Realistic Trades Post-NBA Lottery: Finding Homes for Pascal Siakam and More
The ping-pong balls have spoken.
The 2023 NBA draft lottery is in the books, as the basketball gods granted the San Antonio Spurs the No. 1 pick—and, presumably, the right to select French super-prospect, Victor Wembanyama.
If Wembanyama lives up to his nearly unprecedented hype, this will go down as a night the league never forgets.
The lottery didn't more than settle the Wemby sweepstakes, though. It also may have greased the gears for several landscape-altering trades this season. We're brokering four hypothetical swaps here using picks that were doled out Tuesday.
Mavericks Land Myles Turner
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Dallas Mavericks receive: Myles Turner
Indiana Pacers receive: Dāvis Bertāns, Jaden Hardy and No. 10 pick
Dallas' best-case scenario of leaping into the top four didn't come to fruition, but at least it avoided the disastrous possibility of falling back from No. 10 and owing this selection to the New York Knicks. This pick now gives the Mavericks a legitimate trade chip, and they needed one in the worst kind of way, since they're already worried about Luka Dončić getting a wandering eye.
The No. 10 pick may not do too much for Dončić, but sending it out as part of a package for interior anchor Myles Turner absolutely would. Among the many reasons Dallas disappointed this past season was its tumble from seventh to 25th in defensive efficiency. Turner may not cure all of the Mavs' ills on that end, but the two-time blocks champ would be a tremendous insurance policy on the back line.
On offense, he'd be a potent pick-and-choose partner for Dončić (and Kyrie Irving, if he re-signs). Turner can pop out for threes (37.3 percent this season) or roll and finish at the rim. When the Texas native wouldn't be directly involved in the action, he could spot up and keep the offense properly spaced.
As for the Pacers, it could be a few seasons before this core fully hits its stride, and who knows what level Turner, who turned 27 in March, will be at by then. They could get more mileage, then, out of the lottery pick and 20-year-old scoring guard Jaden Hardy, even if they had to eat the remainder of Dāvis Bertāns' deal to get this done.
Wizards Swing Sign-and-Trade for Fred VanVleet
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Washington Wizards receive: Fred VanVleet (sign-and-trade)
Toronto Raptors receive: Daniel Gafford, Johnny Davis, Isaiah Todd and No. 8 Pick
There are reasons to feel the Wizards should be focused on drafting and developing young talent, but nothing suggests that's their priority. If they actually valued the future, they wouldn't have given Bradley Beal a quarter-billion, and they wouldn't hope to keep Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porziņģis around him.
If Washington hopes to compete for anything with this core, it has to upgrade the point guard position. Going from Monte Morris to Fred VanVleet would be a multi-tier jump. Morris is an offensive caretaker who's best when piloting a bench unit. VanVleet is a certified star on both ends pairing top-shelf shot-creation skills with pesky point-of-attack defense.
VanVleet works both on and off the basketball, which, when coupled with his stingy defense, makes him close to an ideal backcourt partner for Beal. The pair would put tremendous pressure on opposing defenses, who would get stretched awfully thin if they had to also contend with Kuzma and Porziņģis, both of whom netted 21-plus points per game.
The Raptors, meanwhile, could be teetering on the brink of a teardown, as TSN's Josh Lewenburg reported only Scottie Barnes is off-limits in Toronto. Having two lottery picks (this one and the Raptors' own at No. 13) to fuel this transition would be massively helpful. Toronto would also add a couple of lottery tickets in Johnny Davis (No. 10 pick in 2022) and Isaiah Todd (No. 31 in 2021), plus a serviceable 24-year-old center in Daniel Gafford, who would give this club an alternative to paying Jakob Poeltl in free agency.
Magic Accelerate with Zach LaVine
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Orlando Magic receive: Zach LaVine
Chicago Bulls receive: Gary Harris, Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs and No. 11 pick
The Magic might be closer to competitive than their 34-48 record indicated.
After all, that mark was dragged down by an abysmal 5-20 start. That means this team played .500 ball for more than four months (29-28 after that stretch). Paolo Banchero, last year's top pick, and Franz Wagner, No. 8 in 2021, lead a strong group of prospects who might be one veteran addition away from making a major leap.
Why couldn't Zach LaVine be that player? As soon as he enters Orlando, he'd take control of this offense while simultaneously scratching itches for shooting, volume scoring and off-the-dribble creativity. He'd handle the bulk of opposing defenses' attention, which would lighten Banchero's load and perhaps be a big boost to his shooting rates (42.7/29.8/73.8).
Get the right amount of prospect development from the rest of this roster, and the Magic could be making playoff noise next season and, if everything broke just right, perhaps entering at least the fringes of the championship conversation shortly thereafter.
The Bulls keep telling people they aren't blowing it up, and maybe that's true. Then again, that could just be the kind of thing you say when you are about to blow it up and don't want to receive a bunch of buy-low offers. Chicago hasn't looked competitive since Lonzo Ball went down in Jan. 2022. No one knows when (or, gulp, if) his knee will be healed. What's a legitimate reason to think the Bulls can make noise with this group?
It might be best for Chicago to bail this summer before it locks Nikola Vučević into a new deal. This may not be top-dollar for LaVine, but that could be hard to find given his colossally expensive contract and history of knee trouble.
Chicago gets back one of the firsts it traded in the Vučević deal, plus a plug-and-play wing in Gary Harris, 2021's No. 5 pick in Jalen Suggs and a 6'11" wild card in Jonathan Isaac, a defensive dynamo who's basically been healthy once in his six-year career.
Blazers Bet Big on Pascal Siakam
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Portland Trail Blazers receive: Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors receive: Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson and No. 3 pick
If the Blazers are hanging onto Damian Lillard, they almost certainly won't be hanging onto this pick. With his 33rd birthday arriving in July, he can't wait for the franchise to draft and develop a prospect.
"I'm just not interested in that. That's not a secret," he told reporters in April. "I want a chance to go for it. And if the route is to [draft youth], then that's not my route."
This is about as big as the Blazers can go, at least without losing Shaedon Sharpe. Pascal Siakam isn't quite a Tier-1 superstar, but he's a top-30 talent (at least) who's been the second-best player on a championship team before.
He just averaged 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in what maybe wasn't even his best season to date. He was one of five players with a 24/7/5 stat line; Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Giannis Antetokounmmpo and LeBron James were the others.
Get Siakam to Portland, and he could settle in as the second option to Lillard. Both would benefit from having the other to help shoulder the load, and they could even work two-man magic together. If the Blazers can also bring back Jerami Grant, that's an interesting trio with a lot of scoring, athleticism and talent. It isn't a guaranteed contender, but it's good enough for Lillard to think he has a chance.
The Raptors, as previously mentioned, rank among the league's most obvious reset candidates this summer. If they're starting over, the No. 3 pick and Anfernee Simons, a 23-year-old who just averaged 20 points for the first time, can help form a foundation with Scottie Barnes. Toronto would have time to wait and see if at least one of Nassir Little and Keon Johnson could emerge as keepers, too.
Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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