The 2016 NBA Draft is hours away with plenty of rumors and mock drafts to go around. There has already been one NBA trade involving Derrick Rose headed to the big apple that shocked the basketball world. Let’s take a look at some other hypothetical trades that could really shake up the NBA landscape.
The Boston Celtics:
The C’s have so many assets and movable pieces that you could realistically draw up a trade with any of the other 29 teams. For all intensive purposes let’s go big game hunting and see what kind of star the Celtics could possibly land. In my opinion the perfect fit for this team would be DeMarcus Cousins but the Kings won’t likely deal him on draft night. If they were to deal him a trade involving either Avery Bradley or Jae Crowder along with a bunch young assets has to at least tempt the Kings. Below I will show some other potential trades using ESPN’s Trade Machine, the Celtics could possibly make to flip some of those assets.
The DeMarcus Cousins deal:
Kings acquire 3rd overall pick, 2017 Brooklyn pick swap, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier
The Kevin Love Deal:
Cavs acquire 16th overall pick, Avery Bradley, Amir Johnson, Terry Rozier
The Okafor or Noel Deal:
Sixers acquire 3rd overall pick, Jonas Jerebko
Of course to this point the Celtics have been unable to find a trade partner willing to take the 3rd pick off their hands. A deal for Kevin Love seems quite possible but probably unlikely after the recent Cavs championship. The Sixers appear to be the most likely trade partner at the current time as they are very high on Providence guard Kris Dunn. If the Celtics keep the 3rd pick there are a number of directions the team may go in. With 8 picks on draft night look for the C’s to be quite busy.
The Minnesota Timberwolves:
The young Timberwolves core of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins are bound for special things in the near future. The task for head coach and president of basketball operation Tom Thibodeau will be finding those two another star to play with. Of those assets that Thibodeau has to play with include the number 5 pick in the draft, Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio, Shabazz Muhammad, and others. The goal for Thibodeau of course would be Bulls guard Jimmy Butler. A Butler deal seems a bit more feasible after Chicago dealt Derrick Rose as a full scale rebuild could be in order.
The Jimmy Butler Deal:
Bulls acquire 5th overall draft pick, Nikola Pekovic, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng
One rumor that would be interesting if it came true was the possibility of Kenneth Faried ending up with the Timberwolves. Thibs has been known as a rough and gritty head coach where Faried’s high energy could play well next to Karl’Anthony Towns. The challenge of course is finding the right trade pieces which I have found difficulty in doing as the 5th overall pick is probably a little to rich for Faried. If they keep the pick Kentucky guard Jamal Murray has made it known he would like to play for Minnesota.
The Brooklyn Nets:
The Nets do not have a first round pick this year after getting robbed in the Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett deal with Boston. Having said that they have two big pieces that could potentially launch a rebuild including Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young; the latter half is more likely to be dealt. It will be interesting to see new GM Sean Mark’s strategy moving forward as convincing top tier free agents to Brooklyn is out of the question at this time frame.
The Thad Young Deal:
Pacers acquire Young In exchange for 20th overall pick, Rodney Stuckey, Glenn Robinson
*UPDATE:
Thaddeus Young Minutes later has actually been traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for the 20th overall pick and a 2nd rounder
The Brook Lopez Deal:
Suns acquire Lopez in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, T.J. Warren
The Pacers have already bolstered their roster trading for Jeff Teague earlier this offseason. A deal to pick up Thad Young could really make the Pacers contenders in the weaker Eastern Conference. As for the suggested Suns deal for Lopez, it is likely wishful thinking but something will likely give in regards to the Eric Bledsoe rumors.
The Los Angeles Lakers:
The Lakers have an important offseason ahead of them but I think the thing everyone is forgetting here is the Lakers absolutely want to contend this upcoming year. DeMar DeRozan might be lured away from Toronto with a max deal as DeRozan played his college ball for USC years ago. This Lakers opening day lineup might not be the so called young lineup everyone anticipated under new head man Luke Walton. Their main trade pieces include Julius Randle and Larry Nance. D’Angelo Russell is unlikely to be traded but let’s take some chances for all intensive purposes. One target the Lakers could go after is Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari is one name that comes to mind.
The Jabari Parker, D’Angelo Russell Swap:
The Oklahoma City Thunder:
Finally there is the wildcard of the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC has the tools to pull off a mega trade including Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Cameron Payne. While making a deal is obviously easier said then done the Thunder could really make things interesting as an effort keep and impress Kevin Durant. A combination of those three players in any trade package would obviously be hard to pass on. It remains to be seen what the Thunder have planned. As of now they do not hold a first round draft pick.
