McCollum, Nurkic, Simons, and picks for AD and E’Tuawn Moore (David Levy)
Contributor David Levy (@DavidHLevy1996) poses this trade:
It’s clear that anytime there’s a transformative, once-in-a-blue-moon talent like Anthony Davis on the trade block, you have to at least give it an old college try and attempt a trade for him. Pairing AD with Lillard would undoubtedly give the Blazers the second best duo in the league (Thunder fans could perhaps argue that with the way PG is playing). This core could perhaps lead to some potential key free agent signings when a lot of the hefty contracts go off the books in 2020 (also this trade would actually save the Blazers about $4-million dollars). Adding in a cap filler who could also add some perimeter shooting in Moore would round out the Blazer’s roster. The Blazers’ depth chart then would look something like this:
PG: Dame, Seth Curry, Baldwin
SG: Gary Trent, Jr. (my starter on this hypothetical team), Moore, Stauskas
SF: Jake Layman (should start regularly), Evan Turner, Harkless
PF: Al-Farouq Aminu, Leonard, Swanigan
C: Davis, Collins
With Layman’s rise in production this season (and my belief that Trent was a second round steal and will prove it when given the opportunity), the starting lineup around Davis and Dame could be formidable. I still have a lot of concerns with this trade if I’m Portland, mostly around Davis’s lack of durability (not discussed enough), him leaving when his contract is up (not as worried about that as others may be), and whether the production lost from trading their second- and third-best players would leave too big of hole for even someone the caliber of Davis to fill. But when Anthony Davis is on the trade block, you don’t worry about those things.
New Orleans likely doesn’t do this deal. With Davis gone, New Orleans likely looks to get the best young talent they can. While Nurkic and CJ are certainly better players right now than, say, Lonzo and Ingram, and I’d say Kuzma and Tatum as well, New Orleans wouldn’t expect either of them to become a centerpiece of a championship team that perhaps one of the young players on the Lakers or Celtics may become (side note: I don’t think any of those guys will, but hey, if the national media says they will, then it must be true).
At the same time, as odd it sounds, CJ and Nurk make that team too good. A lineup of Holiday, CJ, Hill, Randle, and Nurkic, with Mirotic off the bench would compete for the 7 or 8 seed. New Orleans would want to be bad for the next couple seasons to acquire the highest picks they can, and going back to what I said earlier, try and get a young player who could potentially be that centerpiece of a championship team. If New Orleans was not a failing NBA market with the lowest revenues in the league perhaps they do take a trade like this that gives them the best current return in talent they could get, plus a nice young asset in Anfernee Simons and two first round picks likely to be in the mid 20’s. But because they got to get as many fans as they can into the arena, they’ll probably take a trade from the Lakers and market their team around that promising young talent.
Three-team trade with the Dallas Mavericks (Aaron Gershon)
Contributor Aaron Gershon (agershon99) dreamed up this three-team package with the Dallas Mavericks:
This trade is as big of a long shot as long shot gets but when you look closely at it works for all sides.
Dallas needs to get Dennis Smith, Jr. out of town before he becomes a distraction. The Pelicans will be looking for young players to build around, so sending him to New Orleans in a three-team deal as the centerpiece of a package makes sense. Dallas then gets back a serviceable point guard in Elfrid Payton along with two low-risk high-reward bench pieces.
With Smith Jr being the center of the package, New Orleans can also then go to town on Portland’s role players. Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu can both be flipped for draft picks, or the Pelicans can keep Harkless to help them win games while they’re still rebuilding. They also can use Seth Curry as a shooter off the bench and Dorian Finney-Smith from Dallas as a reliable role player.
Though Portland would be giving up a lot of talent, it would be more than worth it, as they would keep Dame and CJ while adding Anthony Davis to create a big-three that may be as good as any in the league.
Although none of these trades are necessarily likely, it’s fun to dream while we can. Fingers crossed that Portland at least enters the conversation over AD.