5 NBA teams that should be selling at the trade deadline
4. Orlando Magic
Rather than host a traditional fire sale at the trade deadline, the Orlando Magic should conduct a going-out-of-business liquidation.
After carefully building around young lottery picks in the first few years of their post-Dwight Howard era, the Magic abruptly changed course this past offseason, taking big swings on the trade market (Serge Ibaka) and in free agency (Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green). Those moves failed to make a tangible impact on Orlando’s bottom line, however, as the organization is once again careening toward a mid-lottery pick.
With Ibaka’s impending free agency looming ominously, Magic general manager Rob Hennigan began undoing the damage of his offseason spending spree by trading him to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and a 2017 first-round pick. While Hennigan came nowhere close to recouping the value he sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Ibaka—Victor Oladipo, the No. 11 overall pick (Domantas Sabonis) and Ersan Ilyasova—it’s better than losing him for nothing in July.
Hennigan shouldn’t stop with Ibaka, though. Though he told reporters following the Ibaka trade that he’s still targeting a playoff run this season, the Magic would need a Miami Heat-esque hot streak to get back in contention for the No. 8 seed. Instead, Hennigan should field offers on Green, Jodie Meeks, C.J. Watson and the other veterans who have no place in Orlando’s long-term future, as receiving assets in return for any of them would far outweigh an unlikely postseason push.
Keep an eye on Nikola Vucevic, too, as the big man has popped up in a few separate trade rumors over the past month or two. In mid-January, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported the Magic offered Vucevic and a future first-round pick to the Heat for point guard Goran Dragic, while CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely reported the Boston Celtics have spoken with Orlando about a possible deal involving him as well. The Magic don’t have to sell Vucevic for 60 cents on the dollar, as he’s only on the second year of a perfectly reasonable four-year, $53 million contract, but if the right deal comes along, they should remain open to flipping him and building around Biyombo.
Next: 3. Brooklyn Nets