Two years later, the NBA is seriously feeling the after effects of 2016’s insane spending spree.
After dishing out more than $1.8 billion to free agents in the summer of ’16, a frozen salary cap has led a number of teams to max out their cap space with no relief in sight.
With only seven teams expected to have ample cap space this summer — the Bulls, Nets, Hawks, 76ers, Suns, Mavericks, and Lakers (only Philadelphia is in a position to compete for a playoff spot) — it leaves a wide majority of the NBA looking to free up cap space and rid themselves of hindering contracts, and only a small handful of teams in a position to absorb salary.
As such, we near Thursday’s trade deadline with a significant imbalance between the number of buyers and sellers.
“The trade market is mostly sellers right now,” one unnamed general manager told ESPN on Monday. “There’s only a few buyers…There are going to be a lot of teams who are looking to move money, and there aren’t many places for it to go.”
The NBA’s looming financial situation, in which front offices will work to avoid paying the luxury tax next season, is expected to be a major factor ahead of Thursday, but that doesn’t mean contending teams aren’t motivated to make a trade for the good ol’ fashioned sake of improving their team for a playoff run.
Here’s a look at notable buyers and sellers at the NBA’s trade deadline:
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BUYERS
BOSTON CELTICS
The Celts may sit in first place in the East at 39-15, two games up on the second-place Toronto Raptors, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to stand pat.
They’re reportedly in the market for a scoring punch off the bench, a second-unit leader in the backcourt, and have been linked to two of the best this season in Los Angeles Clippers breakout star Lou Williams, and Memphis Grizzlies key reserve Tyreke Evans.
What’s more, the team is said to be open to moving upcoming free agent Marcus Smart, and is seeking a first-round draft pick, which could theoretically be flipped to Los Angeles or Memphis as part of a potential deal.
The Celtics are obviously a very talented, well-coached team, but there’s no hiding the fact that, like the Raptors, they rely heavily on a rotation of inexperienced role players, including rookies Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis, and Abdel Nader. It’s worked for them in the regular season, but with their eyes on a Finals run it’s not surprising that GM Danny Ainge is shopping for a reliable veteran scorer.
Boston already added talent last week when it signed centre Greg Monroe to a one-year deal, and is among the most active teams looking to get better by week’s end, now focusing on the backcourt.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
There’s a major caveat to any potential Blazers deal that would see them acquire the best player in a trade with another club.
The Trail Blazers are perhaps the poster franchise for frivolous spending in 2016, and as such have a number of poor contracts on the books for at least two more seasons, including more than $80 million combined to Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless (no, seriously).
Portland will work hard to make sure one of those contracts is sent the other way in a trade, and that could be a substantial road block for sellers on the market.
Despite dropping their last two games, the Blazers are currently sixth in the West and a half game back of fifth-place Oklahoma City. They have been engaged with the Clippers in trade talks for DeAndre Jordan — a substantial acquisition that, paired with their elite backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, would make them dangerous come playoff time.
The Clippers are reportedly not interested in taking on a bad contract in any potential Jordan deal, and it’s a problem Portland will likely run into throughout all of its negotiations with other teams prior to the deadline.
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TORONTO RAPTORS
While teams like Portland (and Cleveland, but more on that in a moment) are looking to make a big splash at the deadline and acquire an all-star level talent, the Raptors are believed to be eyeing more subtle changes to address needs heading into the stretch run.
Toronto is reportedly looking to bolster its perimeter shooting at the deadline and add a player who can reliably knock down shots in crunch time. Like Portland — but for very different reasons — the Raps may run into some sizeable walls while trying to make that happen.
There have been unsubstantiated reports citing the Raptors as a potential suitor for Williams, but don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, on Zach Lowe’s podcast, said he doesn’t expect the Raps to make any moves, for what it’s worth.
Part of the reason is that the Raptors don’t have a lot in the way of trade assets. Actually, let me rephrase that. The Raptors have plenty of trade assets, but would be foolish to ship out some of their young rising stars for a band-aid fix.
What was supposed to be a point of weakness heading into the season — a mostly untested, inexperienced bench unit — has become one of the Raps’ greatest assets and a differentiator over other teams. Whether as a collective or individually, the group of Jakob Poeltl, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and rookie starter OG Anunoby all hold tremendous value to the team both immediately and in the future — and they’ve stepped up in big games against elite teams throughout the season, which bodes well come playoff time.
One thing the Raptors don’t have: a first-round pick in the upcoming draft, a consistent asking price from sellers in exchange for veteran talent.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
The Cavaliers season is shambles, LeBron James looks as disengaged as ever, and the front office is crippled by both his lack of commitment beyond this season and its own terrible decisions.
Like the more than $146 million combined owed to Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, and Kyle Korver between now and the summer of 2020. Or the fact that they traded an all-world player in Kyrie Irving for a 5-foot-9 player who looks a shell of his former self and a draft pick that isn’t likely to land higher than eighth.
It’s not often that a team goes 7-13 in its last 20 games heading into a trade deadline and is considered definitive buyers, but here we are.
The Cavs are buyers because they are desperate to do something to help change their fortunes around this season and convince LeBron to stick around next summer. But their only real asset — Brooklyn’s pick — is also the closest thing they have to a contingency plan should he take his talents elsewhere.
This is not a situation that a single deadline deal can fix.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
The Bucks have played well since canning head coach Jason Kidd, but given the Cavs’ weakness at the moment, they are one of many teams eyeing the landscape in the East and seeing an unexpected opportunity to make a push in the playoffs.
Milwaukee already made one significant trade earlier this season when it acquired Eric Bledsoe from Phoenix, but between its draft picks and young assets like Thon Maker and Malcom Brogdon, the team could be in a position to make one more splash, and has been linked to Jordan for quite some time.
One wrinkle: Jabari Parker, who just made his season debut last Friday after undergoing his second major knee surgery in as many years, becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Bucks have a very difficult decision to make regarding Parker, who is one of the more interesting potential trade pieces in the NBA, and will likely cost the Bucks a small fortune to re-sign, bringing them over the cap and firmly into luxury tax territory next season and beyond.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
The Westbrook-George-Anthony trio has settled in nicely. Throw in Steven Adams and the Thunder are legitimately quite good. But the season-ending injury to Andre Robertson, a primary defender and the team’s starting shooting guard, means that the Thunder now have a hole to fill, and should be active in doing so.
Recently acquired Clipper Avery Bradley is one player that fits the bill for what OKC is looking for ahead of the deadline.
SELLERS
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
As mentioned, there is a long list of sellers on the market, whether it’s middle-of-the-pack teams looking to rid themselves of bad contracts, or clubs embarking on a long-term rebuild looking to accumulate assets to help do so.
The Clippers fit both. Blake Griffin was the first domino to fall. Jordan will likely be the next. Williams after that, followed by the likes of Austin Rivers and Wesley Johnson. Have young players or draft picks to spare? Give the Clips a call. They’d be happy to listen.
CHICAGO BULLS
The Bulls may not have much to sell, but they are another team clearly hitting ‘reset’ this season, and after dealing Nikola Mirotic last week have most recently made centre Robin Lopez and point guard Jerian Grant available via trade.
A team seeking veteran depth can look to Chicago, who is one of the few teams with ample cap space seemingly willing to take on short-term headache contracts if they’re accompanied by a draft pick or two.
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ORLANDO MAGIC
Nothing is off the table for Orlando, and if I’m a buyer I’d view the Magic’s situation as one ripe for picking. The team has talent on the roster — Nik Vucevic, Evan Fournier, Jonathon Simmons, and even Aaron Gordon’s name has come up as potentially being on the market — and mired in another wildly disappointing season could be looking to reload and start over under new GM Jeff Weltman.
CHARLOTTE HORNETS
Another team in the midst of a disappointing season, the Hornets have already reportedly explored trades for star point guard Kemba Walker — who is in line for a max-level contract in the summer of 2019 — and have the draft picks, young players, and contracts that can be leveraged in a deal to help start to usher in a new direction, which might be necessary with no player in line to take Walker’s mantle as a potential franchise-type player.
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
With Mike Conley shut down for the season, there’s no turning the 2017-18 campaign around for the Grizzlies, who are in as good a position to tank and try to obtain the top draft pick as any team in the NBA. They are already well on their way, but with trade assets like Evans (as good as gone) and Marc Gasol, Memphis could do a lot worse than fully commit to starting over and trying its luck in landing a future star in what is shaping up to be a loaded top-end of the draft.