NBA Trade Deadline: Desperate Teams That Will Overpay

Last year the New York Knicks made the biggest trade at the deadline until the New Jersey Nets pulled off a coup of their own in landing Deron Williams.

Now, in retrospect, the question is whether they paid too much to get the players they got. 

There are teams in danger of overpaying this year as well. Some deals would have teams overpaying dramatically, and others marginally, but these are teams in danger of giving up too much or getting too little in return for what they're giving up.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are a team in total disarray. From The Oregonian:

"

It was the Blazers’ eighth loss in the last 12 games and the team — and the season — is starting to feel a whole lot like a sinking ship that can’t stop taking in water. So much so that the Blazers’ always glass-half-full locker room showed a glimpse of acceptance after losing to the Timberwolves for the second time in five nights and dropping to 19-20 in a season that is quickly slipping away. 

“Yeah,” Gerald Wallace said, when asked if it felt like he was aboard a sinking ship. “And it can sink real fast on this road trip. This was one of those must-win games for us ... We’ve got to improve, we got to get better.

“I feel like we’re not doing nothing right. It just seems like everything is going bad for us.” 

"

Here's the thing about sinking ships: People aren't very fond of staying on them. Jamal Crawford has an option on next year's contract and isn't likely to exercise it.

The Trail Blazers are shopping him hard, and it looks like the best they might be able to do is Luke Ridnour. One would hope that the Trail Blazers could do better than that, but they have zero bargaining leverage.

They may be forced into overpaying for Ridnour, who does anything but scream "point guard of the future."

Minnesota Timberwolves

According to FOX Sports Ohio:

"

[T]he scuttlebutt before Tuesday’s game was that the Celtics might be looking to make a deal that involves sending veteran center Jermaine O’Neal to Minnesota and landing young forward Michael Beasley in return.

"

Another rumor from Chris Broussard of ESPN.com:

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The Minnesota Timberwolves offered to trade Michael Beasley to the Los Angeles Lakers for a first-round draft pick, but the Lakers turned them down, according to a league source. While Beasley, a talented and athletic small forward, would fill one of the Lakers' greatest needs, the Lakers rejected the offer because they do not want to add to their luxury tax bill, according to the source. 

"

Michael Beasley comes with some issues, but choosing between a bottom-of-the-barrel first-round pick and a broken-down center who might undergo season-ending surgery? They can do better than that.

The Wolves are looking at being in danger of overpaying for the luxury of unloading Beasley.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors seem to be desperate to make a deal just for the sake of making a deal. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

"

According to league and team sources, the Warriors have had conversations with just about everyone as the March 15 trade deadline approaches:

Atlanta: The Warriors think they could get Joe Johnson but feel he's a more expensive and possibly inferior player to Monta Ellis.

They'd like Josh Smith, but they haven't found the Hawks willing to part with the forward. 

Boston: The Warriors don't see any gains from taking on the expiring contracts of Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett and wouldn't do a Rajon Rondo-for-Stephen Curry deal. 

"

The danger here is the Monta Ellis for Joe Johnson deal. That the Warriors would even discuss trading for an inferior player that costs more money for the mere sake of making a move shows where their mentality is at.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers just lost back-to-back games to Detroit and Washington. They were healthy with the exception of the mask. I mean, the mask doesn't make that much of a difference.

They are on the verge of imploding, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com:

"

[S]ources told ESPNLosAngeles.com this week that there is growing concern among some Lakers players as to whether first-year coach Mike Brown and his staff have the X-and-O wherewithal to fix a Lakers offense that is averaging its lowest per-game point total (94) since before the advent of the 24-second shot clock in 1954-55.

"

With the discontent combined with all the trade talks that have gone on, there's going to be a move borne of desperation—and moves borne of desperation tend to be more expensive than the calm, measured approach.

The Lakers are the most likely team to make a trade before the deadline, but Lakers fans aren't likely to be pleased with it it afterwards.

Houston Rockets

This one is a little lower on the level of possibilities, but if it does happen, the Rockets would be dramatically overpaying. From ESPN.com:

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Houston still wants [Pau] Gasol, and a package of Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry could perhaps get it done. But the Rockets, as much as they like Gasol, do not want to lose Lowry, sources say. With the point guard enjoying a breakout season -- and the Rockets winning as well -- Houston wants to build around Lowry.

"

And build around Lowry they should! Pau Gasol is just owed too much money and is in the last two years of his prime, at best. He's certainly not a "build around" player, because Gasol doesn't have time left to "build" around. He's a player that might (and only might!) help a team that can "win now."

Again, in 2014 however, he's an obstacle with his albatross of a contract. The Rockets need to make sure their desperation for a center doesn't make them do something stupid.

New Jersey Nets

Last year, the New Jersey Nets mortgaged the future to get Deron Williams. The plan was based on them getting Dwight Howard to complement him, and they were banking that Howard, along with the move to the new stadium in Brooklyn, would be enough to entice Williams to stick around.

From the Newark Star-Ledger:

"

Speaking to reporters a day after the Nets announced that center Brook Lopez would miss the next three weeks with a sprained right ankle, Nets general manager Billy King said he still intends to be active at the March 15 trade deadline. Lopez, of course, is the centerpiece of King’s efforts to trade for Orlando’s Dwight Howard. 

"I know the speculation is, ‘What do we do now?'" King said before the Nets, minus Lopez, were blown out by the Miami Heat, 108-78, last night at American Airlines Arena. "But we’ve got a good young center (in Lopez); we’ve got a great point guard (Deron Williams). There’s other things I’ll look to do.

"We have flexibility cap-wise," King continued. "But at the end of the day, I want a healthy Brook Lopez and (don’t want to) worry about making trades at this point in regards of moving Brook Lopez. It’s about trying to add to this team."

"

Translation: King is desperate to make a trade for someone, anyone, to entice Williams to stick around. He's not entirely wrong. Lopez has taken a bit of a beating of late because he's not Howard, but he's still an offensive talent. Plus, they have a an outstanding rookie in MarShon Brooks. They have a lot of pieces.

The question is, how much are they going to pay to try to get that extra piece? They have to be judicious in their decision. If they end up with a net minus in a trade deal, they could be robbing Peter to pay Paul, and Deron might not be there anymore.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are desperate to keep Dwight Howard. The Magic may be too desperate, however, and in a sense may overpay by not trading Howard. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes:

"

It's a dangerous game of chess under way between Dwight Howard and the Magic, with the pieces positioned on the board and a deadline for someone to make the first move. March 15, the NBA trade deadline, is one week away -- and the Magic still don't know if their most prized asset wants to stay or go. 

If they don't have a definitive answer in the next seven days, rival executives believe the Magic will have little choice but to deviate from their stated goal of trying to hang onto Howard and persuade him to either opt in for another year and/or sign a four-year extension on top of that worth approximately $111 million over the next five seasons -- the max Howard can get on the open market. 

"

In other words, the Magic are in serious jeopardy of losing their best player and getting absolutely nothing in return. Sometimes the best trade is the trade that's not made. Not in this case. In this case any trade is better than no trade.

The best the Magic may be able to get is Brook Lopez and parts, but Brook Lopez and parts is better than nothing but a chilly, vacuous void left by the departed Dwight Howard via free agency.