The 2024 NBA trade deadline is fast approaching, and while some teams have already started making moves, there are still plenty of teams that need to make changes.
With that in mind, we ask our experts whether it’s a small deal to fill a competitor’s gap or a larger deal where the situation could be world-shaking. We asked them to think of trades they would like to see by the Feb. 8 deadline. The whole league.
Sixers strengthen backcourt
Philadelphia 76ers acquire: Tyus Jones
Washington Wizards acquire: Robert Covington, Kenyon Martin Jr., two second-round picks
This The deal does two things for the 76ers. The team’s ball handlers will need to function as a second unit (something this group desperately needs), which would also help ease the burden of playing time on Tyrese Maxey. Maxey, a candidate for Most Improved Player, leads the NBA with 37.5 minutes per game, up from 33.6 minutes per game last season. Jones has appeared in the postseason in each of the past three seasons, averaging less than one turnover per game and shooting 41 percent from 3-point range in each season of his career, all the 76ers need. We are prepared.
If the 76ers can make some moves like this in the coming weeks to add depth to their rotation, they’ll have a real chance to compete with the top teams in the East. It would also give Daryl Morey another option for a spot on the 76ers’ roster other than pursuing a star player, but it’s unlikely that will work out by then.
Meanwhile, Washington will get a couple of second-rounders to replace Jones, but Jones doesn’t fit into the team’s long-term plans. The U.S. government is likely to make several more moves like this before the deadline.
Knicks add another ball handler
New York Knicks acquire: Malcolm Brogdon
Portland Trail Blazers acquire: Evan Fournier, 2024 first-round pick and 2024 second-round pick
With an NBA record of 11 wins and 2 losses, the league’s top defence has started to get back on track since the Knicks calendar turned to 2024. OG Anunoby is a great fit for the club, posting a plus-minus of +239 in January. This is the association’s best performance in that period.
Anunoby was an absolute one-man wrecking crew on defence. Especially when working with the Knicks’ second unit, which often features Miles McBride, Quentin Grimes and Precious Achiuwa. The problem, of course, is that this group doesn’t have a lot of ball-handling or shot creativity. That would cause problems in the playoffs. It’s completely understandable how the Knicks got here. That included Immanuel Quickly, who was the runner-up in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season as part of the deal with the Toronto Raptors that signed Anunoby.
The lack of offensive power off the bench hasn’t been a huge factor yet – it certainly wasn’t the case in the Knicks’ loss to the defending champion Denver Nuggets at the Garden on Thursday – but New York needs to improve its reserves. It’s clear that without Quickly, playmaking will take longer. Who better to do that than the guy who could beat Quickly as a sixth man?
There are always injury concerns with Brogdon, but he is a reliable goal scorer who could easily play in both the reserves and starting line-up if he is available. And he’s no stranger to the Eastern Conference, having played in Boston and Milwaukee and faced the rival 76ers in the playoffs last season.
This move would add significant draft capital to Portland’s rebuild, but the Trail Blazers may want even more. Fournier is simply an expiring salary, so Portland may be looking to acquire a young talent like Grimes. However, given New York’s abundance of late first- and second-round picks, the Knicks would be wise to settle for a deal without adding a true rotation player. After all, you never know when coach Tom Thibodeau’s hard-nosed club will need extra muscle.
Thunder Adds Some Size
Oklahoma City Thunder acquires: Andre Drummond
Chicago Bulls Acquires: Aleksej Pokusevski , 2025 2nd Round Pick (via PHI), 2 2027 2nd Round Picks Name (via PHI and MIN)
For the top seed in the West, where the Thunder are already competing, a conservative option would be to look at the current roster in the playoffs and try to address needs in the offseason . However, there are no guarantees about the future (just ask the 2012 Thunder). It’s very likely that OKC will remain in this position again for years to come, but the Thunder should still look to improve their roster.
Adding Drummond addresses one of the Thunder’s only weaknesses: defensive rebounding. The Thunder rank 29th in defensive rebounding percentage and allow opponents to score 15 second-chance points per game, which ranks second among all teams.
According to Cleaning the Glass, Drummond ranks in the 100th percentile at his position in offensive and defensive rebounding. He is averaging 8.4 rebounds in just 15.9 minutes per game. When thrust into the starting line-up following the loss of Nikola Vucevic, Drummond averaged 17.4 rebounds per game in seven games.
Giving up two second-round picks seems too much of a risk for a player like Drummond, who is on an expiring contract, but Oklahoma City posted a league-best 21 seconds per game and Pokusevski averaged a career average. He recorded 6.1 minutes.
Lakers acquire another star
Los Angeles Lakers acquire: Dejounte Murray
Atlanta Hawks acquire: Spencer Dinwiddie, 2029 first-round pick (via Lakers)
Brooklyn Nets acquire: D’Angelo -Russell
Murray and the Lakers are a natural fit. He was a clutch client and happened to be the best player the Lakers could reasonably sign at the trade deadline. The big question is the Lakers’ corresponding annual salary. Russell’s salary is effectively the same, but the Hawks don’t want him to exercise his $18.7 million player option, which could prevent them from re-signing restricted free agent Saddiq Bey without incurring the luxury tax. thinking.
He could join the Nets and bring Russell home to shore up their sluggish offense. Russell’s only All-Star appearance came as part of a young Brooklyn team that resembled the current group in many ways. Russell would be a huge offensive upgrade for the Nets as Dinwiddie has struggled this season. Russell could easily pick up his player option for 2024-25. Dinwiddie is in the final season of his contract, and Atlanta will have to re-sign Bird to a smaller contract with the rights or allow him to become an unrestricted free agent.
Raptors continue teardown
Oklahoma City Thunder acquires: Jakob Poeltl, Dennis Schroder
Toronto Raptors acquire: Davis Bertans, Aleksej Pokusevski, Tre Mann, Aaron Wiggins, first-round pick 2 picks, 2 second round picks
The Thunder are ready This season they have struggled, but they still have a ton of draft picks left on the bench. The Raptors have already traded two starters for young talent and draft picks, signalling their intent to rebuild. The agreement allows both teams to trade from surplus areas in exchange for help in areas of need.
The Thunder have one of the best starting line-ups in the league, but they don’t have a lot of experienced depth at either the big man or point guard. With this offer you get entry-level quality in both areas. Chet Holmgren is a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year as the starting centre, but he is also a slender rookie who missed all of last season due to injury. Poeltl is a two-way threat walking threat with a natural centre in girth (7 feet, 260 pounds). Holmgren’s mobility and good jump shot could also allow him and Poeltl to play together.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP candidate as the Thunder’s point guard, but he’s more of a lead scoring guard than a true floor general. Josh Guidi, on the other hand, is a more natural distributor, but his jumps aren’t always consistent. Schroder complements both as a scoring point guard with size and a good shooting stroke. Schroder, who played two seasons in OKC, led the team to the playoffs, has experience as both a starter and a sixth man, and could potentially play in the same backfield as either SGA or Guidi, giving the Thunder insurance in the event of an injury. will be given. .
In the past eight months, the Raptors have changed their coaching staff, made starting point guard Fred VanVleet a free agent, traded their only All-Star, Pascal Siakam, and traded their other starter, defensive star Transferred OG Anunoby. A signboard is posted on the wall. They’re probably rebuilding around 2021-22 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes and rookies RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickly. Draft picks are the perfect currency for a rebuild, and selecting four picks (including two first-round picks) is solid compensation for a sixth man and a veteran big man. The move completes this season’s rebuilding effort, with the team looking to either add a ton of young talent in the draft or move picks to acquire young players who could form their future core.
Bridges Crosses the Bridge
New York Knicks acquire: Mikal Bridges Brooklyn Nets acquire: Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, 2024 first round pick (from Dallas, top 10 protected), 2025 first round 1st Round Pick (from Milwaukee, top 10) – 4 protected), 1st Round Pick 2025 (from New York State, not protected), 1st Round Pick 2027 (from New York State, not protected), and 1st Round Pick Right 2029 (from New York State, Top 5 Protected)
Bridge to New York will not happen. If you need proof, just turn the clock back to 1983. That’s the last time the Knicks and Nets made a trade. (In 1984, the Knicks sent a second-round pick to the Nets for Len Elmore.) In the 20 years I was in New Jersey, there were no trade discussions between the two teams.
But these are not the deals we expect to happen, but the deals we want to see.
So one morning, Knicks president Leon Rose picked up the phone and called Nets general manager Sean Marks to offer him and Quentin Grimes an unprecedented five first-round picks. What would happen then? That’s two more than the first time the Cleveland Cavaliers sent All-Star Donovan Mitchell to the Utah Jazz.
Would Marks politely decline because the thought of Bridges in a Knicks uniform is unbearable? Perhaps he will become bolder and demand more. The Knicks can trade up to eight premiers.
https://www.globalsporteye.com/nikola-jokic/