With free agency beginning, I am going to dive into all of the movement that took place.
Damian Lillard’s trade request
Damian Lillard has finally requested a trade out of Portland. The star point guard informed the Trail Blazers on Saturday that he wants to be traded, and he wants to be traded to the Miami Heat. A trade could look like Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic to the Heat in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, first round picks in 2028 and 2030, pick swaps in 2027 and 2029, and future 2nd round picks. While I think this is a good deal for Portland, I don’t think it is enough and based upon Chris Haynes’ reporting that there is likely to be a 3rd team because Portland wants to get more assets… or that they just do not want Tyler Herro. Why would they? With Anfernee Simons, Shadeon Sharpe, and newly drafted Scoot Henderson in the fold, Portland does not need another guard and I don’t think Herro is not the kind of player you hold onto like he’s a gem of a player. Another team that is interested in Damian Lillard, the Brooklyn Nets, could consider getting involved in this trade and trading for Herro by sending out Dorian Finney-Smith, Royce O’Neale, and a future first round pick. Speaking of the Nets, if they want Lillard, their offer is much better since they can trade 3 future Suns picks, 2 of their own future picks, a Sixers pick, and a Mavericks pick. The Nets can buld an offer around Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, picks, and other stuff or Ben Simmons, picks, and other stuff, whether the stuff is young players, 2nd round picks, or swaps is the question. There are other teams that could be interested too. I think that the Celtics could kick the tires but I don’t see that happening. They could make a trade with the Sixers and Clippers sending Damian Lillard to the Sixers, James Harden to the Clippers, and Tyrese Maxey and stuff to the Blazers but that also feels unlikely. I expect a trade to Miami to be the final result with the Heat assembling a new big 3 of Lillard, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo.
James Harden asks for another trade
The day is January 13th, 2021 and the Houston Rockets ended James Harden’s whining and complaining due to his want for a trade by sending Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. Fast forward to February 10th, 2022 and the Nets are dealing with the same thing the Rockets did as Harden whines and complains his way to Philadelphia to join the 76ers. Now, Harden has for his 3rd trade in as many years but this time he is mad the Sixers won’t give him a long term deal, and while I don’t blame them, I understand his frustration as he is coming off a season in which he averaged over 20 points per game and led the NBA in assists. The team that Harden is likely to get to is the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers have a number of players who can match Harden’s salary in a trade and a first round pick to send to the Sixers as well. They can assemble a group of salary matching players with those options being Norman Powell, Marcus Morris Sr., Nic Batum, Robert Covington, and Terrence Mann. Either 2 or 3 of BJ Boston, Jason Preston, 2023 first round pick Kobe Brown, a 2028 first round pick, or a 2030 first round pick would also likely be in the deal. Philly wants flexibility for max cap space in 2024 so taking on Powell’s contract, even if he is the best player they can get, seems unlikely. My fake trade is Harden and Furkan Korkmaz to the Clippers for Terrence Mann, Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, BJ Boston, and a top 3 protected 2028 first round pick. Philly maintains their cap flexibility while adding useful players, a good young player, and a future pick. The problem is how would this deal make Joel Embiid feel? How would another potential first or second round exit make the MVP of the league feel as his counterpart, Nikola Jokic, is winning championships? What about how his ex-teammate's team, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat, are making a big move for an All-Star point guard of their own? However, keeping Harden feels untenable for Philadelphia so they are sort of stuck. The Sixers have to keep Embiid happy because there is a team that if you just drive north an hour and a half on I-95 to get to, that would happily make a move for the big fella.
The Rockets spending spree
The Houston Rockets have been very active over the last 2 days. In come Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jock Landale, and Jeff Green, and out go KJ Martin, TyTy Washington, Usman Garuba, and Josh Christopher. They clearly want to get older and better under new coach Ime Udoka. VanVleet is the organizer on offense they desperately need as he can get Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. more open looks. Brooks gives them some toughness on defense and a really good perimeter defender. Landale gives them another big to help Alperen Sengun’s workload. Green gives the Rockets a veteran to soak up minutes and be a key leader on the team. Houston punted on some young players, KJ Martin was a shock to me because he has shown flashes that he can play so that was a surprise to see him be traded. The other 3 guys do not get me all that excited but they are still young and can still develop into good NBA players. Although I don’t love what Houston has done due to the overpay for VanVleet and Brooks, I like what the Rockets have done so far this summer, they have gotten much better.
The Lakers have done very well
The Lakers are one of the winners of free agency. They brought back Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell while adding Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes, and Cam Reddish. The starting 5 of Russell/Reaves/LeBron James/ Hachimura/Anthony Davis remains intact with Vincent, Jarred Vanderbuilt, and others contributing off of the bench. That is good enough to challenge in the West, they just need James and Davis, specifically Davis, to remain on the court. The Western Conference is stacked with pretty much every team trying to win now and it’ll be a challenge for the Lakers to not only get back to the Conference Finals but to win it and get to the NBA Finals. There are more moves to be made and games to be played but the Lakers have a chance to be really good.
Other free agent notes
I really like the moves the Pistons have made. One way to stop getting young players playing the right way is having guys miss open 3’s that the young players are creating for them. Joe Harris is a knockdown shooter and along with Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks. and Isaiah Livers, the Pistons have enough shooting to hopefully prevent that. They also traded for Monte Morris, who had one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the league last season and can help organize their second unit, or even their starting unit sometimes. I really like what the Cavaliers have done thus far as well. Last season the big issue on their team was they did not have enough shooting, signing Georges Niang and Max Strus helps solve that as both guys can better space the floor surrounding Cleveland’s 4 best players. Keeping Caris LeVert will also help them as he was good for them in the Knicks series and can also be a trade chip at the deadline. The Pacers made some good moves as well. Bruce Brown at 2yrs/$45 million seems like a lot but considering there is a team option for next season, I really like that pick up for Indiana. Obi Toppin is another good low risk add as he gives them a high flying 4 who newly extended Tyrese Haliburton has already said he is excited to throw lobs too.
One sentence takeaways
The Bucks kept the players they needed to keep and will be right back in the mix of the Eastern Conference next season. The LaMelo Ball extension made me uncomfortable but the Hornets had to give it to Ball. I am excited for the Warriors to use the Chris Paul-Steph Curry-Klay Thompson-Andrew Wiggins-Draymond Green lineup next season, now that Green has re-signed. Fred VanVleet getting more money than Kyrie Irving is good for the sport since one guy plays basketball all the time and the other guy does not. The Jerami Grant contract is a tough pill to swallow for Portland now that Dame has asked out. The Suns did a really good job at signing minimum players to fill out their roster. Speaking of minimum contracts, it is interesting that they all seem to have player options on them, I have never seen this before. Losing VanVleet for nothing is a disaster for the Raptors and they should trade either one of Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby or both as both are free agents next summer… they won’t though. I am excited to see both these former Euroleague MVPs come over and play in the NBA. Lastly, this new feature on Twitter where they limit how many tweets you see is dumb and I hate Elon Musk.
Free agency is in full swing and I want to leave you with one last thought; the Knicks should NOT trade for Damian Lillard.
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