Trade winds quickly escalated into a tornado of activity as two of the leagues premier big men altered their courses, while teams elsewhere around the NBA began working to improve their rosters ahead of this week's deadline.

Trade Deadline Countdown: 4 days

1. Anthony Davis drops the hammer on Pelicans with trade request

Time has officially run out on the New Orleans Pelicans bid to convince All-NBA talent Anthony Davis that the franchise is worthy of his services long-term. The news came via Rich Paul, Davis’ agent, as he informed Pelicans officials that his client would not sign a contract extension with the organization and wished to be traded out of New Orleans. Davis, 25, is enjoying arguably the best season of his young career and is eligible to sign a five-year, $240 million supermax extension this summer.

With Davis strong-arming the Pelicans by publicly announcing his desire to compete elsewhere for a championship, his connection to the Lakers only grows stronger. Los Angeles has been adamant about pairing another star with LeBron James, who just so happens to share the same agent as Davis. The Lakers can now use this window prior to the trade deadline to aggressively pursue Davis while other suitors – namely the Knicks and Celtics – are presently compromised. In the case of the Knicks, though they possess a first round pick projected to be near the top of the draft, it’s exact positioning remains clouded until after the draft lottery. Meanwhile the Celtics are unable to trade for Davis until July 1st due to the Rose Rule, which prohibits teams from trading for two players on a designated rookie extension.

From New Orleans standpoint, it’s imperative that management and ownership execute this franchise-defining trade effectively. As a small market team that could struggle financially if fall into endless draft lottery purgatory, it may be in the franchise’s best interest to receive players that allow them to remain competitive moving forward. The Pelicans will likely hold off on dealing Davis until the summer, when the Celtics – who possess the deepest stash of assets league-wide – would then be entered into the sweepstakes, thus raising the offers from other bidders. Despite their dire circumstances, the Pelicans can still be regarded as winners in the deal if they recoup top draft picks and proven young talent for Davis, while also unloading a bad contract.

2. Mavericks receive Kristaps Porzingis in 7-player blockbuster deal with Knicks

Mavericks Trade Grade: A

In a move that sent shockwaves throughout the league, Dallas was able to find another young European phenom to pair with rookie Luka Doncic by landing 23-year-old Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis. Despite needing to take on both Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr.’s bad contracts – Lee is set to make $12.7 million next season while Hardaway Jr. is owed just north of $37 million over the next two season – this trade should be seen as a tremendous boon for the Mavericks.

This is primarily due to the fact that by only sending out disgruntled young guard Dennis Smith Jr., two large expiring contracts, and two first round picks, they acquired one of the game’s premier young big men. While two first round picks is nothing to scoff at, Dallas intends to be a contender by that time thus likely placing both selections outside of the lottery. What’s more, though the Knicks were eager to escape paying Lee and Hardaway Jr., the Mavericks ownership will gladly pay this price as both will be off their books before Rookie of the Year frontrunner Doncic is in line for a substantial pay raise. Regardless of whether Porzingis continues with his plan to take the qualifying offer and hit free agency next summer – which no player of his caliber has ever done – the potential reward for Dallas in having one of the brightest young duos for years to come far outweighed the risk.

Knicks Trade Grade: B-

For New York, this move is much less about the present as it is about the future. After Porzingis met with the Knicks brass and reportedly expressed his desire to be traded, the organization was able to consummate a trade for him in a matter of minutes, thus implying that they had been quietly shopping him for weeks. Whether or not this is true, it’s clear that New York was fully prepared to offload Porzingis and set their sights on the summer of 2019.

By attaching their two worst valued contracts with their top trade chip in Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks were able to open up enough cap space for two maximum contracts this summer. While this is great in theory, New York better hope they’re successful in attracting one or more of the marque free agents available this summer or else they’re back at rock bottom once again. Aside from the lure of Madison Square Garden, and now Smith Jr. – a player they should’ve drafted in the first place – the Knicks have little infrastructure in place to entice the league’s top talent. Though Porzingis is coming off an ACL injury, not enough was brought back for a player the franchise once saw as a potential cornerstone.  

3. Portland acquires Rodney Hood from Cleveland

Trail Blazers Trade Grade: B-

As Portland remains firmly entrenched in the Western Conference playoff race, bringing in Rodney Hood should serve to bolster their rotation ahead of what they hope is a deep postseason run. After putting up 14.5 points per game in just his sophomore season, Hood, now 26, has seemingly plateaued and no longer looks like the 20 point per game scorer many projected him to be.

Despite Hood’s inherent drawbacks, the move is an effective one for a Blazers team that is in a difficult position in terms of reconfiguring their roster. With a few poor contracts on their cap sheet, bringing in Hood to fill the void when star guards Lillard and McCollum need a rest was one of the best moves they could make. Trading two expiring contracts plus two future second round picks is a worthwhile price to pay in order to keep Hood away from opponents also in high pursuit of his services.

Cavaliers Trade Grade: B+

Of course this is no earth-shattering move for the Cavaliers. Sitting 14th in the Eastern Conference, their focus is on rebuilding after LeBron James left them for dead this past summer. After already shipping out Kyle Korver, George Hill, and Sam Dekker in earlier deals, this move now pushes their draft asset count up to 7 (1 first, 6 seconds).

Both Stauskas and Baldwin will be UFA’s this summer, meaning the real return value for Cleveland lies in the draft picks. With Hood averaging 12.2 points per game on an expiring contract, liquidating him for two future second round picks is a shrewd move. Receiving even a strongly protected first round pick for his services was likely out of the question, so with little else to do other than possibly packaging him in a larger deal, stockpiling additional low-end draft capital for his services should be applauded.

Other news of note:

• January 28: Anthony Davis fined $50,000 for agent’s public trade demand.
• January 29: Restriction on Alec Burks lifted making him trade eligible.
• February 1: Carmelo Anthony waived by Chicago Bulls.
• February 1: Bulls acquire Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot from Thunder.

Weekly Forecast:

• Monday: Bucks vs. Nets
• Tuesday: Raptors vs. 76ers
• Wednesday: Spurs vs. Warriors
• Thursday: Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET), All-Star Game Draft
• Friday: Nuggets vs. 76ers
• Saturday: Thunder vs. Rockets
• Sunday: Heat vs. Warriors