5 Players Most Likely to Hit Trading Block After 2015 NBA Draft
A lot of things happen during the NBA draft.
Lifelong goals are realized. Success-starved franchises and fanbases find new sources of optimism (or agony). And, in some cases, roster logjams are created.
That final part of the equation is what we’re interested in here.
With Thursday's draft completed, the focus can now shift to the overlapping talent left in its aftermath. Teams that took the best-player-available route or ones anxious to create a new identity didn’t let incumbent veterans stop them from grabbing guys at the same position.
And why would they? Rookies bring upside, hope and, most importantly, cheap labor. The less money that clubs have to spend at these spots, the more they’ll have to strengthen the rest of their roster.
That’s why the arrival of fresh faces often brings about the departure of some familiar ones. Consider it the NBA’s circle of life.
For the following five players, that cycle is likely to move them to the trade rumor mill sooner rather than later.
Taj Gibson, PF, Chicago Bulls
1 of 5
The Chicago Bulls entered Thursday's draft with a crowded frontcourt and left it with yet another big body added to the mix.
Scoring forward Bobby Portis (6'11", 242 lbs) has the fire old skipper Tom Thibodeau would have liked and the offensive versatility craved by new head coach Fred Hoiberg. In a vacuum, Portis was a really nice pick—especially at the 22nd overall selection.
But the Bulls were already running short on playing time at the 4 and 5 spots.
Starters Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah logged a combined 65 minutes per game this past season. Uber-valuable reserve Taj Gibson saw 27.3 minutes of action a night. Rookie Nikola Mirotic averaged 26.0 minutes per game after the All-Star break, and that number should increase as his ability to space the floor could be key in Hoiberg's spread-out offense.
The frontcourt needed to get younger, and it did. But it could use some thinning now, as the Bulls can subtract from a position of strength on the interior to shore up a weakness along the perimeter.
Gibson looks like the most likely to go. He has a reasonable contract (two years, $17.4 million remaining) that would only grow more valuable if a team viewed him as a starter. He is sharp on both ends of the floor and incredibly consistent (at least 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per 36 minutes each of the last four seasons). His production could spike if an acquiring team substantially increases his complementary role.
Sporting News' Sean Deveney reported in February that Gibson had been "connected to much of the league the past few months." That trade chatter should grow even louder after Portis' arrival.
Roy Hibbert, C, Indiana Pacers
2 of 5
The slow-and-steady tortoise approach nearly delivered the Indiana Pacers to the promised land. But their defensive powerhouse could never solve the puzzles presented by the then-LeBron James-led Miami Heat.
Now, the Pacers are ready to flip the script and see what mimicking the full-throttle hare could do for them.
"We'd like to play a little faster tempo," Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said, via Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. "And that means we've got to run a little faster, maybe at times play a little smaller. ... I would like to score more points, and to do that, you've got to run."
The jury is out on how much faster the Pacers will get with No. 11 pick Myles Turner. He isn't the fleetest of foot, but the 19-year-old offers an intriguing but unpolished mix of floor spacing and rim protection.
What the Pacers do know, however, is that 7'2" plodder Roy Hibbert won't help them get smaller or faster. And since he's reportedly picking up his $15.5 million player option, per Grantland's Zach Lowe, Indiana has to figure out how to force him to a new home.
The Pacers will reportedly hit the trade market this offseason in hopes of finding a taker for Hibbert, sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Hibbert won't be an easy sell. He's only averaged 6.9 rebounds per game and shot just 44.3 percent from the field over the past two years, numbers that are alarmingly low for someone of his size.
But he is a top-tier rim protector, and some team might value that highly enough to live with his warts. The Pacers need to find that club. They sounded ready to move on from Hibbert before the draft, and now his presence threatens to block their lottery prize's development.
Ty Lawson, PG, Denver Nuggets
3 of 5
Ty Lawson's days with the Denver Nuggets have seemed numbered for a while now.
They tried shopping him at the trade deadline, sources told ESPN.com's Chris Broussard. Word leaked late in the regular season that Lawson wanted out, according to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. Lawson has recently been mentioned as a preferred target of Sacramento Kings coach (and former Nuggets signal-caller) George Karl, per CBS Sports' Ken Berger.
With this much smoke, there has to be some fire at its source. And the Nuggets doused those flames with gasoline when they grabbed Emmanuel Mudiay with the seventh pick.
Harrison Wind posted a stream of Lawson watching the draft with friends on Twitter. When the Nuggets took Mudiay, Lawson said, "Told you. I'm going to Sacramento, bro."
At 6'5", Mudiay is big enough to share the backcourt with Lawson. But both players are at their best with the ball in their hands. The biggest knock on Mudiay is his inability to shoot consistently from the perimeter, so it's not like he's a real catch-and-shoot threat. And if the Nuggets gave major minutes to these two, there wouldn't be enough left over for 2014 first-rounder Gary Harris to find his way.
This roster needs some reshuffling. That might mean the Nuggets cashing in their best trade chips to bring back a star. Or, it could require them to tear apart their current core and fully embrace a youth movement.
Lawson doesn't fit either picture. If both feet weren't out the door before, Mudiay just pushed them past the point of no return.
Nerlens Noel, PF, Philadelphia 76ers
4 of 5
The Philadelphia 76ers' years-long search for a star demands that they follow the best-player-available route. Prioritizing talent over team need gives this franchise its best shot at landing the top-shelf players required to thrust it into the playoff race.
But the method can be a little clunky, depending on how the draft board shakes out. When Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell came off the board as the first two selections, that put All-American big man Jahlil Okafor right in Philly's lap.
The 6'11" lord of the low post could be the most skilled player in the draft. He has catcher's mitt hands, the footwork of a dancer and more moves than a U-Haul.
Okafor could be a frontcourt anchor for a decade-plus. But the same thing could be said for Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, the Sixers' big hauls from the last two drafts. The trio has the collective ceiling of a New York City high rise. But they can't all coexist on the same roster.
"Okafor, Embiid and Nerlens Noel won't all be able to play together at once," Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman wrote. "We're talking about three interior bigs who don't stretch the floor. Okafor is a terrific offensive prospect, but the Sixers will eventually need to address their lack of roster balance."
Any of the three could be considered a trade candidate, although sources told Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski that the Sixers plan to keep Okafor. And if Philly tried to trade Embiid, who missed last season with a foot injury that hasn't gone away, it would be selling painfully low on a player with enormous upside.
Noel might ultimately be the one squeezed out. He doesn't have an offensive game away from the rim. And there isn't enough room for both him and Okafor. But the Sixers will likely hold on to Noel until they can get a grasp on Embiid's injury and how it will affect his/their future.
Marcus Smart, PG, Boston Celtics
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The Boston Celtics' 2015 draft was apparently sponsored by the Department of Redundancy Department.
After failing to move up in the first round, Boston spent the No. 16 pick on gritty, 6'2" point guard Terry Rozier. He is tough as nails, supremely athletic and tenacious on the defense end. But he's not a natural playmaker, nor is he the most consistent shooter from deep.
If that sounds familiar to Celtics fans, it should. ESPN.com's Chad Ford wrote that Rozier's best NBA comparison "might be a young Marcus Smart," (though they're both 21). Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman noted that Rozier "offers similar strengths and limitations as Avery Bradley."
Both of those comparisons reach the same conclusion—the Celtics spent their highest pick on a player they already have. Then, they kind of repeated the pattern.
They entered Thursday with nine players under guaranteed contracts for next season. Five of them reside in the backcourt. They made four picks during the draft. Three of them were guards.
"Obviously we have a lot of guards, and we'll figure it out," Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said, via Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. "I like them all. We may have to make some tough choices, but we really like all the guys."
They might like all of them, but they don't need all of them. Once they start thinning the ranks, Smart could be on the chopping block. Boston reportedly dangled him before the draft for a high lottery pick, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Sources told Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy that Smart remains on the trade market.
Smart could probably fetch the highest price of any Celtics guard. With this franchise searching for a savior, it will have to keep its best trade bullets loaded and ready to fire should one become available.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com. Salary information obtained via Basketball Insiders.
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