NBA Starting Five: Sixers lead teams with most to gain before trade deadline
By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer
NBA trade season is here!
On Wednesday, all players who signed contracts during the offseason became trade-eligible, meaning wheeling-and-dealing time has arrived. In this week’s Starting Five, we’re identifying the five teams that have the most to gain from making a deal before the Feb. 10 trade deadline.
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The Starting Five: Yaron Weitzman reveals the NBA teams that could make the biggest splashes during trade season.
We have to start with the team that has been at the forefront of the trade market since last season’s playoff debacle against the Atlanta Hawks.
You know the background here. Ben Simmons refuses to play for the Sixers. The Sixers refuse to trade him for anyone who's not an A-lister. It’s like a game of millionaire chicken. The two sides spent the season’s first few months exchanging barbs via media leaks, but recently things have gotten quiet.
That could — and should — change soon. And because of the presence of Joel Embiid — who, on any given night, can be the best player on the court, no matter whom the Sixers are facing — there might not be a team with more to gain from a deal.
Right now, the Sixers are a middle-of-the-pack playoff team, one with a statistically average offense (13th in points per possession, according to Cleaning the Glass) and defense (17th). We know they want Damian Lillard and are sniffing around other stars. But all indications now are that the Portland Trail Blazers intend to hold on to Lillard, and it’s tough to come up with another high-profile player who might become available.
I still think team president Daryl Morey can cobble together a three-team trade that nets the Sixers a couple of high-level starters, if not borderline All-Stars. And there’s still time for the Sixers to salvage their season. The question is whether Morey thinks doing so is worth selling low on Simmons.
I’m putting the Warriors here, even though I’d be shocked if they made a deal. If we’re talking about teams that have the most to gain, how about the one that sits in first place in the Western Conference, owns the league’s second-best point differential, has two future Hall of Famers playing at the top of their games, has a third future Hall of Famer set to rejoin the group and has last year’s No. 2 pick warming the bench?
The Warriors don’t need to make a trade to win a title, and I understand their desire to protect their future. But if they want to bolster their rotation, I don’t think any other contender can top an offer featuring center James Wiseman.
We know the Pacers are fielding offers; imagine what someone such as Myles Turner — who’s shooting 38.1% on nearly five 3s a game and leading the league in blocks — would look like alongside the Warriors’ core. Or what about a smooth and savvy offensive player such as Domantas Sabonis? And who knows what else the Warriors could pry away from teams if they did, indeed, put Wiseman (or even lottery pick Jonathan Kuminga, who has looked good this season in limited minutes) on the table.
Again, I don’t expect the Warriors to make that sort of deal. My read is that they very much want to be the team to pull off the "rebuilding without rebuilding" thing. But if they did decide to go all-in on the present, they could quickly become overwhelming championship favorites.
3. Utah Jazz
Utah, which this week announced that Danny Ainge is coming in as CEO, is in a similar situation as the Warriors. The Jazz are contenders, but they could use some polishing around the edges.
Right now, they are wrecking opponents. The Jazz have the league’s top point differential and fifth-best defensive rating. And not only does their offense lead the league in points per possession, but also the difference between them and the No. 2 Hawks is basically the same as the difference between the No. 2 Hawks and the No. 20 Cleveland Cavaliers.
Which is all great. But we’ve seen this before. We know the Jazz can dominate the regular season. We also know they can be exposed in the playoffs, mostly by teams that are able to downsize and drag Rudy Gobert away from the wing.
What should they be shopping for? Big wings! They need someone who can play alongside Gobert and not be exploited off the dribble but who also gives the Jazz some size and flexibility when Gobert sits. Think Jerami Grant types!
Given the state of the Western Conference — Kawhi Leonard out, Denver basically a MASH unit, the Lakers being the Lakers — the Jazz should be all-in on chasing a title this season. When he was running things in Boston, Ainge wasn’t exactly keen on pushing his chips all-in.
Jazz fans should hope he doesn’t bring that mentality to Utah.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Kings are at a crossroads. They’re not a good team (12-17 through Wednesday), but they have a talented roster stocked with players other teams would covet. As always, the question with the Kings is if they’re willing to honestly assess themselves as opposed to chasing a low playoff seed.
Imagine if the Kings were to hit the reset button. There’s Buddy Hield, a sharpshooter (40.1% career 3-point shooter on 7.5 attempts per game) who they’ve clearly decided is not part of their long-term plans. There's Marvin Bagley, a bust so far but still a former No. 2 pick. Don't forget about Harrison Barnes, a veteran wing averaging 17.5 points, drilling 38.1% on his 4.7 deep tries per game and posting the second-highest rebound and assist rates of his career to go with a career-best player efficiency rating.
In other words: The Kings have options, and one should not be jumping into the Ben Simmons sweepstakes. Instead, the Kings should sell off all their ancillary pieces and build around draft picks and a core of De'Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton and rookie Davion Mitchell. Whether they do that is a different story.
Here’s a team that knows where it stands and has a very specific plan for moving forward. The Rockets began their sell-off last season after the James Harden deal, but now with Eric Gordon rediscovering his stroke (15.1 PPG, hitting 44.8% of his 5.4 long-range attempts per game) and Christian Wood finding his game, Houston has the opportunity to add even more picks to its war chest.
Gordon, in particular, is someone you can be sure every playoff hopeful is already calling about. There’s not a team that couldn't use a sharpshooting veteran wing with the size to switch onto bigger opponents. Also, if we’re being blunt, these Rockets, who’ve won eight of their past 11, are winning too many games. Trading Gordon would not only net them a future pick or two but also improve their lottery odds.
Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.