NBA Blockbuster Trades That Should Happen During 2015-16 Season
What would happen if we were given the power to broker any blockbuster trade on any NBA team's behalf?
Let's find out.
Trade season is about to get underway in the Association. Beginning Dec. 15, teams are able to begin dealing most free agents who signed new contracts over the summer. And with that increased pool of trade-eligible talent comes additional possibilities.
Rather than wait for the rumor mill to churn out scenarios for us, we're going to jump ahead of the curve and create our own. These proposals are not meant to be insulting or incite rage. They exist as suggestions—recommendations that should totally be given a chance to reach fruition before the February deadline.
Rockets-Lakers-Pelicans Tricycle (on or after Dec. 15)
Houston Rockets Get: PF Ryan Anderson, PG Jrue Holiday
Los Angeles Lakers Get: C Omer Asik, 2018 lottery-protected first-round pick (via Houston)
New Orleans Pelicans Get: PF Brandon Bass, C Clint Capela, PG Ty Lawson, SG K.J. McDaniels, SG Nick Young
Houston is, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com put it, "desperate to win before Dwight Howard can bolt" this summer. That sentiment perfectly aligns with owner Leslie Alexander's comments following the Rockets' decision to can former head coach Kevin McHale.
"I hate to lose," he told told ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins. "I enjoy watching my team play, and I can’t watch my team play now. I want to win real fast."
Translation: General manager Daryl Morey has every incentive to open Houston's war chest in search of upgrades.
Lawson is already on the chopping block in Houston, according to Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler. Getting any value in exchange for his services without attaching a carrot or two to the deal is next to impossible. His value was low enough when he came in from the Denver Nuggets; it's even worse now that he's being used inconsistently, if at all, under interim Rockets head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Holiday remains on a minutes cap and isn't a sure thing this side of the stress reaction in his ride leg that ended his 2014-15 season. But he is a better career three-point shooter than Lawson, and he has experience playing beside ball-dominant wings (Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, etc.), making him a better fit next to James Harden.
The Pelicans don't create nearly enough spot-up looks for Holiday as they slog through an injury-riddled campaign, so his shooting percentages should balloon within the Rockets' drive-and-kick offense.
Anderson is the ideal stretch 4 for that same system and having a monster year. He is converting an absurd number of his catch-and-shoot triples and is second on the team in scoring, behind only Anthony Davis.
Prying him out of New Orleans will, as Kyler noted, take a pretty penny. But the Pelicans need to have foresight. They rushed their rebuild around Davis once, and it's left them overly susceptible to injuries, contending for one of the Western Conference's worst records.
Capela and McDaniels are two legitimate prospects the Pelicans can evaluate as they endure a loss-loaded 2015-16 and enter the Ben Simmons sweepstakes. Capela is on his rookie-scale deal and, statistically, he provides Nerlens Noel-level rim protection. Though the Rockets won't be aching to move him, he's expendable so long as they're committed to Howard.
For reasons that aren't entirely clear, McDaniels seldom cracks Houston's rotation. He plays three positions in a small-ball rotation, keeps pace with explosive perimeter scorers and won't earn more than $3.5 million through 2017-18. The Pelicans need that kind of financial and functional versatility as they look to regroup around Davis.
Bass (expiring) and Young (signed through 2017-18) won't do much for New Orleans' future, and Lawson (non-guaranteed in 2016-17) will be hit or miss in head coach Alvin Gentry's offense. But they all aid in getting rid of Asik's five-year deal and allowing the Pelicans additional wiggle room in free agency this summer.
If any team can justify stomaching the life of Asik's contract, it's the Lakers. They play at a markedly slower pace than the Pelicans, so Asik shouldn't look as clumsy and out of place when his number is called.
It's not like Bass and Young factor into the Lakers' long-term plans anyway, and Asik does offer rim protection at his peak—something the Lakers will need once Roy Hibbert (presumably) hits the bricks in free agency.
On average, Asik will earn less than $11 million through the conclusion of his new deal. That's just about backup center money in the new salary-cap climate, and it won't significantly impede Los Angeles' ability to court superstars on the open market.
The Lakers, meanwhile, shouldn't be quick to pass on any first-round pick as they prepare for the post-Kobe Bryant era. They're clearly rebuilding, and cutting ties with Young while adding Asik could prove to be a step in the right direction—one that doesn't jeopardize their unofficial quest to lose enough this season and retain the top-three-protected pick that's owed to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Orlando and Toronto Mix It Up
Orlando Magic Get: SG DeMar DeRozan
Toronto Raptors Get: SG Victor Oladipo and PF Channing Frye
This one is totally out of the blue, but not illogical given the situation that the Magic have created. As Kyler underscored:
"Orlando faces some choices. While a ballooning salary cap will allow them to retain anyone they’d like to keep long-term, the question becomes: is one of these promising pieces that are part of the log-jam more valuable in trade than as a long-term piece?
The Magic have yet to find a meaningful role for forward Aaron Gordon, and as the young guys start to require more time can a team that’s focused on winning now manage the need for young guys to grow and blossom while at the same time keeping the players that can truly win games on the floor?
"
Flipping the sweet-shooting Channing Frye is a must at this point. He has seen some time as a starter and is shooting 45-plus percent from deep, but at 32, he is not part of the big picture. Moving him opens up playing time for both Aaron Gordon and Andrew Nicholson.
Kyler did say that the Magic aren't actively looking to make trades, and there's nothing to suggest that Oladipo is immediately available. But head coach Scott Skiles now has him coming off the bench, and Evan Fournier's emergence, along with Orlando's decision to draft Mario Hezonja, prevents Oladipo from being indispensable.
DeRozan admittedly isn't any less challenged from the outside than Oladipo. He is still in love with mid-range jumpers, the most derided shots in basketball, and he has dropped in more than 30 percent of his long balls for an entire season just once.
That DeRozan is expected to opt out of his contract and seek a max deal this July, per Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, only complicates matters. Orlando must be willing to re-invest in him and receive assurances that he's ready to stick around.
But if there's mutual interest, there's obvious upside. DeRozan is the All-Star the Magic do not presently employ, and he paves the way for some seriously scary small-ball lineups.
Trotting out Elfrid Payton, DeRozan, Fournier, Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic to start games would give Orlando its own high-octane death machine. Harris and Fournier are accurate enough on the catch to play off both DeRozan and Payton, and there will be plenty of minutes to go around for Gordon and Hezonja off the bench.
Assuming they re-sign both DeRozan and Fournier (restricted free agent), the Magic will still have some tough decisions to make down the line with regard to Gordon's and Hezonja's roles. But this team has a chance to contend for a playoff spot now and needs a patented star to take the next step. DeRozan, despite all his offensive similarities to Oladipo, is just that.
And, most importantly, he should be available.
Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri brought in DeMarre Carroll over the summer and then signed Terrence Ross to a four-year extension. Bruno Caboclo, the "Brazilian Kevin Durant," is also still in the picture. And if Toronto plans on joining the chase for the actual Kevin Durant this summer, DeRozan is anything but untouchable.
Plus, Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph have proved to be a better backcourt pairing on both sides of the floor than Lowry and DeRozan. Oladipo is an extension of the more effective dynamic, and he comes at a fraction of the cost.
The Raptors don't need to hand him a new deal until 2017. Even with Frye on the books, their financial flexibility increases just by avoiding DeRozan's next payday.
Substantially tinkering with a bonafide playoff team is typically frowned upon, but Ujiri is just the forward-thinking general manager to bet on Oladipo's potential over the known commodity he has in DeRozan.
Boogie's Bridge to Beantown (on or after Dec. 15)
Boston Celtics Get: C DeMarcus Cousins and SF Caron Butler
Chicago Bulls Get: PG Isaiah Thomas
Sacramento Kings Get: F Jae Crowder, F/C Taj Gibson, F/C Kelly Olynyk and 2016 unprotected first-round pick (via Brooklyn Nets)
Admit it: You knew this was coming.
Nothing is brewing between Sacramento and Boston on the Cousins front. A league executive told the Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett that they don't see the Kings trading him "unless they can get something ridiculous." Another source indicated to Bulpett that he didn't see Celtics president Danny Ainge giving up the Brooklyn pick "unless it’s for a sure thing."
Well, Cousins is a superstar, and therefore a sure thing. And this is as close to a "ridiculous" package that the Kings will ever see.
Olynyk is shooting nearly 35 percent from deep for his career and can enter the game as a stretch 4 or 5. He's easier to slide alongside rookie Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos than Cousins, who, despite jacking threes with career-high frequency, remains in the feeling-out stages of his transition into a stretch 5.
Gibson is having an offensive year to forget but is owed less than $9 million next season and ranks among the best rim protectors in the game. He gives the Kings' bottom-five defense a fighting chance and helps keep them superficially competitive as they try to decide whether it's ever time to actually rebuild.
Convincing Chicago to part ways with him shouldn't be difficult. The Bulls may actually beg the Celtics and Kings to make this happen. Derrick Rose is a silhouette of the shell of his former self, and Thomas is instant offense and spacing for a Chicago attack that checks in as one of the Association's five worst.
Crowder is, in many ways, the NBA's future: a combo forward with a developing three-point touch and the tools to defend four positions. Opponents are shooting at a below-average clip when going up against him, and he's putting in north of 33 percent of his standstill treys—a mark high enough to trust and one that suggests he can improve.
At only 25 and locked up on a beggar's dime through 2019-20, Crowder is someone who can grow with the Kings. Pairing him with Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore in small-ball lineups figures to be quite the offensive affair, and he's a defensive upgrade over any other swingman Sacramento is deploying.
Brooklyn's unprotected first-rounder is, of course, the primary chip. It could turn into Ben Simmons. At the very least, it should land in the top five, promising the Kings yet another building block.
If any involved party is going to pump the brakes on this proposal, it's the Celtics. Already a playoff team, they might not see value in mortgaging the farm for Cousins.
And yet, this is what they've been amassing assets for: the chance to cage a superstar. Cousins drums up their offensive appeal; Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart should be able to replace Thomas' playmaking; and the combination of Bradley and Evan Turner will make it so Boston's perimeter defense isn't compromised in Crowder's absence.
On top of that, after dealing for Cousins, the Celtics will still have some cash to play with in free agency—enough to build upon a foundation that'll already be counted as an Eastern Conference contender.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited. Salary information via Basketball Insiders. Draft pick commitments from RealGM.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @danfavale.
