The NBA season tips off in just over a week, but league drama always goes on. Plenty of action went down this offseason, from free agent signings to buy-outs to trades, but the action never stops. Check out three NBA trades that may shake up the league.
Three NBA Trades to Shake Up the League
The Drama in Philadelphia Comes to an End
The trade: the Philadelphia 76ers send Ben Simmons and Isaiah Joe to the Indiana Pacers for Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren, and Chris Duarte.
Indiana seems to have a heavy interest in Simmons. Philadelphia may not want to budge, or at least get a first-round pick in a trade, but the truth is that the 76ers’ leverage is low as the Simmons saga has gone very public.
The fit for Simmons in Indiana is difficult to see to an extent. Malcolm Brogdon is a fantastic and underrated point guard. Many ponder about the use of Simmons in the frontcourt, but Indiana has Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. With that being said, the interest is there. New head coach Rick Carlisle surely has an interesting scheme in mind.
This trade helps Philadelphia continue to contend as they also have Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris. LeVert can score in bunches and is a strong shooter. The same goes for Warren if he can stay healthy. Lastly, Duarte is a promising (albeit older) rookie with tantalizing two-way potential. A potential “death line-up” of Seth Curry, LeVert, Warren, Harris, and Embiid is quite strong.
The World of NBA Trades can get Crazy
The trade: The Sacramento Kings send Buddy Hield to the Golden State Warriors and Marvin Bagley to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Warriors send Andrew Wiggins to the Thunder and a first-round pick to the Kings, and the Thunder send Derrick Favors, Theo Maledon, and two second-round picks to the Kings.
Here’s a crazy one.
First off, the Warriors get yet another sniper in Hield. He’s out of place in Sacramento, and Golden State is the perfect location for him. Hield can play the three as well, allowing him to play alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. They’ll have plenty of depth to rotate at the two and three. This also allows them to get rid of Wiggins’ contract.
Oklahoma City is always open to taking on big contracts and potentially flipping them in the future. This is exactly what they’d look to do with Wiggins as they continue to build their war chest of draft picks. Bagley is also a nice project for the team as he’ll have plenty of opportunities. His time in Sacramento has gone sour, and the Kings are not likely to extend him anyway.
Sacramento gets a tad worse talent-wise with this trade, but rid themselves of Hield’s contract. Favors adds to their big man depth and he can serve as a mentor to younger players. Maledon is another project, and although Sacramento is full of great young guards, having another never hurts. Lastly, Sacramento collects a number of picks here for the future.
Phoenix Bolsters Up
The trade: The San Antonio Spurs send Thaddeus Young to the Phoenix Suns for Jalen Smith and Dario Saric.
This trade isn’t as big as the others, but it has pretty big implications. Young remains a fantastic option as a big man off the bench, and will only elevate the Suns’ chances to make the NBA Finals once again.
Phoenix is loaded with their current crop of stars but can use a strong backup option for both Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder. Young averaged 12 points and six rebounds per game last season and is a very tough defender. With the rest of the Western Conference improving, the Suns will face stiff competition to reach the Finals again. Young helps them in a big way.
San Antonio does this because, to put it simply, they’re not good enough to contend this season. Saric will miss the bulk of the year, which San Antonio should be fine with. They trade away Young here who’s on an expiring contract. Smith is the part of the deal that makes this interesting. Phoenix drafted him with the 10th overall pick in the 2020 Draft but rarely used him last season.
Smith is a stretch four and five with plenty of untapped potential. San Antonio is a great place for him to earn playing time.
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