December 15th has passed and that means that the bulk of the players can be traded again. Many players changed teams as free agents this summer so that meant that contractually they could not be traded until this past Sunday. Now they can again, which makes trade packages way more interesting and realistic. Today, we take a look at 3 trades that could, and should, happen.
The Blazers get a starting forward and a backup big
Blazers get: Danilo Gallinari, Nerlens Noel
Thunder get: Kent Bazemore, Gary Trent Jr., a first and a second
The Blazers have struggled heavily this season, but despite that, they’re still easily in contention for a playoff spot. With Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins and Rodney Hood all out with long-term injuries, Portland lacks the depth in either forward spot and at the 5.
This deal gives them just that. Gallinari is a terrific starting power forward and a professional bucket-getter. He also has an expiring contract, contrary to Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, the other 2 PF’s the Blazers are pursuing, who have huge contracts with multiple years left.
They also get Nerlens Noel, who is a great backup rim protector. Skal Labissière simply doesn’t have the experience and hasn’t grown into his body yet to be the backup center on a contending team. Noel would be a great fit, definitely if Hassan Whiteside gets traded.
For OKC, this deal is great as well. Noel and Galo are both expiring, and the Thunder want to tank. Bazemore and Trent make their team worse and they can add to stack to their plethora of picks they already got in the Paul George trade. The Thunder already made it clear that they want to offload virtually everybody except SGA, so this deal makes sense for them.
Boston gets their big
Celtics receive: Steven Adams, Dennis Schröder
Thunder receive: Paul Millsap, Daniel Theis, Malik Beasley, Grant Williams, Nuggets SRP
Nuggets receive: Gordon Hayward
It’s difficult to guess who wins and who loses in this trade, but the Nuggets and the Celtics take the most risk with potentially the highest reward. The Celtics are in need of a center big time and he would fit great with a core of Walker, Brown and Tatum, all 3 of which like to slash and could use a great screen-setter like Adams. They also get back Dennis Schröder to improve their bench, because believe it or not, the Celtics are not as deep as they used to be.
On the other hand, they lose Hayward, who was great before his injury this season, but at the end of the day, how many great wing players that like to slash can you have? This isn’t necessarily a deal based on talent but more on their needs. To contend they’ll need a big like Adams, if not the Celtics will be barbecue chicken when they face off against Joel Embiid for example. Grant Williams is also a nice young player, but shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Daniel Theis is to match salaries.
The Nuggets have actively been shopping Malik Beasley and they could use an upgrade at their forward positions, seen as their improvement has kind of stagnated this season. With Hayward they get a new forward who could do a little more than Millsap. This could also mean more minutes for Michael Porter Jr., who has had big ups and downs and has shown major flashes of that potential.
The Thunder go the safe route with this trade. They shred 30m+ in salaries for next year, as Millsap has an expiring contract as opposed to the combined 43m of Schröder and Adams next year. They also get 2 young players to develop with a second-round pick. With both trades going through, the Thunder would fully push the button on the rebuild.
Houston adds to their shooting even more
Houston gets: Davis Bertans
Wizards get: Thabo Sefolosha, Nêne, FRP
The Spurs usually don’t make a whole lot of mistakes, but trading away Davis Bertans might just be their biggest in recent history. Bertans is a flamethrower, who averages 14 points a game on +46% shooting from both the floor and 3. The fact that he has a positive +- on the 8-17 Wizards speaks volume. His shot is pure money and he has no fear in letting it fly at all.
That’s a player the Rockets need. Mike D’Antoni is not going to change his coaching ways, so you need as much snipers as you can get. Bertans gives them a stretch 4, who in Houston’s system can even play the 5 in their small-ball lineups.
The Wizards might be hesitant to let Bertans go, and that’s why the pick is there to sweeten the deal. The Rockets have made it clear that they are all in on the present, which is normal seen as though Harden and Westbrook are not getting any younger. That means that this pick won’t matter.
Sefolosha has only played 10 minutes per game this season, while Nêne hasn’t even touched the floor. Their ages (35 and 37 respectively) won’t be a problem for the Wizards since the team isn’t going anywhere this year and their contracts are expiring.
Courtside 