NBA Trade Deadline 2020: One trade every team should make
Brooklyn Nets: DeAndre Jordan and top-20 protected 2021 first-rounder for the Denver Nuggets’ Jerami Grant
Reason for Brooklyn: Jordan may be an amigo, but he’s making amigo money, and he’s not really all that good. Four years is a long time on Jordan’s contract, and Jordan is really just standing in the way of playing time for a better and far younger player in Jarrett Allen. The Nets have plenty of initiators, including Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert, alongside their stars, and they even have secondary shooters around the stars in Joe Harris and Taurean Prince. But they lack a mobile big who can protect the paint, bang with hyper athletic wings like Kawhi Leonard, and even shoot from deep. Yes, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving may be upset to lose Jordan, but they should be happier when they see they gain an actual contributor. The team would be better for it, and that’s what should matter to them.
Reason for Denver: Mike Malone has been trying to find minutes for Michael Porter Jr., but it’s thus far been impossible. The Nuggets are one of the deepest teams in the league, and Paul Millsap monopolizes the minutes at power forward, as he should, because he’s a great player. Grant plays plenty of time behind Millsap, but he hasn’t fit into the system as well as hoped. The team has been statistically miserable when he’s on the floor. His lack of any passing feel can especially inhibit Denver’s offense. Losing Grant would free up minutes for a potentially better player. The Nuggets have Mason Plumlee backing up Nikola Jokic, but he could probably play alongside Jordan for short periods. Regardless, the Nuggets have aims on a title, and having a third true big would probably be important with the Los Angeles Lakers potentially looming in the playoffs. The team would miss Grant, but not too much, and it could be better with Porter instead. Acquiring a late first-round pick that could convey to two seconds could help bridge the gap between possible outcomes.