If timing is everything, in sports and in life, then it’s worth wondering: Would Masai Ujiri have approached last Thursday’s NBA trade deadline differently if the deadline was still approaching on, say, this coming Thursday, April 1?
One week later, sure, it’s possible everything would happen exactly as it did one week prior. Maybe Norman Powell goes to Portland for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood on April 1, just as it was written on Mar. 25. And maybe Ujiri, seven days later, would arrive at the same decision as he did seven days prior when it comes to the slightly higher-profile matter of Kyle Lowry’s future.