The Best Option at Every Position on the 2015 NBA Trade Market
The real renovation of an NBA team happens over the summer, when general managers draft, swap and sign talent according to whatever overarching roster vision they've settled on. That's when foundations get poured, walls get knocked down and roofs get replaced.
The trade deadline is when the duct tape comes out.
Just past the halfway point of the season, most teams know where their construction efforts have fallen short, and they can then use the trade market to remedy those mistakes—if only temporarily. These are smaller, targeted repairs intended to hold things together down the stretch until there's a chance to seek out more permanent fixes after the season.
Some teams wind up short on shooting. Others overlook the need for wing defense.
More broadly, clubs suffer most when they simply can't trot out a quality talent at a particular position. It's tough to initiate offense without a capable point guard, and a hole at center creates vulnerabilities on both ends.
As the trade deadline approaches, many teams are looking for the best options at each specific position. Here are the premier targets—based on age, talent and availability—who've had their names tied to credible rumors.
One final caveat: Salaries matter. They have to. If the point of a trade is to make a team better, crippling the cap with a massive deal defeats the purpose. This is why you won't see the likes of Deron Williams, who's still probably the most talented point guard available, listed here.
Let's get to it.
Point Guard: Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma City Thunder
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Though Reggie Jackson is really more of a combo guard than anything else, he slots into this position because nobody should be comfortable with Pablo Prigioni or Norris Cole being classified as the best available option at a position.
Jackson has played almost exactly the same number of minutes per game this year as last, but his shooting percentages have dipped. After hitting 44 percent of his field goals and 33.9 percent of his triples in 2013-14, he's down to 42.7 and 27.9 percent, respectively.
It is, however, encouraging that his assist rate is up to a career-high 25.6 percent while his turnover rate is down to a career-low 12.8 percent. What he's given up in scoring, he's taken back in distribution. On the whole, his 15.6 player efficiency rating is actually marginally better than the 15.4 he posted last season.
With Dion Waiters seeing his role gradually subsume Jackson's, and the Oklahoma City Thunder's documented reluctance to bother with restricted free agency (see: Harden, James), it's no wonder Jackson, on the final year of his deal, is available.
"OKC was close to trading Reggie Jackson to Denver, according to a source," Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweeted. "He is expected to be moved before the deadline."
For teams in need of a point guard who can penetrate, score a little and take care of the ball, Jackson is easily the top choice.
Consolation Prize: Pablo Prigioni, New York Knicks
Shooting Guard: Arron Afflalo, Denver Nuggets
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There are more solid options at the 2 than any other position, which says a lot about the fungible nature of wing players.
Among a group that includes Lance Stephenson and Joe Johnson (but yikes, that contract!), Arron Afflalo stands out as the best of the bunch.
He's 29, has shown the ability to fill the prototypical three-and-D role and his contract is very manageable. After this season, any team acquiring him would only be on the hook for $7.5 million if Afflalo exercises his player option in 2015-16.
Though his numbers are down across the board this year, there's a strong case to be made that the source of decline is situational and not indicative of an eroding game. Afflalo is stuck with a Denver Nuggets team in crisis. Head coach Brian Shaw thinks his players aren't trying to win, the losses are mounting and the overall on-court product might be the most joyless in the NBA.
Remember, Afflalo's scoring average increased incrementally in each of his first seven seasons. The guy has basically been on one long upward trend since coming into the league. This year's dip (from 18.2 points per game down to 15.0) is a new phenomenon.
The phones have been ringing ever since the Nuggets showed their willingness to deal earlier this year, per a tweet form Ramona Shelburne of ESPN: "Since [Timofey] Mozgov trade, everyone is calling Denver on Chandler & Afflalo. Heard Heat, Clippers, Hornets have all discussed Afflalo."
A change of scenery could bring back the Afflalo we once knew—a guy who has shot 38.6 percent from three for his career and can match up with either wing position effectively. That's a good get.
Consolation Prize: Lance Stephenson, Charlotte Hornets
Small Forward: Wilson Chandler, Denver Nuggets
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The good thing about including Wilson Chandler as the best available small forward is we don't have to rehash all the reasons his production is down, and we don't have to outline why the Nuggets might be willing to move him. We covered that with Afflalo.
Just in case you've skipped right to this slide, here's a synopsis: The Nuggets are coming apart, and blowing it up makes sense.
Chandler explained to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post in January that he'd been told no trade was imminent.
But the eight-year veteran is no fool: "If a deal comes along that's a pretty good deal, you've got to make it of course," Chandler said. "And some guys say they're not going to trade you, and then they trade you. I'm not saying that (Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly) is that guy, but you never know. You can never feel too safe about anything."
In Chandler, trade suitors would get a 6'8" wing who can run the floor, defend bigger bodies and create his own shot. No, he hasn't been as efficient over the last year-and-a-half as he'd been earlier in his career (he's hitting just 41.6 percent of his shots since the start of the 2013-14 season), but he's versatile and just enough of a threat from deep (34.7 percent this year) to be a real asset.
He's due just $7 million in 2015-16, the final year of his deal, which makes him all the more attractive for a team in need of small forward help.
Consolation Prize: Tayshaun Prince, Boston Celtics
Power Forward: Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls
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Taj Gibson is the best player on this list at any position, but his link to trade talk is also the flimsiest.
All we've got to qualify him as being involved in rumors is this report from Sean Deveney of Sportingnews.com: "Gibson’s name has been connected to much of the league over the last few months, from Los Angeles to Toronto to Phoenix to Detroit to Portland."
Adding Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic over the summer has created a bit of a logjam in the Chicago Bulls frontcourt. And though Gibson's minutes are about the same as last year, he's struggled a bit to fit in next to new teammates.
Nonetheless, he's a dogged defender who is averaging 11 points and 6.9 rebounds off the bench this season, which makes him attractive to any team in need of a quality forward. With reasonable salaries of $8.5 and $8.95 million the next two years, he looks more appealing every day.
The Bulls fancy themselves a contender and understand how valuable Gibson is to their defense, makeup and chemistry. He's been a key component to their roster since he was drafted in 2009. Getting him won't be easy.
But if he's even remotely available, any club seeking power forward help should devote all of its resources to nabbing him.
Consolation Prize: Thaddeus Young, Minnesota Timberwolves
Center: Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets
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Brook Lopez tends to get lumped in with teammates Williams and Johnson in the bloated-salary discussion, but that's not entirely fair.
Foot and back injuries make Lopez a dangerous buy, but he's only due to make $17 million in the final season of his deal next year. Expiring contracts aren't as valuable as they once were, and we can't reasonably call Lopez's compensation cheap.
But it's not terribly onerous in the grand scheme of NBA deals either.
The Nets have been trying to move Lopez for most of the season, and they've had a few offers lately—the most notable of which they turned down, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com:
"Sources told ESPN.com that the Nuggets have offered big men JaVale McGee andJ.J. Hickson, as well as one of the two draft picks Denver recently acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers for center Timofey Mozgov, in exchange for Lopez.
But Brooklyn, sources say, has rebuffed those advances so far.
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It seems Lopez's Brooklyn departure is more "if" than "when." Whoever finally gets him will incur some health risks. But Lopez is a 26-year-old former All-Star, a hulking presence on offense who can score inside and knock down shots out to 20 feet. He won't facilitate or rebound in a manner befitting his size, but Lopez can be a major cog in a good offense.
Even in Brooklyn's stuffy scheme, he's scoring 15.5 points per game on 50.4 percent shooting this year.
He could be a hefty reward for a team with high risk tolerance.
Consolation Prize: Miles Plumlee, Phoenix Suns
*All stats accurate through games played Feb. 3 and courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
