Realistic Trade Packages to Move Zach LaVine and the NBA's Worst Contracts
The biggest NBA contracts aren't always attached to basketball's brightest stars.
That's the hope, of course, but things don't always go as planned.
Sometimes players don't pan out the way projections pegged them to go; other times, teams feel compelled to overpay someone at risk of losing them for nothing.
For whatever reason, the following four players are attached to some of the Association's very worst contracts. And we're here to hypothetically help their current employers by brokering some blockbuster trade ideas that would take these albatross deals off of their books.
Bradley Beal (3 Years, $161 million)
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San Antonio Spurs receive: Bradley Beal, 2026 second-round pick (via DEN) and two 2031 second-round picks (via DEN and PHO)
Phoenix Suns receive: Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie
Beal's contract, which includes an indefensible no-trade clause, might be the Association's worst. And since the Suns are both short on assets and over the second apron, their options to sweeten a subtraction are limited.
Finding a team that can simply afford Beal at this point is tricky. Finding someone who might actually want him around is even harder.
Might the Spurs be one of the few exceptions, though? They wouldn't be parting with anyone of real consequence to nab a three-time All-Star who once averaged 30-plus points in back-to-back seasons. Moreover, they'd get a clear view of what having a high-end perimeter shot-creator might mean for Victor Wembanyama, potentially helping to shape their long-term blueprint.
They would also plot a path forward without Johnson, who may have slipped out of their plans already last season.
While they were tweaking the team around Wembanyama, they notably reduced Johnson's role (63 starts to 27; 32.7 minutes to 29.5) and really dialed back his offensive opportunities (17.7 field-goal attempts to 12.5). They seem unconvinced that he is a keeper, but they might be open to seeing what kind of noise they could make with Beal over the next few seasons.
The Suns, meanwhile, might pounce on any Beal deal they could find, but they'd be getting more than scraps from San Antonio. Barnes is a solid, three-and-D support piece, Johnson is an ignitable scorer, and Champagnie is building a three-and-D base.
All three could fit Phoenix's wing rotation, or the Suns could flip one or two for depth in other spots.
Jerami Grant (4 Years, $132.4 million)
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Los Angeles Lakers receive: Jerami Grant
Portland Trail Blazers receive: D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Maxwell Lewis and a 2029 first-round pick
Perhaps LeBron James' MVP performance at the Olympics will be a wake-up call for the Lakers. Their sleepy summer feels borderline indefensible with the 39-year-old still hooping at such a high level and still being in such obvious need of an upgraded supporting cast.
This deal would deliver a potential difference-maker—albeit one with a bloated salary—without depleting the team's full asset collection.
Grant probably isn't a 20-point scorer on a good team, but he could be an efficient third or fourth option who increases the club's versatility on defense. In the past, there may have been spacing concerns with slotting him alongside James and Anthony Davis, but he alleviated many of them with a 40-plus percent splash rate on decent volume over the past two seasons.
The 30-year-old isn't quite a third star, but he could star in sort of a souped-up three-and-D role. And who knows, maybe if the Lakers can coax a leap year out of Austin Reaves, they'll already have a third star in-house.
The Blazers would have little use for Russell beyond whatever his expiring $18.7 million salary is worth on the trade market, but they could see keeper potential in a do-it-all stopper like Vanderbilt.
An unprotected future first from a team whose best players are all on the wrong side of 30 holds obvious appeal for a rebuilder, and Portland would have plenty of time to see if it can develop Lewis, the 40th pick of the 2023 draft.
Zach LaVine (3 Years, $138 million)
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Denver Nuggets receive: Zach LaVine and a 2029 first-round pick swap (top-three protected)
Chicago Bulls receive: Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji
The Nuggets have lost a handful of reliable veterans since winning the 2023 title and largely tried to replace them with in-house, proven options.
If young players such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson aren't ready for major role expansions, that will only increase the burden shouldered by Nikola Jokić.
The three-time MVP might appreciate having another shot-maker and shot-creator of LaVine's caliber. As brutal as his contract is, his offensive punch is powerful. Injuries kept him from finding traction this past season, but prior to that he was on a four-year run of averaging 25.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.0 three-pointers while posting a 47.9/39/83.9 shooting slash.
An offense with Jokić, LaVine and Jamal Murray might be unstoppable.
LaVine could also keep the attack moving when Jokić takes a breather, since he's a capable playmaker on the ball and a good enough long-range shooter off it to help spread the floor for the non-spacing Russell Westbrook.
This could be the kind of jolt Denver needs to keep pace in the perpetually improving Western Conference.
Chicago, meanwhile, seemingly doesn't want to sacrifice assets in a LaVine trade, but that's probably the only way to get rid of him and start fresh. Here, at least the cost is only a protected future swap—since Porter's own contract isn't great—and the return is two players who can fit with the franchise's finally adopted youth movement.
Porter is overpaid for a shooting specialist, but 6'10" shot-makers who provide volume and efficiency will forever intrigue. Slotting into an offensive ecosystem with a less defined hierarchy might allow him to tap into the creation skills that had draft analysts so intrigued back in the day.
Nnaji doesn't have much to show for his first four NBA seasons, but he's still a 23-year-old 2020 first-round pick and should be capable of filling a rotation role for a team that isn't facing such extreme win-now pressure as Denver.
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Jordan Poole (3 Years, $95.5 million)
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Los Angeles Clippers receive: Jordan Poole
Washington Wizards receive: Norman Powell and P.J. Tucker
The Clippers seemingly had their reasons for balking at Paul George's initial asking price, but his subtraction puts this squad in a strange spot. The aim should be championship contention since Kawhi Leonard and James Harden are still around, but they can't make major noise on their own.
L.A. doesn't have a ton of assets to use in a trade, though, and it's unclear how wise an all-in move would be given this club's uncertain upside anyway. The Clippers could be open to something like this, though: Buying a previously productive player for pennies on the dollar.
Poole looked disastrously bad in the District, but he was hugely helpful in the Golden State's 2022 title run. As a 22-year-old seeing significant minutes for the first time, he was third on the team in points (18.5) and assists (4.0), and he maintained those rankings in the playoffs, during which he posted a blistering 50.8/39.1/91.5 shooting slash.
"We would not have won a championship in '22 without him," Klay Thompson told The Athletic's Anthony Slater in December.
In the right situation—where he is needed on offense but not solely responsible for an attack's success—Poole can be an impact contributor. The George-less Clippers need that kind of player if they're going to make any kind of run with Leonard and Harden.
Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum can help replace some of George's defense and versatility, but there's still a big scoring forward role for someone like Poole to fill.
As for the Wizards, they might be doing backflips if they could get out of Poole's contract without incentivizing someone to take it off their hands. That happens here, though with the caveat of Washington not collecting anything it will keep.
The hope would be finding an asset or two in a future trade of Powell, a serviceable veteran making reasonable money. The Wizards could try shopping Tucker, too, but he would be an obvious buyout candidate as soon as this trade came across the wire.
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