It’s that time of year again – NBA trading deadline
time. Here are a slew of talents that
are rumored to be on the move by next Thursday including potential suitors,
what the team should do with him and who they’ll likely get for him. Let’s get to it.
Josh Smith
Suitors: Nets,
Raptors, Lakers, Mavericks, Spurs
Dark Horse: Wizards
What Atlanta Should
Do: The Wizards should be a dark horse in a potential Josh Smith move. The team is over .500 since Wall has come
back and are missing a go to scorer to compliment Wall. The team has a slew of mediocre assets
including Seraphin, Vesley and even more mediocre in Booker and Crawford. The question really is what is Atlanta
looking for in an Atlanta deal? You have
to think they want a 5 to allow Horford to move to the 4 and assets couldn’t
hurt in return. With the assets
mentioned and two 5s on the roster, Washington does have the pieces to make it
happen and Smith would look nice long term in a Wizard uni. Management in DC is also sweating a bit and
GM Ernie G should get canned unless the team makes a bold move (yes desperation
is a factor here). Atlanta should seek a
deal surrounding Nene, top 3 protected 2013 pick and one of Vesley, Booker or
Singleton. They net nice long term
assets and get their dream of seeing what Horford can do at the 4.
What will likely
happen: While the Nets are acting
like they aren’t desperate. They are damn desperate. Mikhail Prokohov didn’t absorb the contracts
of Joe Johnson and shell out for Lopez/D-Will and Crash to even finish in the
second round. He seriously wants to see
the team in the Eastern Conference finals this season. He said so himself. Having said that, GM King’s ass is on the
line and he has already shown he is willing to move pieces and be aggressive
when any talent that could make sense on the roster is available. Humphries and Brooks shouldn’t be enough to
land Smith, but King will likely add Taylor in there along with multiple picks
and perhaps see if Wallace has any inkling of value on the open market. I could see a three way with Utah where
Wallace goes to Utah, Humphries, Brooks, Taylor, a 2015 1st rounder
from Brooklyn and the worse of Utah’s 1st round picks in 2013 (they
have theirs and likely Golden State’s) go to Atlanta, Josh Smith and Marvin
Williams go to Brooklyn.
Paul Milsap
Suitors: Celtics,
Knicks, Raptors, Cavaliers, Magic
Dark Horse: Nets
What Utah Should Do: The
Jazz have certainly missed the boat on dealing the Milsap/Jefferson tandem and
have waited until their values may not be lower due to their pending free
agency. Unfortunately for Utah, many GMs
don’t seem to value Milsap’s skills as much as yours truly (he’s freaking awesome!)
and don’t have the glut of wings to sacrifice one in a move for Milsap. At this
point in order to get a decent wing for their future such as Shumpert, Redick
or even DeRozan, the Jazz will need to take back a bad contract such as Al
Harrington, Andrea Bargnani or gasp…Amare Stoudemire. Those wings aren’t worth it. I’d rather deal
Big Al who has more value and actually look to retain Milsap in free agency and
move forward with a 3 big rotation along with Favors/Kanter. He’ll get more minutes as a result and with a
contract in place his value could only increase in time for next deadline.
What will likely
happen: I think Utah agrees to an extent with the above. They are trying to deal Big Al and they may
be hard pressed to get decent value for both bigs. Paul fits better long term with their young bigs. That’s not to say they won’t try real hard to
deal him, but will ultimately not be willing to take one of the aforementioned
albatross contracts to do so. If the
Nets are smart they stop their Smith chase and simply deal Hump and Brooks to
net Milsap.
Al Jefferson
Suitors: Spurs,
Pistons, Rockets
Dark Horse: Bucks
What Utah Should Do: The
Spurs have already been involved in a rumored Jefferson deal and seem willing
to deal Splitter in a move to get it done.
I think if your Utah you can involve Orlando in a 3 way deal and fairly
easily net JJ Redick and Al Harrington in such a move. Orlando would love Splitter long term and
fully anticipate either dealing JJ or letting him walk in free agency.
What will likely
happen: I think this deal honestly goes down. Fits all three teams quite nicely, Blair
could get involved as well.
Dwight Howard
Suitors: Nets
Dark Horse: Hawks
What Lakers Should
Do: While the Lakers may listen to some offers, it would be quite foolish
to deal Howard at this point especially with an injury to Gasol. The Nets are really the only team that is
confident he’d re-sign there following a trade and the best they could offer is
Brook Lopez and Marshon Brooks. That
return wouldn’t improve matters in LA by any means and while Lopez has looked
great this season, his lack of D and constant injuries need to be a concern
long term. Stand pat LA.
What will likely
happen: A lot of noise, probably dominates deadline talk and nothing
happens. Atlanta should at least see if
LA considers a Smith/Pachulia for Howard swap.
I mean why not? Smith is gone anyhow after the season and the team has
been running the same middle playoff seed, can’t get past the 2nd
round treadmill for what seems like forever.
If Howard comes back home and feels nostalgic maybe he and Horford are
enough to come out of the East. Can
Miami or anyone really compete with that front line in the East? Its very
unlikely, but Smith makes a ton of sense in LA with MDA…stranger things have
happened.
Eric Gordon
Suitors: Timberwolves,
Raptors, Suns
Dark Horse: Pistons
What New Orleans
Should Do: Stay put…please. Let this
core gel a bit. Gordon’s value has taken
a hit lately due to a recent series of injuries which may have GMs worrying if
he’s worth his price tag simply due to health concerns. The truth is the Hornets have hovered around
.500 since Gordon’s return and the core is too promising to break up at this
point.
What will likely
happen: I think some teams take
several stabs at him, including the Raptors offering Bargnani+DeRozan+future
pick, but ultimately he stays put.
Detroit would be wise to get involved at this bargain offer. A Drummond/Calderon expiring and 2013 pick
would be a hard offer not to accept if your New Orleans. Monroe/Gordon/Knight is mighty nice long term
in Detroit. Too bad it wont happen.
Kevin Garnett
Suitors: Clippers,
Spurs, Thunder
Dark Horse: Nets
What the Celts Should
Do: The Thunder really are the most sensible team in a potential Garnett
move. They have Jeremy Lamb, Eric Maynor
and Toronto’s 2013 pick they could potentially offer in a move. Plus such a move would mean old favorite
Kendrick Perkins likely comes back to Boston who is best buddies with Rondo. The Celts have been playing well of late, but
odds are they still don’t go beyond the 2nd round in the off-season
and do run a risk that KG retires at season’s end.
What will likely
happen: KG stays put. I know…it’s
getting boring all these guys are staying put.
I just don’t see a team offering more than the Clippers’ offer of
Bledsoe and short contracts. That’s not
enough to wet Ainge’s beak at the deadline.
Paul Pierce
Suitors: Nuggets, Clippers
Dark Horse: Warriors
What the Celts Should
Do: The only team that really could make sense is Denver, but is there
offer of Wilson Chandler and JaVale McGee enough? It might be, but that deal will be there most
likely on draft night, so why not make one last playoff push in Boston?
What will likely
happen: You really never know with Ainge, if Denver offered Chandler +
McGee for Pierce I could see Ainge doing such a deal. It all depends if the Celts deal KG. Boston either deals both KG and Pierce or
neither. Since it’d be hard to deal both
odds are he’s staying put, but I do believe both won’t be Celtics in 2014 (KG
either retires of gets dealt, Pierce gets traded to the Clippers).
Andrea Bargnani
Suitors: Bulls,
Lakers
Dark Horse: Nets,
Pistons
What the Raptors
Should Do: With Rudy Gay, DeMar DeRozan and Lowry in their backcourt, the
last thing this roster needs is more scorers.
Raptors have a lot of dependency on 4/5 Amir Johnson. There really isn’t anyone else on the roster
who can adequately rebound, defend the paint and give you more than 25 minutes
in the process. Toronto should seek
Humphries in such a deal who would fill in that role and be a better fit
considering their core.
What will likely
happen: I think Bargnani gets traded.
To where is really the biggest question right now. He may be the hardest player to predict where
he gets moved at the deadline. Rumors
have Chicago in the mix which may make sense if the Bulls want to save some
cap. Would a Bargnani/Fields for Gasol
deal be out of the realm of possibility?
I don’t think so. He makes the
most sense on the Lakers truth be told and who is more desperate than LAL right
now? For Toronto, their playoff hopes are
seeing less and less likely. I don’t
think Gasol’s injury is the biggest detriment in a trade. Toronto could start next season with a decent
chance at a top 4 seed if Gasol is healthy.
Where he goes it will be a surprising deal, but he will get moved.
Iman Shumpert
Suitors: Suns,
Bucks, Jazz
Dark Horse: Magic
What the Knicks
Should Do: Phoenix seems to want Shump fairly badly as he would be a nice
fit long term in Hunter’s defensive system (can you have a system after 2
weeks?). The Suns are underrating
defensive guru and efficient spacing wing Jared Dudley and may be willing to
attached a top 3 protected 2013 pick along with him in a deal. If your NYK, make the deal because Dudley
actually makes more sense with the current roster and odds are Glen Grunwald
will net a player with eventual higher market value than Shump with a top 10
pick in 2013.
What will likely
happen: Glen is one of the more underrated GMs in the league. He has made some brilliant under the radar
signings in the off-season and it would not surprise me if he cashes in on
Shump’s value while it is this high. I
do believe either the aforementioned Phoenix deal, or perhaps a Utah deal to
net Milsap is not out of the realm of possibility for New York.
No comments:
Post a Comment