With Love out of town, Minnesota might as well go young and develop their kids for a stacked team in a couple of years. The trade:
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pdwypes Bos In: Pekovic, Smith
Bos Out: Bogans, Anthony, Sully, Green, Bass, 2015 Clippers Pick
Detroit In: Green, Bass
Detroit Out: Smith
Minny In: Sully, Bogans, Anthony, 2015 Clippers Pick
Minny Out: Pekovic
Why Minny does it: By trading Love for Wiggins and Bennett, there's no reason to try and stay relevant this year. Pekovic just keeps time away from Dieng, and trading him would fast track Dieng's progress and development. With this trade, they'd be able to trot out a starting lineup of Rubio, Wiggins, Bennett, Sully, and Dieng while having a bench of Barea, Lavine, Muhammed, Mbah a Moute, and Turiaf. In a couple of years, that's a sick lineup to have. Also, it gets them out of long-term money by adding an expiring contract and a non-guaranteed contract, and a late first round pick for their troubles. (If they said no, we could always offer up a Thornton for Martin swap to sweeten the deal. Martin's shooting would help us greatly off the bench, but he does have several years left on his deal.)
Why Detroit does it: By trading Smith, they'd be able to retain Monroe while having a more natural fit at the 3 in Green. This gets them out of long-term money, and it helps them compete more in a weak Eastern Conference. Furthermore, they get a perfect back-up forward for Monroe in Bass, who can stretch the floor around Drummond and hit mid-range jumpers.
Why Boston does it: This lets us get considerably better now, while aiding the prospect of Rondo returning to play with his friend Smith. Smith and Pekovic greatly complement each other, and as long as Stevens can keep Smith under wraps, we could be a top team in the East. A lineup of Rondo, Bradley, Turner, Smith, and Pekovic with a bench of Smart, Young, Wallace, Olynyk, and Zeller is pretty dang solid.
Who says no, and how high would we be in the East standings?