DeMar DeRozan to Toronto Raptors and 2023 NBA Trade Deadline Deals to Dream About
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With the Dec. 15 hurdle cleared, roughly nine out of 10 NBA players are now eligible to be traded.
That doesn't necessarily signal a flood of transactions is imminent. The last time we saw a deal go down on Dec. 15 was in 2010. What the milestone really means is that most hypothetical deals are actually possible now as the markets heat up in advance of the date that really matters: February 9, 2023, the actual trade deadline.
We've got some time between now and then, and the league landscape will change several times in the intervening weeks. But the passage of the last major obstacle to getting deals done (not counting Jan. 15, when another handful of players become trade eligible) provides a good opportunity to lay out marquee transactions we'd like to see take shape.
These are high-profile swaps, most of which are long shots. But with this being our first real chance to dream about franchise-altering deals, why not dream big?
DeMar DeRozan to Toronto Raptors
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First of all, who doesn't love a good homecoming?
DeMar DeRozan spent the first nine years of his career with the Toronto Raptors and was devastated by the trade that sent him to the San Antonio Spurs in 2018. He's since mended fences with the front office, though, and more importantly, his specific skillset would make him a tactical savior for Toronto.
The Raptors own the No. 29 halfcourt offense in the league, slightly better than last year when they ranked 26th, but it's still a glaring weakness for a team that would otherwise profile as a fringe contender. DeRozan's high-level individual shot-creation is exactly what Toronto needs to reorganize its attack. Currently, too many players—Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr.—are trying (and failing) to function in an alpha role. All of them would benefit from an attention-drawing scorer who could create advantages and open shots for teammates.
Long one of the most dangerous isolation threats in the game, DeRozan ranks in the 96th percentile in one-on-one situations this year and has averaged between 4.7 and 6.2 assists per game across his last six seasons.
He's the cure for what ails the Raptors offense.
To get him, the Raptors could package Gary Trent Jr., Thaddeus Young and up to two first-round picks. Toronto should quibble over protections on those and/or demand Anunoby instead of Trent, who could hit free agency via a player option this summer. But if Chicago ever gets realistic about its status as a mediocrity-treadmill jogger, replenishing the draft equity it gave up in the ill-fated Nikola Vučević deal should be a top priority.
The championship-winning Raptors team of 2019 featured Kawhi Leonard as a hub around which multiple high-end secondary scorers orbited. DeRozan may not be on 2019 Leonard's level (few ever have been), but his game could similarly slot the rest of his teammates into their ideal roles, lifting a Toronto offense that currently can't get off the ground.
John Collins to Utah Jazz
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The trade that sent Kevin Huerter to the Sacramento Kings was part of a poorly disguised series of moves the Atlanta Hawks made to avoid the luxury tax, so it should be assumed that one of their goals in a John Collins trade is to take back less salary than they send out.
The Utah Jazz are here to help, and as Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer reported, "the Hawks certainly view the Jazz as a potential landing spot" for Collins.
Utah can build a package around Kelly Olynyk ($12.8 million this year with only $3 million guaranteed for 2023-24), Rudy Gay ($6.1 million) and a pick. The Hawks should angle for Jarred Vanderbilt instead of Gay, though it's extremely tricky to gauge Collins' market value. He's due an average of $25.5 million over the next four seasons, which is either a huge bargain or an albatross. It all depends on whether teams believe he's the guy who averaged 21.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and shot 40.1 percent from long range as a 23-year-old in 2019-20 or the inefficient fourth option he's appeared to be this year.
Utah, loaded with fungible role players on tradable contracts and swimming in first-round picks from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, should be in the upside game. That means it's worth sending out established commodities and reasonable deals for a crack at a player whose underperformance may have nothing to do with a skill decline and everything to do with his teammates and situation.
Collins, still just 25, might be the best buy-low target in the league right now.
That he's been on the trade block for what seems like forever and still somehow resides in Atlanta suggests teams aren't bowling the Hawks over with offers. Utah should swoop in and capitalize, adding a promising player about to enter his prime on a deal that'll look like a bargain as the cap rises—especially if Collins returns to form with a change of scenery.
Myles Turner to New Orleans Pelicans
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No one should ever stop banging this drum. Myles Turner just has to wind up with the New Orleans Pelicans. The pairing makes too much sense to abandon, even if fans of both teams are probably feeling acute fake-trade fatigue on this one.
The basics: Turner is among the NBA's best shot-blockers. He's led the league in swats per game twice and has averaged no worse than 2.1 denials per game in each of the last five seasons. He also comes with a career 35.5 percent three-point hit rate that has spiked to a jaw-dropping 43.2 percent in the midst of what looks like a career year. Turner has never averaged more than the 17.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game he's posting this season.
Like Turner, New Orleans is also surging right now, riding high on the success of Zion Williamson as a primary playmaker. There's a case to be made that a team this young, deep and successful should be left alone to develop organically.
Then again, Turner, specifically, would supercharge an already dangerous Pels team that has every reason to shoot for the No. 1 seed in a Western Conference defined by would-be contenders playing below expectations.
New Orleans' rim defense stinks. Opponents shoot 70.9 percent at point-blank range against the Pelicans, a figure that ranks second-to-last in the league. Current starting center Jonas Valančiūnas is a very large human, but his size has never translated to reliable paint protection. Turner would solve that problem for the Pelicans while also spacing the floor for Williamson's downhill attacks on offense.
As with the Jazz, New Orleans essentially has control of two other teams' first-rounders for the better part of the next decade. Packaging some of those incoming first-rounders from the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks with Valančiūnas might be all it would take to pry Turner away from the Indiana Pacers. Sure, "Indiana has also suggested to opposing front offices that the Pacers are open to contract extension conversations with Turner," per Fischer. But that's exactly the message a team trying to drive up the market for a player on an expiring contract should be broadcasting.
Remember, trade season and smoke-screen season are one and the same. Everybody's posturing.
The Pelicans are closer to contention than anyone expected. It's seize-the-moment time.
Bojan Bogdanović to Golden State Warriors
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Stephen Curry's shoulder injury came during a game in which the Golden State Warriors fell to 2-13 on the road, so the need for help well before the deadline is evident here. Though the Dubs haven't been among the teams often linked to/interested in Bojan Bogdanović, the veteran forward would still be an ideal fit for the defending champs.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported sources said Curry will now miss "a few weeks". If the need for reinforcements wasn't evident before, it certainly is now.
Curry's absence and the injury that caused it should force Golden State to acknowledge that the load he's carrying is too heavy. Steph had logged 894 minutes prior to going down against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 14, third-most among players his age or older this season. And those minutes were never light lifts. The on-off offensive rating splits (118.9 points per 100 possessions with Curry; 99.9 without) show he's singularly responsible for the team's offensive survival.
The Warriors need help in a lot of areas, but giving Curry some assistance in the scoring and shot-creation departments might be the most important. When Curry returns, the Warriors can't simply go back to wearing down their best player like they did through the first third of the season.
It may be that finally scrapping the two-timeline plan is the cost of doing business. Combining James Wiseman and Moses Moody's salaries gets the Warriors to within $2.7 million of what it would take to get a deal done for Bogdanović and his 43.2 percent hit rate from deep. The Pistons, perhaps posturing, have eschewed other offers in search of a premium draft asset. Wiseman and Moody aren't technically high-value picks, but Detroit could do much worse than a pair of former lottery selections who haven't gotten chances to prove their worth on a title-chasing team.
It'd be dispiriting for the Warriors to finally punt on some of their youth, but Wiseman has been such a disappointment so far that a 33-year-old role player may be the best return possible.
Golden State has gotten a decent Gary Payton II impression from Donte Divincenzo, but the vacated Otto Porter Jr. spot has gone woefully unfilled. Bogdanović, who's drilling 46.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes, could handle that—and then some. His abilities to space the floor, attack closeouts and function in a movement-heavy offense (he got plenty of those reps with the Utah Jazz) make him an ideal fit.
LaMelo Ball to Oklahoma City Thunder
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This feels like the best time to reiterate that, as the title up there said, these are deals to dream about. LaMelo Ball leaving the Charlotte Hornets via trade while still on his rookie contract is undoubtedly fanciful.
Barring truly extreme circumstances, organizations just don't trade All-Stars over whom they have so many future seasons of team control. And for his part, Ball won't buck overwhelming trends that show players in his position never turn down a max rookie deal. He's eligible to sign a five-year, $202.5 million extension in 2023.
Suppose Ball bluffs hard, though, and telegraphs to the Hornets that he won't extend...or will extend and then demand a trade anyway. It's not like expressing dissatisfaction would be surprising. The Hornets' last two lottery picks—James Bouknight and Mark Williams—have dramatically underwhelmed, signaling a bleak future for the franchise, and Ball's return from an ankle injury came in a home loss to the lowly Detroit Pistons. Charlotte left that contest with the worst record in the league.
If Ball can convince the Hornets he has no intentions of sticking around, even with a max deal, the team should focus on trades that bring back as many shots at young talent as possible. That's where the Oklahoma City Thunder come in.
OKC's cache of future first-round picks is big enough to be visible from space. The Thunder could package three or four of them with Josh Giddey, Ousmane Dieng and any other non-cornerstone pieces without even missing them. The pitch to Charlotte could basically be "Bet against us, the Clippers, Rockets or Sixers over the next five years; we've got picks from everywhere."
And then, bang! Oklahoma City struts into a bright future with Ball, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and, still, a glut of draft capital. The Thunder have long been ripe for a consolidation trade, and this is the best they could ever hope to pull off.
So good, in fact, that Oklahoma City would have to pinch itself to make sure it wasn't a dream.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Dec. 14. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
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