One trade every NBA team needs to make
By Tom West
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets are in an interesting position. Despite sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference they actually have a fair amount of talent in place, and there’s no need for them to urgently give all that up to make a trade. Although, as they just reportedly called the Clippers to ask about a trade for Blake Griffin, it looks like their front office wants to take action.
Unsurprisingly, though, their call was quickly put down, so Blake is off the table and they’ll need to look elsewhere.
If they were indeed pursuing a star like Griffin, it seems likely they were willing to part with players such as Danilo Gallinari or Kenneth Faried (if not both of them). So, to go with the festivity and speculation that comes with NBA trade deadline season, let’s look at a possible trade involving Gallinari:
The Nuggets can look to send Gallo to the Celtics for David Lee, Kelly Olynyk and their 2016 first round pick from the Mavericks (protected 1-7).
This move isn’t about turning into immediate playoff threats for the Nuggets, meaning if they want to pursue a star rather than put different pieces in place for the future they’ll want to look elsewhere. However, this deal gives them a mid-level first round pick and a versatile big man in Olynyk who’s making 2.2 threes per 36 minutes at a 41 percent rate. His floor spacing is a good fit alongside the interior play of Faried and their young centers such as Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic.
As for Lee, they pick up an expiring $15.49 million contract which instantly gives them a nice boost for free agency if they don’t want to re-sign him.
As for the Celtics, they get the kind of versatile player in Gallinari that Brad Stevens will be able to use to great effect at both forward positions. He adds more to their offense than just guard play and the creative scoring of Isaiah Thomas, plus they don’t have to sacrifice too many of their top assets to acquire him.
There’s no denying the Celtics will be thinking bigger than someone like Gallinari, but giving up Olynyk, Lee and their worst 2016 first round pick is easily worth their attention.
Next: Sacramento Kings