The Give and Go: Which Contenders Need a Trade?

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The Give and Go is a quick back and forth between Paul Mitchell and Chris St. Jean about a relevant subject in the NBA at that moment.

Paul: The NBA’s trade deadline is just hours away. We’ve covered various aspects of the deadline already, with trades we want to see happen and the thought process behind rebuilding teams moving draft picks, but let’s switch our focus this week to the contending teams. The Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, and Memphis Grizzlies have already made big moves to stabilize their deficiencies for the playoff push, but which (other) playoff hopefuls need a talent infusion for the stretch run of the season?

Chris: It seems like the rumor mill has been fairly quiet for contending teams looking to upgrade around the trade deadline. The biggest story has been the Goran Dragic saga representative of a playoff team actually unloading a valuable piece (although even the Suns may have come to realize that they are just a placeholder for the Thunder). As much as I wanted him to be linked to the Celtics, his wish list has been announced and the Lakers (how dare he!), Knicks, and Heat are there. Indiana and Houston are sniffing around, and Steiny Mo has thrown the Celtics into the ring, but I’m being very hesitant with my heart right now. Are we sure this is real?

But enough about my (soon to be) shattered dream to see Dragic in Celtic green. We’re focused on contenders here. As you mentioned, Memphis, Cleveland, Houston, and Dallas have already made their moves and it’s unclear if Dallas is even a contender (as much as I love me some old-school Amare, I don’t think he moves the needle). The team I think could use an upgrade is the Portland Trail Blazers, but in my scenario this is a two-part move.

The Blazers have been linked to Tayshaun Prince, but I want them to have more shooting. I’ve already brought this trade up in our Hypothetical Trade Podcast, but the first part of the move should be the Kevin Martin for Thomas Robinson, Victor Claver, and a heavily protected first-round pick trade. Martin is very good at two things even at the age of 32: outside shooting (41% this season, 39% career) and getting to the free throw line (4.7 FTA per game this season and 6.0 over his career). He’d be a great bench scorer for the Blazers, and when offense is needed, you could plug him in with Wes Matthews, Lillard, Aldridge, and Lopez for an extremely potent lineup.

Giving up two players and taking back one creates a roster space and that’s where the second part comes in. This is a long shot, I know, but if Kevin Garnett is bought out by the Brooklyn Nets, I want Portland (the version of Portland that just traded Thomas Robinson for Kevin Martin) to sweep in before he gets to the Clippers. You threw out a trade idea involving Garnett and T-Rob, but the buyout method is that much more appealing to Portland. I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but here’s my case for them acquiring Garnett.

He is saying all the right things in Brooklyn. Brian Lewis of the New York Post had these comments on the situation:

“I’m all-in here. You understand what that means? Mase [Mason Plumlee], the young guys, Cory [Jefferson], I’ve been trying to help them develop.  I haven’t really … obviously coming in I knew it was going to be a challenge this year with Paul [Pierce] leaving. Every time you give away experience like that, it’s going to be difficult.

“The younger guys, the Europeans, chemistry, transition, new coach: All those variables go into a lot of things. So it’s not like I came in here thinking one thing and then it being another. I understood. I came in here ready to play, having a different mindset. But for the most part I never put myself above the agenda of the team, which is winning, helping the team, helping young guys progress. That’s me. I give.”

Wouldn’t playing for a playoff team and possible contender light a new type of fire under KG as far as intensity?

There is a big question mark around how much of an impact Garnett can have on the floor, but off the floor, I view this move as the equivalent to Washington bringing in Paul Pierce. KG could be the guy that gives Portland that edge, that irrational (or rational) confidence. That guy who has been through absolute wars not just in the playoffs, but in the Conference Finals year after year, or in the biggest stage of them all, the NBA Finals. That type of experience is invaluable. There are just only so many players that have gone through that furnace that currently put on an NBA jersey.

On the court, with Chris Kaman’s play slipping a bit, maybe bolstering the bench unit with Garnett who could play either PF or C for this team would be valuable. He’d be a type of defensive presence they just don’t have on the roster currently and would make their front line of Aldridge, Lopez, Kaman, and Garnett extremely versatile (a huge bonus in the playoffs where match-ups are so important), and his rebounding would be welcome on a team that already dominates the glass.  

Building on strengths. Adding shooting, defense and rebounding to a team that is 3rd in 3-pointers made this season, 3rd in points allowed per possession, and 2nd in rebounds per game. Portland is being overlooked as a possible contender likely because of their lack of depth and deep playoff experience. It’s time they make a statement about that.

How about you, Mitchell? What move do you want to see an upper-echelon team make?

Paul: Can I stay in Portland for a second? I know this is a ridiculous idea, given Dragic’s desire to run his own offense and his affinity for bad teams, but if any team is going to surrender a first-round pick to rent Goran Dragic’s services for two months (plus the playoffs), why not the Trail Blazers?

Portland has been a convenient “they should go all-in!” team for most of the season, due to their young core’s progression and the team’s position towards the top of the Western Conference standings. Recent rumors have general manager Neil Olshey negotiating with the Denver Nuggets for one of their wings (Wilson Chandler or Arron Afflalo), with an offer of Will “The Thrill” Barton, Thomas Robinson, and a “future first-rounder” reportedly on the table. Wing has been a position of need ever since Nic Batum tore a ligament in his wrist in December but Dragic would give the 10th-ranked Trail Blazers offense another ball-handling element off the bench or to close games with the starters that it’s missed after losing Mo Williams in the offseason.

Dragic is a completely different player than Mo Williams, as more of a slasher and high-usage guard than a spot-up shooter, but Damian Lillard had success last season playing off-the-ball next to Williams and in small-ball lineups. The Blazers finished 5th in offensive rating last season (points scored per 100 possessions) while playing Mo about 25 minutes per game and often ran dual-point guard lineups in the fourth quarter.

Goran Dragic has already expressed his displeasure in playing alongside Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas in Phoenix and it’s unlikely he would particularly care to come off the bench, even in a better situation (given his trade demands), but his playmaking abilities would be a huge upgrade over Steve Blake, Thrill, or C.J. McCollum on the Blazers bench and Portland would be nearly unstoppable in the half-court with Dragic and Dame together. Try overloading the strong side of the floor on Dragic/LaMarcus Aldridge (or even Batum) pick-and-rolls, with another pick-and-roll and spot-up threat on the other side in Lillard, flanked by Wes Matthews. The integration of Dragic into Blazer lineups would be a tough challenge for Terry Stotts, while the team scraps for playoff positioning in the absolutely loaded West, but adding Goran Dragic to the Western Conference’s 3rd seed could change the Portland Trail Blazers’ ceiling this season.

And that ceiling would exist for this season only. The Blazers already have three starting players to take care of this summer in free agency, and retaining Aldridge, Matthews, and center Robin Lopez will be Olshey’s priority if he hopes to remain as the Trail Blazers GM. The usual caveat of the exploding salary cap still applies and any team that acquires Dragic will also obtain his Bird rights in free agency, meaning that his team can offer more years and guaranteed money than any other suitor and go over the salary cap to re-sign him, but it’s unlikely that the Blazers would potentially pay LMA, Wes, and Dragic max-level contracts. I could be wrong on that, especially for a team owned by Paul Allen, but dropping $300+ million in a single summer is on some Miami Marlins-type of spending sprees. Even if the Blazers came correct and offered Goran Dragic a 5-year, $100 million contract, the starting lineup issues with Damian Lillard would prevent a long-term union, but I would love to see the Blazers gear up for a playoff push and target the biggest name on the market.

I threw out Kevin Garnett and Alan Anderson to Portland last week, but your contract buyout situation is much more realistic for the Trail Blazers. I questioned the Chris Kaman and Steve Blake signings all season long and took the L early, even admitting as much in this very column. For the Portland Trail Blazers to escape Round 2 in these Western Conference playoffs, though, they’ll need more consistent bench production when Lillard and Aldridge sit. Whether it’s through internal options like McCollum, Kaman, or Meyers Leonard or a successful buyout signing, their time to make an “all-in” investment is running out.

I’m not sure if we can exactly call them a contender, since their record is under-.500 and they play in the Eastern Conference, but with the impending return of Paul George to the lineup, I wouldn’t be mad at the Indiana Pacers making a long-term move. Goran Dragic is a shiny prize that would fit nicely in Indiana’s offense but would almost certainly flee the franchise in free agency, and sacrificing a future asset for a run at the 8th seed wouldn’t be a great allocation of resources. Selling off David West’s contract and holding onto a potential lottery pick might be the more prudent move from team president Larry Bird.

Finally, I know they’re not contenders either but I’ve vacillated back and forth over a potential Goran Dragic trade to the Boston Celtics. Holding his Bird rights makes dealing a first-round pick (or two?) for him a bit more palatable, but Celtics fans should never feel comfortable when it comes to free agency. Chris made the case on the podcast for building around a backcourt of Goran Dragic and Marcus Smart, and I could talk myself into the double-pick-and-roll threats on the perimeter, but giving up a first (at least) and paying (a 28-year old) Dragic $20 million in average annual value over the next five years might be fool’s gold for a rebuilding team. Instead, I will now focus the brunt of my Trade Machine time on “Boogie” Cousins trades.