It’s that time of the year again where people begin to reflect rationally on the year that was, what went right, what went wrong and making resolutions for the new year where the possibilities are once again endless.
In other words, it’s Trade Season in the NBA once again with Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics shipping off “the guy he wasn’t trying to trade for the last year and a half” Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks for more young assets (and Jameer Nelson) and draft picks.
Now it’s time for other teams around the Association to follow suit and start making trades.
(Editor’s note: This list is not in order of importance.)
Trade No. 10: The Detroit Pistons trade Greg Monroe, Caron Butler and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Portland Trail Blazers for Meyers Leonard, Dorrell Wright and Thomas Robinson.
Why the Pistons do it: Stan Van Gundy is already struggling out of the game as the czar of the Pistons by failing to move Josh Smith when that option was readily available. SVG, instead, opted to try and mend a frontline that was beyond repair and it will cost the team dearly over the next couple of years (kind of like a poor man’s Bobby Bonilla and the New York Mets contract situation. It’s something basketball fans will joke about for the next decade).
The Pistons are in a good position to get a top-5 selection come June at the NBA Draft, so it’s time to start selling off parts that won’t be their long-term. In this deal, they get a young, high-upside center in Leonard and two expiring contracts in Wright and Robinson to give the team more cap relief next season. You could also throw SVG a second-round pick or two to sweeten the deal a bit for Detroit.
Why the Blazers do it: The Blazers have a top-10 offense and defense and have become serious contenders to make it out of the Western Conference if they can get better in one key area, which happens to be something all contenders need more of — depth.
Portland is starting to get hit with the injury bug and with the team already declining Robinson’s team option, Wright falling out of the rotation and Leonard needing a change of scenery they find a perfect team to flip their unhappy pieces. Monroe probably won’t re-sign with the club, but having him around this season would be huge for the Blazers come playoff time along with the veteran experience of Butler and plugging in KCP while C.J. McCollum is out due to injury and Wesley Matthews’ contract situation.
Trade No. 9: The Charlotte Hornets trade Lance Stephenson, Bismack Biyombo and a second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Garnett and Mason Plumlee.
Why the Hornets do it: The Hornets are 10-23 and, even in the East, are not likely to survive this horrid start and make the playoffs without significant changes to the roster. Here, they get rid of an offseason mistake in Lance and move an undersized big in Biyombo for a veteran who could help lead this team back in the right direction in KG and a young big in Plumlee who’d be the perfect backup for Big Al.
Why the Nets do it: The Nets need to blow it up, but instead of blowing it up for future picks they’ll need to get quality pieces in return for their best trade chips thanks to Billy King errors of the past. Here, they gamble on the Brooklyn Native and at least get another young big to replace Plumlee. Also, because Billy King.
Trade No. 8: The Brooklyn Nets trade Joe Johnson and a future pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and Austin Rivers.
Why the Nets do it: Yes, another Nets trade. The 2014-15 Nets have a lot of guys they need to move and Iso Joe is next on the list. There aren’t going to be many suitors for Johnson’s contract, but the Pellies would probably be one of them with their desire to win now. Nets get a couple of bad contracts in return but it’s worth the gamble to get out from Joe’s contract. Also, because Billy King.
Why the Pelicans do it: Outside of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, Eric Gordon’s contract may be the worst in the NBA at the moment with his injury troubles. (If only the Pellies didn’t match his offer sheet and the former Clipper had the Phoenix Suns’ training staff at his disposal these last couple of years.) Moving Rivers is an addition by subtraction situation and getting out from Evans’ contract is another plus.
Trade No. 7: The Indiana Pacers trade David West to the Charlotte Hornets for Cody Zeller and Gerald Henderson.
Why the Pacers do it: The Pacers are probably not going to make the playoffs this season, David West is 34 years old, and the Hornets could really use more positive, veteran leadership. The Pacers need some offensive upgrades and they get one here with former Hoosier Cody Zeller and a backup wing in Henderson who has fallen out of favor in Charlotte.
Why the Hornets do it: Moving Zeller would sting, but with Vonleh waiting in the D-League it’s a move the Hornets can do and not be in trouble down low in the future. In two moves, the Hornets add West, KG and Plumlee to give the team a nice blend of talent down low for the next couple of years.
Trade No. 6: The Denver Nuggets trade JaVale McGee, Danilo Gallinari and Alonzo Gee to the Golden State Warriors for David Lee, Mo Speights and Brandon Rush.
Why the Nuggets do it: Denver is a team that needs a roster makeover, but it won’t come overnight. Here, they add another big who can score and rebound down low in Lee, but more importantly, find a taker for McGee and Gallinari’s contracts.
Why the Warriors do it: The Warriors have fared pretty nicely without Lee this season, so moving him isn’t a big issue. What is a big issue is the team’s Andrew Bogut injury situation. McGee has injury issues himself but the team is in win now mode and JaVale at least provides the club a little bit of Bogut injury insurance. Gallo is just an added bonus if he can return to form next season.
Trade No. 5: The Los Angeles Lakers trade Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin to the Brooklyn Nets for Deron Williams.
Why the Lakers do it: I’m really starting to feel like this Laker team isn’t going to be bad enough by season’s end to get a top-5 pick. They’ll have cap room next season, Kobe’s not getting any younger and getting Deron for Nash and Lin is more than reasonable. And hey, they could still be really bad with D-Will, so it’s a win-win, right?
Why the Nets do it: The Nets need to keep moving these contracts for players who can play and more cap room in return. This deal checks both of those boxes; Nash’s expiring contract and a quality backup point guard in Lin.
Trade No. 4: The Orlando Magic trade Tobias Harris to the Los Angeles Clippers for Reggie Bullock, C.J. Wilcox and two future first-round picks.
Why the Magic do it: The Orlando Magic are currently in jeopardy of making the playoffs with how bad the Eastern Conference is this season. Harris has been a pleasant surprise in Orlando the last two years, but he’s probably played himself out of the team’s price range next summer. Magic GM Rob Hennigan gets to deal with Doc Rivers the GM, which other opposing GMs must be salivating over these days. Doc would probably have no problem surrendering more first-round picks for a guy like Tobias that could be the final piece in getting the Clippers over the hump in the West.
Why the Clippers do it: Doc Rivers the GM is going about as well as SVG the GM — not very well at all. Still, the Clippers are incredibly close to real title contention and adding Tobias to play the 3 just may vault Los Angeles to serious title contender status in the West. The Clippers need an answer at the small forward position and Harris fits the bill.
Trade No. 3: The Minnesota Timberwolves trade Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jason Richardson, Andrei Kirilenko and two second-round picks.
Why the Wolves do it: The Wolves are awful and the czar of Minnesota, Flip Saunders, has more contracts he needs to move. The two biggest being Kevin Martin and Nik Pekovic. The Sixers have more second-round picks then they probably know what to do with and the Wolves need more picks and cap space to do this rebuild thing the right way. Trading K-Mart and Pek clears more salary and helps the team bottom out even more to get Andrew Wiggins more help over the next couple of years.
Why the Sixers do it: It may seem weird for the Sixers to take on salary with the team in full-tank mode, but this is a rare situation where it’d make sense; Pek and K-Mart wouldn’t move the needle. With Embiid still on the shelf and Noel still very raw, bringing in a big who can only play around 20 minutes a night like Pek – who the club was very interested in when he was a restricted free agent – could be a nice, sneaky addition for the club.
Trade No. 2: The Boston Celtics trade Jeff Green and Gerald Wallace to the Sacramento Kings for Ben McLemore, Derrick Williams and Carl Landry.
Why the Celtics do it: Ainge finally moved Rajon Rondo, but now it’s time to move Jeff Green as well and get Gerald Wallace’s contract off the books. In this deal the C’s give Brad Stevens even more young talent to work with and another quality offensive-minded big in Carl Landry.
Why the Kings do it: Why do the Kings do most of the things they do? The Kings take another chance on an overpriced wing in Green, and a ridiculously overpriced wing in Wallace as well. Sacramento may not have been able to get Rondo from Boston, but I’m sure they’d settle for Green, too.
Trade No. 1: The Phoenix Suns trade Isaiah Thomas, Alex Len and a first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez.
Why the Suns do it: The Suns have too many guards and still need a star down low to get the club to the next level in the West. They were a nice surprise last year, but this year, general manager Ryan McDonough needs to make a splash and does that by acquiring one of the best centers in the League in Lopez. A Bledsoe-Dragic-Lopez core is something you could really build around and invest in.
Why the Nets do it: Brooklyn needs to start getting some picks back and Brook Lopez is their only hope in doing so. Moving him will sting, but with Lionel Hollins running the show Lopez’s days in Brooklyn are probably nearing their end. At least they get a great sixth man and a young center that Hollins could work with to replace him.
God bless Billy King.
