5 NBA Teams in Desperate Need of a Trade
Patience is a virtue in life, but it can be a curse in professional sports. While no team wants to prematurely make an unnecessary change, not addressing an obvious issue can do just as much damage.
It's too early in the 2014-15 season to identify new trends, but more than enough time has passed to fill in narratives that started last summer—or even earlier. On-paper roster holes have become on-court vulnerabilities. Redundant players have gotten in each other's way, preventing any of them from finding a real rhythm.
These aren't new developments. They are the latest bits of evidence of an existing problem. The longer these things take to get corrected, the harder these problems will be to solve on the open market.
Whether addressing a current need or turning overlapping talent into something more valuable, these five clubs need to make a move sooner rather than later to put their rosters into the best possible position for the rest of the season.
Boston Celtics
1 of 5
During head coach Brad Stevens' second season at the helm, the Boston Celtics are starting to establish an identity. They slant toward the offensive end (16th in efficiency), share the basketball (61.5 assist percentage, fifth overall) and play at a quick tempo (100.25 possessions per 48 minutes, second).
That all sounds like a solid foundation for a young, rebuilding team. Now, it's time for the Celtics roster to better reflect the team's current situation.
Unless someone owes Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge a major favor, Boston won't be able to cut 32-year-old Gerald Wallace or the eight-figure salary he holds for this season and next. But the Celtics have other veteran pieces to move so they can fully embrace their youth movement.
Brandon Bass, playing on the final year of his deal, might be the easiest to trade. He plays well in the pick-and-roll on both sides of the ball and has 54 playoff games under his belt. It comes as no surprise, then, that "scouts and opposing front-office types have begun to speak and inquire about" Bass, per Steve Bullpett of the Boston Herald.
Scoring forward Jeff Green is another option. The 28-year-old has a $9.2 million player option for the 2015-16 season, which doesn't look bad with his 17.8 points-per-game scoring average and could grow better if the league starts to add in some of its new media-rights money to next season's salary cap.
But Green and Bass are only the window dressing to four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo. Slated for unrestricted free agency next summer, the franchise face's future has been one of the most difficult narratives to follow this season.
"Rival executives say that Ainge has been firm in his stance that Rondo will not be dealt," wrote Bleacher Report's Howard Beck. "But many of those same executives believe that Ainge has to trade Rondo, to avoid losing him for nothing next summer."
The Celtics' cupboards need restocking. Moving Bass could help, but dealing Green and/or Rondo should give them some valuable rebuilding tools.
Phoenix Suns
2 of 5
When the Phoenix Suns completed their three-headed point guard monster by luring in Isaiah Thomas and retaining Eric Bledsoe, all of the focus fell on just how hard this trio, which also includes Goran Dragic, would be to defend.
"If you can have one or two of those guys on the court at all times, you really don't have any dropoff scoring-wise," general manager Ryan McDonough said in July, per AZCentral Sports' Paul Coro. "You always have multiple weapons."
McDonough was right to a certain extent. The Suns have not been fun to defend. Phoenix owns the 12th-highest offensive efficiency and plays at the fifth-fastest pace.
But that's not to suggest everything has gone according to plan. In fact, this trio has been as tricky to employ as it is to cover.
All three have taken statistical hits this season. None are playing as much as they used to, and each of their field-goal percentages has fallen. Dragic, the reigning Most Improved Player, has seen a substantial decrease in usage percentage (21.6, down from 24.5 last season).
"There's only one ball and we're all point guards," Dragic said, per Coro. "…It's hard. That's sacrifice."
But one player feels he's sacrificing more than the others. "It's always me," Thomas said, per CBS Sports' James Herbert. "It's a tough situation. …It's not what I expected."
The Suns can't play all three together—they have tried it for 23 minutes and been outscored by 27.8 points per 100 possessions during that time—so one, or more, has to sit. And that leaves zero playing time for 2014 lottery pick point guard Tyler Ennis and a reduced role for explosive swingman Gerald Green.
Phoenix may not want to pull the plug on this experiment just yet, but it needs to thin out this backcourt somehow to add some bulk up front.
Charlotte Hornets
3 of 5
The Charlotte Hornets had an unmistakable buzz over the offseason. Not only did they ditch the Bobcats name for their old moniker and classic purple and teal threads, they also made some savvy acquisitions to help strengthen their position in the Eastern Conference.
Lance Stephenson offered some intriguing cures for Charlotte's anemic offense (24th in efficiency last season) without threatening its dominant defense (sixth in efficiency). Rookie P.J. Hairston and veteran Marvin Williams helped address the Hornets' previously punchless three-point attack, while Brian Roberts added a steady hand at point behind Kemba Walker.
Yet, since generating all that buzz, the Hornets have barely been heard from.
They are actually less efficient now on offense (27th) than they were before. They still can't shoot the three-ball (32.6 percent, 27th). And they have nosedived down the defensive efficiency rankings to 21st.
Outside of Al Jefferson (20.5 points per game on 49.4 percent shooting), they have no consistent weapons on offense. Walker is the second-leading scorer at 14.6 points, but he is shooting only 36.9 percent from the field.
And Stephenson, once seen as the miracle cure for Charlotte's offensive ills, has been even more erratic. He is putting up just 9.8 points a night on 36.9 percent shooting. He has not seen any fourth-quarter action in either of Charlotte's last two games, and head coach Steve Clifford has opined the bar may have been set too high before Born Ready's arrival.
"One of the things that's made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as the next superstar," Clifford said, per ESPN.com's Michael Wallace. "He's not a star. He's a guy that has talent to become a star."
Whatever Stephenson is, he is not the answer to the Hornets' perimeter problems. Neither is Hairston (34.6 field-goal percentage), Roberts (31.7 three-point percentage) or an injured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (foot). Charlotte desperately needs more offense outside, even if that means parting with an interior prospect to get it.
Los Angeles Clippers
4 of 5
There are plenty of teams that wouldn't mind trading places with the Los Angeles Clippers. Any franchise that fields the NBA's best point guard, along with—at worst—a top-five power forward, sixth man and coach, is going to be in good hands.
The Clippers have been just that, holding a 9-5 record and a top-third net efficiency rating (plus-4.2 points per 100 possessions, eighth overall). But this team really needs to be several steps above good.
This isn't the youngest core by any stretch, including 29-year-old floor general Chris Paul. And above-the-rim center DeAndre Jordan is slated to reach unrestricted free agency at season's end.
The Clippers' championship clock was ticking as loud as any this summer, yet this team seems miles away from contention. Any time it has needed to rise to the occasion, it has fallen flat instead. The Clippers have failed early-season tests against the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies by an average margin of defeat of 13.3 points per game.
Fixing LA's problems on the trade market won't be easy, because this group isn't consistently breaking down in one specific areas. The Clippers have had issues all over the floor.
"The rotations have been awful on defense at times, the effort on the offensive glass atrocious and the overall offensive play lethargic and uninspired," wrote Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal.
LAC could definitely use an upgrade at small forward. Incumbent starter Matt Barnes has compiled a woeful 8.8 player efficiency rating. The options behind him are equally forgettable.
But Barnes' struggles don't explain a last-place ranking in offensive rebound percentage (17.8). Or the reason the Clippers' opponents have finished 62.9 percent of their shots inside the restricted area.
There is no guarantee Doc Rivers can somehow get his guys going. The coach-president may need some external assistance to right the ship before it drifts too far off track.
Cleveland Cavaliers
5 of 5
During the Cleveland Cavaliers' strongest stretch of this season—four consecutive wins over the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks—they surrendered an average of 106.8 points a night. Only three teams have allowed that many points on average this season.
Led by LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, this offense has a chance to be special. But it might need to be even better than that to compensate for a defense this generous, as ESPN.com's Amin Elhassan explained:
"Jeff Van Gundy brought up on the TV broadcast the other day that the Cavs' defense is not championship-level. I'll take it a step further and say it's not even at the level to win a playoff series! There's a lack of urgency and cohesion on the defensive end that needs to change drastically before Cleveland can consider itself good enough to contend for a title.
"
The Cavs could do themselves a few favors by simply giving better energy, but a lot of these problems are tied to personnel. Outside of James, who either appears to be pacing himself or perhaps has lost a step, Cleveland's obvious defensive leader is Shawn Marion. The problem is that Marion is 36 years old and no longer the defender he once was.
The Cavs have nothing in the way of rim protection, and opponents have exploited that marshmallow-soft interior to the tune of 64.4 percent shooting within five feet of the basket. To make matters worse, Cleveland's perimeter isn't exactly crowded with guys who play acceptable defense on a consistent basis.
This team needs help, and it's been trying to find it. The Cavs have tried to deal for Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov, per Fox Sports Ohio's Sam Amico, and have been linked to free-agent center Emeka Okafor and Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Corey Brewer, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
With Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson still on board, the Cavs have the trade chips to get something done. If they want to realize their championship potential, they need to sacrifice some offense to bring in some badly needed defenders.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
