Evaluating the trade deadline's biggest questions
The most interesting dilemmas and storylines as the trade deadline approaches.
The NBA has already seen a few big trades, somewhat of a rarity at this point in the season. OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and Terry Rozier have been dealt. But there are still a few big names on the market, as well as the usual crop of role players floating around.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important storylines to follow.
Does anybody want Zach LaVine?
Right now, the answer seems to be no, at least at the Bulls’ asking price. LaVine makes more than $40 million every year until 2027 for sub-All Star production.
With that said, the Bulls are again a mediocre play-in team and DeMar DeRozan is in the last year of his contract. Keeping LaVine’s money on the books without an obvious path to contention wouldn’t seem to make sense.
The best case scenario for Chicago is a team getting desperate for LaVine’s scoring. It looked like Sacramento could be that team at one point, but the Kings have held steady over the past few weeks and need defense and size anyway.
The poor Pistons have been tossed around as a potential suitor due to their desire to avoid finishing with the worst record in history. Adding LaVine and his long-term money would make no sense for them, but taking advantage of the Pistons might be the best avenue for the Bulls at this point. Could they pry away Jaden Ivey somehow?
If a LaVine deal happens, and it’s looking less and less likely, the Bulls won’t end up with much of a return.
Do the Hawks have a plan?
Atlanta is the league’s most disappointing team. Their pairing of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray has failed, and they now linger on the edge of the Eastern Conference play-in race. Their defense is atrocious and the players don’t look all that happy playing together.
Something needs to change, and Murray is most often rumored to be on the way out. With a more malleable skillset (thanks to his better passing and theoretical defense) and a better contract, he’s certainly more valuable than LaVine. But recouping the three first-round picks the Hawks traded to get him will be difficult.
Murray, at this point, might be most gettable via a future first-round pick or two and salary-matching contracts. The Sixers could send out the expiring deals of Marcus Morris and Robert Covington. The Knicks could do a similar deal with Evan Fournier’s expiring. The Magic, in desperate need of a guard, have a couple of veteran contracts (Gary Harris, Joe Ingles). The Hawks should try to extract a good young player if they can. Quentin Grimes would be ideal if the Knicks decide to pursue this route.
The Lakers have long been a potential Murray destination, but understandably don’t want to include Austin Reaves — it would be too lateral of a move. The Hawks have no use for D’Angelo Russell, so a Lakers deal could come down to the Hawks finding a third team to take D’Lo.
An under-the-radar Hawks storyline: Clint Capela is looking more and more expendable. He’s losing his legs as a starting-level rim protector and has one year left on his deal. It would make sense to give young Onyeka Okongwu his chance as the full-time starter. Finding a suitor for Capela would be a nice bonus for Atlanta.
Who are the best role players on the market?
LaVine and Murray, barring a DeRozan deal, are the last two remaining All-Star types that could be dealt.
Bruce Brown and Malcolm Brogdon are the best two role guys who’ve been strongly rumored to be available. The Knicks make a ton of sense as suitors for either of them. That’s where Grimes, whose skillset is somewhat duplicitous in New York, comes into play as trade bait.
Otherwise, contenders with assets to play with are most likely going to mine Brooklyn, Washington, Utah, San Antonio, and potentially Detroit. The best available player on those four teams is Bojan Bogdanovic, a perfect secondary scorer and slick shooter, but the Pistons, as mentioned, are desperate to avoid infamy. It might be tough to pry away Bogdanovic.
Here are a few of my favorite targets on those teams:
Kelly Olynyk (Utah): A hand-in-glove stretch four or five with playoff experience and crafty passing. The Jazz are a solid team and Olynyk is important to them, but his expiring contract and value to contenders make him a trade candidate. The Thunder should be all over this. Golden State, New Orleans, and Sacramento could also be interesting fits.
Dorian Finney-Smith (Brooklyn): Three-and-D wing with size. Brooklyn doesn’t have its first-round pick this season, but have too many similar players and should recoup value for its quality players while it can. Dallas, go get him back! OKC, if they’re so inclined, can outbid.
Landry Shamet (Washington): Knockdown shooter who is quietly solid as a point of attack defender. (Remember his defense on Jamal Murray in last year’s playoffs with Phoenix?) I imagine Shamet could be had for a second round pick or two. He makes $10 million and his deal is non-guaranteed next year. Orlando, Miami, Dallas, and the Lakers could make sense.
Doug McDermott (San Antonio): Shooting 45% from three on high-volume, tough shots. He’s a movement shooter that bends the defense by sprinting around screens, and can finish at the rim. Anybody that can use 15 minutes of spacing off the bench should inquire — really, that’s everybody. What if the Clippers sent out PJ Tucker and Bones Hyland for him?
The shifting market for big wings
A few of the league’s playoff contenders have an established need for a wing with size and shooting. The Pacers and Knicks were two of those teams, and they solved their problems by getting Siakam and Anunoby. A handful of wing-needy contenders remain, but there aren’t many available players at this premium position.
The Warriors, Mavericks, Lakers, Kings, and Thunder are all, to varying degrees, on the market for wing help. (The Bucks and Suns qualify as well, but they have little to trade.) The problem is the scarcity of solid options at the position.
Finney-Smith might be the most gettable of this archetype. The Nets also have Royce O’Neale, who plays a similar role but is more of a guard defender. The Warriors in any deal would probably send out the disappointing Andrew Wiggins, but Golden State’s struggles and the lack of a market for Wiggins makes that sort of trade unlikely.
If the Hawks become a fire sale, De’Andre Hunter would be a candidate to be dealt. He could be an upgrade for some of the above teams, but he’s far from a catch-all solution the way Anunoby was — Hunter is not a wing stopper and can be inconsistent offensively.
The best wing on the market appears to be Charlotte’s Miles Bridges, a complicated asset to evaluate due to his pleading no contest to a felony domestic violence charge last year. He is a legitimate scorer and floor-spacer with size and would fit perfectly on any of these teams. (The Suns have been most often rumored.) But anybody trading for him would have to reconcile letting someone who has acted in such a troubling manner represent their organization.
Nearly everyone in Washington appears to be available, making Kyle Kuzma and his 22 points per game a potentially attractive option. In more of a bench role, there’s Deni Avdija, an intriguing wing defender. Portland seems to have taken Jerami Grant off the table.
Otherwise, it will be the buyout market that contenders will have to examine. Gordon Hayward and PJ Tucker could show up there. The contention prospects of a few of these teams could come down to whether they can upgrade this spot.