Regardless of how valuable you think they are, Danny Ainge and the Celtics have a treasure trove of assets to use and they've been at the forefront of every NBA rumor so far. One of the most common topics has been trading up in the draft. I think we're in a good spot, because a lot of the teams above us in the draft are looking to compete next season and would trade back for the right price. I wanted to present some realistic trade scenarios for draft night that could get us back into the lottery group.
So we'll start at the end and work out way up.
BOS trades Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, #16 and #33 to OKC for #14, Steven Adams and Perry Jones III
- OKC loves Bradley. He'd be the perfect complimentary guard to Westbrook and KD. And they also learned the value of an offensively oriented front court player with Kanter this year, but with him up for such a big contract, the notoriously cheap Thunder may want to find a way to put good pieces around KD to prove they want a chip without giving Kanter a huge deal. Going by that theory, both Adams and McGary become more expendable. Adams is the only guy they have that can reach the value of AB and KO, as the pick swap is hardly worth anything. We get our rim protector and a flyer on PJ3.
BOS trades Avery Bradley to Utah for #12 and Rodney Hood
- By now we've all seen some variation of this trade. But it makes sense, and since Lowe proposed it it has some meat behind it. AB fits right into the Jazz' long term plan perfectly. With their glut of defensively weak ball handlers, they need a guy like AB who for one, can play lockdown defense, and two can be effective on offense without the ball in his hands. He's on a good contract and fits into their time table. That team is ready to compete, and Bradley will help them more than anyone they get at 12 this season. For us, we add another pick into our arsenal, making it easier to trade up and we get Hood who can take some of AB's minutes right away with his killer 3pt stroke.
BOS trades Tyler Zeller, #16 and the 2016 MIN 1st to IND for #11 and Roy Hibbert
- Trading up while not trading into the top 10 is tough because added value is needed to make it worth it. 11 is close enough to catch a top guy falling, and since Bird has already said Hibbert doesn't fit into their long term plan so he certainly is gettable. Zeller is a much better fit for the kind of offense they want to run, and with Hibbert's contract being so inflated, they could do worse than the Minny pick.
BOS trades Jared Sullinger and #28 to MIA for #10
- May have to pick swap 16 to make this one happen, but this is the cost of getting in the Top-10. The Heat are NOT a rebuilding team. And Sully is the kind of highly-talented player Riley would love to get his hands on. Next to Whiteside Riley and Spo could do Sully quite well. Bosh is a huge question mark and Sullinger can fit in the rotation regardless. We get out chance at whoever a left from the Top 10, be it Johnson, Turner, WCS, etc.
BOS trades Avery Bradley and #28 to CHA for #9 and Lance Stephenson.
- Now this just makes sense for everyone. Charlotte needs an off-guard who plays defense and stretches the floor, and they could use more locker room leadership. AB provides all those things in a young, athletic guy who while experienced is still just 24 and on a great deal. For us, we get to keep 16, we can hopefully get one of our targets at 9, and we get the ultimate Stevens reclamation project in Stephenson. Lance, at his best, is probably better than AB, and while some people don't think he's worth the risk, I think he could buy right into the culture were building here and play as well as he did in Indy just a year ago. Even if he's a total bust, he has a team option for next year and we could easily cut him loose.
BOS trades Kelly Olynyk, #16 and the 2016 MIN 1st to Detroit for #8
- As CB's own Kevin O'Conner explained, Detroit is probably our most likely trade partner if we trade up. They need a 4 to take Monroe's minutes who can preferably stretch the floor. And SVG has no interest in "rebuilding". He wants to win as many games as possible. KO is just the kind of guy Van Gundy would fall in love with. 7 footers with PG skills are a rare occurrence even in today's game. If Ainge's target (WCS!, Johnson or a falling Winslow...unlikely) is available at 8, I can certainly see something like this happening. They'll probably want Young included instead of the MIN pick but I couldn't give that up. Not without getting KCP in return anyway.
BOS trades James Young, #16, #33 and the 2016 DAL 1st for #7 and Wilson Chandler
- Denver is interesting, because they seem to be one of the few teams that are going to start a break-down this year and it seems Lawson, Faried and Chandler will be available on the block. I like Chandler, he's a pretty decent player who could start for us at the 3 and do quite a good job. They'd need a good handful of assets to move him and 7, so Chandler may be out of reach here. But still, James Young is the player they would want. He has top-10 pick talent and his season in Boston really did nothing to improve or devalue his stock. If they could get him, 2 1sts and an early 2nd for just #7 and a guy they're looking to dump anyway, they may go for it. Combining those picks with the right to swap with NY they have could work out well.
BOS trades Jared Sullinger, Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, #16 and the 2016 BOS 1st (Top-12 protected) to SAC for #6, Ben McLemore and Derrick Williams
- Sacramento seems serious about making a serious push to keep Boogie around. If they hold true to that, drafting one guy at 6 isn't going to make that happen. They need a defensive minded guard, another ball handler, and a PF to play next to Cousins. Both Sully and KO would be great fits at their 4 slot, and being that Sully has the greater potential they would probably want him. Bradley gives them the defensive minded guard they desperately need and Karl could do well with a guy like Turner who needs the ball in his hands. Ainge won't just give those guys up for nothing though, so #6 won't be enough for that package plus a pick swap and an extra 1st. With McLemore and Stauskus on the roster, they need to switch one of then out for someone who plays D and for us, we want McLemore. Certainly a higher ceiling and once Smart is fly developed they could play well together with a guy like IT behind them. Taking on Williams contract makes up for the lost depth with Sully and allows us to protect our pick.
BOS trades James Young, #16, #28 and the 2016 BRK 1st to ORL for #5
- I really don't think Orlando is moving this pick, at least not for a package Ainge is willing to give them. It's a foregone conclusion more or less that moving up this high would require at LEAST one Brooklyn pick. Yet, Orlando has been rebuilding for a while now and their fans are starting to expect some results. Their current squad doesn't really have anyone not named Channing Frye that can spread the floor well, and I do think they would have large interest in Young. They would probably consider it, but ultimately I think they'd hold onto their pick .
BOS trades Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger, #16, the 2016 BRK 1st and the 2016 CLE 2nd to NYK for #4 and Jose Calderon.
- It's pretty obvious NY isn't going to be building through the draft, at least not completely. Melo is on the wrong side of 30, Phil is over 70 and no one there has interest in a 5 year rebuild. The ONLY player we have that could even start a conversation for that pick is IT. If we trade him, we probably lose our chance at Love, and we resign ourselves to taking on Calderon's contract. To me, the difference between 4 and 6 or 7 isn't that high, and I would only do this trade if were making other moves that both fill one of our biggest holes (SF and C) AND we have a solution to who is going to provide back-court offense. IT was vital to our success last year, and if we use the 4th pick to take Russell or Muiday, AB also has to be on the move. To me, there's too many variables to go through with a trade like this, but it's an interesting idea.
BOS trades James Young, #16, the 2016 MIN 1st/2 2nds and the 2016 BRK 1st for Robert Covington and Nerlens Noel
- OK, so I kinda dreamed this one up based on nothing. But let's say LA picks Muiday or Russell. Hinkie would almost HAVE to take Okafor then, right? One of Noel and Embiid would have to be on the move then, and Noel has more value right now. This is the kind of Godfather offer Ainge would probably never do, but Noel would be PERFECT for this team and Covington would be a solid rotational guy at the 3. If we made the AB to Jazz trade we could still maneuver up the board for a long-term SF. Like I say, it never hurts to dream right?
Anyways, those are just some plausible ideas I have to offers we can make to move up. We certainly have the assets to do it. I just think it would HAVE to be for the right player (Winslow, Johnson, WCS) and the price would have to be right. Your thoughts?
Topic: Plausible Trade-Up Scenarios for the 2015 draft. (Read 2805 times)