A Wild 8-Team Trade Idea to Make NBA History
Earlier this offseason, an NBA-record seven teams wound up participating in the blockbuster trade that landed Kevin Durant with the Houston Rockets. Naturally, it got us wondering: Can we construct a deal that breaks this mark?
It turns out we can.
So, we did.
This hypothetical trade involves eight teams—nearly one-third of the entire Association—and accomplishes all sorts of things. Let's run through the bedlam.
Full Trade Details
1 of 9
Boston Celtics Receive: Terance Mann, Utah's 2026 second-round pick (via Milwaukee; top-55 protection), draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (via Lakers), Brooklyn's 2026 second-round pick (via Miami; top-55 protection)
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Pat Connaughton, Kyle Kuzma, Denver's 2029 second-round pick (via Charlotte), draft rights to Marcelo Nicola (via Portland), $2.3 million cash (via Miami)
Charlotte Hornets Receive: Anfernee Simons, Robert Williams III (into non-taxpayer mid-level exception), $1.7 million cash (via Lakers)
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Andrew Wiggins, Haywood Highsmith, AJ Green
Miami Heat Receive: Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jusuf Nurkić, Matisse Thybulle, 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Denver or Golden State, via Charlotte), Lakers' 2031 first-round pick
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, draft rights to Peter Fehse (via Utah)
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Nick Smith Jr., Kyle Anderson, K.J. Martin, Houston's 2031 second-round pick (via Boston; top-55 protection), draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (via Milwaukee), Lakers' 2032 second-round pick
Utah Jazz: Gabe Vincent, Terry Rozier, DaQuan Jeffries, 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Detroit, Milwaukee and Orlando, via Boston), 2028 second-round pick (more favorable of Clippers and Hornets, via Charlotte), draft rights to Christian Drejer (via Brooklyn), draft rights to Peter Fehse, $2.4 million cash (via Miami), $2.5 million cash (via Boston)
Why the Boston Celtics Do It
2 of 9
In: Terance Mann, Utah's 2026 second-round pick (via Milwaukee; top-55 protection), draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (via Lakers), Brooklyn's 2026 second-round pick (via Miami; top-55 protection)
Out: Anfernee Simons, 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Detroit, Milwaukee and Orlando), Houston's 2031 second-round pick (top-55 protection), $2.5 million cash (to Utah)
Salary Difference: Saving $12,178,571
After a summer of cost-cutting, the Boston Celtics are a little less than $12.1 million into the luxury tax. This deal gets them out of it, free and clear, without any muss or fuss.
Swallowing the three years and $47 million remaining on Mann's contract isn't what you'd call a home run. But he still packs a defensive punch, and the Celtics will need mid-end salaries to complete trades when they resume their pursuit of actual wins.
Going from Simons' expiring deal to Mann's agreement could be worth second-round compensation. Boston is free to push for it. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens shouldn't hold his breath. Lopping off over $12 million in salary is far from effortless this time of year. Exiting this eight-team fiesta without forfeiting real draft picks of the Celtics' own is a victory unto itself.
Why the Brooklyn Nets Do It
3 of 9
In: Pat Connaughton, Kyle Kuzma, Denver's 2029 second-round (via Charlotte), Marcelo Nicola's draft rights (via Portland), $2.3 million cash (via Miami)
Out: Haywood Highsmith, Terance Mann, draft rights to Christian Drejer
Salary Difference: Adding $10,514,117
This deal essentially sees the Brooklyn Nets take their remaining cap space and use it to truncate Mann's contract (three years, $47 million) into Kuzma's pact (two years, $47.6 million).
Though the latter doesn't have a ton of value to a team trying to be bad, the same can be said about Mann. At least this way, Brooklyn is wiping guaranteed money from its ledger one year earlier while arming itself with a larger expiring contract heading into the summer of 2026.
Highsmith would have more value if he were healthy. He's not. The Nets are still getting a distant extra second-round pick as part of moving him after landing one to take him on in the first place.
Connaughton is on the books for nearly $4 million more than Highsmith. That works in service of Brooklyn making splashier midseason trades. And if he doesn't get rerouted, he comes off the books after this year.
.png?w=256)
Why the Charlotte Hornets Do It
4 of 9
In: Anfernee Simons, Robert Williams III (into non-tax MLE), $1.7 million cash (via Lakers)
Out: Collin Sexton, Pat Connaughton, DaQuan Jeffries, Nick Smith Jr., 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Denver or Golden State), 2028 second-round pick (more favorable of Clippers and Hornets), Denver's 2029 second-round pick
Salary Difference: Adding $7,041,029
Attaching three second-round picks and Smith to Sexton's expiring deal for fliers on Simons and RW3 has the chance to supercharge the Hornets.
Simons is a more dangerous off-the-bounce creator than Sexton, as well as more familiar with working away from the ball. He can play beside LaMelo Ball or independent of him and helps provide a cleaner path to Tre Mann minutes.
RW3 cannot be counted on for a set number of games or minutes. But the time in which he does play will beef up a barren center rotation at both ends. He isn't that far removed from being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate with Boston, and Charlotte's ball-handlers will celebrate having someone who is both a short-roll playmaker and lob threat.
Soaking up another $7 million in salary shouldn't faze the front office. The Hornets have enough room beneath the tax, and this trade trims what has become an overcrowded roster by two spots.
Why the Los Angeles Lakers Do It
5 of 9
In: Andrew Wiggins, Haywood Highsmith, AJ Green
Out: Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, 2031 first-round pick, 2032 second-round pick, draft rights to Louis Labeyrie, $1.7 million cash (to Charlotte)
Salary Difference: Saving $5,189,886
Writing for The Stein Line, NBA insider Marc Stein reported the Los Angeles Lakers would have interest in trading for Wiggins–even though he has a $30.2 million player option for 2026-27 that could torpedo their projected cap space. As NBA reporter Jovan Buha of Buha's Block has since noted, the Lakers will be hard-pressed to get a deal done without including a future first-round pick.
L.A. can't include a first prior to 2031. Including a pick that far into the future for a non-star is difficult to stomach. It gets a lot more palatable when the Lakers are shedding the three years and $37.3 million left on Vanderbilt's deal while also adding role players who check the three-and-D boxes.
Wiggins' arrival helps offset the deadeye shooting Los Angeles loses in Hachimura and fortifies the perimeter defense. Highsmith is coming off surgery to repair a torn right meniscus, but his arrival is without risk. Best-case scenario, the Lakers nabbed a cheap wing who can check top perimeter assignments and knock down threes. Worst case scenario, he does nothing and comes off the books this summer.
Getting Green would be an understated upside play. He has a deeper offensive bag than advertised—which includes burying ultra-difficult threes—doesn't receive enough credit for how much he competes on defense.
Finally, Los Angeles exits this transaction saving enough money to be more flexible in future trades and a heartbeat away from skirting the luxury tax–all without knifing into what could be plans to wield bonkers amounts of cap space in 2027.
Why the Miami Heat Do It
6 of 9
In: Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jusuf Nurkić, Matisse Thybulle, 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Denver or Golden State, via Charlotte), Lakers' 2031 first-round pick
Out: Andrew Wiggins, Simone Fontecchio, Terry Rozier, Brooklyn's 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protection), $2.3 million in cash (to Brooklyn), $2.4 million in cash (to Utah)
Salary Difference: Saving $2,418,250
As Jovan Buha of Buha's Block reports, the Miami Heat are unlikely to send Wiggins to the Lakers without getting a first-round pick. Well, they're getting that—and more.
Taking back the three years and $37.3 million left on Vanderbilt's contract is a tall order, but a reasonable cost of doing business. The Heat have room for another backup big, he fits their frenetic defensive culture, and the front office seems to realize that mid-end salaries are more important to acquiring superstars than cap space.
Hachimura is someone Miami can get more value for ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. If his floor-spacing holds, he might even emerge as a keeper. Going from Rozier's expiring contract to Nurkić's own expiring deal is a positional upgrade. The Heat have no room for more guards. Even with Vando inbound, they might have big-man minutes to spare.
Thybulle is another defensive whiz who could endear himself to head coach Erik Spoelstra. Failing that, he, Nurkić and Hachimura outfit Miami with plenty of matching salary for subsequent trades. And with the Lakers' 2031 first-rounder in tow, the Heat could have the juice to enter negotiations previously inaccessible to them.
Why the Milwaukee Bucks Do It
7 of 9
In: Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, draft rights to Peter Fehse (via Utah)
Out: Kyle Kuzma, AJ Green, Utah's 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protection), draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis
Salary Difference: Adding $2,570,50
Punting on Green's future could make the Milwaukee Bucks queasy. The chance to escape the final year of Kuzma's contract, add a more conventional No. 2 option and a cleaner-fitting forward should be too enticing to pass up.
Sexton is an offensive upgrade over any other second-wheel candidate in Milwaukee. The driving and shooting give him an edge over Kuzma and Myles Turner, and it's not hard to envision him developing a nice two-man chemistry with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Fontecchio is coming off a down campaign with the Detroit Pistons, but he's a more dependable spacer than Kuzma and, at times, the better defender. The Bucks will be well-equipped to overcome Green's absence with him, Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince and, potentially, Amir Coffey sponging up a lion's share of the wing minutes.
Milwaukee's biggest concern might actually be clearing toomuch salary from next summer's cap sheet. Kuzma's $20.4 million expiring contract figures to come in handy at a time when the Bucks can trade up to three first-round picks. That's an issue they can address when the time comes—if it ever does.
Why the Portland Trail Blazers Do It
8 of 9
In: Nick Smith Jr., Kyle Anderson, K.J. Martin, Lakers' 2032 second-round pick, Houston's 2031 second-round pick (via Boston; top-55 protection), draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (via Milwaukee)
Out: Robert Williams III, Matisse Thybulle, draft rights to Marcelo Nicola
Salary Difference: Saving $4,810,591
The Portland Trail Blazers aren't getting anyone back as good as Williams, which could be a deal-breaker. It shouldn't be. He's always injured, and they have three other bigs—Donovan Clingan, Yang Hansen, Duop—to pick up the frontline slack.
Identical logic applies to Thybulle's exit. His defensive disruption fits what the Blazers are building, but they have plenty of perimeter bodies to whom they must dole out playing time. Anderson will bring plenty of defense himself, on a cheaper expiring contract, to go along with some secondary playmaking.
Scooping up a flier on Nick Smith Jr. (No. 27 in 2023), the springy K.J. Martin and a Lakers second-round pick that will convey when Luka Dončić is into his 30s won't win the front office any awards. But Portland is lopping off nearly $5 million in salary—a big deal when it's inside $2 million of hitting it. This is breathing room the Blazers will come to appreciate if they want to make any midseason trades.
Why the Utah Jazz Do It
9 of 9
In: Gabe Vincent, Terry Rozier, DaQuan Jeffries, 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Detroit, Milwaukee and Orlando, via Boston), 2028 second-round pick (more favorable of Clippers and Hornets, via Charlotte), draft rights to Christian Drejer (via Brooklyn), draft rights to Peter Fehse, $2.4 million cash (via Miami), $2.5 million cash (via Boston)
Out: Kyle Anderson, Jusuf Nurkić, K.J. Martin
Salary Difference: Taking on $4,267,295
Jettisoning Anderson, Martin and Nurkić helps the Utah Jazz clear up a logjam in a frontcourt rotation that, at full strength, includes Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Filipowski and Georges Niang. They have to absorb $26.6 million worth of Terry Rozier to do it, but a larger expiring contract could prove useful closer to February's trade deadline.
Gabe Vincent immediately becomes Utah's best point-of-attack defensive option. If his threes are falling, he's someone who can net more modest draft equity during the season.
Grabbing two second-round picks to increase payroll by $4.3 million is a solid trade-off. The Jazz don't currently have a 2026 second-rounder, and the $4.9 million in combined cash they're receiving more than cancels out the added expenditure.
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Breaking News")
.png?w=600 "Play-In Winners and Losers 📊")
