NBA trending topics: Celtics were sitting pretty, Knicks were not

Boston sits tight at the trade deadline and is praised.

New York stands pat at the trade deadline and is razed.

The Celtics and Knicks were two of last week’s most-rumored teams to be involved in a blockbuster deal. Boston was linked to acquiring Paul George or Jimmy Butler. New York figured to explore moving Carmelo Anthony or Derrick Rose.

Neither happened, but that is fine in Boston, where the Celtics progressed from last season to be the East’s second seed and will be in the same position to pursue George or Butler or another major move this summer. Boston holds an amazing cache of five first-round draft picks over the next three years, including gold nuggets from Brooklyn for the next two drafts (a swap this year and an unprotected Nets pick in 2018).

The only danger for Boston is waiting too long for the next move or youngsters’ development while Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford leave their primes and Avery Bradley exits in 2018 free agency.

New York already found danger with its post-Christmas freefall. Anthony and Rose remain Knicks with either the feeling or the reality of being unwanted stars. As if the Knicks needed any reminder of their chaos, they emerged from the All-Star break to find ostracized Charles Oakley sitting next to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert for their Thursday loss at Cleveland.

“How long would it take for you to get over something?” Oakley told New York reporters.

Enshrine T-Mac

There is consternation about whether the four NBA star players in this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball of Hall of Fame finalist class deserve enshrinement because they lack championships.

This class will not approach last year’s hoop-hall royalty consisting of Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Yao Ming, but Tracy McGrady surely is a worthy first-ballot choice.

McGrady is the only eligible NBA scoring champ who is not in the Hall of Fame. He won it twice (2003 and 2004) during a run of seven consecutive All-Star seasons that was curtailed by back, knee and shoulder injuries.

Chris Webber and Sidney Moncrief are also first-time finalists while Tim Hardaway gets a second crack. The group of 14 finalists also includes NBA player and coach Rudy Tomjanovich and referee Hugh Evans. Finalists must receive 18 votes from a 24-member Honors Committee to be part of the enshrinement class that is announced April 3.

Westbrook charts

Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook already had the third-highest season total of triple-doubles (27) in NBA history by the All-Star break.

If where his production must be for the Thunder feels familiar, this might explain why: Westbrook is on pace to the have highest usage rate and most field-goal attempts of any NBA player since Kobe Bryant’s 2005-06 season.

Westbrook usually has started with Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson, Domantas Sabonis and Steven Adams for this season’s No. 7 West team. In 2005-06 season, Bryant started with Smush Parker, Lamar Odom and some combination of Chris Mihm, Brian Cook and Kwame Brown for that season’s No. 7 West team.

Three spree

The three-point shot has gone from entertainment to essential.

This season, Houston set a NBA record for three-point attempts in a game with 61, which is just 14 fewer than how many Atlanta tried for the entire 1979-80 season.

The San Diego Clippers led the league with 543 three-point attempts in the shot’s inaugural season but Golden State’s Stephen Curry already passed that total for this season.

NBA teams now average 27 three-point attempts per game, which is seven more than four seasons ago.

More ‘Kryptonate’?

The D-League is not just for young dreamers.

It seems like Nate Robinson, 32, has been out of the NBA for a while, but this is actually his first full season of inactivity since 2005. His 2015-16 stay in New Orleans did not survive October, when he was cut after a two-week visit and two scoreless games.

Robinson joined the Delaware 87ers this month with hopes of resurfacing with a NBA team. It is the three-time dunk champ’s first pro action since playing last spring in Israel.

His first comeback try was on social media. After Cleveland’s LeBron James publicly commented that the Cavaliers needed a playmaker, Robinson replied to media Instagram postings with: “Do I gotta put my number on ig @kingjames ???” and “Nate Robinson is available.”

Looking ahead

New Orleans at Oklahoma City, 4 p.m (PST) Sunday. TV: NBA

The Pelicans lost this season’s first three meetings to the Thunder by nine or more points. Here is a Boogie barometer for New Orleans to see if it is progressing with DeMarcus Cousins. The Pelicans will not catch the Thunder in the standings, but they must fare better against teams like this to reach the West’s eight and final playoff spot. To avoid opening the postseason against San Antonio, Oklahoma City wants to take advantage of six games against sub-.500 West teams in its first seven post-break games.

sports@latimes.com