1 New Trade Idea for Every NBA Team
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Welcome to the least wonderful time of the NBA calendar.
Free agency has slowed to a halt. The same three marquee players are dominating trade talk. Two of those players are holding us hostage. Reports and rumors have become repetitive—echoes of an echo. The pomp and promise of summer-league play is wearing off.
Let’s liven things up a bit, shall we?
Nothing gets the ol’ heart rate going like a fresh batch of trade ideas. This time around, Bleacher Report NBA staff writers Grant Hughes and Dan Favale are attempting to plumb previously unexplored or seldomly traveled paths.
Some of the usual names will be sent exactly where you’d think. In these cases, though, we’ll be sprucing up or totally overhauling the most talked about packages. Beyond that, we’re looking to come up with targets and fits and deals on which the masses have not already burned endless amounts of brainpower.
Atlanta Hawks
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Atlanta Hawks Receive: Reggie Bullock, Pascal Siakam
San Antonio Spurs Receive: Clint Capela
Toronto Raptors Receive: Kobe Bufkin, Devonte’ Graham, De’Andre Hunter, Sacramento’s 2024 first-round pick (lottery protection), 2025 first-round pick (less favorable of Atlanta’s, Chicago’s and San Antonio’s, with top-10 protection, via the Spurs)
The Hawks are among the teams most aggressively pursuing Siakam, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer. Their chase has so far proved fruitless, and Dejounte Murray’s extension makes it harder, removing him entirely from the table.
Hunter and Bufkin are “well, duh” inclusions. The Raptors just lost an All-Star-caliber guard in Fred VanVleet and need backcourt scoring, shooting and defense. Bufkin can check at least two of those boxes. Hunter is critical for salary-matching purposes yet keeps in theme with Toronto’s combo-wing motif.
Finding a third team that values Capela feels like the defining aspect of prospective negotiations—unless Atlanta wants to fork over Bogdan Bogdanović. The Spurs can afford to take on the final two years and $42.9 million of his deal and could stand to bring in another serviceable big who spares Victor Wembanyama from as many center responsibilities as possible.
Whether San Antonio would surrender a first at this stage of the rebuild is debatable. But this pick profiles as lower level, and the Spurs are getting out of Graham’s partial guarantee for 2024-25 and actually increasing their current cap space. They can yank Bullock from the table if they’d rather keep him.
Toronto walks away with Bufkin, Hunter and two first-round picks—a worthwhile package for contract-year Siakam, and one that jibes with the organization’s caught-between-rebuilding-and-competing direction.
—Favale
Boston Celtics
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Boston Celtics Receive: Damian Lillard
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, Payton Pritchard, Robert Williams III, Golden State’s 2024 first-round pick (top-four protection), 2025 first-round pick (unprotected), 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), 2029 first-round pick (top-five protection)
Five-for-one deals are rare. The Blazers and Celtics may need to rope in third and fourth teams to facilitate. But offseason roster flexibility allows Portland to accept this offer and figure out the rest later.
Getting four first-rounders and RW3 for an aging star who wants out anyway is a bold-text winfor the Blazers. And they may be able to get something, anything, for Brogdon, Pritchard or Hauser down the line. Failing that, taking fliers on Hauser (shooting) and Pritchard (ball-handling, playmaking) jells with Portland’s rebuild. General manager Joe Cronin can try extracting swaps on top of these firsts from the Celtics, too.
Boston is going nuclear here. It just acquired and extended Kristaps Porziņģis. Jaylen Brown will probably sign a massive extension soon. Jayson Tatum’s next contract is creeping up. Committing $208.1 million over the next four years to Lillard is potentially back-breaking.
The Celtics shouldn’t care. Their timeline is now, and Lillard’s passing and off-the-bounce shot-making are exactly what the offense needs. A core headlined by him, Brown, Porziņģis, Tatum, Al Horford and Derrick White isn’t just a contender. It’s a possible title favorite.
—Favale
Brooklyn Nets
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Brooklyn Nets Receive: Tre Mann
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: Dallas’ 2027 second-round pick
Re-signing Cam Johnson suggests the Nets remain interested in staying relevant now. The rest of their offseason, though, implies that they’re in wait-and-see mode.
Going for Damian Lillard, Pascal Siakam, Zach LaVine or another marquee target is tempting—and feasible. Brooklyn needs more information on this core and the Eastern Conference landscape first.
Scooping up Mann reflects the existential limbo in which the Nets find themselves. He is expendable to the Thunder, who have officially buried him on the depth chart behind, at minimum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace. But Mann’s off-the-bounce shiftiness and shot-making will have value to another team that needs help at the point of attack.
Forking over a distant second-rounder is a worthwhile price of admission to the Tre Mann Experiment. Especially after his summer-league performance. The Nets needn’t give up anyone to make the math work. They can take Mann into part of the Kyrie Irving trade exception, and a one-for-none deal should intrigue Oklahoma City, which is drowning in guaranteed contracts at the moment.
—Favale
Charlotte Hornets
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Charlotte Hornets Receive: T.J. McConnell
Indiana Pacers Receive: Cody Martin
I tried cobbling together a splashier move for the Hornets. I really did. But they can’t guarantee a first-round pick until 2026, and frankly, they need to better understand what they have in the nucleus of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, P.J. Washington (still unsigned) and Miles Bridges, who must serve the balance of a 30-game suspension after pleading no contest to a felony domestic violence charge.
For now, Charlotte is better off upgrading its second-unit ball-handling and playmaking. Dennis Smith Jr. shuffled off to Brooklyn, and staggering Terry Rozier to use him as a primary setup man stretches his skill set too far.
Martin can capably handle some of those reps. McConnell can handle even more of them. The Hornets lose a little theoretical spacing, but they juice their decision-making and defensive ball pressure.
Indiana has virtually no use for McConnell with Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Bruce Brown and Andrew Nembhard all in the fold. Martin is coming off a down year amid knee and ankle issues, but he’s the NBA’s version of a five-tool player—someone who can be moved up and down the functional spectrum at both ends of the floor.
—Favale
Chicago Bulls
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Chicago Bulls Receive: Royce O’Neale
Brooklyn Nets Receive: 2026 second-round pick, 2027 second-round pick
The Bulls were granted a $10.2 million disabled player exception for Lonzo Ball that they can use to sign a player for one season or acquire someone on an expiring contract. The smart money is on them holding on to it. They are, after all, notoriously stingy.
And yet, Chicago just showed, again, that it intends to maximize the middling window and ceiling of this core. Using the DPE should be an obligation.
Fans will clamor for another playmaker to glitz up what was a mediocre offense last season. The Bulls can still get enough of that from the committee of Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Coby White.
Adding a complementary shooter who can guard three, sometimes four, positions is an equally big deal. For as much as O’Neale has regressed from his Utah heyday, he continues to fill that role.
Will two second-rounders be enough to pry him from a Brooklyn team that already ducked the tax? Debatable. But the Nets still have wings to spare and might appreciate generating another $9-plus million traded player exception.
—Favale
Cleveland Cavaliers
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Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Royce O’Neale
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Ricky Rubio, Los Angeles Lakers’ 2026 second-round pick, Denver Nuggets’ 2027 second-round pick
Landing Max Strus and Georges Niang in free agency improved the Cavaliers’ offensive spacing a great deal. That doesn’t give them a license to sit still.
Neither Strus nor Niang holds a candle to Isaac Okoro’s defense. Okoro, conversely, doesn’t come close to matching their outside utility. Strus comes closest to actualizing two-way criteria. He’s not quite there.
O’Neale has carved out an entire career hitting enough of the three-and-D notes to enamor the hell out of Cleveland. He isn’t especially big, at 6’6″, but he can still rumble with some power wings.
Jettisoning Rubio does hollow out the Cavs’ backup-playmaking armory. They’ll get over it. They can more dramatically stagger Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, and Caris LeVert adds enough ball-handling and tertiary creation to run some bench-heavy units—provided he’s afforded adequate runway in the half court.
Brooklyn could demand more for O’Neale since Rubio has another year left on his deal. But the latter brings some needed passing, guile and defensive chutzpah at the 1. If nothing else, this package is a good starting point.
—Favale
Dallas Mavericks
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The Trade: Dallas Mavericks acquire Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls for Jaden Hardy, JaVale McGee and a 2025 second-round pick.
That the Mavs couldn’t land Matisse Thybulle, whom they badly needed and who, according to B/R’s Chris Haynes on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast, “desperately” wanted to play for them, says everything about the mess that is restricted free agency.
Dallas can’t waste time lamenting the Portland Trail Blazers’ decision to match its three-year, $33 million offer sheet. The hunt for a defensive disruptor on the wing must continue.
Here, we send Caruso, an even better defender, to Dallas. Maybe this’ll offset the pain of losing Thybulle.
Though Caruso is nominally a point guard, he’s capable of checking lead ball-handlers and wings alike. Case in point: Caruso spent more time matched up with the 6’3″ (on a good day) Donovan Mitchell last year than he did against anyone else. But the 6’8″ Jayson Tatum sits fourth on that same list. Whether taking the tough assignment to spare Kyrie Irving or Luka Dončić, Caruso, No. 1 in defensive estimated plus/minus last season, is up for it.
This deal hinges on the Bulls finally angling for a rebuild and prizing Hardy, who just turned 22 and averaged 21.4 points per 36 minutes on 40.4 percent shooting from deep last season.
—Hughes
Denver Nuggets
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The Trade: Denver Nuggets acquire T.J. McConnell from the Indiana Pacers for Reggie Jackson, Zeke Nnaji and a 2025 second-round pick.
The Nuggets and Pacers did some business on draft night, with Denver snagging the No. 29 and No. 32 picks from Indy for the least favorable of its two 2024 first-rounders and the No. 40 pick. So maybe the Nuggets can just hit redial and see if the Pacers are interested in another swap.
This one would land McConnell in Denver as a replacement for Bruce Brown Jr., who played most of his minutes as a backup point guard but, coincidentally, signed a two-year deal with these very same Pacers in free agency. One would assume Brown will get reps on the ball when Tyrese Haliburton rests, which may make McConnell expendable.
Denver could benefit from a pure point guard like McConnell in the second unit. Though he’s nothing close to a star, McConnell takes care of the ball, pushes the pace and defends with great tenacity. That’s all the Nuggets need from Brown’s replacement, and it’s more than they’ll get from Reggie Jackson, whom they surprisingly re-signed on a two-year deal.
Maybe the idea with Jackson was to preserve a decent-sized salary slot for a trade like this all along.
For this deal to have a chance, Indiana would have to be intrigued by Nnaji’s upside as a frontcourt spacer. Considering he’s hit 38.2 percent of his triples across three seasons, that’s not out of the question. Add a second-rounder as sweetener, and maybe this one gets over the finish line.
—Hughes
Detroit Pistons
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Detroit Pistons Receive: Reggie Bullock
San Antonio Spurs Receive: Marvin Bagley III, 2024 second-round pick (most favorable from Memphis or Washington, via Detroit), 2026 second-round pick (most favorable from Minnesota or New York, via Detroit)
Kudos to the Pistons for injecting more shooting (among other things) into their rotation with the additions of Joe Harris and Monte Morris. They should keep going.
Bullock can be all over the place on offense, but he’s a career 38.4 percent three-point shooter who provides real volume and gives Detroit even more paths to three- and four-out lineups. His defense, meanwhile, scales to both guard spots as well as some wings, and he’s still able to tackle higher-usage assignments.
Subbing out Bagley’s deal for Bullock’s expiring contract also drums up more flexibility ahead of next summer. Two seconds should be enough for the Spurs to eat the extra year. Bagley’s contract is, for now, a net negative, but he’s earning less than non-taxpayer mid-level money.
If the Pistons need to sweeten the pot, an Alec Burks-for-Bullock swap makes comparable sense. They are set on ball-dominant players with Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Killian Hayes, and Bullock promises more defensive malleability.
—Favale
Golden State Warriors
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The Trade:* Golden State Warriors acquire Paul George from the L.A. Clippers for Chris Paul, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and top-10 protected first-round picks in 2026 and 2028.
If the Warriors can’t get back-channel assurances that George will re-sign with them in the summer of 2024 when he likely opts out of his deal, this offer needs to be trimmed back substantially. But assuming George would be more than a rental, the Dubs can easily justify giving up two of their only remaining young pieces and picks along with Paul.
Though CP3 should curb the turnover issues that have plagued Golden State, it’s up for debate whether he makes sense in the closing lineup. No such uncertainty would exist with George, who’d slot in next to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green in what would easily be the league’s most dangerous five-man unit.
Of course, the Clippers’ willingness to consider such a deal would depend on their own intel and feelings on George’s next contract. If they’re not keen on spending big to keep him, it would make sense to flip him for the cap relief Paul’s non-guaranteed 2024-25 salary brings, plus all the other assets Golden State is shoving across the table.
*This is a monster deal between two second-apron teams, which means Golden State also has to cut $4.9 million in salary and wait until the aggregation restriction on trading Paul expires in September. Still fun, though, right?
—Hughes
Houston Rockets
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The Trade: Houston Rockets acquire Chris Boucher from the Toronto Raptors for Kevin Porter Jr., a 2024 second-round pick (via BKN) and a 2024 second-round pick (via OKC).
The Toronto Raptors lost Fred VanVleet and underwhelmingly replaced him with Dennis Schröder. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets couldn’t throw enough cash at Brook Lopez to lure him from the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency.
This deal gives the Raptors an upside play at the point, while the Rockets get a “Lopez Lite” (OK, very lite) shot-blocker who can hit a three. Porter’s deal comes with partial and non-guarantees from now until its expiration in 2027. If KPJ has the same issues with ball security and maturity he endured with Houston, the Raptors can cut bait in a year while keeping two second-rounders for their trouble. The rosier outlook would see Porter, still just 23 and coming off averages of 19.2 points, 5.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds, blossom.
Boucher would give Houston dimensions it lacks on both ends, and one would think he’s less important to Toronto with Jakob Poeltl officially inked for $80 million over the next four years. A similar positional crunch makes moving Porter easy for the Rockets. He’s going to slip down the pecking order with FVV on board, not to mention Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün needing time as primary playmakers.
—Hughes
Indiana Pacers
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Indiana Pacers Receive: Pascal Siakam
Toronto Raptors Receive: Buddy Hield, T.J. McConnell, Jarace Walker, 2024 first-round pick (top-four protection), 2026 first-round pick (top-eight protection)
Indiana has “reached out” to the Raptors about a Siakam trade, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. Even making the call feels out of character for the Pacers. Actually ponying up the assets necessary to get him would be genuinely shocking.
And also sensible.
Pacers fans don’t seem to agree. Mr. Hughes and I went deeper on this subject and framework for a Hardwood Knocks segment. The response was overwhelmingly negative.
It shouldn’t be. The Pacers are no longer operating on some ultra-long-term timeline. They just gave Tyrese Haliburton a max extension. That ups the ante at least a little bit.
Indiana’s roster is also built to maximize Siakam. He gets to play alongside a floor-spacing 5 in Myles Turner, can soak up some spot center reps and has plenty of room to attack on-ball yet doesn’t need to drive the entire show. Giving up Jarace Walker, the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft, and two protected firsts is a reasonable price to pay for an All-NBA-type talent who, despite what naysayers think, vaults the Pacers into a different stratosphere.
Toronto should be all aboard this train if it’s serious about moving Siakam. Walker is a defensive monster with four years left on his rookie scale, and bagging what amounts to three first-rounders for someone approaching free agency is a great alternative to losing him for nothing. (See: VanVleet, Fred.)
—Favale
Los Angeles Clippers
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The Trade: L.A. Clippers acquire DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls for Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Amir Coffey and a 2028 first-round pick (protected 1-4).
We’ve spent the better part of two years wringing our hands over the Clippers’ lack of a backcourt playmaker. They’ve long needed one of those to ease the shot-creation load on Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. But who says that job has to go to a conventional point guard?
DeRozan has averaged over 5.0 assists per game in five of his last six seasons (a streak interrupted by a 4.9-per-game figure in 2021-22), and his ability to pull in help defenders as he gets into his mid-range bag serves the same purpose as a standard pick-and-roll point guard. DeRozan would get highly exploitable matchups with teams using their toughest defenders on George and Leonard, and he could easily operate as a facilitator or overpowering on-on-one scorer.
Either way, the Clips get a ton of offensive creation.
If Chicago wants to extract some value for DeRozan’s expiring contract before potentially losing him for nothing, this is a solid return. Powell is under contract for two more years after this one and could easily be flipped for another first-rounder, and Covington’s money comes off the books next summer. Coffey and an intriguing 2028 pick that could pay off if the Clips crater in the second half of this decade should be enough to get this done.
—Hughes
Los Angeles Lakers
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Los Angeles Lakers acquire*: Buddy Hield, Daniel Theis, 2026 second-round pick (UTA via MEM)
Indiana Pacers acquire: John Collins, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jalen Hood-Schifino
Utah Jazz acquire: D’Angelo Russell, 2025 second-round pick (IND via MIA)
It took a third team to get Buddy Hield and his career 40.2 percent long-range knockdown clip to the Lakers, but we managed to seal the deal. Defensively, L.A. is going to be elite as long as Anthony Davis is anchoring the middle, but it ranked just 16th on offense with its remade post-deadline roster last year. Hield is a five-alarm fire off the ball who’ll occupy defenders and add a totally new dimension to the Lakers’ attack.
That makes him worth the price here, which includes newly re-signed Russell, Vanderbilt and rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino. Plus, Theis gives the Lakers a true backup 5 with substantial playoff experience.
Russell gives the Jazz the pure point guard they don’t have, but probably only for a year before D-Lo exercises his early termination option. That’s not the worst thing in the world, as it could open up more cap space and allows the Jazz to move off the remaining three seasons on Collins’ deal.
Indy gets two power forwards who’d make for intriguing fits alongside Myles Turner and relieves its backcourt logjam, plus a hometown Hoosier product in Hood-Schifino.
*This three-teamer comes with tons of time restrictions because it involves recently re-signed players and rookies. Bottom line: This can’t happen until Oct. 5, when Russell is three months removed from signing his deal with the Lakers.
—Hughes
Memphis Grizzlies
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The Trade: Memphis Grizzlies acquire Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors for Luke Kennard, Brandon Clarke, Ziaire Williams, 2024 first-round pick (via GSW), 2025 unprotected first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick (top-8 protected), 2028 first-round pick swap.
It’s time for the Grizzlies to cash in their chips for a difference-maker, and Pascal Siakam is the best fit for that purpose among big names that are realistically available.
Try to argue with a straight face that you’re not interested in what a lineup of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Siakam and Jaren Jackson Jr. could do.
Defensively, this group would be monstrous in Memphis. With length and athleticism abound, the Grizz would have multiple grab-and-go threats to push the pace off misses—always a key for a half-court offense that consistently underwhelms.
Perhaps shooting would be a concern, as Siakam has only hit better than 36.0 percent of his treys in one of his seven seasons. But Jackson’s unique ability to space the floor as a center and Bane’s best-in-class accuracy from deep should keep defenses from completely clogging the lane.
Siakam would have to relax his stance on re-signing or extending with a new team, and Toronto would have to be motivated by a desire to avoid losing him for nothing in 2024 free agency to get this deal done. But if the Raptors want to avoid Siakam following Fred VanVleet out the door with nothing coming in return, three firsts and a swap to go along with a trio of rotation pieces on team-friendly contracts is nothing to sneeze at.
—Hughes
Miami Heat
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Miami Heat Receive: Lauri Markkanen
Utah Jazz Receive: Jaime Jaquez Jr., Duncan Robinson, 2024 first-round pick* (top-one protection), 2028 first-round pick (top-three protection)
(*Miami must renegotiate protections on 2025 obligation to Oklahoma City so it conveys in 2026.)
Where’s the Damian Lillard trade package? Literally everywhere else. The goal of this exercise is to travel off the beaten path, even if only slightly. The Dame-to-Miami scenarios have been covered to the galaxy’s end and back again.
Markkanen is an out-there target. The Jazz haven’t given any inclination they’d move him. That tracks. He is only 26, just earned an All-Star selection and has two years left on his deal at the bargain rate of $35.3 million.
There is still value in exploring sell-high scenarios. Utah is building for years down the line, not just the next two or three. Snagging what amounts to three first-rounders should at least get Team CEO Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik talking among themselves—particularly when one of the picks (presumably) extends past the windows of Jimmy Butler and Heat president/resident mastermind Pat Riley.
Miami would no doubt prefer an off-the-dribble advantage creator, but Markkanen is a home run acquisition. He can fill the frontcourt spot next to Bam Adebayo or absorb minutes at the 3, and his offense is a unique hybrid of one part self-sustaining, two parts play-finishing around his surroundings.
Three firsts is a huge price to pay, but Markkanen’s worth it. The Heat are also keeping Tyler Herro and getting out of Robinson’s deal (three years, $57.5 million)—which doesn’t look so bad this side of the 2023 playoffs but is also miles from asset territory.
—Favale
Milwaukee Bucks
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Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Bogdan Bogdanović
Atlanta Hawks Receive: Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, 2029 first-round pick (top-five protection)
The Bucks have quietly pieced together a really encouraging offseason. Retaining Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez was expensive but didn’t tether the organization to any long-term unease, and both Malik Beasley and Jae Crowder loom as two of the better minimum signings of the summer.
This roster nevertheless needs a little more than slight tweaking. More specifically, it needs another infusion of functional shooting and secondary to bail-out creation.
Bogdanović represents both—in a big way. He canned 43.2 percent of his off-the-dribble triples last year. Among 75 players to attempt as many pull-up threes, only Malcolm Brogdon, Stephen Curry and Buddy Hield drilled theirs at a higher clip.
Granted, Bogdanović’s four-year, $68 million extension leaks past the two-to-three-season window in which Milwaukee is operating. But it doesn’t shatter the piggy bank. Coughing up a 2029 first-rounder is steep, and the Bucks need to trust that both Crowder and MarJon Beauchamp are ready for regular minutes if they’re unloading Allen and Connaughton. When it comes down to it, though, this is the type of acquisition that can take Milwaukee from the inner circle of title contention to the standalone-top of the championship pyramid.
Atlanta’s end of this deal is tougher to understand at first glance. But after cutting long-term costs with the John Collins trade, it jacked ’em back up with the Dejounte Murray extension. The front office might prefer the flexibility of two smaller and shorter contracts attached to a distant first.
—Favale
Minnesota Timberwolves
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The Trade: Minnesota Timberwolves acquire Amen Thompson, Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, 2024 first-round pick (via BKN), 2026 first-round pick (via BKN) from the Houston Rockets for Karl-Anthony Towns.
The wisest course is probably for the Wolves to see what Towns and Rudy Gobert look like over a full season. Those two only appeared in 27 regular-season games together last year, which isn’t enough of a sample to judge what everyone agrees is at least a tricky pairing.
However, B/R’s Eric Pincus reported in June that “competing executives think Karl-Anthony Towns will be long gone ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.” So we at least need to explore the idea of moving KAT and his supermax contract.
This trade lands him in Houston for a package headlined by No. 4 pick Amen Thompson (who can’t be traded until Aug. 2, 30 days after he signed with the Rockets). We’ll detail the package more in a moment, but everyone should want to see Thompson and Anthony Edwards immediately become the most highlight-heavy guard duo in the league.
Towns’ contract makes everything complicated. He’s got a four-year, $224 million extension coming that doesn’t even start until 2024-25, and it is a legitimate question whether that deal makes him a negative-value asset. Thompson and two of the Brooklyn firsts Houston controls might actually be an overpay, depending on how you feel about Towns and the mountain of money he’s owed.
Houston threw cash around like it was nothing in free agency, and it chased a much older floor-stretching center in Brook Lopez. Towns doesn’t bring the defense Lopez would have, but he scares opponents with much higher-volume and more accurate three-point shooting.
—Hughes
New Orleans Pelicans
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The Trade*: New Orleans Pelicans acquire Clint Capela and a 2024 second-round pick (via MIA) from the Atlanta Hawks for Jonas Valančiūnas.
On draft night, Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin told reporters his team was still “looking for rim protection.” We’re giving them some in the form of Capela, who held opponents to a 58.9 percent conversion rate inside six feet last year, a significantly better figure than the 65.3 percent Jonas Valančiūnas permitted.
Onyeka Okongwu is the heir apparent at center in Atlanta, so swapping out Capela, who has two years left on his deal, for Valančiūnas, who comes off the books next summer, is a logical move. The Hawks save roughly $5 million this season and another $22.3 million in 2024-25.
Dejounte Murray’s extension will kick in a year from now, and Okongwu and Saddiq Bey will also hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2024 if they don’t get extensions ahead of time. Notoriously averse to paying the tax, the Hawks get some badly needed savings here.
Because Capela comes with the extra year, Atlanta is sweetening the pot with a second-rounder from Miami. That’s more than fair for around $27 million in savings over the next two years.
*New Orleans needs to trim $3.6 million in salary to make this deal legal.
—Hughes
New York Knicks
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New York Knicks Receive: O.G. Anunoby
Toronto Raptors Receive: Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, Dallas’ 2024 first-round pick (top-10 protection), Detroit’s 2024 second-round pick, New York’s 2025 first-round pick (top-one protection)
Anunoby is not a novel target for the Knicks. But the #discourse hasn’t consistently churned out honest conversations about what it might take to get him, or whether it makes sense to acquire him.
The Knicks appear to be saving their ammo for a bigger fish. That ammo is gradually losing its burst. Obi Toppin was already valued at two seconds. Immanuel Quickley is extension-eligible. First-rounders from Detroit and Washington aren’t guaranteed to convey…ever. New York’s own picks have limited appeal unless you believe the franchise will descend into the abyss over the next few years.
To be sure, the Knicks still have the assets to aim higher than Anunoby. But it needs combo wings with size. Anunoby is that—and so much more. Some will quibble over Grimes’ inclusion, but his spot in the rotation is already somewhat muddied by the addition of Donte DiVincenzo. Minutes will be harder to come by if he’s in town with Anunoby, DiVincenzo and RJ Barrett.
Dangling Quickley instead of Grimes might be more palatable. Whether the Raptors want to be the team that bankrolls IQ’s next deal so, ahem, quickly is questionable. I’d lean no. This would be a different discussion if either of the firsts that the Knicks were peddling profiled as transformational. They don’t. Toronto would most likely be making this move as a part of a quasi-rebuilding play anyway. The two years left on Grimes’ rookie scale and a pair of firsts is a solid fit for that direction.
—Favale
Oklahoma City Thunder
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The Trade: Oklahoma City Thunder acquire O.G. Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors for Luguentz Dort, 2024 first-round pick (top-10 protected via UTA), 2024 first-round pick (via LAC), 2027 first-round pick (top-4 protected) and a 2025 second-round pick (via ATL).
The Thunder hit the upgrade button on Dort with this deal, sending him to the Raptors for a bigger, more versatile defender in Anunoby. Added bonus: Anunoby has hit at least 38.7 of his trey attempts in three of the last four years (Dort is a career 33.2 percent shooter from distance) and possesses the strength to credibly defend centers.
That last attribute is key, as the Thunder may need to have a bruiser—even an undersized one—on hand to spare Chet Holmgren from the most punishing physical matchups.
The only premium draft asset going back to Toronto is the top-four protected 2027 first-rounder, but it wouldn’t be a shock if one or both of the 2024 Clippers (unprotected) or Jazz (top-10 protected) picks wound up in the lottery.
The reason for what may seem like a modest pick outlay is the uncertainty surrounding Anunoby’s future. He can opt out of his deal next summer, and though OKC should have some idea of what it’ll cost to keep him, the possibility of a walk-away factors into the offer here.
If Toronto can’t extend or doesn’t want to deal with Anunoby’s free agency, it does well to add a Dort on a below-market deal while also getting significant draft equity for a possible rebuild.
Lastly, an OKC lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Anunoby and Holmgren is the stuff dreams are made of.
—Hughes
Orlando Magic
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Orlando Magic Receive: O.G. Anunoby, Otto Porter Jr.
Toronto Raptors Receive: Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs, Denver’s 2025 first-round pick (top-three protection)
The Magic will need to undergo a massive consolidation at some point. This isn’t quite that. It threads the needle between blockbuster and modestly speeding up the timeline without actually straying too far from the current directional cadence.
For all of Orlando’s versatility, it wants for tantalizing combo wings beyond Franz Wagner. Anunoby doesn’t quite bring the ball skills the half-court offense lacks, but he is five-position defense and semi-reliable three-point shooting tucked neatly into one, 6’7″ package.
Depending on the angle from which you’re looking at this package, it can feel like too much. Suggs is a rugged, battle-tested defender who improved his three-point stroke last season. He hasn’t lived up to the reputation of a top-five pick, but he is trending up, with two years left on his rookie scale, and just turned 22.
Including a first-rounder on top of him isn’t overkill, though. Anunoby may be getting ready to hit the open market in 2024, but fringe stars in their mid-20s historically haven’t flocked to Orlando. This is not an astronomical price to pay if the Magic know, with reasonable confidence, they can re-sign the soon-to-be 26-year-old.
—Favale
Philadelphia 76ers
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Philadelphia 76ers Receive: Jae’Sean Tate
Houston Rockets Receive: Danuel House Jr., Furkan Korkmaz, Philadelphia’s 2027 second-round pick, Portland’s 2029 second-round pick
There are only so many James Harden-to-the-Clippers permutations on which to ruminate. Let’s instead pretend he and the 76ers are stuck together, because they might be, and that Philly needs to make up ground after sitting out so much of the transaction tumult amid another star’s trade request, because that’s exactly what happened.
Tate’s shaky outside shot renders him less than plug-and-play, but he’s an excellent value proposition. Knee and ankle injuries limited him to 31 games last season, and he has since toppled down the Rockets’ depth chart following the arrivals of Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson, Fred VanVleet and Cam Whitmore, not to mention the emergence of Tari Eason.
Landing Tate for two seconds and two fringe-rotation players is (inter)stellar business. He brings defensive pressure up and down the perimeter, some spot ball-handling and shot better than 53 percent on drives last season. His team option for 2024-25 fits nicely into the Sixers’ cap-space plan next summer, and it should be easy to squeeze a third team into this framework if Houston doesn’t want to complete a one-for-two.
—Favale
Phoenix Suns
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The Trade: Phoenix Suns acquire Myles Turner and T.J. McConnell from the Indiana Pacers for Deandre Ayton.
It’s almost impossible to come up with a deal involving the Suns that A) makes sense, and B) doesn’t run afoul of the CBA. Phoenix is a second-apron team, which means it can’t take back more money than it sends out.
But! There’s still the possibility of a Deandre Ayton trade.
The Pacers are natural partners here, considering they inked Ayton to the $133 million offer sheet Phoenix matched in 2022. Though depth is less of an issue now than it was before the Suns’ ridiculously successful minimum-signing bonanza, getting multiple players in exchange for Ayton should still be a priority.
Here, Phoenix gets a floor-spacing center in Turner who’ll block more shots than Ayton, plus a point guard in McConnell who might deserve to start (or even close) over incumbent Cameron Payne.
Of their extremely limited options, the Suns could do a lot worse than Turner, McConnell and a little under $3 million in salary savings this season.
—Hughes
Portland Trail Blazers
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The Trade: Portland Trail Blazers acquire Spencer Dinwiddie and a 2027 first-round pick (via PHI; top-eight protected) for Anfernee Simons.
Anfernee Simons just turned 24 and proved himself as an efficient 20-point scorer this past season, but his position in the Blazers’ backcourt pecking order is uncertain with Scoot Henderson on board and Shaedon Sharpe right there with him. The other issue with Simons is that he makes the possible acquisition of Tyler Herro from the Miami Heat an apparent nonstarter in a hypothetical Damian Lillard trade.
As an aside, Portland’s initial lack of interest in Herro has never made sense. Even if he overlaps with players already on the roster, he’s still an asset the Blazers could trade for value in a separate deal.
Dinwiddie is also a lead guard, but his contract expires after this season. Maybe the Blazers would be more amenable to rostering Herro if the logjam only lasted a year.
Even Dinwiddie might fetch a protected first-rounder at the 2024 deadline. If the Blazers are truly starting fresh, positional gluts shouldn’t matter. They need to be in asset-accumulation mode.
In Simons, Brooklyn gets someone who fits its younger timeline and can share creation duties with Mikal Bridges and his rapidly expanding game. Because Simons is five years younger, under contract for longer and probably a better player than Dinwiddie right now, the Nets have to kick in a future first. That asset, as much as clearing the decks for other moves in Portland, should easily get the deal done.
—Hughes
Sacramento Kings
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The Trade: Sacramento Kings acquire Precious Achiuwa from the Toronto Raptors for Davion Mitchell, 2024 second-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick (via DAL).
Trade acquisition Chris Duarte should help the Kings address their lack of quality wing defenders, but he’s certainly not someone they should feel great about deploying against top wings and forwards. When the bar is “do better than Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes and Malik Monk,” it’s not hard to clear.
To juice their defense and athleticism, the Kings land Achiuwa in exchange for Mitchell and a pair of second-rounders. Mitchell is in the NBA almost entirely on the strength of his stopping power, but he’s strictly a one-position defender at the point. Toronto could use him in that role, and the presence of O.G. Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam means it can also spare the 6’8″ Achiuwa.
Though he mostly defended centers, Achiuwa is perfectly comfortable switching onto just about anyone. Paolo Banchero, Jaylen Brown and Max Strus rate very high on the list of players he spent the most time matched up against in 2022-23.
That positional flexibility should open up opportunities for the Kings, allowing them to hide weaker defenders (of which they have several) on less threatening opponents. Barnes and Keegan Murray will both look a lot better on D when they’re not guarding top scoring threats on the wing.
—Hughes
San Antonio Spurs
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The Trade: San Antonio Spurs acquire Jonathan Isaac from the Orlando Magic for Doug McDermott and a 2024 second-round pick (via LAL).
Myriad injuries have limited Jonathan Isaac to 11 games over the last three seasons, and the smart money is probably on him never staying healthy enough to be a regular contributor again.
It’s easy to forget Isaac’s better days, during which he was among the most electrifyingly mobile bigs in the game. A refresher:
Ben Taylor @ElGee35
Jonathan Isaac was absolutely everywhere in the first half on defense. pic.twitter.com/0RWM19097W
Isaac is one of four players to average at least 2.1 blocks and 1.6 steals per 36 minutes (across at least 100 games) since 2017-18. No other player in that group made more than three triples across the multi-season sample. Isaac hit 140, which illustrates his uncommon package of two-way skills.
The Spurs have at least a couple of years’ worth of grace period before people start expecting them to win loads of games with Victor Wembanyama, and Isaac is exactly the type of high-risk, high-reward play they should be taking.
Isaac’s 2023-24 salary is only partially guaranteed, and the following year has no guaranteed money whatsoever. Grabbing him on the off chance he can finally stay on the floor, potentially pairing with Wembanyama to form a punishing defensive frontcourt, is worth surrendering McDermott and a second-rounder.
Meanwhile, the Magic get a quality shooter and cutter who actually plays games. Plus, McDermott’s deal will expire after he earns $13.7 million this coming season. The Magic should also view him as more likely than Isaac to help in a playoff push.
—Hughes
Toronto Raptors
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Toronto Raptors Receive: Marvin Bagley III, Killian Hayes
Detroit Pistons Receive: Malachi Flynn, Otto Porter Jr., Thaddeus Young, 2026 second-round pick, 2027 second-round pick
O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam have already been moved around enough during this exercise. What happens if the Raptors simply want to reinvest in the current core without breaking the bank or go the stab-in-the-dark route as part of a bigger-picture angle?
Something like this.
To be absolutely honest, I’m not sure what it’ll take to get Hayes out of Detroit. He made real strides, for long stretches, on offense last year and is an exhaustive defensive force. He’s also entering a contract year and now has three to four, if not more, bodies ahead of him in the rotation.
At least one of Porter or Young will play for the Pistons. That helps. Detroit also drives up next summer’s spending power by offloading Bagley’s contract for expirings.
Maybe Toronto can get Hayes for less. Or perhaps it should look at pulling Young or Porter for Chris Boucher. Regardless, the Raptors need someone to experiment with in the backcourt. Going on 22, Hayes is worth a test drive.
—Favale
Utah Jazz
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The Trade: Utah Jazz acquire Anfernee Simons from the Portland Trail Blazers for Collin Sexton and a 2024 first-round pick (via MIN).
The Jazz’s side of this exchange is easy. Simons’ 38.7 percent career clip from deep and improving playmaking chops make him a clean fit as the starting point guard. With Walker Kessler anchoring things behind him, Simons’ defensive deficiencies will be far less damaging than they’d be in Portland, where he’d probably be ticketed for third-guard duties anyway.
For Portland to agree, it’d need to believe that a pick likely to fall in the middle of the first round and a total savings of $23 million in salary over the next three years is worth downgrading from Simons to Sexton.
These are two fairly similar players from the same draft class, but Simons has been more durable of late and exhibits an upward trending stat line that peaked this past season with averages of 21.1 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. Sexton, partly due to injuries and last year’s bench role, has seen his scoring average fall for three straight seasons.
There’s enough of a difference in overall value to justify the pick going to Portland, and the Jazz should be willing to surrender it for the upgrade.
—Hughes
Washington Wizards
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Washington Wizards Receive: Jonathan Isaac, Chuma Okeke, Detroit’s 2026 second-round pick
Orlando Magic Receive: Tyus Jones, Mike Muscala
Here’s to the Wizards rolling the dice on risky fliers with the potential to pay huge dividends.
Taking a chance on Isaac and Okeke won’t resonate with Washington if Jones can be used to secure a first-round pick. Sussing out that package is difficult. The obvious team doesn’t exist. (Perhaps Boston, but the Wizards would be taking in Brogdon and then need to send out more.)
Swinging for the fences, even if recklessly, is perfectly acceptable during the infancy of a reset. Isaac is a defensive eclipse, from the inside out, across four positions. Okeke hasn’t actualized his three-and-D ceiling, but there’s still time. He will be only 25 at the start of next season and has offered flickers of impact play at both ends from time to time.
Both Isaac and Okeke have dealt with lower body injuries galore. This deal goes belly up for the Wizards if neither stays healthy. Worst-case scenario, they lose out on a higher-end rental. Best-case scenario, though, they unearth a player or two worth keeping around for the long haul.
Orlando, for its part, might shy away from adding another guard. But Jones offers enviable game management and has shot 36.9 percent from deep over the past two seasons. He can elevate the Magic’s half-court offense, without torpedoing the defense, while playing alongside Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black or, at times, even Cole Anthony.
—Favale
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