NBA Trade Rumors: Updates on Potential Blockbuster Deals Entering 2019 Draft
June 17, 2019
The first of what could be many major moves that shift the NBA landscape was agreed to Saturday night.
New Orleans sending Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for a trio of players and a comprehensive haul of draft picks was the first major move of the offseason.
Plenty of other deals will occur in the offseason, with teams in both conferences looking to reload their respective rosters with a championship in sight.
The next deal in the NBA trade pipeline could involve the Pelicans, who have been generating interest for the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft that was gained from the Lakers.
Pelicans Receiving Interest in No. 4 Pick
Once the terms of the Davis trade were released, rumors about the No. 4 pick New Orleans is set to acquire began to swirl.
ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that teams are expressing significant interest in the No. 4 pick, which was one of the many draft picks sent by the Lakers to the Pelicans in exchange for Davis.
According to Yahoo's Keith Smith, Atlanta is one of the teams expressing interest in the No. 4 pick as it tried to package together two or three of its first-round selections.
The Athletic's Sam Vecenie reported that Chicago is the team brought up the most across the league in discussions about the No. 4 pick.
Of those two teams, Atlanta has the better collection of assets, as it possesses the No. 8, No. 10 and No. 17 selections. The Hawks acquired the No. 10 pick from Dallas in last year's Luka Doncic trade and picked up No. 17 from Brooklyn in a recent deal.
If Atlanta packages all three picks to move up and take one of Darius Garland, Jarrett Culver or De'Andre Hunter, New Orleans would have three selections to work with in addition to the No. 1 pick.
If a deal with the Hawks goes down, the Pelicans could keep the picks they acquire, or use them in another trade to move back up the draft board to take a player they are interested in.
A potential trade with Chicago comes with less draft intrigue since the Bulls have a single first-round pick at No. 7.
A straight swap of first-round positions with the Bulls might not be a good enough offer for the Pelicans, which means players and/or future draft picks would have to be included.
Regardless of what the Pelicans do with the No. 4 pick, they are in an advantageous position. They will either add a premier draft talent to their growing young core, or maximize their spot and collect more assets for their roster rebuild.
Celtics Might Be Interested In Capela
At the end of May, Wojnarowski reported Houston general manager Daryl Morey had made his entire roster available in trade talks.
No deals have come out of Houston since that story broke, but Clint Capela's name has circulated recently in trade rumors.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported that the Celtics were seriously engaged in talks for Capela, but that was countered by a report out of Boston.
According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, the Celtics and Rockets have not had any discussions about Capela. He added Capela is a player who might interest Boston, but the return price could make a potential deal unlikely.
Capela is coming off a season in which he recorded career highs in points and rebounds per game, and he would be an intriguing option in the frontcourt for Boston if it were to enter trade talks with Houston.
Of the contenders in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics have the most work to do in the offseason to get back to where they were during the 2018-19 season.
With Davis landing in Los Angeles and Kyrie Irving on his way out, the Celtics will now be led by Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Brown and Tatum have displayed plenty of qualities that make us believe they will take the next step for the Celtics during the 2019-20 season, but as of right now, Brad Stevens' team will not have as much star power on its roster.
A potential deal for Capela would add a talented frontcourt player to the roster, but it may come at too steep of a price because of the upward trajectory the 25-year-old is on.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference.