It’s Giving Season: Every NBA Team Makes A Trade (Part 1 of 3)

Philadelphia 76ers

Sending: Nerlens Noel

Receiving: Jordan Clarkson/Nick Young

Los Angeles Lakers

Sending: Jordan Clarkson/Nick Young

Receiving: Nerlens Noel

Reasoning: The 76ers glutenous amount of big-men is an enormous trending story-line in the NBA right now. The relieve some of those issues by trading the notably upset big-man in Nerlens Noel to the Lakers. By doing so they also cure the weakness at their guard positions in receiving PG Jordan Clarkson and sharpshooter Nick Young to replace their current back-up caliber Sergio Rodriguez/Gerald Henderson PG/SG combo.

Los Angeles Clippers

Sending: J.J Redick

Receiving: Thabo Sefolosha

Atlanta Hawks

Sending: Thabo Sefolosha

Receiving: J.J Redick

Reasoning: Remember when the Hawks offense seemed to be clicking on all cylinders with Kyle Korver being one of the league’s premium spot-shooters? He has taken quite a big hit, and has settled into a bench-role with Atlanta this season. They will receive a guy with just as much prowess in today’s game in J.J Redick. The Clippers have plenty of offense when healthy, and even though they have a top-5 defense currently, when you have Luc Mbah a Moute starting at the 3 position, your team can definitely use an upgrade. Sefolosha brings the same amount of defensive intensity, while offering more in his offensive arsenal than Mbah a Moute can bring to the table.

Golden State Warriors

Sending: Steph Curry

Receiving: DeMarcus Cousins

Sacramento Kings

Sending: DeMarcus Cousins

Receiving: Steph Curry

Reasoning: Yes, understand that a trade of this capacity will never happen in today’s game, seeing two franchise players swapping teams. Hear me out on this one though. Sacramento has longly thought about trading Cousins whether they deny it or not. His attitude has been awful throughout his career, and he added another notch in the belt with his recent outrage towards a Kings media member. Obviously it is clear that he does not like when people talk about his “f*!king brother,” and it is also very clear he hates losing as well. People often say that “winning cures everything,” and what better to go to the team holding the leagues best record and coming off a season in which they broke the single-season wins record. For Golden State, we saw how bad their defense really was without Draymond and Bogut in the finals last season. They will get themselves arguably the best offensive center in the league, that can play solid defense when he asserts himself. The type of team Golden State deploys resembles great commodore and togetherness, and I believe that is the type of situation that can turn around Cousins career. It definitely would be a humbling experience for Boogie to play along-side other superstars, and if his attitude does somewhat of a 180, he could become a solid rim-protector that Golden State lacks, while maintaining his status as an offensive juggernaut.

Phoenix Suns

Sending: Brandon Knight

Receiving: Gorgui Dieng

Minnesota Timberwolves

Sending: Gorgui Dieng

Receiving: Brandon Knight

Reasoning: The Suns have themselves somewhat of a revolving door at the center position with starter Tyson Chandler and the often injured youngster Alex Len. They have their future starting guard positions set with Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker, so Brandon Knight has succumbed to a bench role. They flip Knight here to replenish their center position with a two-way up-and-c0ming guy in Gorgui Dieng. His offensive game has already taken steps forward since stepping foot in the NBA, and his defensive prowess is just what the Suns need, as they boast one of the leagues worst defenses. Meanwhile, this offseason there was a ton of chatter about the Wolves looking to trade away Ricky Rubio. This gives off the notion that the new regime under Tom Thibadeau does not have Rubio in it’s future plans. They bring in a much more offensively capable PG in Brandon Knight who could immediately start for this team while helping bring along his young fellow PG in Kris Dunn and Tyus Jones.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Sending: J.R Smith

Receiving: Tony Allen

Memphis Grizzlies

Sending: Tony Allen

Receiving: J.R Smith

Reasoning: This one was kind of simple. The Grizzlies have lacked a threat to drain buckets from behind the arc for years, and J.R Smith is definitely a player who is not afraid to shoot. The Cavs on the other hand have plenty of offense with LeBron, Kyrie, and Love so bringing in a defensive stopper in Tony Allen would really boost this team on the defensive side of the ball. Come playoff time they would have three different players to deploy that are thought of as some of the best and most versatile defenders in the game when you think about LeBron, Shumpert, and Allen’s ability to defend multiple positions.