5 NBA Teams with the Most at Stake Heading Into the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline
When the last few moments before the Feb. 23 trade deadline arrive, every NBA franchise will be working feverishly to optimize its assets. Though many won't make any moves, they'll all be devoting their time and energy to pursuing leads on even the most marginal of upgrades.
Some, however, will be operating under a bit more pressure than others, and it’s those that hold the most interest here.
Maybe the team needs to make a decision about an ever-growing number of assets. Perhaps it needs to figure out how it can best appease a superstar or deal him for the largest possible return. It could need to determine the franchise's direction before it's too late, either giving up on contention in 2016-17 or making a play to keep plodding toward the playoffs.
Tough decisions abound.
Honorable Mentions
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Though the Los Angeles Clippers could hold tight and wait for their injured point guard's return to health, they could also be proactive. Despite their hot start to the 2016-17 campaign, they're not at the same level as the San Antonio Spurs (probably) and Golden State Warriors (definitely), which imperils their inevitable postseason endeavors.
This could be said of many fringe contenders, but the Clippers earn a spot here because free agency drastically increases the stakes. J.J. Redick will hit the open market this summer, while both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul could exercise early-termination options and listen to other suitors' pitches. With that in mind, it's easy to understand how much this season—potentially the last hurrah of the Staples Center's Big Three—demands more success than previous go-rounds.
On the flip side, Los Angeles is relegated to the honorable mentions because it doesn't have much to offer. A package built around Austin Rivers can only get you so much (read: not Carmelo Anthony).
Getting the Jahlil Okafor decision right matters.
If the Philadelphia 76ers do elect to move him—and it's worth noting they could easily hold him on the roster for the remainder of 2016-17—they shouldn't cave and take pennies on the dollar. The big man is, after all, fewer than 20 months removed from being the No. 3 pick in the 2015 NBA draft.
Should the New Orleans Pelicans give them a first-round pick, as ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Marc J. Spears reported they might, they should take the deal. If they (or someone else) don't, they should hold tight.
Okafor can still be salvaged, and teams will realize as much if they do their due diligence during the offseason.
Atlanta Hawks
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The Atlanta Hawks need to find their direction.
Are they legitimate contenders who can take advantage of the Cleveland Cavaliers' recent struggles and finally advance past their playoff nemeses to represent the Eastern Conference in this year's NBA Finals? They've vastly improved since the calendar flipped to 2017 and are on the verge of earning home-court advantage in the postseason's opening round.
Are they still mired in the morass of mediocre teams, in possession of an inflated record that distracts from their inevitable failure against the postseason boogeyman that is LeBron James? For all the offensive and defensive strides this squad has made, it may still lay claim to a limited ceiling that prevents it from dethroning top-tier opponents in a seven-game series.
The Hawks need an answer—fast.
Shipping Kyle Korver to the Cavaliers was an early indication they were ready to give up on the lofty aspirations—why else would they trade a rotation member to their most dangerous conference rival?
But the subsequent refusals to deal Paul Millsap, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, have indicated the front office is moving in a different direction. Atlanta wouldn't be keeping the power forward unless it was keeping hope of playoff contention alive or convinced it could re-sign him in the offseason.
Before Feb. 23, the front office has to decide if it remains convinced of its own abilities. And if it's not, it must work quickly to offload veteran pieces such as Millsap and Thabo Sefolosha for the largest possible returns.
Denver Nuggets
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Nikola Jokic has made the Denver Nuggets competitive, carrying the offense to eye-popping levels and sparking an ascent up the Western Conference standings. Though the Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings could still win the No. 8 seed, it currently resides in the Mile High City.
But that doesn't mean general manager Tim Connelly can sleep easy. He's still dealing with a logjam in the frontcourt, and one of the team's top youngsters, Jusuf Nurkic, is quickly becoming a bit disgruntled with his role.
Here's where we turn to a report from the Denver Post's Mark Kiszla:
"Nurkic tries not to pout, but he's doing a lousy job of faking it. Nurkic opened the season as a starter, predicting he would be a beast, with the bold belief he could lead the NBA in rebounding. Now? Reality bites, as Nurkic sits on the bench, his shattered goals as sad as a lost puppy. When given minutes, instead of busting his tail, Nurkic acts too cool for school, feigning disinterest that prevents him from chasing down a rebound.
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But there's a conundrum: Jokic's play is keeping the 22-year-old center from receiving enough minutes to properly showcase his upside, and the Nuggets won't get enough in return without first boosting Nurkic's appeal with live-action appearances. It's more likely they'll wait until the offseason to make any moves.
Of course, that's not where Connelly's tossing and turning ends. The team has denied, per Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, both that it's shopping Emmanuel Mudiay and that Wilson Chandler wants out, which flies in the face of reports from ESPN.com's Zach Lowe and USA Today's Sam Amick.
Denver is heading in the right direction, but it can't allow dysfunction to fester. And rumors, whether they're substantiated are not, can be difficult to suppress.
New Orleans Pelicans
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General manager Dell Demps seems to be getting desperate in his quest to pair Anthony Davis with a new center.
Jahlil Okafor has made the most headlines since Wojnarowski tweeted about the New Orleans Pelicans and Philadelphia 76ers engaging in trade discussions. But New Orleans has also been linked to Dwight Howard (per ESPN.com's Lowe), Nikola Vucevic (per RealGM's Keith Smith) and Brook Lopez (per Wojnarowski).
Even if the front office doesn't hit on any of its primary targets, it seems intent on making some sort of change. Ignore the fact that Davis has played some of his best basketball at the 5, because that doesn't seem to hinder the Pelicans' pursuits.
As Oleh Kosel explained for the Bird Writes, Davis at the 5 is more a temporary fix than a permanent solution:
"This interesting development—trading an asset to land a center—appears to favor Anthony Davis more than furthering Alvin Gentry's run-and-gun style of attack because it should allow AD to move back to power forward on a more regular basis. Davis has stated on multiple occasions that he views himself as a 4, but for the good of the team, has agreed to man the 5 for the time being.
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Appeasing Davis should be all that matters.
The 23-year-old superstar is the unquestioned franchise centerpiece, and New Orleans can't allow him to travel down a path similar to the one DeMarcus Cousins and the Sacramento Kings have embarked upon. Even if that requires sacrificing assets, it must keep him happy and ensure he wants to stick around the bayou long enough to have a legitimate shot at winning a title.
New York Knicks
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What. A. Mess.
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson responded to an article from Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding with a tweet about being unable to change a leopard's spots—a not-so-thinly veiled shot at Carmelo Anthony. It's the latest escalation of the growing feud between the two prominent New York figures, and it doesn't bode well for the franchise's future. Generally, management should avoid insulting its star players while actively shopping them.
As Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post wrote, "Phil was agreeing with Ding's premise publicly, only perhaps adding to it by saying he never expected Anthony to change in the first place. What a way to run a franchise!"
The Knicks don't have to trade Anthony, and they'll still need to convince him to waive his no-trade clause for any destination. But at this point, it's by no means unreasonable to assume he'd waive it to play for the Guangdong Southern Tigers, just so he could escape the dysfunction that goes hand-in-hand with Madison Square Garden these days. Then again, Wojnarowski is reporting that the opposite is true and that Jackson is fueling Anthony's resolve to prove him wrong and stay in the Big Apple.
Now, Jackson has to decide what he'll do. Can he swallow his pride and mend his relationship with Anthony, who's done nothing but exhibit a desire to play in New York since forcing his way out of Denver? Is he dead set on trading the nine-time All-Star, even if he receives nothing more than Austin Rivers and similarly low-level pieces in return?
The short-term future of this organization depends on the decision, and there are no easy answers.
Toronto Raptors
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The Toronto Raptors are falling apart.
Their placement here isn't a function of desiring a power forward—a spot ripe for an upgrade over the last few seasons. In fact, Toronto doesn't have one glaring need for improvement.
The Raptors are just trending in the wrong direction during a season in which they need to be growing more competitive. When your numbers are moving as seen below, it's time to shake things up:
Sure, the decline is partially due to the absence of DeMar DeRozan, who missed a lengthy stretch of games to let his injured ankle heal. But his absence helped expose a number of distinct weaknesses—most notably that this team struggles to defend at an elite level in any and all situations.
The high-scoring 2-guard has been one of Toronto's weakest perimeter defenders in 2016-17—he ranks No. 92 among 99 shooting guards in ESPN.com's Defensive Real Plus/Minus and has provided more negative defensive value than all but 28 players, per NBA Math—and it's troubling that the team couldn't surge up the rankings without him.
Toronto simply needs help.
It must capitalize on a weak Eastern Conference field before Kyle Lowry potentially hits free agency this summer. If the superstar point guard doesn't see a front office willing to make competitive moves and thinks he can't win a title north of the border, there's a chance he'll turn down his $12 million player option with the intention of pursuing a more lucrative contract in a different location.
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
Unless otherwise indicated, all stats from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com or NBA Math.
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