2021 NBA Trade Deadline

Trades that need to happen:

Who is going to trade for Eric Gordon?

Eric Gordon is having a great year for the Rockets, who have no incentive to win. His shooting numbers (50/44.5/74.5 FG/3PT/FT) are too good for contending teams to ignore. The Rockets’ two most talented players both play the same position as Eric Gordon. Despite their dire need for a playmaking point guard, this is a team that refuses to play John Wall. If we’re going to speak plainly, the Rockets aren’t interested in winning. Their roster is young and talented on the wing, but Eric Gordon has been too good not to play at the expense of some of the less consistent young guys. Cleveland, Minnesota, Philly, the Lakers, Boston, and Brooklyn could all use shooting and improved play from their benches. Eric Gordon is a rock solid player, a steady veteran who’s a proven scorer and a good shooter. He’s boasting the second highest three point percentage of his career, and is on a roster that leans towards letting the young guys play. Houston’s phone will be ringing for EG, and he would be an instant upgrade for any contending team looking for an offensive boost.

Indiana’s Jones

There’s been talk of breaking up the frontcourt of Turner and Sabonis for years, but it seemed to reach a boiling point this year when the team officially communicated they were open to trading either of the Bigs in addition to Caris LeVert. Or perhaps it was when Myles Turner said what everyone who’s seen a Pacers game was thinking in an article from the Athletic this December. The Pacers are using him as a role player. The team is a disaster. The wins have been hard to come by, and the games have been harder to watch. I’ll cite their more recent game against the Celtics as a prime example; the Pacers were awful in the clutch, they have the worst record in the league in close games, and they seemed miserable for all 48 minutes.

Charlotte would be a fun landing spot for Turner, they have a financial decision to make with PJ Washington who is a talented young player approaching a new contract. Maybe the deal involves Gordon Hayward who would welcome a return to Indiana after having his role in the offense diminished with the rise of Miles Bridges and Kelly Oubre’s levels of play. Turner would be a hand in glove fit with the Hornets, and a joy to watch alongside LaMelo. The Knicks might be a fun spot for either of Indy’s Bigs, or even as a spot for LeVert as long as it didn’t cost them Randle, RJ, or Quickley. They have the contracts to trade, but does Indy want to shake things up to get Evan Fournier and Nerleans Noel or Mitchell Robinson? Things might get trickier with Turner’s foot injury, and it may result in Sabonis or LeVert being moved instead, especially on the heels of allowing 158 points against the Hornets at home. Whatever happens, the Pacers require drastic measures to purge their demons moving into the second half of the year. Maybe even an exorcism.

Detroit: Become Decent

Reports are that the market for Jerami Grant hasn’t been what the Pistons expected so far but, make no mistake, there’s no good reason not to trade him. Detroit’s young talent is…good? Mostly. Bottom line, this team hasn’t been winning enough games for it to make sense to keep some of the higher paid vets around. It’s officially time to let the young guys play. The timeline of the Pistons’ young core is in favor of developing the youth, and it’s not like veteran players enjoy participating in a rebuild. Develop the young talent, ship some of the more established veteran players to places that need them and clear the way for Cade Cunningham and the youth movement.

I’ll get it out of the way early, the Lakers aren’t trading for Jerami Grant. The Pistons aren’t going to trade their most tradeable player and contract for a deal centered around Talen Horton-Tucker and some guys on minimum deals (it would most likely require trading Kendrick Nunn, who hasn’t played a game this year due to injury). Denver would love to have Grant back and, ironically, have a role of number two scorer open for Grant to fill this season until the return of Jamaal Murray. That seems like a pipe dream, and he would be relegated back to a third or fourth option upon the return from MPJ and Murray anyway. A situation he’s declined to return to already. The Pistons could also trade Kelly Olynyk or Trey Lyles who are both on good deals, and both having solid seasons as stretch bigs and veterans on Detroit’s young roster. Look for Grant to get interest from all manners of contenders, but don’t expect big moves from teams like Memphis, Golden State or Phoenix. Utah has been looking for a player like Jerami Grant since they decided on building around Mitchell and Gobert - look for them to be hungry for someone that is capable of creating offense and bringing mobility on defense. Indiana has been too messy this year to think of a move to upgrade like this now, and are most likely going to be sending players out at the deadline. The Mavericks could use Grant’s skillset but would need more from him as a rebounder, and with Grant’s extension looming they might not be looking forward to paying him big money moving forward.

Trades we want to happen:

Soul searching at the Crypt(o Arena)

Can the Lakers go back in time and accept that Buddy Hield for Kuzma and Harrell trade, instead of blowing the team up for Westbrook and a collection of NBA geriatrics? Not much to say about their trade options. This is a boring take, but I don’t think they’ll be able to make any moves. Why? Because they are $48 million dollars over the cap, and they don’t have easy to break up contracts (Russ, AD, LeBron combine for $120,753,050 on the cap this year per spotrac). The first round pick they have to trade is in 2027, which means planning to draft someone born in 2009, that’s not exactly a sure thing. Everyone else on the roster is on a veteran’s minimum contract except for Talen Horton-Tucker who is making nine million dollars this year. They could use some defense, and another shooter besides Malik Monk doing his best 2015 JR Smith impression . Firing Frank Vogel won’t fix their problems, and it’s worth considering they’ve been injury plagued all year. Maybe they can dump Russ to the floundering Knicks? There aren’t many avenues open for the Lakers to improve other than just playing better with who they have. Like it or not, there’s probably no plan B for Los Angeles.

The Celtics won’t trade Tatum or Brown, but something has got to change

The Celtics could really use a playmaking point guard. Schröder and Smart are just too aggressive to share a backcourt together. Schröder has been playing well for an inconsistent Celtics team, but his strengths don’t align with the team’s needs when looking at the roster as a whole. The best passer on the team is currently either Marcus Smart or Rob Williams (honorable mention to Al Horford), and the only natural pass first/playmakers on the roster are the two bigs. They could also use some shooting. The best two shooters on the team are Tatum (despite the outlier numbers this season) and Brown - who constantly have the ball in their hands. This takes a shooter out of the equation for when teams send double teams and the ball has to move to open players along the perimeter. Putting Smart on the ball more often changes that math drastically, but it also takes the ball out of your best players’ hands.

Their best possible trade target is an unselfish player that moves the ball and can shoot. Trading Hernangomez was a cap savvy move that freed up space for the Celtics should they make roster changes. Schröder for $6 million and one year is a great deal if a team is looking for scoring and quickness from the guard position. If I was Denver, looking to add some backcourt scoring without much cap room - I would be very interested in Dennis Schröder. If they consider that too short term a deal and would be hesitant to re-sign him, look for a team like Dallas to show interest this season or this off-season. If the Celtics could somehow get Jalen Brunson from Dallas in a deal with Schröder there would be fireworks over TD Garden. Tatum and Brown are both capable of being good passers because they are great players. I will admit, however, their playmaking is more inconsistent than the other aspects of their games.

Reality Check:

James Harden, World’s Richest Man

This is quick and it is simple. James Harden is in place to sign the richest contract in the history of the NBA, should he choose to stay in Brooklyn and sign the supermax extension. It would be the first time in history anyone has ever turned that down, I can’t imagine that is going to change (even if Brooklyn is a mess and Kyrie has actively sabotaged the Nets’ season).

Collins on the rocks

Apparently John Collins is available to be traded for from the Hawks. Over the last 3 seasons Collins is a 50/40/80 (FG/3PT/FT%) dunking machine, who averages around 18 points and 8 rebounds a game. He’s been unhappy with the struggles in Atlanta and there’s been comments from him voicing frustration over the offense that are all well founded. He’s too good for them to just look to dump him because he’s unhappy. It’s easier to just involve Collins more, and it’s an obvious solution. There might be too many cooks in the kitchen for the Hawks, but it would be disastrous to quit on John Collins simply because they aren’t involving him more.

sigh Ben Simmons corner:

The NBA’s Phantom Zone

Ben Simmons, Danny Green, and a lottery protected first round pick from the Sixers to the Kings –> DeAaron Fox, Buddy Hield to Philadelphia

• Being traded to Sacramento is the NBA equivalent of being banished to another dimension, but at least there would be no pressure on Simmons to have to deliver right away. Sacramento can’t level up if they’re looking to move Fox this year, but they can look for a long term fit for their group of solid young players. Simmons could play with the young guards remaining on the roster like Haliburton and Mitchell while filling a gap as a point forward next to Barnes and whichever Big is in the game. He still fits their timeline with young talent but gives them a defensive presence (and rebounder) they haven’t ever had. The Kings are parting with quality scorers in Hield and Fox, but they’d be acquiring a player who is objectively better as a passer and rebounder, and a defender. Danny Green can still shoot, and brings a good veteran presence to a young Kings team who could use some leadership and connectivity in its locker room. The first round pick won’t be in the lottery, but if packaged with contracts like Harrison Barnes or possibly another young disgruntled player like Marvin Bagley III? The Kings could be poised to move themselves into a great pick if they want to start over. This would be a soft relaunch of this roster with a new defensive first mentality and talented individual defenders. It could be just what the doctor ordered for the most downtrodden franchise in basketball.

• With Lillard’s core injury possibly sidelining him until after the All-Star break or beyond, Philly won’t be able to do better than this. The Sixers are painfully slow (pace of 96.13 ranks 5th slowest in the NBA). They could use some speed on the roster. They also need shooting, and they need someone next to Embiid who is capable of consistently handling his business when he’s doubled. Tobias Harris isn’t that guy, and neither is Seth Curry. Seth Curry has been phenomenal for them this year, posting career highs in nearly every statistical category. But he’s a role player. Tobias Harris continues to be the guy he has always been - good, but not quite good enough. De’Aaron Fox has the kind of talent to be that guy, and while his defensive potential is still mostly theoretical in the NBA, his scoring prowess is a certainty. His numbers may have dipped this year, but the Kings organization has been a disaster for two decades. With that level of historical incompetence, I have to believe Fox (or anyone who plays there) would do better literally anywhere else. Thybulle continues to be one of the premier perimeter defenders in the league, but his scoring (or lack thereof) is an achilles heel for this team as currently constructed. Hield is a lights out shooter who helps take the pressure off of everyone to space the floor. It would add a lethal inside out game, with teams frantically doubling Embiid only to have him find Curry or Hield open for three. As for the Tyrese Maxey fit, he’s shooting a better percentage from three than Danny Green this year on only one less attempt per game. With Fox and Maxey’s quickness off the dribble and the shooting of Curry and Hield or Harris around Embiid, this seems too tantalizing to not phone in if you’re Philedalphia.

This is the best year of Embiid’s career, and Philadelphia is wasting the prime of a generational big man on the ego of their GM. Embiid has never played more than 65 games in a regular season and asking him to carry the weight all season seems like a risky proposition at best. The Sixers could actually go to the Finals, because Joel Embiid could be the best player on the floor on any given night. If the stories about Philly wanting to wait the season out hoping for James Harden in free agency are true, then Darryl Morey just doesn’t get it. Not Trading Simmons yet isn’t a shrewd business decision, it’s Morey’s self-declaration of intellectual superiority over the league. He thinks he can talk people into thinking that inaction is actually action - and if we could only understand such a big idea, we would realize how smart it really is. He’s spitting on Sixers fans and telling them it’s raining. This isn’t about him, or how smart he will or won’t look depending on the returns of a trade. It’s about upgrading from nothing to something.

With the reports of Darryl Morey reaching out to teams trying to trade both Harris and Simmons, Sacramento is one of the only teams in the league capable of absorbing both player’s contracts. They also have players with nearly matching salaries to swap (Fox, Hield, Barnes). That being said, not even Tom Sawyer could talk somebody into painting that fence. Morey’s history as a GM is rich with moments of him believing he’s the smartest guy in the league, but to move two contracts totalling nearly $80 million a year ($177 million + incentives over 5 years for Simmons, $180 million over 5 years for Harris) for two underperforming players? That wouldn’t be a trade, it would be a miracle.

*References: Statmuse, nba.com and basketball reference