NBA Trade Rumors: Worst-Case Trade Scenario for Each Team
NBA trade rumors are piling up with the trade deadline only a few weeks away.
However, not every team will make a move while others may make the wrong one.
For some teams, making any sort of trade would be the worst-case scenario. For others, failing to upgrade an area/position of need or wasting away an asset—such as a valuable expiring contract—would be the worst thing they could do.
Here's a look at every team in the NBA and what could end up being the worst-case trade scenario for them.
Atlanta Hawks
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The Atlanta Hawks have a great trade asset in Jamal Crawford. He's still a very productive player and he provides instant offense.
Most importantly, Crawford has a $10.1 million expiring contract that makes him all the more enticing.
With all the money that the Hawks have invested in their core players, the chances of Crawford being signed to an extension are looking slim.
Crawford does play a vital role on the team, but the way the Hawks are currently constructed, they'll go no further than the second round in the playoffs.
Atlanta should explore the trade market to get a competent center or upgrade at the point guard position. Doing nothing with Crawford may end up being the worst-case trade scenario for the team.
Boston Celtics
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The worst-case trade scenario for the Boston Celtics would be to make a move.
Boston has developed strong chemistry this season and over the last couple of years, and making any sort of change could disrupt all of that.
The team has enough depth at each of their positions to withstand most injuries and they really have no reason to make any deal at this juncture. This is a championship-level squad and it should remain intact.
Charlotte Bobcats
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There was a rumored deal a few weeks back of the Charlotte Bobcats sending Gerald Wallace and D.J. Augustin to Portland for Andre Miller and Marcus Camby.
While it's not an awful trade, it's not great either.
Miller and Camby are over 30 while Wallace and Augustin are still young.
Now that Larry Brown is out of town and Paul Silas has a more uptempo offense in place, the Bobcats could make a second half push.
If Charlotte revisits this trade, they'll be in much worse shape.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls have a glaring hole at shooting guard and there are a number of feasible options they can go after.
Sitting idly by and leaving that gap in their lineup open could be costly come playoff time.
The Bulls have a couple of assets that they can combine to upgrade at the two-guard, but doing nothing could end up being the difference between a first or second round playoff knockout, and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Cleveland Cavaliers
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The Cleveland Cavaliers are by far the worst team in the NBA right now. It's really hard for things to get any worse for them.
Antawn Jamison—arguably the team's best player—has two years and nearly $29 million owed to him over the remainder of his contract.
There are surely a few teams out there close to being contenders or at least fringe playoff teams that could utilize him.
Cleveland needs to focus on rebuilding in the aftermath of 'The Decision' and Jamison still represents value as a trade asset. They should trade him now while he still shows the ability to be productive.
Dallas Mavericks
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In light of Caron Butler's season-ending knee injury, the Dallas Mavericks have lost a key contributor and their title aspirations are that much further away.
With Mark Cuban at the helm, the Mavericks are likely wheeling and dealing to upgrade their roster.
Sitting idly by and not making a move will hurt them down the stretch and in the playoffs.
Detroit Pistons
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Detroit has a ton of holes to fix and fill on their roster, but they need to get rid of some bloated contracts first.
If any sort of opportunity to trade away Richard Hamilton and his contract presents itself—for instance, the three-team deal involving Carmelo Anthony—the Pistons should not hesitate to make the move.
Hamilton has quickly turned into one of the least desirable contracts in the NBA. He not only eats into Detroit's cap space, but he is a distraction for the team and only adds to the logjam at shooting guard.
Denver Nuggets
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This is about as easy as it comes.
The Denver Nuggets need to trade Carmelo Anthony and they need to do it soon. The longer the team holds out, the more power they lose at the bargaining table.
It wouldn't get any worse than not trading Anthony at all. He's not happy in Denver and the chances of him staying there are slim to none at this point.
Anthony provides immense value on the trade market and many teams would kill to have him. Denver can move on and rebuild with the assets they are able to attain by trading him now.
Golden State Warriors
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There have been a number of teams making inquiries over the availability of Monta Ellis. The most prominent deal was an offer from the Memphis Grizzlies to send O.J. Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet in exchange for him.
The Golden State Warriors were smart to turn the Grizzlies down.
Ellis is a poor defender and he's really just a potent scorer, but the man can drop buckets.
He appears to have turned a corner in his life and career and there is still hope that Ellis can bring success to the Warriors.
Paired in the backcourt with Stephen Curry, the Warriors have one of the most explosive backcourt tandems in the NBA. Splitting them up would be a mistake.
Houston Rockets
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The Houston Rockets are sitting on Yao Ming's massive expiring contract and they would be wise to use it as an asset.
With nearly half of his contract covered by insurance, Ming is extremely enticing for teams looking for cap relief.
However, the Rockets allegedly have a very high asking price, which could derail any sort of progress on a trade. They need to ease up on the price tag and explore all options.
Indiana Pacers
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The Indiana Pacers have a number of valuable expiring contracts, but they haven't come up in any trade rumors thus far.
Mike Dunleavy, T.J. Ford, Jeff Foster and James Posey all come off the books and they all present a significant amount of cap relief.
The Pacers are fighting for the final two spots in the Eastern Conference playoff picture and they should be actively searching for trade partners to facilitate a deal that would land them some pieces to upgrade their roster.
Los Angeles Clippers
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Blake Griffin is untouchable and even the Clippers wouldn't be foolish enough to let him get away.
Los Angeles has an extremely promising young roster that could follow in the path of a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, the team needs to find a way to rid themselves of Baron Davis and Chris Kaman. Keeping those two around kills their cap space and they hinder the development of the young prospects on the team.
Los Angeles Lakers
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The Los Angeles Lakers don't really need to make any moves, even with their struggles this season.
Perhaps the worst thing the Lakers could do is to keep Ron Artest around. The problem, of course, is that he has a very undesirable contract.
Artest is no longer an elite defender, he can't score to save his life, he can be a distraction and he is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
Memphis Grizzlies
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The Memphis Grizzles have relegated O.J. Mayo to the bench and he has had trouble adjusting to the role.
Mayo has the ability to average 20-plus points a night and the Grizzlies are not utilizing him properly.
With all that money already invested in their core players, Mayo looks like he's expendable.
There are plenty of trade suitors that would love to have Mayo on their team and the Grizzlies could walk away with valuable assets if they traded him now instead of holding onto him.
Miami Heat
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Earlier in the season, I would have said that the worst-case trade scenario would have been to not trade Chris Bosh.
However, with the Miami Heat clicking on all cylinders, any sort of move could fracture that chemistry that they have strived to develop.
However, keeping Bosh is a double-edged sword.
Bosh has found his place within the team dynamic, but the Heat would be better off having a productive forward and center for the same price as Bosh.
Milwaukee Bucks
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The Milwaukee Bucks would be foolish to not use their most promising trade asset: The massive expiring contract of Michael Redd.
Redd has an $18.3 million contract that expires at the end of the season and there are plenty of teams that would love to get that sort of cap relief.
The Bucks need to inject some new life into their team to get them back on track to making the playoffs and Redd could very well be the trade chip that nets them a healthy return.
Minnesota Timberwolves
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The Minnesota Timberwolves found a franchise cornerstone in Kevin Love. Even entertaining the thought of trading him would be disastrous for the team.
However, if they keep losing the way they are now, they may not have a choice. Love expressed his frustrations and the possibility of playing elsewhere to Sports Illustrated just last week.
"We'll see what happens with what David Kahn and the front office want to do," Love said. "If it's right, it's right. If it's not, it's not. I could end up somewhere else. I just want to play for a team that wants to win at this point. At this point, I just want to win now."
New Orleans Hornets
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The New Orleans Hornets are the No. 6 seed in the western conference thanks to the strong play of Chris Paul.
Paul is neck-and-neck with Deron Williams for the mantle of best point guard in the NBA.
New Orleans got a serious scare this past summer when rumors of Paul being unhappy with the team and wanting out started to circulate.
His arrival in New Orleans saved the franchise and leaving it would doom them just the same.
New Jersey Nets
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It's very simple for the New Jersey Nets: Carmelo Anthony or bust.
There are a number of other trade scenarios the Nets could entertain, but the only feasible offer on the table is for Anthony right now.
The team needs a superstar to save the troubled franchise and Anthony could be the man to make them relevant again.
Losing out on Anthony would be devastating for the Nets after all their posturing and dealing in order to bring him over to the East.
New York Knicks
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The worst-case trade scenario for the New York Knicks would be to decimate their roster in order to obtain Carmelo Anthony.
The Denver Nuggets asking price would likely included Landry Fields, Wilson Chandler, a first-round draft pick and maybe even Danilo Gallinari. Anthony does not present anywhere near the amount of value those players do.
At best, Anthony would vault the Knicks into the fourth seed in the East, and possibly as high as the third seed.
However, the Knicks are on the right track and trading some of their most valuable assets for a marginal upgrade is not worth it.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have two valuable expiring contracts that they should look to trade immediately.
The first is Morris Peterson and his $6.64 million contract that comes off the books. He rarely, if ever gets minutes in the rotation and he's just rotting away on the bench.
The other is their center, Nenad Krstic. He may start, but he plays limited minutes and isn't all that effective. The Thunder already have a more than capable player in Serge Ibaka that can handle the starting duties.
If the Thunder don't feel confident enough in Ibaka, they can use their two expiring contracts—and other assets if necessary—to facilitate a deal to upgrade their lineup.
Orlando Magic
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Orlando's GM, Otis Smith, swung for the fences when he traded with the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards. He was criticized by some for the move, but it has clearly paid off.
The Orlando Magic are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. They have won their last nine games—with victories coming over the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks—and the team has developed near instant chemistry.
Making any more moves could derail all the progress they have made. The team is deep and they don't really need a whole lot of help.
Not trading for a capable backup center—as long as it doesn't cost them a valuable asset—would be the worst thing they could do.
Philadelphia 76ers
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The Philadelphia 76ers have picked up the pace after a slow start to the season, but they're far from being contenders.
Their biggest trade chip right now is their versatile swingman, Andre Iguodala.
As great as Iguodala is, it appears that his time in Philadelphia has come to an end. His presence in the starting lineup hinders the development of their prized young prospect—Evan Turner—and trading Iguodala now could net them some valuable assets.
If they can somehow package Elton Brand with Iguodala, the 76ers would have an even brighter future.
Phoenix Suns
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Fans of the Phoenix Suns will hate me for saying this, but the time has come for the team to trade away Steve Nash.
Nash is still playing at a high level and he's one of the top point guards in the league, but the team is not going to make any meaningful impact in the Western Conference.
If the Suns trade him now, they will get back a number of key assets that they can use to rebuild the franchise and get them back on track to competing in the West.
Portland Trail Blazers
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The worst thing the Portland Trail Blazers can do would be to trade anyone on the team not named Andre Miller.
Miller doesn't seem to fit very well in their system and coach Nate McMillan doesn't appear to have a lot of faith in him.
Miller is a savvy and productive veteran, and there are a number of teams that would love to have him on their roster. With a team option in place for next season, he makes for an enticing asset.
Sacramento Kings
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The Sacramento Kings have been awful this season, but there is still hope for the future.
There have been a number of inquiries over the availability of DeMarcus Cousins—the teams promising, but immature prospect—and entertaining any of them would be a bad move.
While Cousins has brought about his fair share of trouble, he is talented and he has immense potential. Giving up on him after a few spats with coach Paul Westphal would be a colossal mistake.
San Antonio Spurs
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The San Antonio Spurs are another team that has no need to make any moves. Trading away any of their current pieces could disrupt the chemistry they have developed.
San Antonio sits atop the Western Conference, and with the team playing the way that they are, they would be foolish to make any sort of drastic change.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Toronto Raptors
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The Toronto Raptors have a strong trade chip in Peja Stojakovic. He has a $15.3 million expiring contract and that sort of cap relief is a valuable asset that should be exploited.
Sitting on him and doing nothing helps no one.
Utah Jazz
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The Utah Jazz have a goldmine in Andrei Kirilenko. His $17.8 million expiring contract represents strong value on the trade market and the Jazz can use it to find an upgrade to their forward position.
Kirilenko is still an effective defender, but he's far from being elite. He does bring a lot of intangibles to the table, but nothing that cannot be replaced.
Washington Wizards
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The Washington Wizards have allegedly put Andray Blatche on the trade market after his late night scuffle with teammate JaVale McGee, but that would be a mistake.
Blatche is a talented and versatile forward that still has a bright future.
He has a relatively affordable contract and I doubt the Wizards get true fair value in any trade.
The Wizards would be better off keeping him rather than shipping him out.
