The season of trades in the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) off-season officially began on June 23, following the 2023 NBA Draft, and NBA free agency tipped off on June 30 with players and teams allowed to discuss any potential deals, leading up to July 6 when the signing of contracts can officially commence.
With a couple of the biggest names yet to confirm where they will call home next season (specifically, Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard and future Hall-of-Famer James Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers), most of the NBA landscape has already taken shape and very little is expected to change from here on in. A few expected changes didn’t happen, some unexpected changes materialised, while a few others were complete head-scratchers.
Here is an idea of how the next NBA season is shaping up thus far.
While Harden requesting a trade from Philadelphia — preferably to the Los Angeles Clippers — didn’t come as a surprise, Lillard’s request to be traded — preferably to the Miami Heat — rocked most onlookers. The 32-year-old, seven-time All-Star has frequently preached loyalty to the franchise that drafted him in 2012, despite its struggles to surround him with a championship-level roster, but then (shockingly) signing 29-year-old Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160-million contract may be an indication that the team is heading in a different direction. Both Harden and Lillard are capable of rapidly swinging the fortunes of any team they land in, so these trades should be significant when they do happen.
Harden averaged 21 points, 6.1 rebounds and 10.7 assists last season, while Lillard finished with 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists.
A number of free-agency expectations turned out to be ‘non-factors’, as point guard Kyrie Irving re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks for three years with a guaranteed $126 million, Khris Middleton remained with the Milwaukee Bucks on a three-year, guaranteed $102-million contract and Draymond Green renewed his stay with the Golden State Warriors for another four years, with a $100-million guarantee. While the moves were expected to happen, these re-signings were not surprising and should serve the greater good of the teams and players involved.
However, there were a few jaw-dropping movements in the NBA that not even Nostradamus could have predicted. The Boston Celtics giving up Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a three-team deal for Kristaps Porzingis was particularly seismic. Porzingis put up very creditable numbers for the Washington Wizards last season (23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists), but Smart was the Celtics’ anchor for the past few years, and Porzingis’ fit as the third offensive option could require major adjustments.
The Houston Rockets went all-out on their back court, signing former Toronto Raptors point guard Fred Van Vleet to a three-year, $130-million deal and signing former Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks to a four-year, $180-million deal, with one All-Star appearance between them. Van Vleet, with his new contract, now becomes the highest-paid undrafted player in NBA history and will earn more this season than Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic and Devin Booker.
Brooks is a very competent defensive player despite making a mockery of himself after trash-talking LeBron James in the play-offs, then not playing well, but he has obvious offensive limitations. Many thought he had played his last NBA game, but with this deal, and never having made an All-Star team, he is earning more than Russel Westbrook, a nine-time All-Star and one-time Most Valuable Player (MVP), who agreed to a two-year, $7.8-million contract with the Clippers.
On the subject of Westbrook, who struggled to find his fit on a demanding Los Angeles Lakers roster last season, and found himself in a mid-season trade that landed him crosstown to the Clippers, he rediscovered his form and thrived as the team’s primary starting point guard — averaging 15.8 points and 7.6 assists (in 21 games) while shooting 48.9 per cent from the field and 35.6 per cent on three-pointers. He started all five of the team’s play-off games, averaging 23.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists. However, the 34-year-old will make just $4 million next season after making $47-million last year — the largest pay cut in the league’s history.
Elsewhere, in a three-team trade agreement between the Warriors, Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns, Jordan Poole moved from the Warriors to the Wizards, Bradley Beal was traded from the Wizards to the Suns and Washington flipped Chris Paul (having previously acquired him from the Suns) to the Warriors (plus a first-round draft pick). Golden State will have the ability to use Paul as a distributor to help set up the offence and generate open three-pointers, Washington has obviously hit reset-mode after being stuck in limbo for some time, and Phoenix has a deeper bench – with the addition of Eric Gordon (from the Houston Rockets) – and has created what is now a ‘Big Four’ with Bradley, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. And, with the naming in early June of Frank Vogel as head coach, the expectations are high in Phoenix for next season.
On a sentimental note, Derrick Rose, the No 1 pick for the Chicago Bulls in 2008 and the NBA’s youngest-ever MVP in 2011 at age 22 (bettering LeBron for the MVP trophy), has signed with the Memphis Grizzlies, bringing his time with the New York Knicks to a close. Rose is one of only 13 players still active from the Class of 2008 and the Grizzlies desperately need a greater veteran presence, especially to help tame the recent episodes with Ja Morant. Additionally, Morant can benefit from the guidance of the 34-year-old who has first-hand experience of short-lived stardom and can possibly provide a blueprint of how to have a long NBA career.
The 2023-24 NBA season is just over three months away and there are still some possible moves (especially for Lillard and Harden) that will impact the full rosters of teams, but the NBA Summer League begins today and runs through to July 17, and that will provide opportunities to see the rookies and some role players. The No 1 pick in the recently concluded draft, Victor Wembanyama, is slated for a showdown tonight against the No 2 pick, Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets, and should provide a taste of things to come.
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