NBA Trade Deadline 2018: So your team needs a wing defender?
With 3-and-D wings all the rage in today’s NBA, a number of teams are looking to upgrade at that spot heading into the 2018 trade deadline.
In mid-January, ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported there were “far more teams chasing wing players—shooting guards/small forwards—than quality talent available at those positions.” He named the Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers among the teams searching for upgrades on the wing, but he added, “the true list is much longer.”
While there may be wings aplenty dangled on the trade market in the coming days, finding the “D” part of the 3-and-D equation is far more difficult. The Orlando Magic are reportedly shopping Evan Fournier, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times, but he ranks 77th among 85 small forwards in ESPN.com’s defensive real plus-minus metric. The Utah Jazz have made Rodney Hood available in trade talks, per Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, but he’s a miserable 99th out of 104 shooting guards in DRPM.
Finding someone capable of providing the full 3-and-D package may be a challenge at the trade deadline (with one glaring exception), but teams that disregard the shooting aspect should be in luck. The following five players could all provide a defensive boost to a squad in need of such help.
Next: Honorable mention: Tony Allen