The NBA is in a weird area this time of year. Normally the momentum from the Finals carry us to the Draft, but after two decisive Golden State wins there may be a lull in between the two. Enter every sports fans’ favorite pastime: speculation. Who will my favorite team draft? What trade can be made to push further into contention or make a destination seem nicer for a potential free agent? Does my team have a snowball’s chance in hell of signing Kevin Durant?
Although nothing becomes official until after the July moratorium, the NBA hot stove is truly starting to heat up. Let’s take a look at some of the most bantered about trade possibilities surrounding the league’s top teams.
BULLS TRADE JIMMY BUTLER TO CELTICS FOR AVERY BRADLEY, JONAS JEREBKO, TERRY ROZIER, PICKS 3 & 16 IN 2016 DRAFT
There have been several amalgamations of this trade making the rounds, but this is the one that seems to carry the most weight. The Celtics have picks to burn and desperately hope they can lure Kevin Durant to Beantown this summer. Falling out of the top two in the lottery took the C’s out of the Brandon Ingram/Ben Simmons mix, so a trade started to make more sense regarding the #3 pick. A move for Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor was also discussed, but given his extracurricular activities earlier in the season in Boston, it probably wouldn’t be the best fit.
Butler has carried Chicago in the wake of Derrick Rose’s fade into injury obscurity, but he’s also clashed with head coach Fred Hoiberg on numerous occasions. A move to a team on the rise could be the ticket to reinvigorating one of the up and coming stars of the league. Doing it before the draft also allows the Celtics to avoid a trade kicker for Butler, a sum of a little over two million dead dollars over three years. Even if Durant doesn’t come with him, adding Butler to the fold would push Boston northwards in the Eastern Conference hierarchy.
For Chicago, the trade sends away their best player at the moment, but doesn’t completely send them spiraling into a “Baby Bulls 2.0” scenario. Bradley is one of the better perimeter defenders in the conference, and has shown that with decent minutes he can be an adequate offensive option as well. Jerebko and Rozier are role players at best, but would get better opportunities in Chicago after dealing with logjams at their respective positions in Boston. The draft picks are the key. The trade would give them three of the first 16 picks in this year’s draft. Chicago would love to get Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield to replace Butler and Michigan State’s Deyonta Davis for the soon departing Pau Gasol. The third pick could be used to facilitate another trade, or just further bolster a thin roster. I think both teams would come out pretty happy with the results on this one.
HAWKS TRADE JEFF TEAGUE TO 76ERS FOR NERLENS NOEL
Jeff Teague trade rumors are the Jason Voorhies of the NBA chatter community. The Hawks point guard, and his backup Dennis Schroeder for that matter, have been out the door in Atlanta for seemingly two years. The latest has him clearing out the big man logjam in Philadelphia. Former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie was equally, and oddly, criticized and praised for his rebuilding “process.” That trust was finally broken with his dismissal, but alas the 76ers have themselves a mess of a roster.
For the Sixers, it gives them a point guard for the first time since the trades of Michael Carter-Williams and Jrue Holiday. It also gives them the inside track on Teague come next summer, when the free agent pool is going to be a puddle. While giving up a cost effective rim protector like Noel is never easy, he would be just as poor a fit down low with Ben Simmons as he was with Jahlil Okafor. That pileup becomes even more massive if Dario Saric comes over as well. While it may not propel them directly back into the playoffs, it gives Philadelphia something resembling a team rather than just a stockpile of human assets.
For the Hawks it brings a saga to an end that has already gone on far too long. It has been rare to see an All-Star making less than $10 million a year be offered up in as many deals as Teague was over these past two years. He’ll be due a big pay bump next summer in unrestricted free agency, something that it is very clear Atlanta want no part of. Getting Noel for a free agent to be is quite the coup, especially if Al Horford is the next one packing up his things. However, Noel himself is a restricted free agent himself. Is he a player that Atlanta would be willing to pony up the requisite cash for? I’d offer up an answer, but the Atlanta Hawks organization isn’t one that you want to try to apply logic to if you plan on maintaining your sanity.
PACERS TRADE PAUL GEORGE & A FUTURE SECOND ROUND PICK TO MAGIC FOR VICTOR OLADIPO, NIKOLA VUCEVIC, & FUTURE FIRST ROUND PICK
This one is the most under the radar at the moment, but probably the most intriguing. The Pacers are in limbo right now. They aren’t good enough to consider themselves title challengers. However, they also aren’t bad enough to try to tank their way to a couple of lotteries worth of picks. One way to help shake themselves from this quandary would be to make a franchise altering deal. And the only deal that would bring enough change to the organization to steal headlines would be one of Paul George.
Indiana caused a big stir when they decided not to renew the contract of Frank Vogel. He’d done well with the club, but could never push them through to that next tier of success in the Eastern Conference. It didn’t take long for Vogel to find new employers, as Orlando snared him within several weeks. Now the rumors are swirling that Orlando wants to reunite him with his superstar player, but at a cost. George has the utmost respect for Vogel, even posting a touching Instagram message after his exit. But his lack of willingness to play power forward in a small ball lineup was one of the philosophical differences that made allowing Vogel to walk an easier choice for Larry Bird. In Orlando though, George would face no such task. Aaron Gordon and Dewayne Dedmon would be the down low guys, with Vucevic going the other way in the trade. Things would be cleaned up even more if Dwight Howard was to return, but that’s entirely another story for another day. George would give Orlando their best scorer since Tracy McGrady, and would immediately make them a better defensive team.
The Pacers wouldn’t be ravaged by this trade though. Adding Vucevic would help shoulder some of the burden being heaped on Myles Turner, the player they drafted last year who is being groomed as the next big thing in Pacers basketball. Oladipo would return home, he played college ball at Indiana, and would help solidify a perimeter game that lacked on both ends of the floor for the Pacers. The first round pick would be a caveat as well. If Orlando wouldn’t be able to get themselves out of the Eastern Conference doldrums right away, Indiana would get two starting NBA players plus a lottery pick. Another win/win from my perspective, but this trade has the least smoke, never mind a fire just yet.