Realistic Trades for Bulls, Warriors and the NBA's Biggest Disappointments
Approximately one-quarter of the 2023-24 NBA season is officially in the books. What we've seen thus far isn't necessarily enough to understand everything. Things can change. Fortunes can turn. The competitive landscape at this state remains etched in pencil, not Sharpie.
Still, this sample of basketball is nothing if not somewhat telltale. More pointedly: We know which teams are currently the biggest disappointments relative to expectations.
Emphasis on relative to expectations.
This will be the principle that guides which teams get placed under the hypothetical-trade microscope. Win-loss records have a say in where we'll journey, but they're not an end-all. If you expected the Washington Wizards or Utah Jazz or Atlanta Emperors of the Middle to be much better than they are right now, well, I honestly don't know what to say. Your optimism is enviable. Or something.
Rebuilding teams are not exempt from this exercise. The manner in—and degree to—which some younger or transitioning squads keep losing is unacceptable. The most egregious offenders will be appear here.
Trades will be proposed from the perspective of each underachieving team. The initiators of these talks will be the first squad listed. To be sure, this is not a precursor to lopsided ideas. It's more so a PSA that not every party mentioned here is a disappointment. Though, in some cases, dual disappointments will populate the deals. I will note as much wherever appropriate.
Now, let's cook up some trades.
Notable Exclusions
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Teams with circumstances muddied by injuries will largely be given a pass. This pertains to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans (on the rise!) more than anyone else. We need to see these groups at full strength before declaring them disappointments.
The Los Angeles Clippers will also be spared. Their record is a bummer knowing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have appeared in every game. But they a) already made their mammoth acquisition in James Harden, b) have started cobbling together some more complete performances and c) own a top-10 net rating despite being under .500.
Many have painted the Milwaukee Bucks as a disappointment overall. Questions surrounding depth and defense persist. I'm more optimistic about performance when their best players are on the floor. We can revisit whether they are have-to-make-a-trade material at a later date.
Finally, I'm not sure what to do with the Toronto Raptors. I didn't expect them to be better than a close-to-but-not-quite-.500 team with a non-threatening offense. But the talent at the top and their steadfast refusal to pivot into a real overhaul suggests they should be more than a fringe play-in candidate.
In the end, they are included here twice, as part of separate deals that would nudge them in vastly different directions, each time alongside a more concrete disappointment. This felt like the correct middle ground. On to the deals!
Memphis Bolsters Decimated Frontcourt Rotation
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Memphis Grizzlies Receive: Andre Drummond
Chicago Bulls Receive: John Konchar, 2026 second-round pick (via Boston, Indiana, L.A. Clippers or Miami), 2030 second-round pick
Valid excuses abound in Memphis. Ja Morant has yet to finish serving his 25-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the league, and the Grizzlies are laboring through an avalanche of other notable absences.
Flirting with the worst record in the Western Conference is still a letdown. This team's depth was supposed to help it tread water while awaiting Morant's return—even without Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke.
Memphis has the assets to take another big swing. But it's tough to go all-in without seeing how (or if) the on-court product normalizes with Morant.
Plugging the Adams-sized hole up front without depleting the team's asset stores is the way to go for now. Drummond does that in ways Bismack Biyombo and Xavier Tillman Sr. do not. He brings more size and heft, much to the delight of Jaren Jackson Jr.'s defensive workload, and is an offensive-rebounding dynamo.
Drummond is boarding over 20 percent of Chicago's misses at the moment—a career high. The Grizzlies will have to stomach more freelancing in the post and hair-pulling decisions from him than they do with Adams or any other big on the roster, but he's worth the trouble relative to current alternatives. And getting his Early Bird rights is good insurance against Adams and Tillman hitting the open market this summer.
The Bulls might flinch at taking on Konchar, who begins a three-year, $18.5 million extension next season. But he can bump up their three-point volume if head coach Billy Donovan plays him. More critically, they appear headed toward a wholesale dissolution this season or over the summer. Capitalizing on Drummond's play so far before he hits free agency would be good asset management—for a change.
Chicago Finally Pivots
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Chicago Bulls Receive: Precious Achiuwa, Chris Boucher, Gradey Dick, Gary Trent Jr., 2026 first-round pick (top-eight protection; turns into two seconds if not conveyed), 2028 first-round pick (top-eight protection; turns into two seconds if not conveyed)
Toronto Raptors Receive: Zach LaVine, Terry Taylor
Neither the Bulls nor LaVine seems like they want their relationship to last any longer. Let's go ahead and break them up.
Exiting any trade with two firsts, a recent lottery pick and a smattering of short-term contracts is a win for the Bulls at this point. LaVine has not set the world on fire with his play or demeanor, and the balance of his contract (three years, $138 million; 2026-27 player option) verges on prohibitive even with the prospect of a rising salary cap.
This return also insulates Chicago against a full teardown. Granted, it should absolutely go the start-over route. But we know better than to presume one. Boucher, Dick and GTJ all help stretch the floor around DeMar DeRozan while beefing up depth across the 2-3-4 slots. The Achiuwa experience is not nearly as tantalizing as it was 18 months ago, but the Bulls can experiment with some frisky, turbocharged frontcourt setups that feature him (or Boucher) at the 5.
Fans of 29 other franchises are waiting for the Raptors to burn it down and, in many cases, trade OG Anunoby or Pascal Siakam to their favorite team. This move elbows the Raptors in a decidedly different direction.
Pay little attention to LaVine's sub-34-percent clip from deep so far. He is one of the most dangerous off-the-bounce three-point shooters in the league—someone who significantly bolsters Toronto's bottom-five half-court offense. His arrival does little to simplify the dynamic between Siakam and Scottie Barnes. But having two ball-handlers like them shifts him more toward a hybrid second-third option role, which profiles as his best use.
Another team may need to be looped in here to help Chicago with its roster-spot crunch. Toronto may also need to line up subsequent moves to increase its wiggle room under the tax. Neither caveat is a deal-breaker.
San Antonio Abandons Jeremy Sochan-at-PG Experiment
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San Antonio Spurs Receive: Tyus Jones
Washington Wizards Receive: Devonte' Graham, Charlotte's 2024 first-rounder (lottery-protected in 2024 and 2025; turns into 2026 and 2027 seconds if not conveyed), Chicago's 2025 second-rounder
Falling under the "rebuilding" umbrella does not excuse the Spurs vomiting out a bottom-five offense and defense. Looking to Jeremy Sochan for primary playmaking was a worthwhile experiment, but we've seen enough to know it isn't the answer. (Aside: Bringing Devin Vassell off the bench remains weird, too.)
San Antonio needn't be in a rush to win more games. But acquiring a true floor general and game manager helps streamline the development of everyone—including Victor Wembanyama, who is far more efficient with Tre Jones on the floor than when he's off, according to PBP Stats.
Inserting Tyus Jones into the rotation (and preferably the starting five) should have an equally stabilizing impact, creating a sturdier offensive dynamic the Spurs can ride for the majority of 48-minute games. Sochan himself even benefits. Having both Joneses lets him work on his off-ball game, and his on-ball reps are more of an asset when deployed as a secondary weapon rather than systemic crutch.
Washington gets to leave this deal touting the acquisition of a first-round pick. Whether it actually conveys is a separate matter. Landing what could be a first-rounder or the equivalent of three seconds that all have a chance to convey in the 30s is a reasonable return for a non-star point guard on an expiring contract.
Golden State Attempts to Climb Out of the Middle
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Golden State Warriors Receive: Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors Receive: Jonathan Kuminga, Chris Paul, 2026 first-round pick (top-five protection; turns into two seconds if not conveyed), 2028 first-round pick (top-eight protection through 2029; turns into two seconds if not conveyed)
Attempting to improve the Warriors via trade is annoying. Their limitations are both functional and emotional.
Golden State's salary-matching tools skew toward massive. The team is better built for a blockbuster than regular-sized deal. At the same time, we can't just shoehorn Draymond Green or Klay Thompson into prospective trades. Head coach Steve Kerr can't even bring himself to meaningfully alter the latter's role. There's little point believing the Warriors might actually move him at the borderline nadir of his value.
Going after Siakam is not a perfect solution. Golden State might prefer flipping Andrew Wiggins and two firsts for OG Anunoby and Otto Porter Jr. But the Raptors are much less likely to do that deal. Anunoby is a cleaner fit than Siakam next to Scottie Barnes, and Wiggins' contract has devolved into a net negative.
Subbing out Wiggins for Anunoby also doesn't make the Warriors much bigger—not even in tandem with Porter. Siakam and Wiggins are both bodies who can rumble with some of the larger and elite perimeter covers. Punting on Kuminga's future will sting, but Golden State isn't giving him the room to develop anyway.
Dealing Paul might actually be the tougher part. He's helped stabilize many of the minutes without Stephen Curry. But the Warriors are winning the possessions they play without both Steph and CP3, and the emergence of Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski coupled with (an eventually healthy) Gary Payton II makes it easier to jettison the Point God.
Siakam also helps navigate non-Steph minutes himself. Golden State's spacing won't be pristine when he plays beside Green or Kevon Looney, but he doesn't shrink the floor any more than either of them do during their tandem stretches.
Toronto doesn't need to flip Siakam if it intends to pay him. The redundancy of he and Scottie Barnes is overblown. But it's also valid. The Raptors haven't built their roster in a way that can accommodate both. Taking a flier on Kuminga will come cheaper through next season, and they can use some combination of him and the inbound draft picks to pursue additional trades.
Paul is basically on an expiring contract; his $30 million salary next season is non-guaranteed. I'd be intrigued to see how a fivesome of CP3, Anunoby, Barnes, Poeltl and either Kuminga or Gary Trent Jr. fares. But Toronto is far from obligated to keep the 38-year-old against his or its own wishes.
Detroit Stops Pretending Everything Is OK
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Detroit Pistons Receive: Gordon Hayward
Charlotte Hornets Receive: Joe Harris, Killian Hayes, 2024 second-round pick (most favorable from Memphis or Washington)
Sources told the Detroit Free Press' Omari Sankofa II that the Pistons are "reluctant to hit the panic button." Makes sense. After all, a 17-game losing streak is nowhere near an 82-game losing streak.
In all seriousness, Detroit doesn't have to sell off all the veterans and some of the kiddies and start completely over. Not yet anyway. It merely needs to construct a more coherent roster and rotation. Bojan Bogdanović's recent return helps the cause. Cade Cunningham was already finding his groove again, and the floor is about to open up even more.
Reeling in Hayward is an extension of #MoreSpacing and allows the Pistons to stop pretending Isaiah Stewart is a stretch 4. His three-point volume and efficiency have dipped, but a fully healthy Detroit squad won't need him to ferry as much on-ball work. He amounts to both another half-court creator and accessory threat. (He's shooting over 37 percent on spot-up triples.)
Shipping out Killian Hayes also diminishes the number of guards head coach Monty Williams can play in front of Jaden Ivey. It's pretty ridiculous we've ended up here, but whatever.
Charlotte closed out November refusing to pull the plug on this season and deal Hayward, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. Delusional stances are fun. But the Hornets will invariably heed their 97th reality check.
Grabbing a flier on Hayes' defense ahead of restricted free agency is a worthwhile investment, and the included second-rounder is guaranteed to land in the early 30s. Harris is currently out with a shoulder issue, and it seems his scintillating-shooter days are behind him. But he comes off the books after this season and is, at worst, break-in-case-of-emergency outside volume when healthy.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass and accurate entering games on Monday, Dec. 4. Salary information via Spotrac.
