As mentioned in the previous article, December 15th is the unofficial start of player transactions. Before the trade deadline in February, although there should not be any trades like Kevin Durant last season or James Harden at the beginning of the season, there are five teams that have players who may be the protagonists of trades. The previous article mentioned two teams. This article will continue the previous article and introduce the remaining three teams…
As mentioned in the previous article, December 15th is the unofficial start of player transactions. Before the trade deadline in February, although there should not be any trades like Kevin Durant last season or James Harden at the beginning of the season, there are five teams that have players who may be the protagonists of trades. The previous article mentioned two teams, and this article will continue the previous article and introduce the remaining three teams.
Making waves in the trade market: Five teams with the ability to change the league’s ecology – Part 1
3. Utah Jazz
The Jazz got a bumper harvest from the Rudy Gobert trade in the 2022 offseason, clearing salary space and acquiring many draft picks. In the 2023 offseason, part of the reason why the Jazz acquired John Collins from the Hawks was to ensure that the team’s salary would not fall below the minimum standard.
Although the Jazz focus on building for the future, they secretly pursued Jrue Holiday during the off-season and stated that they want to become a “win-now” team. If there is a long-term plan, the team will not trade multiple first-round picks for a 33-year-old player.
The Jazz are now on the track of normal development. This season, the Jazz have won about 30 games, which is exactly the state of disparity that general manager Danny Ainge wants to avoid.
Because Ainge is the operator, it is impossible to predict what decision the Jazz will make before the trade deadline. Having traded Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Boston, he could trade anyone. Recently, there have been rumors that he may put Lauri Markkanen on the trade table. Since the team with an average lineup still produced good statistics, coupled with an annual salary that is lower than the market, Markkanen’s sales are at a high point.
If Ainge thinks the Jazz need to be tanking for a while, he might let Markkanen play for another team. He would definitely do better in a major supporting role on a team trying to compete for a championship. In the Jazz, all he is doing is helping a team with average strength maintain a performance that is not too bad.
Will the Jazz go the other way and strengthen their strength through trades? It’s absolutely possible. The addition of a good point guard can change the situation, but the guards acquired by the Jazz in last year’s trade were unable to reproduce the previous function of Mike Conley in the Jazz. It is also feasible to supplement Siakam, because the Jazz’s outside offense can actually accommodate Siakam, who mainly plays inside, but this model cannot be applied to Collins.
It is rumored that the Jazz have begun to sell Collins. After all, his shooting performance has not improved and his jumping ability is not as good as when he played for the Hawks.
The Jazz have players who are good and don’t require much trade cost, such as Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk. Acquiring these two players does not require sending more than two first-round picks, but they can still bring some help to strong teams.
For the Jazz, keeping these two players may take up playing time for the young players, but the Jazz, like the Raptors, do not have a clear future direction for the team. It can be expected that Ainge will not sit on the sidelines all the time.
4. Philadelphia 76ers
There are very few situations where doing nothing before the trade deadline means that this team will have dominance, but the current Sixers are an example, as long as they don’t use trades to find any players with long-term contracts and high salaries at this stage.
For a team like the Raptors, which has major players who are about to become free agents at the end of this season, the last thing they want to do is face off against Daryl Morey at the end of the season, because it will be difficult to win.
Would Morey use this situation as a bargaining chip? It’s hard to say, but it’s possible. When he negotiates a deal with the Raptors GM, he may refuse his request and talk about competing in the offseason. The threat that the Tyrannosaurus might be left with nothing might reduce their demands in a trade case. Or maybe he can intimidate in another way, like: “I can sign your A players this summer, but if you trade your B players to me, I will have less salary space to compete for.”
This kind of negotiation is very clever. As the NBA general manager who is best at manipulating salary space, Morey definitely knows how to use it. Of course, the Sixers may still use conventional methods to add some outstanding players through trades. This is a more practical approach for the teams Morey built in the past. He didn’t have much money to work with before because he was always chasing superstars.
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After James Harden was traded out, the Sixers’ salary structure was back on track, and they were in no rush to find stars to fill his vacancy. It would be more reasonable to find a perimeter defender like Caruso or a defender who is better at distributing the ball to relieve Tyrese Maxey’s pressure on the court.
Being able to use this summer’s salary space to threaten other teams is what makes the Sixers’ operations so attractive. Perhaps the Sixers can go all-in before the trade deadline and compete for the championship this season, or set their sights on next season or the next season. Maybe we can strike a balance between these two possibilities and add players who won’t take up too much salary space before the trade deadline. It’s rare for a “win-now” team to have so many options, and Morey will definitely take advantage of this opportunity.
2023-12-25 09:17:41
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