Pre Free-Agency NBA Notes

Jaylen Brown trade rumors

A Jaylen Brown trade feels inevitable at this point. After missing out on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston has shifted their focus to a Brown deal. The Trail Blazers are the team that has been coming up the most, they’re offer is going to be mostly built around draft picks and young players. Donovan Clingan is probably who Boston wants, as they should because they need a center and he’s very good, but I am not sure that the Blazers would be willing to put him in a deal. I believe Portland can trade 5 picks so the Celtics would look to extract as much value out of them as possible in a deal. The Pelicans, Clippers and Nuggets are also teams that are getting mention with a Brown and Sam Hauser for Jamal Murray and Cam Johnson swap being thrown out there from a Denver perspective. I don’t love that deal for Boston but Murray is probably the best player they can get back in a deal.

Kawhi Leonard back to the Raptors?

Over the weekend, the rumors have been swirling about a Kawhi Leonard trade back north of the border, as the Clippers and Raptors have been discussing a deal and it seems very possible that it will happen. It has been reported that the Clippers are not interested in acquiring Brandon Ingram in a deal, which seems damning for Ingram. They also won’t want Jakob Poeltl, unless Toronto tosses in a lot on top of him. It is hard for a deal to be possible without both of those guys included, unless the Raptors make another trade, which is always possible. You could do a three team trade that sends Kawhi and Rob Dillingham to the Raptors, R.J Barrett, Issac Okoro and draft picks (from the Raptors) to the Clippers and Brandon Ingram to the Bulls. Not sure the Bulls want to acquire Ingram but if you can find a third team that will, you can get a deal done that way.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis to the Warriors?

On Monday, Draymond Green declined his player option as the Warriors try to rebuild their roster to acquire LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If James signs the mid-level exception, worth around $15 million and the Wizards take Jimmy Butler back in a Davis trade, it is very possible. Butler tore his ACL in January so the Warriors would have to sweeten any deal for Washington to agree to it. I think a Davis for Butler, the Warriors 2028 first round pick unprotected and the Warriors 2032 first round pick unprotected could work for Golden State to build their roster and Washington gets a real asset for Davis, after giving up next to nothing for him at the deadline.

LeBron leaving the Lakers

It certainly seems like LeBron James is bound for Golden State as he and the Lakers have yet to even discuss terms on a new contract. That leaves the Lakers with a lot of cap space and not a lot of places to spend it. They need a center, badly. We have seen Luka Doncic work wonders with Daniel Gafford, could LA swing a deal with the Dallas Mavericks to get Gafford. It would also move Deandre Ayton to the bench, after he opted-into his player option for next season. Re-signing Austin Reaves was a must and the Lakers did that with a 4yr/$185 million deal after it was clear that Reaves was getting set to get max offers elsewhere. They needed to keep him and they did, even if that is an uncomfortable number. They also need to re-sign Marcus Smart. The Lakers made a lot of promises to Luka about this summer and here we are with nothing yet.

Let’s get into some deals that actually happened. If you missed my Giannis or LaMelo guys, go read those.

Suns acquire Miles Bridges

I always think it’s important to mention Miles Bridges' nasty allegations (if we can call them that) when you talk about him. This is not a great person and it is important to say it every time. With that said, this is a bad trade for the Suns from a pure basketball perspective as well. The deal was Miles Bridges, a 2029 first round pick (the worst of the Jazz, Cavs, Timberwolves and Hornets) and a 2027 second round pick for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale and a 2033 Suns first round pick, unprotected. The Hornets got the significantly more valuable pick and arguably the best player in this trade. Allen is a sniper from three and will be a big boost for the Hornets. Bridges' true shooting percentage drops 9.7% (from 60.8% for 51.1%) according to Sam Quinn from when he shared the court with LaMelo Ball and when he did not. It just feels like a big price to pay for someone who is not that good.

Trae Young contract extension

While the Lakers needed to sign Reaves, the Wizards did not need to sign Trae Young. Young inked a 4yr/$212 max contract to remain a Wizard. If he had a max elsewhere, I would have let him take that offer if I was running Washington. Instead, they lock themselves into a 4 year commitment to a guy who is perhaps the worst defender in the NBA and is not a good off the ball offensive player. We saw the ceiling of a Trae Young led team in Atlanta, that 2021 run feels very fluky, beyond that they never got out of the first round before the Hawks dumped him for C.J. McCollum (who was better for Atlanta than we expected) and Corey Kispert. I understand the Hawks need to get to the salary floor, but there had to have been better ways to do that than this.

Other trades

I really liked the Pistons getting Isaiah Joe for 2 second round picks from the Thunder after trading 3 2nd round picks to Memphis for Isaiah Stewart. Detroit badly needs shooting and Joe shot 42% from three last season. He will help their spacing around Cade Cunningham in a really big way. I also don’t hate losing Stewart. He is a good, tough player (and a good pickup for Memphis) but Paul Reed out played him in the playoffs so even if you think Reed is a little worse, he isn’t $10 million worse. They still need more secondary creations beyond Cade Cunningham so look for them to get that, Tyler Herro’s name still makes sense.

The Hawks also did a great job in acquiring Aaron Wiggins also for 2 second round picks, also from the Thunder. The team also acquired Devin Carter and a 2nd round pick in a Kings salary dump. I am not sure how close the Hawks really are to competing for anything real in the Eastern Conference. However, getting Wiggins is a really good move for Atlanta to add some depth.

The Thunder dumped these players in pursuit of getting under the 2nd apron. It makes sense that OKC wouldn’t want to be in the 2nd apron before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s super max kicks in at the start of the 2027-28 season. With both Chet Holmgren’s and Jalen Williams new max deals kicking in this season, Oklahoma City will be a tax team but they don’t need to be a 2nd apron team quite yet.

Other contracts

There haven’t been any other deals that have bothered me. I touched a bit on Ayo Dosunmu in my last blog but I like that deal for Minnesota. He is a good player who is a helpful guy on winning teams. 5 years seems like a long time but he is 26-years-old so he won’t age poorly on this deal. I really don’t think that’ll become a bad contract, Dosunmu was so important to Minnesota in the playoffs. Coby White was also a deal I did not mind. Another good player who the Bulls traded at the deadline that helped the acquiring team. He will replace LaMelo Ball as the Hornets point guard. Outside of the Bridges trade, I have liked what the Suns have done in re-signing Mark Williams, Jordan Goodwin and Collin Gillespie. All are good players who are signing fair contracts with their teams. I liked Brooklyn keeping Day’ron Sharpe and Josh Minott. Both are good NBA players and the Nets need those so keeping those guys makes sense. Lastly, good on Al Horford for still getting paid. If Golden State does pull off the LeBron and AD move, he will be an important part of that team.