NBA Trades & Transactions (pre-draft)

I thought Summer 2016 would feature a lot of player movement and bold moves. Ehhh, pretty normal amount of stuff last summer, so I figured Summer 2017 would again be pretty mellow, the Celtics would be looking to make moves but for the most part figured everyone else would chill, content to get their books in order while the Warriors dominate the league for a few more years. Nope. Craziness right off the bat.

Trade: Sixers get #1 pick; Celtics get #3 pick, another 1st rd pick (either 2018 Lakers or 2019 Kings)
Typically the price for a top player is three 1st rd picks, so I was a little surprised that the Celtics were content to take only two 1st rd picks for the #1 overall pick. When I first heard the deal I thought they got both future picks and I thought that was a great deal (especially since I figured they were looking to trade #3 anyway). But getting only one of those picks and not cherry picking a body off the Sixers (seems like the Sixers would've been happy to throw in Jahlil Okafor), was a little surprising. Not a terrible deal for the Celtics, I think both of those future picks will be really good ones, they still got the guy they wanted at #3 and without adding salary, so can't complain (though I thought another #1 could've been had).

Thought the Sixers got the better end of the deal, willing to give a future 1st rounder to ensure they got Fultz. They're ready to start playing ball instead of playing the lottery (though they've still got a little of that left). If they'd paid more I wouldn't have been surprised, therefore they got a good deal.


NBA: Cavs fire GM David Griffin
First the #1 picks gets traded, then the 3-time defending Eastern Conference champs fire their GM out of the blue, though he just had a pretty good year (the Cavs bench was much better than in years past) and was apparently the choice of the Chosen One himself. An odd move, a sudden move, a surprising move, and one that indicates that the Cavs house is not in order. Chauncey Billups turning down the chance to take the job further indicates that things aren't right in Cleveland (or else that 3-on-3 League is gonna be the shiz). Either Lebron isn't committing to the future or the roster already has future bizarre shake ups built in or cliques are developing with everyone choosing sides instead of coming together. Feels like Lebron is on his way out which is mind blowing to me--how do you not give Lebron everything he wants? What could Lebron possibly want that you wouldn't want him to have? I don't get it but the talk of Lebron moving on is starting to make a lot more sense to me. I always thought Lebron was quite capable of doing the hired-gun thing, always thought he was cool with a situation where he didn't have to be the man. (My conspiracy theory is Lebron wanted to make big big moves, Griffin was on board, owner Gilbert was not; Lebron and Griffin are in win-now mode, no cares for the future while Gilbert was afraid losing his current stars would lead to years in the desert (he may not be wrong). Griffin took the fall but laid the path for Lebron to move on. When Lebron went back, I just assumed the team would be his toybox to play with as he liked, I just assumed he would be there forever because why would he leave his personal pleasure palace? But I guess ownership is not so eager to let the star run the show and Lebron waiting for the inevitably better deal to appear)


Trade: Hawks get Marco Belinelli, Miles Plumlee, 2nd rd pick; Hornets get Dwight Howard, 2nd rd pick
Hawks get two more dudes they don't really need (and the rights to a third).  Seriously I have no idea what the Hawks are or what they want, I can't really tell if this helps them or not. I was never the biggest fan of Dwight so moving on from him doesn't seem like a bad idea to me. But Plumlee? Not a bad player but does Plumlee serve any purpose for the Hawks? Belinelli is a nice streak shooter, plays hard, not afraid of a tough shot, but not particularly gifted, is Belinelli the replacement for Korver? I dunno. I dunno if that's even what they're trying to do. I don't really get this deal but I wouldn't have gotten the alternative either, so its just a Hawks deal to me.

As I said earlier I've never been a big fan of Dwight (*). Furthermore I have my doubts about Kemba, MKG, Coach Cliffy and GM Jordan (and draft pick Malik Monk, for good measure), and never had no faith in Marvin Williams or Zeller. So my gut feeling is Dwight to the Hornets is a disaster waiting to happen. But on second thought, I think I kinda love this team. If Kemba and Dwight can get a rhythm going, they could make each other better. Ideally that opens room for Malik to slide in (he'll score right away, I think his D will be passable right away too), which allows MKG to focus on being defensive stopper guy and gives Coach room to get something out of Zeller, Marvin and whoever they're bringing off the bench. You know what? I think it'll work, at least for a little while. The Hornets have been listing lazily for a coupla years now, not sure Dwight in his twilight is the big transaction you've been banking on, but if he and Kemba can play together, I think they can be a playoff team in the East (that is to say: there's a fair amount of squads in the East that suck worse).

Trade: Nets get D'angelo Russell, Timofey Mozgov; Lakers get #27 pick, Brook Lopez
Nets get themselves a young rookie-contract PG to lead them, which is pretty ideal for them. The brutal price for this is taking on Mozgov (I believe his deal becomes workable next summer; you know it wasn't that long ago that Mozgov was a masterful rebounder and decent scorer around the rim; he's injury prone and may well be slow as Xmas by now, but if he plays he can be good for a low-expectations kinda squad like the Nets). They give up on Lopez but he wasn't the guy for the future, so no real loss. Frankly the #27 pick is the kind of asset the Nets need, too bad they couldn't lower the price on D'angelo just a smidge.  

The Lakers get  low post veteran like Lopez (I think it's a good match, he can be a Laker) on an expiring contract and a late 1st rounder as a throw-in. Personally I like those picks btw 25-35: I'm a sucker for the finding the diamond in the rough. They give up on a good young prospect (Lonzo is the man in LA, has been for a while now) but they rid themselves of the ruinous Mozgov deal. If they think they're getting Paul George next summer (I don't buy that the deal is done), they need to collect up the dimes and quarters. Not the ideal close to the D'angelo Russell period in LA, but its closed and he took Mozgov with him, pretty good deal for the Lakers.


(*) I've written this before: Hedo Turkoglu was the only one that understood what to do with Dwight. Turkoglu understand the soccer concept of 'service', he made sure big man got the ball in the right place at the right time. Led him all the way to the Final, the peak of Dwight's career.