The 2021 NBA Trade Deadline was a rather historic one, for a few reasons. For one, it was the most active deadline day in history, as 17 trades, spanning 23 teams, and including 45 players all set a record for the busiest deadline the league’s ever seen.
That was the busiest trade deadline ever. pic.twitter.com/h1036Ej3Pw
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) March 25, 2021
Those are pretty interesting stats with pretty graphs to show how the league’s trade activity has jumped over time, but I’m here to talk about something far more important. Thursday was the first time in NBA history that every player named Gary in the league got traded. Yes, it was a busy day for the NBA’s three Gary’s, as all of them are headed to new homes. Two were traded in the same deal, as Gary Harris is headed to Orlando in the Aaron Gordon trade that will send Gary Clark to Denver as well. The third NBA Gary, Gary Trent Jr., was shipped out of Portland to Toronto (this season, actually in Tampa) as the key piece in the Norman Powell trade. For any of you looking to “gotcha” this post by mentioning Gary Payton II, he has not played in the NBA this season and as such couldn’t be dealt, but was the DPOY in the G League bubble and could find his way back into the league soon.
I feel confident this is the first time every Gary in the league was traded on the same day, provided there was more than one Gary in the league at the time. All three will have an opportunity to start anew, although some landed in better situations than others. Trent Jr. will get a chance to develop in the Raptors excellent system, should he stick around as a restricted free agent. Clark heads to Denver where minutes may be scarce, but he’ll be on a winner. Harris, meanwhile, goes to a rebuilding Orlando squad, but he very well could be there for a relatively short time, as next year at the deadline, he will likely draw plenty of attention as an elite defensive guard.
