NBA Trade Speculation: 10 Veterans Who Deserve To Be Dealt to a Contender

There are very few things more depressing in sports than a good veteran player coming so close to a championship in his career but never coming home with a ring.  We don't want to see guys end up like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone or John Stockton, but it happens, and it happens a lot.  There are only so many titles to go around.

Even worse is when a player who has had an excellent career spends his waning years on a team that has to struggle to make the playoffs with little to no chance of seriously making a run at a title.

Then there are some players out there that just need a new team to rejuvenate their careers or who could help for a season in a surge for a championship.

Interestingly enough, there aren't that many players out there in the NBA like that today.  Teams have gotten smarter (to a degree) and have found out that the players that stick around in the league for a long time and don't win a title are more motivated to do so.  Just look at what the Mavericks did this season.  They were faced with the challenge of younger, more talent-laden teams, but ultimately one of their biggest assets was their drive to win a championship before it got too late.

However, there are still those veteran players out there who are wallowing on a bad team and have a shot at helping a contender get a title.

10. Devin Harris

The Utah Jazz need to ship Devin Harris away more for themselves than they need to do it for him, but it needs to be done.

Harris has more or less been revealed as a phony for the one great season he had with the Nets followed by the past two disappointing seasons. 

The Jazz could have a very short rebuilding process, and they could use Devin Harris and his ability to score to lure in a contender who needs a point guard to get a draft pick or a good young player in return.

9. James Posey

James Posey has been slowly deteriorating over the past few years, but I think there is still some toothpaste left to be squeezed out of this tube.

He has a relatively ugly contract, so a team would have to be desperate to give him a shot, but if he could come back and just shoot some threes effectively he could be useful to a team.

His offense may have taken a big hit, but there is still some defense left to be had in Posey's game, and that's for sure.

He was once a lockdown defender, and if he can get his offense back to at least some degree then he could help many teams coming off the bench.

8. Andre Iguodala

Andre Iguodala is basically in the same position as Chris Kaman, although I think he can do more in terms of helping the young players on his team and leading by example.

One of the reasons the Sixers were able to make the playoffs last season is because Iguodala was able to instill a defensive-minded attitude in the rest of the team by becoming a defensive mastermind himself.

It's hard to say now whether he has done enough to get the idea in those guys' minds that defense is the most important aspect of the game or if he could still be a great leader for this team.

The only way to find out, really, is to have him step aside and see if the likes of Evan Turner, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams can take the team over.

7. Chris Kaman

Chris Kaman is an interesting case in the league right now.

He is blocking a young up-and-coming center, who may not be quite polished enough to be a full-fledged starter yet, but he is also not good enough to be a guy that takes the Clippers to the next level.

The most logical thing both sides could do is part ways so that the Clippers get a good young player in return who can help them more down the road than right now, and Kaman can help a team close to grabbing a title reach that next level as a good addition, rather than an integral piece of the rotation.

6. Elton Brand

The only beef that I have with Elton Brand over the past decade of basketball that he's played is the way that he left Los Angeles, as it seemed at the time like he was opting out so they could sign his good buddy Baron Davis, and then he skipped town for Philadelphia.

Still, even through injury problems and having to struggle with terrible Clippers teams over the course of the 2000s, Brand has worked to help his team win as well as he can, and has yet to come anywhere near a title.

Sending him to a contending team would give the Sixers some pieces for the future and it would greatly help a team out there looking to win a title.

5. Corey Maggette

There is definitely still something left in Corey Maggette's tank, it's just not going to do much for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Poor Maggette spent his prime on the Clippers, and when the team actually had a good season, he was down with injuries for most of the season.

Maggette has shown an innate ability to draw fouls and score efficiently as a small forward, and he would be able to help any contender who is looking for a guy who can get the most out of the touches he is given.

4. Rip Hamilton

Rip Hamilton has a ring, so he won't retire disappointed, but seeing him on the Pistons for the past two years as they wallowed in mediocrity has just been depressing.

There is no doubt that signing him to a big contract was a mistake, but the biggest mistake the Pistons made was foolishly rebuilding with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, otherwise re-signing Hamilton would have looked like a great move.

There is no question whatsoever that any of the teams that have a chance to win a title could benefit from Hamilton's presence, as I'm sure that as soon as he shows up on a team that even has a shot at making the playoffs that he'll be completely rejuvenated.

3. Andre Miller

At this point, if there ends up being an NBA season the Nuggets are officially screwed.

They have lost Wilson Chandler, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith to Chinese teams, and as the three most important players they were looking to re-sign, they are obviously huge losses.

This means that Andre Miller will now (presumably) be the backup point guard on a team that wins no more than a few dozen games, as there aren't many players out there that can come in and replace those three guys when the season does start back up.

Denver will have the money to go out and spend, but in all likelihood it won't get them much more than the seventh or eighth seed, and that's the sunniest of scenarios.

Meanwhile they'll have Andre Miller playing 25 minutes a game when he should be helping a team make a run at a title.

2. Ben Wallace

Just like Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace has the ring to retire and be happy with, but under contract for another season with the Pistons, he can't be very happy to spend his final days on a 25-win team, even if it is the city that he became famous in.

The Pistons could do him a favor by sending him to a contender that needs a center, and he could end up helping a team for another year or two before his bones get tired and he's ready to call it quits.

Hell, I'm sure they could start a bidding war between the Knicks, Heat and Celtics and get the most of what little they have to offer.

1. Steve Nash

You guys all knew it was coming down to Steve Nash, didn't you?  Good.

I know it hurts for Suns fans. Honestly, if I had Steve Nash as my point guard I would want him to play until he's old enough to order off the senior menu at Bob Evan's.

However, they need to do what's best for their team, and at this point what's best for their team seems to be what's best for Steve Nash.

The Suns are a team that are on a direct route toward mediocrity.  As soon as Nash retires or ends up signing with another team next summer (who knows what he may do at this point; he seems like he wants to come back to Phoenix), they'll have (presumably) Aaron Brooks take over the point, and my friends, Aaron Brooks is no Steve Nash.  He could become quite a good player, but no matter how much mentoring he gets he is a work in progress.

They need to flip Nash to a halfway-decent team, rope in a third-party team wallowing at the bottom of the league and get a likely lottery pick in the next few years.  Otherwise they are just hanging for dear life onto a dying era.

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