NBA Blockbuster Trades That Should Happen During 2016-17 Season
Are you ready for some hypothetical NBA blockbuster trades?
Of course you are. There is no such thing as too many brain-bending ideas—so long as they're approached with the perfect mix of creativity and realism.
Enter me. You. Us.
These upcoming deals are not based on any specific rumors. They are purely speculative. At the same time, we won't be moving around players who are, without a shadow of a doubt, off-limits. That Stephen Curry-for-Nikola Pekovic swap some of you have been dreaming about has no place here.
Household names will be the subject of every trade. That's how blockbuster deals work. Every scenario will also be presented as if it's after Dec. 15, which is when (most) players who signed new contracts over the offseason can change locales.
Try to keep an open mind; the NBA is going to look extremely different once we're through.
4-Team Superbuster
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Denver Nuggets Get: C DeMarcus Cousins, F Andrew Nicholson, PG John Wall
Sacramento Kings Get: F Wilson Chandler, G Jamal Murray, C Jusuf Nurkic, 2017 top-five-protected first-round pick (from Memphis, via Denver), 2019 unprotected first-round pick (via Denver)
Toronto Raptors Get: F Omri Casspi, PF Kenneth Faried
Washington Wizards Get: SG Gary Harris, PG Emmanuel Mudiay, SF Terrence Ross, PG Delon Wright, unprotected 2017 first-round pick (via Denver), lottery-protected 2017 first-round pick (from Los Angeles Clippers, via Toronto)
Do former Kentucky teammates DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall ever talk about teaming up with one another at the NBA level?
"It's come up," Cousins said, per the Washington Post's Candace Buckner.
"We talk about it all the time," Wall added.
Since it's the holiday season and we should all be feeling generous, let's give Cousins and Wall their wish, without waiting for either one to reach free agency!
Neither the Sacramento Kings nor Washington Wizards have the collection of picks and prospects to trade for another superstar, so that brings us to the Denver Nuggets. They have plenty of assets to consolidate, and a starting five of Will Barton, Danilo Gallinari, Nikola Jokic, Cousins and Wall is a great way to instill the fear of God in opposing defenses.
Sacramento gets a good enough haul to part with its franchise cornerstone: Jusuf Nurkic provides a strong interior presence and can split time at the 5 with Willie Cauley-Stein. Jamal Murray offers backcourt stability as a combo guard who shoots, drives, flings passes on the move and sometimes defends.
Wilson Chandler is on one of the league's best contracts and helps keep the Kings competitive. And both incoming picks are top-notch assets—particularly the Memphis Grizzlies' selection following Mike Conley's back injury.
Washington also receives enough assets to move on from its linchpin. Emmanuel Mudiay is a top-seven prospect who drew comparisons to Wall entering last season, and Delon Wright is a nice backup alternative to Trey Burke.
Gary Harris and Terrence Ross are fantastic pickups as well. One can come off the bench, and the other can slide beside Bradley Beal at small forward, allowing Otto Porter to play more 4. (Yes, Harris can survive at the 3.) And even after facilitating a Cousins-Wall reunion, the Wizards may still glean a well-placed lottery pick from the Nuggets this summer.
As for the Toronto Raptors, they join the fun to beef up their power forward position. Norman Powell can soak up Ross' time without issue, while both Kenneth Faried and Omri Casspi are upgrades over the team's current 4s.
Boston Goes All-In; Indiana Hits Reset
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Indiana Pacers Get: F Jae Crowder, PG Marcus Smart, unprotected 2017 first-round pick (from Brooklyn, via Boston), unprotected 2018 first-round pick (from Brooklyn, via Boston), 2017 unprotected second-round pick (from Minnesota, via Boston)
Boston Celtics Get: F Paul George, G Rodney Stuckey
Speaking on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com indicated that Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird is prepared to see the team's relationship with Paul George through to the end.
But the Boston Celtics wield the treasure trove of assets necessary to get Bird thinking about a potential deal. Plus, the absence of an extension for George this past summer feels ominous: He can and will become a free agent in 2018 (player option), at which point the Pacers might lose him for nothing.
Those two Brooklyn Nets selections (2017 is a swap) are way better than nothing. Both should fall in the top seven overall, and at least one will probably land in the top five or higher. Either of them could end up yielding another star-caliber talent.
Jae Crowder won't come close to replacing George, but he has the NBA's best contract and won't have the option of fleeing Indiana until 2020. He has also drastically improved his three-point stroke and can defend almost every position. The Pacers would be lucky to have him.
Marcus Smart's value is a bit more complicated. The Pacers can try for Avery Bradley or Jaylen Brown, but Smart is a proven defensive bulldog. He can play alongside Jeff Teague after Indiana dumps Monta Ellis (or permanently moves him to the second unit), or head coach Nate McMillan can even test Smart out as a full-time floor general.
Boston needn't justify its interest in George.
Avery Bradley, Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas are ready to win now. There isn't time to wait years for inbound prospects to polish their skills. George gives the Celtics another superstar who, like Horford, slides seamlessly into their on-court setup. The retention of Brown here would be huge, since his ceiling should rival peak-Crowder, and the emergence of Terry Rozier renders Smart tradable.
All the Celtics really need to worry about is George's free agency. If they don't feel confident he'll re-sign, they can't mortgage the farm for his services. But they give him a chance to challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers for Eastern Conference supremacy now and are built for that window to extend past LeBron James' prime—a dual opportunity George won't find elsewhere.
Pelicans, Sixers and Suns Help Each Other
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New Orleans Pelicans Get: C Nerlens Noel
Philadelphia 76ers Get: PG Brandon Knight
Phoenix Suns Get: F Robert Covington, SG Buddy Hield, unprotected 2017 second-round pick (from Philadelphia, via New Orleans)
Nerlens Noel has yet to make his season debut while recovering from left knee surgery, but he's well on his way to a return. The Philadelphia 76ers have him going through a warm-up stint in the NBA D-League, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein, and then it's back to business as usual.
That means it's only a matter of time before Noel is sent packing, as NBC Sports' Kurt Helin wrote:
"This is mutual — Noel wants out, and the Sixers want to move him. There are rumors of interested teams (Toronto and Portland are potential destinations that seem to get the most buzz around the league), but right now any interested GM wants to see Noel on the court, playing in games, looking healthy, then the conversations about potential deals will start to get more serious. But make no mistake, they will get serious — Noel will be traded before the February 23 deadline.
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Noel's market value is inherently limited even if he gets off to a career start. Any team that deals for him needs to fire a long-term commitment his way this summer. Restricted free agents aren't flight risks, because incumbent employers have the right to match other offers, but retaining quality talent is costly in the new salary-cap climate.
Shelling out big-time money for a center when Omer Asik remains on the books for another three seasons after this one isn't an ideal play for the New Orleans Pelicans. But they can't plan their roster around Asik. Noel works as a rim protector and, hopefully, rim-runner next to Anthony Davis—a pairing that's long overdue after New Orleans shipped Noel to Philly immediately after drafting him in 2013.
There is no sign the Phoenix Suns are open to trading Brandon Knight; we can read between the lines, though. They have two other prolific guards in Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker, and Knight is wasting away in his new bench role.
Robert Covington can guard both forward slots and cleared 35 percent shooting from deep during three of his first four seasons. Hield hasn't flourished in New Orleans, but you can easily envision last year's sixth overall pick coming around screens and swishing triples off passes from Bledsoe and Booker. And don't sleep on that second-round pick. It's coming from Philly, so it will be an early selection—basically almost a first-rounder.
Knight has a better chance of regaining his pre-2016 swagger with the Sixers. They will still need a point guard even when Ben Simmons returns, and Knight is a good enough shooter to knock down spot-up threes whenever Joel Embiid and Simmons draw double-teams.
Orlando and Portland Adjust Together
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Orlando Magic Get: G/F Allen Crabbe, PF/C Ed Davis, top-10-protected 2018 first-round pick (from Cleveland, via Portland)
Portland Trail Blazers Get: F Jeff Green, C Nikola Vucevic
The Portland Trail Blazers want a different look at center. They pursued Hassan Whiteside in free agency, according to Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, and Lowe wrote that general manager Neil Olshey "has a well-documented fondness for old-school low-post brutes like Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe, Nikola Vucevic and others."
Vucevic won't save the Blazers' league-worst defense, and the team will be especially vulnerable whenever he plays with Meyers Leonard. But Vucevic matches Mason Plumlee's passing abilities and is a much more dangerous all-around offensive threat than any other big on Portland's roster.
Jeff Green's $15 million expiring contract is good for salary-matching purposes, which is what the Orlando Magic had to have in mind when they signed him over the summer.
After damaging Vucevic's trade appeal by surrounding him with so many bigs and non-shooters, Orlando should count itself lucky to get this return. A first-round pick is a first-round pick, and Ed Davis keeps more in theme with what the Magic are building up front. The two years and $13.1 million remaining on his deal make it easier to max out Serge Ibaka over the offseason without feeling a demonstrative twinge of fiscal guilt.
Allen Crabbe is the headlining asset for Orlando—and not because he instantly turns into its highest-paid player. His shooting percentages have dipped, and he's being blasted on the defensive end, but the Magic need wings.
Besides, Crabbe will excel defensively with two of Bismack Biyombo, Aaron Gordon and Ibaka behind him at all times. And his 36.1 percent three-point clip is a spacing boon for an Orlando team that's 29th in deep-ball success.
Bucks, Bulls, Heat, Hornets Get Weird
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Charlotte Hornets Get: C Greg Monroe,
Chicago Bulls Get: PG Goran Dragic, PF Josh McRoberts
Miami Heat Get: PG Jerian Grant, SG Jeremy Lamb, PF Bobby Portis, top-five-protected 2017 first-round pick (via Chicago), top-10-protected 2017 first-round pick (from Sacramento, via Chicago)
Milwaukee Bucks Get: PG Rajon Rondo, C Spencer Hawes
Trading big men is hard. The Milwaukee Bucks know this. They've been trying to offload Greg Monroe since last February, according to Stein.
Fortunately for them, the Charlotte Hornets have experience incorporating post-up specialists into a sound offensive system. (See: Jefferson, Al.) They already have Roy Hibbert, Frank Kaminsky and Cody Zeller on the docket, but not one of them boasts Monroe's back-to-the-basket or passing acumen.
Kaminsky and Zeller are on their rookie-scale pacts—Zeller's extension kicks in next year—while Hibbert's $5 million hit comes off the books this summer. Throw in the player option Monroe holds for next season, and this is a risk-averse investment the Hornets can afford.
Getting Goran Dragic renders the Chicago Bulls viable threats in the Eastern Conference. Though they deploy a top-10 offense as constructed, they are 26th in effective field-goal percentage. That relationship doesn't compute.
Dragic is a spacing upgrade over Rajon Rondo, and he's under a pre-cap-explosion deal that runs through 2019-20 (player option after 2018-19). It wouldn't make sense for the Bulls to sell off youth and picks for a 30-year-old point guard if they were rebuilding, but their commitment to Dwyane Wade implies there's a sense of urgency to win now.
There is no such urgency for the Miami Heat. They are officially, unequivocally rebuilding. Dealing Dragic gets them fliers on picks and prospects they can potentially build around. They might have even considered moving him before this season, per Lowe.
Bobby Portis is a good segue into the post-Chris Bosh era, and Jerian Grant gives head coach Erik Spoelstra another player to evaluate at point guard. Jeremy Lamb has a team-friendly two years left on his contract and has shown flashes of a defensive epiphany in Charlotte.
Pulling the trigger is a no-brainer for the Bucks. They swap out Monroe's player option for next year with Rondo's non-guaranteed salary and get an extra jump-shooting body in Spencer Hawes for the frontcourt.
Who knows, Rondo might turn into an offensive savior under fellow point guard/Bucks head coach Jason Kidd. If not, he's at the very least an intriguing stopgap for those times Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the bench.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com and accurate leading into Thursday's games.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @danfavale.
