NBA Trade Deadline 2020: One trade every team should make
New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart for the Brooklyn Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie
Reason for New Orleans: The Pelicans are somehow close to a playoff spot, about to add Zion Williamson to the team, and are stocked with young talent across the roster. Brandon Ingram is blowing up. There’s so much good stuff already in New Orleans that the team could want to skip the wait, add a super talented player, and just be good now. Why trade Jrue Holiday when you can keep him and be awesome? That’s where Spencer Dinwiddie comes in. He’s a great initiator and shooter, can run a team, and is a better defender than advertised. He can co-star on a good team, even a playoff team. Ball and Hart, though good players with great promise, have not shown they can do all that. It’s possible Ball becomes better than Dinwiddie eventually, but Dinwiddie is the much better player at the moment. Maybe Ball never becomes as good as Dinwiddie is now. With Dinwiddie, Holiday and a healthy Williamson, the Pelicans would be a likely playoff team, perhaps even facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. That would be cool.
Reason for Brooklyn: The Nets have a ton of established talent, but it’s possible that they have too many players who demand the ball. With Kyrie Irving coming back from injury and Caris LeVert returning to form, Dinwiddie projects to be the third point guard on the roster, yet he’s close to an All-Star caliber player in his own right. Yes, you can start multiple point guards alongside one another, but Dinwiddie is somewhat superfluous on this roster when it’s healthy. If the Nets want to contend when Kevin Durant hopefully returns to good health next year, they could trade Dinwiddie for two good rotation players who have more diverse skills. Ball is a promising point guard who plays excellent defense and could grow into a star. Hart is a 3-and-D wing who fits alongside anyone. Together, they could fit around Brooklyn’s stars and provide a great middle of the rotation. Brooklyn would probably be a better team as a result.