NBA Trade Ideas and Free Agency: Offseason Ideas for All 30 Teams
The upcoming offseason in the NBA is about as uncertain an offseason as we have ever seen with the expiring collective bargaining agreement looming heavy and the threat of a lockout if a deal isn't reached.
It could blow over like nothing happened and the owners and players could sign an agreement a few weeks after the end of the season. That seems unlikely at this point, but it is still a possibility.
The way it looks right now is that the CBA will expire and the owners will lock out the players, actual games will be missed and possibly an entire season.
That leaves two things in limboโfree agency acquisitions over the summer and summertime trades.
Nonetheless, we here on the Internet love to speculate about anything that can be speculated about.
So here I have a rumor, idea or just a crazy scenario for each team's offseason movement for the summer, if it does become a possibility.
Atlanta Hawks, Find a New Sixth Man
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The Hawks hit gold last season with Jamal Crawford coming off their bench. He was scoring as much as most starters in the league and won the Sixth Man Award.
This year, however, he has played at nowhere near the level that he played at a season ago.
They may be smart to let him go and try to get back up to his past level somewhere else and have a go at another talented bench man.
Caron Butler is out there and so is Matt Barnes, or they could possibly try to squeeze the last out of Tracy McGrady's career for a small price.
Boston Celtics, Find a Reliable Center
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Right now the Boston Celtics find themselves between a rock and a hard place with the recent re-injury to Shaquille O'Neal.
Shaq recently injured his calf just a few minutes into his return from an Achilles injury.
What the Celtics need more than anything this summer is to find a guy that won't have the possibility of missing large chunks of games during the season.
In some incidents the Celtics could end up bidding against the Heat for a center such as Nazr Mohammed or Jeff Foster.
They could also try to improve their draft standing or make a reach at the spot they are currently at in the draft and pick up an overseas big man with Euro-League experience to try and step in right away.
Charlotte Bobcats, Acquire Draft Picks
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The Bobcats may be in a bit of a playoff race right now, but they will have a major downswing next season unless they somehow acquire a top talent.
Charlotte could take the New Jersey route and throw a huge offer at the Hornets for Chris Paul, a North Carolina native, hope New Orleans decides to accept it and then hope they can convince Paul to stay with the team after that.
The safest route for Charlotte, however, is probably to try to rebuild the traditional way, as they don't have something lucrative like the team's move to New York that New Jersey has to convince Paul to stay.
They should ship out some of their "middle-aged" players and expiring contracts in exchange for some 2012 picks.
Chicago Bulls, Acquire Depth
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The Bulls have a terrific starting lineup, and they are running the team to the top of the Eastern Conference.
After their starting five they basically go to Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer, with Omer Asik grabbing some time as well.
They need something better on their bench if they want to keep improving and have an even better chance at winning a title next season.
Chicago could go out and pursue Jamal Crawford or another top-notch bench player in free agency this season to shore up their bench.
Cleveland Cavaliers, Even More Draft Picks
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The Cavs did a good job at the recent trade deadline of getting another high draft pick for this year's draft, but what they got still will not be enough.
They have a bit of a climb until they will be able to get back to the top of the NBA, so the best thing to do would be to shop around the players that they currently have to try and get younger players and go into phase two of their rebuilding mode.
Ramon Sessions has the highest value he has ever had, teams also seem to have a relatively high value placed upon Anderson Varejao.
Both players, along with a few others would help them grab another few draft picks for the coming years in hopes that they can have the shortest time possible for their rebuilding.
Dallas Mavericks, Keep Their Nucleus Together
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The Mavericks have had an amazing season this year, even with Caron Butler going down halfway through the season due to injury.
Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler and JJ Barea all have contracts expiring this season and each of them have crucial roles with this team.
Dallas needs to keep their team together so they can go out next season and try for an even better record and have another chance at a title.
Denver Nuggets, Spend Now or Save Up
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The Denver Nuggets are making a run that is nothing short of remarkable without the help of their two best players, both of whom were traded during the season.
As a result, Denver finds themselves with a skinny $40 million payroll for next season, with room to either save up to try and lure a big-name free agent to Denver in the 2012 offseason, or try to make their team better now.
They could go the route of going after David West or Zach Randolph to fill the hole that Kenyon Martin's expiring contract will leave.
I believe, however, that with this core of young players they could end up signing one of the big 2012 free agents with the lure of winning right away.
Detroit Pistons, Focus on Young Players
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Detroit needs to get young more than most teams in the NBA.
The Pistons have two guys that should be retired (Ben Wallace and Tracy McGrady), two guys that need a fresh start (Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince) and two guys that got way overpaid a few seasons back (Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva)
Detroit should focus on signing whatever draft picks they sign and try to trade for some more if possible. They should also do their best to go after any young, promising talent they could get.
Golden State Warriors, Find Some Defense
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Golden State is a very exciting offensive juggernaut, unfortunately that offense has only translated to 33 wins this year.
They need to go find a defensive monster to put under their hoop to be the nucleus of their defense to pull together a relatively weak offensive squad otherwise.
They would have something like a fast-paced version of the Orlando Magic, just with a weaker defense.
Going after Samuel Dalembert would be best, as he is still relatively young and long-winded for his size.
Houston Rockets, Grab a Big Man
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The Houston Rockets have a good defense down low for the most part, but they are lacking any kind of height. They have a 6'9" power forward and a 6'6" center starting for them.
Samuel Dalembert would make a nice addition to the club, as would Nazr Mohammed or possibly trying to outbid the Clippers for DeAndre Jordan.
The Rockets would be a playoff team next season if they were to have a starting center with any amount of height and toughness, and as much as I love seeing Chuck Hays play center, a taller man would do a better job.
Indiana Pacers, Find a Nucleus
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I am a fan of this year's Pacers, but they just seem to be lacking an overall direction as a team.
For their part, they have an extremely young team that is able to do a lot of things right, and because of that they are looking to make the playoffs.
A player that would be the focus of their team offensively would be a good grab for the Pacers, unfortunately there are no such players out there.
They could make a reach and go after Greg Oden, hoping he stays healthy, or they could try to trade for some draft picks in the 2012 draft and hope they can find a center for their offense there.
Roy Hibbert should be an expendable part of their offense if they decide to trade some players, as should Danny Granger, as he would have a good price tag and isn't doing much for the future of this team.
Los Angeles Clippers, Keep DeAndre Jordan, Add a Piece
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Right now DeAndre Jordan will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season, and he will be free to entertain offers from other teams. The Clippers should match any offer that is just on the friendly offer of insane.
Additionally, they should go after another good scorer so they can have a much more diverse offense and take their team one step further.
They should go after either Caron Butler or Jamal Crawford and hope for the best with any other smaller free agents they could go after.
Los Angeles Lakers, Strengthen the Bench
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The Lakers have had yet another terrific season, and they can continue to have success just as long as Kobe Bryant stays at a relatively high level.
The best thing they can do to make this last as long as they possibly can is make it so Bryant doesn't play as many minutes in the coming seasons.
He isn't overworked by any extent, but he is going to start wearing down in the coming years, so finding a good couple of scorers to come off the bench would make it so they could keep the Lakers afloat while Kobe is sitting.
They could try to grab Anthony Parker by outbidding the Cavs or trying to snag Delonte West away from the Celtics.
Memphis Grizzlies, Resign and Look for Another Piece
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Two of the Grizzlies' four best players are becoming free agents this summer, Marc Gasol will be restricted and Zach Randolph will be unrestricted, so their biggest priority should be having them re-up for as long as they can keep them.
Aside from that, the Grizzlies need to keep shopping around OJ Mayo, who has become a distraction for this team and is easily expendable.
They nearly pulled the trigger with Indiana for a trade for Mayo at the trade deadline, but they balked at the offer, so they could try to dangle him out in front of the Pacers again.
Miami Heat, Sign/Sign and Trade for a Center
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The biggest hole the Miami Heat have is at center. They have almost no physical presence down low with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Joel Anthony.
The Heat also have very little cap space, and if the cap stiffens a bit with the new CBA it could be hard for them to sign a center unless it is for the league minimum or with a mid-level exception.
There aren't many great centers in this year's free-agent crop, but they could pick up someone along the lines of Jeff Foster or Nazr Mohammed with their MLE.
They could also go along the lines of a sign-and-trade, where they would have to give up some more draft picks (they gave up around 485 picks last summer) and get someone a bit better like Samuel Dalembert or take a chance with Greg Oden (long, long, long shot).
Milwaukee Bucks, Go After Caron Butler
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For some reason it just seems like Caron Butler's game would fit in well with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Butler is a good player, but he isn't a player with a big ego to go along with it, much like many of the other players on the Bucks.
They have hit a lull this year, and with Michael Redd's contract coming off the books, they should try to spend some money this summer.
Butler would give them another scoring option and a reliable guy to start at small forward along with a pretty good defender.
Minnesota Timberwolves, Do Something with Ricky Rubio
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Some people are saying that Ricky Rubio is finally willing to join the Minnesota Timberwolves. Still, others are saying he won't be coming to the NBA until next season, unless he ends up traded.
So, for the sanity of their fans to know they finally got something out of that draft pick they need to finally do something with the guy.
Rubio either needs to be signed so we can see what he can do or they need to trade him before his value starts to drop even more than it already has, so they can get something out of him.
New Jersey Nets, Convince Deron Williams to Stay
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The main thing the Nets need to do this offseason is to convince Deron Williams to sign an extension with the team.
They need to do this by showing that they are committed to winning and will spend money in order to get him some teammates.
Their biggest hole will be at the power forward position where they would be able to get either David West or Zach Randolph.
Either one would give them a good shot at the playoffs next season competing with the relatively weak bottom half of the Eastern Conference.
New Orleans Hornets, Hope, Pray, Spend Money
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Anything needs to be done in New Orleans in order for them to convince Chris Paul to stay with the teamโthe future of the team in New Orleans could be at stake.
They need to either resign David West or go out and get another top-notch player like Zach Randolph or Jamal Crawford in order to show him that they are willing to spend to win with him.
Unfortunately, the NBA now owns the team, so it is hard to say what they may do, they could end up shopping Paul around this summer and even shipping him to another team.
Heck, they might even use the team as leverage during the CBA talks and end up shutting the team down altogether.
New York Knicks, Find a Center
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New York traded away their best future option at center, Timofey Mozgov, in the trade for Carmelo Anthony, so now they are left with Jared Jefferies and Ronnie Turiaf, both good centers, but neither good starting centers.
Nazr Mohammed could be a good option in the short term, as could Spencer Hawes or Jeff Foster, as they would all be able to put up solid minutes and play physical defense for a team that can't play much of any defense.
Oklahoma City Thunder, Focus on Role Players
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Oklahoma City is in a great position. They have a big man and a star player locked up through at least 2015, so all they need to do is build around them.
The Thunder need to go after role players that compliment their team that is slowly creeping toward being completely stacked.
They could offer up some draft picks to the Cavs for Anderson Varejao, who it seems would fit into the team's energy man role like a glove.
Other players they could think about are Josh McRoberts, Matt Barnes, Sasha Vujacic and Carl Landry, all of whom are free agents.
Orlando Magic, Find a Backup Big Man
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The Orlando Magic traded away their stout defender and backup center Marcin Gortat for Jason Richardson back in December, leaving them without a viable insurance policy at center.
As we have seen in many of these slides, centers are few and far between in this free-agent crop, and they are a hot commodity.
Nazr Mohammed, Jeff Foster, Spencer Hawes and, if they wanted to go a bit undersized, Reggie Evans would all be good additions.
Philadelphia 76ers, Acquire Draft Picks
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There is not much the Sixers can do in this offseason to improve their team beyond what it is currently at.
Their biggest need is experience, and to get experience they really just need to play more games. Other than that, their biggest weakness is at center, and there isn't much out there in terms of big men.
So, in order to keep their young core of players together, and possibly add to the crop, they should distinguish between keepers and players who are tradeable.
One of their two point guards could be shipped, as both Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams could be legitimate NBA starters.
Phoenix Suns, Shop Steve Nash
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As much as it is going to hurt, the Suns need to start shopping around Steve Nash.
Nash will soon be either leaving or declining in production, and won't fit into their future plans, leaving him ripe for the picking for any takers.
They should throw his name up to as many teams as possible so they can get as much as they can out of Nash, hopefully grabbing a few draft picks and a young player in return.
Shopping Nash could shorten their rebuilding time.
Portland Trail Blazers, Shop Greg Oden
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As hard as it may be to part with a possible franchise center, the Blazers should think about giving up on Oden and selling while his value is still relatively high.
There are still quite a few teams willing to take a chance with Oden, as it is sometimes too good to pass up on a chance to get a good big man in the NBA.
The idea of trading him to the Pacers for a package including Roy Hibbert has been passed around, as has (in my wildest dreams at least) shipping him to Cleveland.
Sacramento Kings, Do Something with Your Cap Space!
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The Kings are on pace to have a ridiculously low payroll of around $27.5 million next seasonโfor a comparison, Kobe Bryant made $24 million this season. It's easy to tell that the Maloof Brothers are losing money.
While the Kings will probably end up in Anaheim within the next few seasons, they still need to upgrade their roster for the time being.
They could avoid increasing their payroll too much by allowing Samuel Dalembert to walk and signing someone else on the cheap while contemplating trades for some draft picks.
Sacramento could also decide to be the big spenders of the offseason and go after Caron Butler and Jamal Crawford.
San Antonio Spurs, Grab a Piece to Help the Team Hang on
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Every year the Spurs look like they are on the verge of becoming a team whose superstars are becoming too old for them to compete for a title.
Still, they have been among the best teams in the NBA for the past decade, and they don't want to seem to lose their perch.
San Antonio should swoop in and pick up a younger player to come off the bench and not only keep energy up, but score and fit into the system as well.
Mickael Pietrus or possibly Tayshaun Prince could come in and fill that void well, so long as they were able to get them on the cheap, as they will be using most of their money to resign Tony Parker.
Toronto Raptors, Grab Some Young Players or Draft Picks
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There isn't a player that shouldn't be expendable on the Raptors save maybe Andrea Bargnani and possibly DeMar DeRozan.
Toronto should do their best to shop their players around in an attempt to get more draft picks in the coming drafts and some young players to groom now.
They need to be careful with their cap space for the time being and need to save it for when it is most valuable if there does happen to be a change in the soft cap.
Utah Jazz, Decide How to Hang on
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The Jazz are going to be forced this season to answer the question, should they try to cling to some sort of success with all their might, or should they face the music and start a rebuilding effort.
There isn't going to be much out there this offseason to keep them within the playoff hunt for the next few seasons, but there are still a few players they could get.
Caron Butler could be ready to step up and try to play a much bigger role than he has ever played before, or have a run at Jamal Crawford or David West to try and keep them as good as they can for as long as they can.
Washington Wizards, Trade Andray Blatche for Picks, Prospects
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Andray Blatche is a stat-stuffer extraordinaire, and at times he looks like a great basketball player, however, he is a bit off-kilter.
Blatche is a good scorer and can be a great rebounder at times, but he sometimes tries hard for all the wrong reasons, and at times he doesn't try on defense at all.
Right now there are a handful of teams with interest in Blatche (Cleveland shopped for him at the deadline), and they should ship him away while interest is high.
His contract isn't bad, but it's long, so they may have some trouble moving it, but they could use him in a package trade for some prospects or a pick in next year's draft.
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