The trade deadline is 13 days away. Teams over the next week will decide whether they want to sell off pieces, buy for a playoff push, or reshuffle the deck to try and turn a sputtering season around. Let’s talk about a couple of teams that could be active come February 10th.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of things they can do. The obvious one is a Ben Simmons trade. Simmons has not played a game for the 76ers this season due to a trade request, or as the injury report says “personal reasons.” President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has remained dead set on not trading Simmons for less then he deems market value. However, Joel Embiid has been having yet another dominant season. 28.9 points, 10.7 points, and 4.3 assists, he is playing at an MVP level and Philly is 5th in the Eastern Conference. Should that change on how Philly approaches a Simmons trade? We can debate that, I say no. They are preparing to have a pursuit of James Harden in free agency and would it be easier to operate a sign and trade with Simmons on the roster. However, they also would like to attach Tobais Harris in a Simmons trade. Tobais Harris is in the 3rd season of a 5yr/$180 million contract he signed back in 2019. After this season he has 2yrs/$76.9 million left on it, and Philly wants out of it. One team that has been brought up in the Simmons trade talks, and could take Harris back is the Sacramento Kings, and I believe they absolutely should try and do it. De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Harrison Barnes match salaries with Simmons and Harris and the Kings could toss in a pick or two to pull off the blockbuster. It makes a ton of sense for both sides, as the Sixers add 3 real contributors for just one (as Simmons is not contributing right now), and the Kings reshuffle a roster that desperately needs to be reshuffled. Do I think it happens, no, should it happen, I think so,
Speaking of the Kings, they have to make some kind of move. This roster is bad and if they can’t pull off Ben Simmons, which is very unlikely, they need to pivot elsewhere. Buddy Hield is a player that should be moved, they have wanted to trade him for a while and there has to be teams that would trade for him, even with 2yrs/$39.1 million left on his contract past this season. The Cavaliers could make an offer built around Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract and Cedi Osman, the Rockets could try and send Eric Gordon and salary fillers, the Clippers could toss Eric Bledsoe in there, a lot of teams can make a Hield move. The team is also listening to offers on Richaun Holmes, who just signed a 4yr/$46.5 million dollar extension that has a trade kicker and a player option in 2024. De’Aaron Fox is a player who could come up in trade discussions, though his 5 year max just started this season and that contract is a bit undesirable. They should not trade Tyrese Haliburton, who is really good, and is just in his second season in the NBA. Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley, and Terrence Davis are also names that could be mentioned in trade discussions.
The Cleveland Cavaliers should make a win now move. They have the $17 million dollar Ricky Rubio expiring contract, Rubio will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Guys like Caris LeVert, Eric Gordon, and Gary Harris are all players that would help the Cavs and could be traded for Rubio. They have 2 good second round picks this year (Spurs and Rockets) they could use in a trade. Sitting at 30-19 and 3rd (!) in the East, they have been quite the surprise and should absolutely try and make a playoff push, because you never know when you can get back. Caris LeVert or Eric Gordon could come in and instantly be the starting 2-guard next to Darius Garland, who has a really good All-Star case. When you have the chance to make a run you have to try and take it, and Cleveland should make a trade before the trade deadline.
Let’s end with some smaller deals and TPE talk. What is a TPE, you ask, well a TPE, or a Traded Player Exception, is something a team creates when they trade a player away and do not take back salary, so like when the Celtics signed and traded Gordon Hayward to the Hornets, they were able to create a TPE. The Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans have the 2 TPE’s that I think could be used in a trade (the Nets’ is about $11 million and the Pelicans about $17 million meaning they can trade for any player that makes less than those dollar amounts). The Nets could trade Paul Milsap and second round picks to the Wizards for Montrezl Harrell as Washington has too many centers and is close to the tax, while the Pelicans could trade one of their smaller contracts to the Pacers for Jeremy Lamb, who are also pushing the luxury tax. If those trades happen, both teams could create a TPE, based on the players salary they trade out and whatever the salary they take back is. Traded Player Exceptions do affect cap space but do not affect a team's luxury tax bill.
The deadline is approaching and a lot of teams will be active and be talked about in trade talks. There are a lot of players whose name is thrown around and will not be traded and there will, of course, be some trades. Some will affect this year's title chase while others will affect different things, future title races or playoff races. Whatever the scenario is, this is always a fun time of year in the NBA.
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