NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Rumblings on Team Plans as 2018 Draft Approaches
The NBA trade winds are starting to pick up as the NBA draft and free agency rapidly approach.
A chunk of superstars, including LeBron James, are expected to change scenery in the offseason, and although there's plenty of playoff basketball left to be played, rumors have started to swirl.
In addition to James, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will be the coveted assets teams are looking to acquire this summer, but there may be a few unexpected names available as well.
Leonard and George have seen their respective names in the news already, and they've been joined by a player or two that might be on the move if the price is right.
While free agency should have an effect on the needs of certain teams in the draft, as will potential trades for top players, the selection process itself could be hampered by decision-makers in the front offices of franchises with the top-five picks.
The first surprise rumor came about at the end of last week, as ESPN's Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst revealed on The Lowe Post podcast Karl-Anthony Towns isn't in a good place internally with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"I don't think Anthony Davis is going anywhere any time soon," Windhorst said. "But Karl Towns...now that might be a different story."
If that is the case, Towns would be a valuable asset for teams to acquire, and he could be worth a first-round pick at the bare minimum.
Of course, it would take a massive haul for a team to pull in Towns, who has turned into one of the most dominant players in the game.
If Minnesota parts ways with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, it would have to demand a collection of assets worthy of replacing him.
While there are plenty of talented frontcourt players at the top of the draft class, none of them are guaranteed to produce as much as Towns.
In a hypothetical trade scenario in which the Timberwolves receive a top-10 pick as part of the package for Towns, they would have a pair of first-round talents from the acquired pick and the No. 20 selection to throw into the mix alongside Andrew Wiggins and Jimmy Butler.
Speaking of the big men in the draft, the collegiate prospects in the talent pool could receive a boost if teams turn away from Luka Doncic.
According to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, there's a growing consensus Sacramento and Atlanta could go after American big men instead of Doncic, who hasn't fully committed to playing in the NBA next season.
After winning the Euroleague title with Real Madrid, Doncic failed to 100 percent confirm he's headed to North America, per Givony.
"I will tell about all at the right time," Doncic said. "Right now I just want to celebrate with my team. Soon I will tell."
Given the stat lines he's produced this season with Real Madrid, there's no question Doncic can be a generational talent in the NBA, and in some ways he's a better prospect than the one-and-done stars since he has more games to his name on the European stage.
However, there may be some teams shying away from Doncic if they believe he won't fully commit to coming over, which opens the door for Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Mohamed Bamba to be selected earlier.
Of course, there will be plenty of rumors that pop up as the draft gets closer, especially as teams attempt to package picks in order to lure Leonard away from San Antonio, but there are some potential deals teams could get done to move up in the first round.
The Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls all possess multiple first-round selections, and although nothing significant has come about yet, they all could move up to go after a player like Doncic if they put the effort into it and the Slovenian slips down the draft order.
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