Blockbuster Deals That Would Blow Up the NBA Trade Deadline
You can keep your shrewd little NBA deadline trades—the well-reasoned ones that ship marginal players or assets to sensible destinations. They're boring, and we don't care about them.
We want blockbusters. Tectonic plate-shifters. World-altering, axis-tilting exchanges that remake organizational (and even league-wide) landscapes. Think Rasheed Wallace to the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Or Clyde Drexler to the Houston Rockets in 1995. Those directly affected championship runs.
We can't aim quite that high on every engineered deal, but we'll proffer a few that fundamentally change two teams' futures.
Failing that, we'll concoct a couple of exchanges that'd tie the NBA news cycle in knots for days on end.
Put aside practicality for a minute; we're thinking BIG.
Boogie and the King
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Cleveland Cavaliers Get: DeMarcus Cousins
New Orleans Pelicans Get: Kevin Love, 2018 first-round pick (via Brooklyn)
I know we just badmouthed practicality, but there are a couple of caveats necessary before getting into this unlikely but intriguing deal.
First, the Pelicans would need to have some sense that Cousins doesn't plan to re-sign with them this summer. So far, all indications are both parties plan to stick together. Second, the Cavs would need some back-channeled assurances that Cousins intends to stick around post-trade as either a) LeBron James' newest high-profile teammate in 2018-19 and beyond, or b) the new face of a post-James Cavs era.
Lots of contingencies, right?
But imagine the shockwaves this would generate.
Cousins might or might not finally fall in line alongside James, the league's top-grade alpha with more clout than anyone. Wouldn't it be fascinating to watch Cousins (possibly) start giving full effort, quit pouting and reach his true potential if James gets authoritative and convinces him to scrap the nonsense. What does a laser-focused Cousins even look like?
Could he be stopped?
Or would Boogie rightly brush off James' hypocritical chatter about commitment and effort, citing the years-long regular-season tradition in Cleveland of half-assing it until the playoffs?
Would Cousins' presence make the Cavs more likely to let James go without a fight this summer? Would both leave? Would Isaiah Thomas, whom Cousins once derided, have something to say on the matter?
Most importantly, if everything somehow went right, would Cousins help the Cavs physically manhandle everyone in their playoff path and give them a bulk advantage against the smaller, quicker Golden State Warriors?
Whatever success the Cavaliers have enjoyed against Golden State in this rivalry has centered around James' ability to bully them. Another bully might be even more effective.
Admit it, you want to see this deal happen.*
*Not applicable to New Orleans fans who would prefer not to piss off Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis Elevates the Celtics
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Boston Celtics Get: Anthony Davis, Omer Asik
New Orleans Pelicans Get: Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, 2019 first-round pick (via Clippers)
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said last week on The Dan Le Batard Show (h/t Jake Madison of lockedonpelicans.com) that only a "drastic change" in New Orleans would alter Davis' current goal to make things work with the Pelicans.
We just traded Cousins to the Cavs! That drastic enough for you, AD?
So let's say that raises Davis' ire, perhaps to the point that he demands a trade in record time, giving the Boston Celtics a chance to swoop in and make an offer after the Cousins deal and before the deadline. There you go. The conditions are right for a blockbuster.
If you're the Pelicans, you have to be happy with a late-prime All-Star who's done nothing but win in Horford (and someone who adds a positive locker room presence). You also have to be geeked about a star rookie in Tatum and an additional first-rounder.
Well, you're not going to be happy about losing Davis, but this is a lemonade-out-of-lemons situation; it's all about making the best of it.
Meanwhile, the Celtics do whatever they wind up doing this season—which could include reaching the NBA Finals—before adding a recovered Gordon Hayward to a core that now includes Davis, Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown and any other ring-chasing vets who'd like to sign on this summer. If they don't reach the mountaintop with Davis this year, they'll be in prime position to do it in 2018-19 and beyond.
Disrupting a Celtics team as functional as this one sounds scary, but that's kind of the point of this whole exercise. Blowing up the league isn't supposed to make you feel comfortable.
Paul George Heads...South?
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Houston Rockets Get: Paul George
Oklahoma City Thunder Get: Eric Gordon, Tarik Black, 2020 first-round pick, 2022 first-round pick
The Rockets feel pretty good about their odds against the Warriors, but why leave anything to chance?
With all due respect to Luc Mbah a Moute, PJ Tucker and Trevor Ariza, George would give the Rockets a versatile wing defender of an entirely different class—one practically purpose-built to contend with the switchy, like-sized lineups Golden State prefers in postseason play. And one who, critically, could do more than stand around and wait for others to create shots on offense.
If you're the Rockets, you do what you can to slap some loose protections on those future first-rounders, probably cave when OKC demands they be unprotected and gladly collect your third superstar. Oh, and then you get right to the important seed-planting work of saying the words "summer," "max" and "offer" to George's representation.
Pulling this deal off would require the Thunder conclude their 2017 offseason star-gathering can't work, which is a tough sell with OKC running up a 19-8 record and the league's fifth-best net rating since it bottomed out at 8-12 on Nov. 29. But another bump in the road between now and the deadline could resurrect the discord and concern that plagued the Thunder not so long ago.
Marry all that talk of ill-fitting stars with George's ability to leave in free agency and the whispers that Houston is already showing interest in a deal, and maybe you have some reality in which to ground this proposition.
But remember, we're not especially concerned with the practicalities of all these deals. We're trying to blow up the league, so the faintest glimmer of plausibility is all we need. There's been some George-to-Houston smoke over the last few months from ESPN's Zach Lowe and Yahoo Sports' Michael Lee to get us the foundation we need.
DeAndre Jordan and Jabari Parker: The Uncertainty Exchange
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Milwaukee Bucks Get: DeAndre Jordan
Los Angeles Clippers Get: Jabari Parker, John Henson and Malcolm Brogdon
The Bucks have been eying DeAndre Jordan for months but so far haven't come particularly close to getting him. They've been window shopping, basically.
One reason nothing has been consummated: It's hard to put a deal together that makes sense for both sides, each of whom have uniquely complicated situations to consider. Jordan's looming opt-out makes him a risky acquisition, and the Clippers' midseason recovery means they're not just a cellar-bound lottery team looking to sell. DJ could help them hold playoff position—if that's what they want to do.
Meanwhile, the Bucks just fired their coach, might not even need a rim-protector if they move on from Jason Kidd's cockamamie defensive scheme and should be thinking about Giannis Antetokounmpo playing center for the next decade.
The solution is for the Clips and Bucks to swap uncertainties.
Jabari Parker is a talented scorer with lottery pedigree, a twice reconstructed ACL and designs on a max extension. If Antetokounmpo is Milwaukee's center of the future (which may only be the case in my dreams), then Parker makes sense as a scoring power forward...but committing that kind of money to a mostly unproven and injury-dinged player is the kind of thing that derails dynasties before they leave the station.
Why not take on Jordan, see how he feels about opting into the final year of his deal (or betting a bearish center market drives down his re-signing price) and punt on the Parker problem? Henson makes the money work, and Brogdon is a key sweetener. Remember, the Clips could gamble on keeping Jordan, too. A steady point guard on a rookie deal could entice them to pull the trigger.
Who doesn't want to see the Clips feature young, exciting talent for the first time since Blake Griffin was a puppy?
Big picture, L.A. would probably have to look into moving Danilo Gallinari—unless it's into Griffin at center and two tweener forwards alongside him in the frontcourt. And the Bucks could be left scrambling if DJ opts out and bounces.
A trade involving stars and young guys, rife with unknowable fallout and potentially far-reaching ripple-effect moves down the line?
Sounds like we blew that one up nicely.
Philly Gives Up on Fultz
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Phoenix Suns Get: Markelle Fultz, Dario Saric, Amir Johnson, 2018 first-round pick
Philadelphia 76ers Get: Devin Booker, Brandon Knight
If Fultz isn't broken, this is a massive mistake for the Sixers. But the fact that we're not sure about his future in the league at all (let alone his chances at top-overall-pick levels of stardom), means we have to shift the angle of our evaluation.
Here, the Suns assume the enormous risk of Fultz and his mysterious shooting yips, surrendering scoring dynamo Devin Booker in the process. Why would they do this (other than to provide us another incendiary trade to pick apart)?
Partly because Fultz might not be broken. The consensus No. 1 pick is still in there someplace, and a few bizarre months don't necessarily mean he's irredeemable. Plus, there's the addition of Saric, Johnson's expiring money and that 2018 first-rounder. Phoenix owns the league's second-worst net rating with Booker playing extremely well; it's clear the Suns need more talent throughout the roster, and this delivers it.
For the Sixers, Booker represents a cost-controlled replacement for JJ Redick, who's currently injured and who doesn't figure into their long-term plans. Fultz, in theory, is the perfect dual-threat point guard to pair with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. In practice, well...that's just it. He doesn't do anything in practice.
Booker is both young (21) and proven as a scorer (25.0 PPG), and he's made strides as a playmaker. You don't need a conventional guard tandem with Simmons running the offense, so Booker and another like-sized shooter seems like the best look for the Sixers backcourt going forward.
Because of the uncertainty swirling around Fultz, and because the Suns are giving up the best player in the deal (as measured by current ability, if not potential), the Sixers have to take on Brandon Knight's money ($14.6 million next year and $15.6 million in 2019-20).
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference or NBA.com unless otherwise specified. Salary info via Basketball Insiders.
