Offseason Trade Ideas to Land NBA Superstars New Sidekicks
The next NBA superstar to win a title on their own will be the first.
Stars need help. They need good coaches, smart front offices and reliable role players.
More than anything, though, they need co-stars. Big Threes aren't necessarily championship requirements, but it takes at least a super-talented twosome to capture the crown.
With free agency unlikely to deliver top-tier running mates this summer, superstars will need their clubs to go sidekick shopping on the trade market. The following four deals could come together as a result.
Mavs Add Shot-Creator, Celtics Upgrade Interior
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Dallas Mavericks receive: Kemba Walker
Boston Celtics receive: Kristaps Porzingis
With Jaylen Brown knocked out by left wrist surgery, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics needed Kemba Walker to star this postseason. Walker instead averaged 12.7 points in 30.3 minutes per game while shooting 31.7 percent from the field and 17.6 percent from deep before missing the final two contests with his latest round of left knee trouble.
Luka Doncic and the Mavs didn't ask much of Kristaps Porzingis, as an average allotment of secondary shooting, scoring and defending would've been enough to nudge Dallas past the Los Angeles Clippers. Porzingis couldn't even provide that. He put up just 13.1 points in 33.3 minutes, shot 29.6 percent from range and, despite standing 7'3", somehow averaged only 5.4 rebounds and 0.7 blocks.
Walker is owed $36.0 million next season and holds a $37.7 million player option for 2022-23. Porzingis will collect a combined $65.5 million over the next two campaigns before deciding on a $36.0 million player option for 2023-24.
It isn't hard to imagine that Boston and Dallas will be ready to split from their overpriced and underperforming stars. Maybe swapping them for each other would amount to lawn-furniture reshuffling, but it's possible each squad would view the other's fallen star as a better fit.
The Mavericks need another shot-creator to lighten the load on Doncic and make their attack less predictable. The Celtics need size and stretch shooting at the center spot. If this trade would make life easier on Doncic and Tatum, then it's worth an exploration by the front offices.
Grizzlies Get a Running Mate for Morant, Thunder Keep Playing the Long Game
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Memphis Grizzlies receive: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Al Horford
Oklahoma City Thunder receive: Jaren Jackson Jr., Jonas Valanciunas, Justise Winslow, 2021 No. 17 pick and 2022 first-round pick (top-six protected, via Utah Jazz)
For now, the future looks blindingly bright for the Grizzlies, who have ranked among basketball's biggest surprises in each of Ja Morant's first two seasons. But as the grit-and-grinders project forward and think of ways to elevate around their floor general, clouds of uncertainty obscure the outlook.
Memphis doesn't have a second star. And it's too good to bottom out and find blue-chip talent at the top of the draft. The Grizzlies have collected some good prospects in recent years, but Jaren Jackson Jr. is the only other player with star-level upside. He is also coming off an injury-wasted season, has pretty serious durability concerns and has struggled with consistency in just about everything that isn't shooting.
If the Grizzlies want to dream bigger than first-round cameos, they need to find a full-fledged running mate for Morant. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be perfect.
At 22 years old, he's on the same timeline as Morant, and unlike Jackson, Gilgeous-Alexander has already consistently displayed top-shelf talent. He was one of three players this season to average 23 points and five assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three; Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were the others.
The fact Gilgeous-Alexander previously thrived alongside Chris Paul (and Dennis Schroder) gives confidence he can co-exist with Morant. Al Horford would also give Memphis more flexibility at the center spot and perhaps slightly lower the trade cost with his guaranteed $41.5 million over the next two seasons.
As for the Thunder, this would just be the latest part of their asset-accumulation process. Gilgeous-Alexander was a nice find, but OKC would hope this package turns into even more. Jackson and the two firsts are the headliners, but Jonas Valanciunas would be fine to keep or flip in a different deal, and Justise Winslow would essentially offer a free look at a 2015 top-10 pick.
Warriors Win Beal Sweepstakes, Wizards Start Over
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Golden State Warriors receive: Bradley Beal and Davis Bertans
Washington Wizards receive: Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, Eric Paschall, 2021 first-round pick (top-three protected, via Minnesota Timberwolves) and 2026 first-round pick
Stephen Curry just authored an all-timer, capturing the scoring crown and a bronze medal in the MVP race at age 33. The Warriors, who didn't have the bodies to cover the loss of Klay Thompson to a torn right Achilles, couldn't even turn Curry's brilliance into a postseason ticket and were bounced out of the play-in tournament.
Golden State cannot afford to waste another of Curry's prime years.
"When you're lucky enough to kind of fall into a player like that in my position, you owe it to them to try to win," Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said, per The Athletic's Anthony Slater. "Those people don't come along too often."
That quote indicates the Warriors have more in mind than hoping the 31-year-old Thompson can correct all the club's ills after he missed the past two seasons with injuries. Considering the trade assets they have on hand, they can swing for the fences.
If Bradley Beal finally wants out of Washington—or the Wizards decide dealing him is the only path to a successful rebuild—Golden State should start the bidding. It could end it, too, by putting several blue-chip assets on the table, and, in this exchange, also relieving the Wizards of the $49 million Davis Bertans will make over the next three seasons.
Curry, Beal (2020-21's second-best scorer) and Thompson could form the Association's top offense. Add Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Juan Toscano-Anderson and whomever else the Warriors can find this offseason, and they might also have a top-10 defense. That's enough not only to go championship chasing in 2021-22 but also to convince Beal to re-sign at season's end.
The Wizards, meanwhile, would recognize their asset pool is too shallow for things to work with Beal.
Here, they'd convert the scoring guard (and a high-priced shooting specialist) into two first-round picks (one lightly protected, one unprotected), last year's No. 2 pick (James Wiseman), 2014's No. 1 pick (Andrew Wiggins) and an offensive-minded sophomore big (Eric Paschall). That's the kind of haul that can lay the foundation for whatever Washington decides to build next.
Nuggets, Blazers Swap Star Guards
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Denver Nuggets receive: Damian Lillard
Portland Trail Blazers receive: Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
This season, Damian Lillard became only the seventh player to average 28 points and seven assists in multiple years. He and James Harden are the only ones to hit those marks and splash at least four three-pointers per game.
Nevertheless, the Trail Blazers were knocked out of the opening round for the fourth time in five seasons. A dejected Lillard could only tell reporters, "I don't know what a shakeup looks like or what changes will be made or could be made, but obviously as is, it wasn't good enough."
Nikola Jokic has been even more absurd. In the regular season, he became just the third player to average 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists while delivering Denver its first MVP. He has since pieced together just the fourth playoff stat line of at least 30 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
His Nuggets are down 3-0 in their second-round series with the Phoenix Suns, putting Jokic at risk of becoming just the fifth MVP to be swept in the postseason, per ESPN's Nick Friedell.
Lillard and Jokic appear individually capable of leading a championship charge, but their supporting casts may not be able to catch up. While it's worth noting the Nuggets are missing second option Jamal Murray (torn left ACL), it's also fair to point out he's never been an All-Star, let alone a difference-making superstar.
Lillard and Jokic both meet that standard, though, and they'd work magic together. Their pick-and-rolls and pick-and-pops would force defenses to constantly choose their own poison, and each could help weaponize the other—Jokic with his passing acumen, Lillard with his anywhere-across-half-court gravitational pull on defenders.
If Denver thinks it can win a title with Jokic as its best player but isn't convinced the right supporting cast is around him, it should swing for the fences. If Lillard decides he's done with the Blazers and forces his way out, the Nuggets should be at the ready to facilitate his departure.
And while the idea of Lillard's leaving is a doomsday scenario for Portland, this would offer an easy and exciting pivot to the next chapter. Murray and Porter have flashed All-Star ability, and Portland has ample resources to support them now (with CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and a potentially re-signed Norman Powell) and in the future (with Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little and a potentially re-signed Zach Collins).
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Stathead unless otherwise noted. Salary information via Basketball Insiders.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
