NOTHING BUT DEALS
Next week’s NBA trade deadline could be wilder than usual with Jimmy Butler among the game-changers in play.
The Serge Ibaka trade had been reported but not finalized on Tuesday, and already the NBA was buzzing about its implications.
One of the first texts on it was succinct: “Arms race?” Perhaps. With less than a week to go before the NBA’s trade deadline, the Raptors have fired the first salvo in what might be an explosive time for lastminute roster manipulation.
That’s especially true in the Eastern Conference, where the extended absence of Kevin Love after knee surgery may make the prohibitive favourites, the Cleveland Cavaliers, vulnerable, while a handful of teams are primed to at least seriously consider moves before next Thursday at 3 p.m.
From Toronto’s Masai Ujiri saying “I still have my phone,” to the Indiana Pacers being “open for business” and LeBron James insisting on some sort of help for the Cavaliers, to the Boston Celtics looking for a gamechanging star worth adding for the various impressive assets they have stored, to the bench-starved Washington Wizards linked to high-scoring ex-Raptor Lou Williams, almost every team of significance in the East seems willing to do some kind of deal.
Love is out four to six weeks and J.R. Smith is still absent from the Cavaliers lineup, and the opportunity to close a substantial gap with one right move is intriguing to legitimate contenders.
There will be countless rumours, and chatter about discussions held over the next few days. Here’s a look at who might do what, why and who could be available:
RAPTORS
HAVE: League sources insist Toronto will not give away any more young assets such as Delon Wright, Jakob Poeltl, Lucas Nogueira, Pascal Siakam, Norm Powell or Fred VanVleet, but that doesn’t mean a package can’t be put together. They have the expiring contract of Jared Sullinger, another 2017 first-round draft pick and a glut of point guards they could put together.
NEED: The roster imbalance was addressed by the departure of wing Terrence Ross for Ibaka, but Toronto still could use an offensively creative big small forward.
CELTICS
HAVE: Arguably the biggest chip in the trade game is Brooklyn’s 2017 first-round draft pick — it’d be No. 1 today — and the Celtics own it. Amir Johnson’s $12-million expiring contract might look good as well.
NEED: The Celtics have a good team verging on very good, but they lack a stud wing. If they can try to pry Jimmy Butler away from the Chicago Bulls, it’d be the game-changer in the conference. That’d be a tough signal for the Bulls to send their fans, though, and might be more likely in the summertime.
WIZARDS
HAVE: Not an awful lot to offer because their starting five is solid, but the bench doesn’t have anybody that many teams would want. They’re more likely to do something relatively minor, if they do anything at all.
NEED: Williams from the Lakers as a scorer off the bench, even with his defensive deficiencies, would address a serious need, but the starters are sound and it’s hard to imagine breaking them up.
CAVALIERS
HAVE: Going on the theory that the team’s stars are not available — and why would they be? — they don’t have very much to offer of substance, and it’s hard to see any team offering anything more than end-of-thebench help. Saving a roster spot to pick up someone who is waived is their most logical course of action.
NEED: Despite James’ assertion that something is missing, the Cavs remain the best team in the East. They could use some size and a backup point guard, but maybe they just weather the storm until Love gets back and go on from there.
Making trades in the NBA is not an easy task. There are financial implications, short- and long-term. Few true “stars” are ever dealt in the final week. But these are unique times, especially in the East, and anything can happen.
The names being bandied about — maybe true, maybe not — include everyone from Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks to P.J. Tucker of the Suns and Miami’s Goran Dragic. Perhaps they are available, perhaps they are not, but it does feel like there’s more serious talk by more teams than usual this year.
The next week might be fun.