5 NBA Offseason Trades That Can Still Happen
The NBA offseason is winding down, but several teams don't quite seem like finished products yet.
The Los Angeles Lakers' failure to net a third star leaves them looking feeble in an increasingly difficult Western Conference. Their fellow Pacific Division competitors in Golden State might envy that plight, as the Warriors don't even have a second star to support Stephen Curry.
Elsewhere, the Orlando Magic need more shot-creation, the Cleveland Cavaliers haven't quite filled the void at the 3, and the Milwaukee Bucks still have a couple of levers to pull as they try to claw back to inner-circle contention.
Before we officially close the book on the 2024 offseason, let's see if we can cook up some fake trades to round out these rosters.
Zach LaVine to the Lakers
1 of 5
The Trade: Los Angeles Lakers acquire Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls for Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaxson Hayes
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still as good as it gets among NBA duos, and the Lakers can't go into the 2024-25 season without taking a big swing at supporting them with more high-end talent.
You'll notice we didn't say "high-end availability and a demonstrated capacity to drive winning." That's because Zach LaVine, who's been viewed as something pretty close to trade poison over the last year or so, doesn't have those things. What he does have is elite scoring skill, as demonstrated by his pair of All-Star nods and 2022-23 average of 24.8 points on a 48.5/37.5/84.8 shooting split.
Yes, LaVine played just 25 games a year ago due to surgery on his right foot. And yes, the three years and $138 million left on his contract are scary.
But the Lakers aren't giving up any draft equity here, and a healthy LaVine would give them a star-level scorer to bolster an offense that managed a ho-hum 115.5 points per 100 possessions whenever James was off the floor last season.
We know the theoretically rebuilding Bulls aren't against dealing players without getting any draft picks back (see the Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey trade), and Chicago clearly wants out of the LaVine experience. Some have suggested the Bulls would need to include picks to get anyone to take LaVine, so this construction, which has Reaves as the headliner from the Lakers and includes no draft equity going either direction, is more realistic than it might seem.
The Bulls preserve their picks, break up LaVine's big deal into four smaller ones and remove their biggest impediment to a true reconstruction. Meanwhile, the Lakers take a justifiable risk by adding one of the higher-ceiling pieces available, setting up their two superstars for a better shot at contention—all without burning draft assets they can use to swing another deal down the line.
Kawhi Leonard to the Warriors
2 of 5
The Trade: Golden State Warriors acquire Kawhi Leonard from the LA Clippers for Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody, 2028 first-round pick (unprotected), 2030 first-round pick (protected 1-3 and 21-30), 2029 first-round swap
If the Warriors were willing to offer Paul George a four-year, $212 million extension, they should be just as comfortable paying the remaining $150 million on Kawhi Leonard's deal. Maybe even more comfortable, considering the Dubs need to be thinking about additions that maximally move the needle during what remains of Stephen Curry's prime—even if they come with huge risks.
For Golden State to break into the contender class, it needs a legitimate second star to support Curry. Leonard, who played 68 games last season and outpaced Steph in both Estimated Plus/Minus (a rate stat) and Estimated Wins (a cumulative stat), could do much more than that.
Depending on the night, he'd often be the Warriors' best player—whether Curry was in the lineup or not.
The Clippers cited a desire for flexibility in the release explaining why they didn't keep George around on a max contract. Breaking up Leonard's deal into several smaller ones would help further that aim. Wiggins' remaining $85 million looks pretty good compared to Leonard's nearly twice-as-large sum over that same span. Looney and Payton are both expiring, and Moody is a quality rotation player hiding in plain sight.
The picks and swaps Golden State is sending should really entice the Clippers, who don't control their own 2026 or 2028 first-rounders. The price the New York Knicks paid for Mikal Bridges skews the value of draft compensation, but with Leonard's health history, two firsts and a swap might be enough to get it done.
Brandin Podziemski has been off the table all summer, but if LA wanted Jonathan Kuminga (who's eligible for an extension that could net him over $30 million per year), it'd be easy enough to swap him and Trayce Jackson-Davis in for Looney.
Anfernee Simons to the Orlando Magic
3 of 5
The Trade: Orlando Magic acquire Anfernee Simons from the Portland Trail Blazers for Anthony Black, Cole Anthony, 2025 first-round pick (via DEN; top-5-protected through 2027)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was one of the best signings of the 2024 offseason, and he's going to make the Orlando Magic better on both ends. That said, KCP is a finisher. He's not going to address the team's dearth of backcourt shot-creators.
In addition to scoring in bunches and canning 38.6 percent of his career three-point attempts, Simons is also a solid secondary facilitator. The guy he'd replace in Orlando's rotation, Cole Anthony, has seen his assist rate trend down for three straight years, bottoming out at 19.8 percent last year. Simons beat that handily with a career-high 27.6 percent clip in 2023-24.
This should be a no-brainer for the rebuilding Blazers, who, in addition to Anthony, get a future first and a recent lottery pick in Anthony Black. Orlando would surely think hard about moving the 2023 No. 6 pick after just one season, but very little about Black's debut suggested he had the offensive makeup to give the Magic what they need on that end. He posted a nearly invisible 12.1 percent usage rate and ranked in the 8th percentile at his position in assist rate as a rookie, all while turning the ball over a ton.
Defensive upside is easier to see in the 6'7" Black, and the Blazers need that to help out Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.
Orlando owns all of its own future picks, so surrendering the one it has incoming from Denver shouldn't be an issue. As long as the Magic recognize the scoring boost Simons can provide, they'll find giving up on Black an acceptable concession.
Dorian Finney-Smith to the Cavaliers
4 of 5
The Trade: Cleveland Cavaliers acquire Dorian Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets for Georges Niang and four second-round picks (2027, 2028 and 2029 via CLE; 2025 via MIL)
If the Brooklyn Nets could have gotten a first-rounder for Dorian Finney-Smith, they would have done it by now. Here, they settle for DFS's market-dictated value of multiple seconds.
The good news for Brooklyn is that these picks are pushed out into the future, potentially increasing their value. Had we structured this to include second-rounders in 2025, 2026 and 2027, when the Cavs project to be a consistent playoff team, the Nets wouldn't get quite as much upside in the bargain. Who knows what could happen in 2027 and beyond?
Niang is just salary filler here, and the Nets will appreciate that the remaining two years of his deal total $16.7 million, just over half as much as the $30.4 million Finney-Smith has coming his way through 2025-26.
Cleveland's side of this is obvious: It still needs a rangy, defensive-minded combo forward to slot in between the Donovan Mitchell-Darius Garland backcourt and the Evan Mobley-Jarrett Allen frontcourt. Finney-Smith has graded out as a positive defender by D-EPM in every year of his career, rating in the top 20 percent across each of the last four seasons. He's not the shooter Max Strus is, but he'll bring the exact kind of stopping power Cleveland needs from its (potential) fifth closer.
Ayo Dosunmu to the Bucks
5 of 5
The Trade: Milwaukee Bucks acquire Ayo Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls for Pat Connaughton and a 2031 first-round swap
Two key factors should push the Bulls toward gritting their teeth and moving on from Ayo Dosunmu. First, the 24-year-old's market value may never be higher than it is right now. Coming off a career-high 12.2 points per game after seizing a starting role down the stretch of last season, Dosunmu is set to make just $7.0 million this season and $7.5 million in 2025-26 ahead of unrestricted free agency.
That salary is almost definitely too low for the Bulls to convince Dosunmu to extend off it, so it's highly likely he'll hit the market two summers from now. That long-term concern shouldn't apply to the title-chasing Bucks, who are all-in on making their current roster as dangerous as possible.
Secondly, Chicago should relish the chance to short the Bucks' future by getting swap rights in 2031. If things go badly for Milwaukee this season, maybe Giannis Antetokounmpo will finally angle for a way out. It'd be hard to blame him given the age of the supporting cast around him. The Bucks might remain stable contenders for a few more years, but by 2031 they could be losing games left and right amid a full rebuild.
For the Bulls, betting against the 2031 version of a hugely expensive and second-apron-limited Bucks squad is just good business.
Dosunmu would be an upgrade over Pat Connaughton in the rotation, could spell Damian Lillard at the point and brings much more youth and athleticism than anyone else who figures to see the floor regularly in Milwaukee—unless Andre Jackson Jr. forces his way into more playing time.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
.jpg?w=600 "Jameis to Cover World Cup for Fox")
.jpg?w=600 "Most Likely Post-June 1 Trade Candidates 👋")
.jpg?w=600 "Battery Charges Against Arike Dropped")