2002 to 2013 until he was sent to Memphis. Now, Prince will return to where he began his career just 2 years later. This isn’t the first move Tayshaun has made this season, he was sent to the Boston Celtics on January 12th, and now just over a month later will be moved again.
Each of these three deals were all broke within a 22 minute span. Insanity was an understatement.
How do you see these former Cats doing with their new teams? Let us know in a comment below or by sending us a tweet on twitter at @BlueGrassDom.