The NBA offseason was not as wild and crazy as it originally forecast, but plenty of major trades went down. The Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes never came to pass, but Kevin Durant went to Houston, and other noteworthy stars like Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Kristaps Porzingis all changed teams.
We are in the doldrums of the offseason. The free agent market has slowed to a crawl and we shouldn't expect much trade activity in the coming weeks, but that can (and will) change once the season starts. Front offices are in constant reevaluation mode and plenty of teams will need to tweak their rosters in such a wide-open championship race.
Let's dive head-first into a handful of viable (and mutually beneficial) trades that could transpire early in the campaign.
Nets trade Nic Claxton to Hornets for Miles Bridges, first-round pick
As the Charlotte Hornets endeavor to change their organizational culture and instill winning habits, getting off of Miles Bridges' contract feels like an appropriate next step. It just so happens that the Hornets need reinforcements at the center position. The Brooklyn Nets, meanwhile, are plainly willing to trade anyone for the right price.
Just a couple years ago, Nic Claxton led the NBA in field goal percentage while averaging 2.5 blocks. His production has since hit a skid, but one has to think the numbers will perk up in a more optimal setting. Charlotte is a notoriously aimless franchise, but a successful offseason has given the Hornets their first sense of direction in ages. It feels like something positive in brewing in that building.
Brooklyn can eat Bridges' remaining contract and let him put up points next to Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. while making a beeline toward the bottom of the standings. Add in a 2027 first-round pick from the Miami Heat, top-14 protected, and potentially a few second-round picks to sweeten the pot, and this becomes a believable agreement on all sides.
It shouldn't take Charlotte long to realize that Mason Plumlee and Moussa Diabaté aren't hacking it in the center rotation. I am immensely confident in rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner, but if the Hornets opt for a more experienced and battle-tested option alongside LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and No. 4 pick Kon Knueppel, Claxton can provide valuable shot-blocking, defensive versatility and rim finishing on offense.
Suns trade Nick Richards to Warriors for Gui Santos, second-round picks
The Phoenix Suns find themselves with a sudden abundance of centers after drafting Khaman Maluach and trading for Mark Williams. I'd expect Williams to command 30-plus minutes per game as a starter, with Oso Ighodaro beginning the season as their primary backup while Maluach gets up to speed. That leaves Nick Richards without a clear role.
Plenty of teams are in need of a solid backup center-type. Richards, notably, started 34 of 36 games with Phoenix after arriving at the trade deadline, averaging 9.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks on 60.5 percent shooting in 22.7 minutes. He's not going to reinvent the wheel, but Richards is an acrobatic lob threat who can functionally protect the rim on defense.
The Golden State Warriors will need to add to their roster before the season starts, as they currently only have nine players under standard NBA contracts. We know Al Horford is on their radar, but it's unclear if the veteran actually wants to play basketball, much less relocate from Boston to San Francisco. Should the Dubs whiff on Horford, there is a clear desire to upgrade the center rotation beyond recent second-round picks Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post.
Richards would give the Warriors another option in the middle — a more traditional rim-runner and shot-blocking type who can set screens for Stephen Curry, clean up messes at the rim, and free up Draymond Green to freestyle on the perimeter defensively.
In return, Phoenix adds wing depth with Gui Santos and stockpiles a couple more second-round picks to spruce up a derelict asset collection.
Mavericks trade Daniel Gafford to Kings for Malik Monk
The Sacramento Kings have been trying to trade Malik Monk all summer, much to the bewilderment of fans. Monk is genuinely good; he is Sacramento's clear best playmaker and an electric shot-maker on- or off-ball. And yet, for whatever reasons, Monk's name has popped up in Jonathan Kuminga rumors and elsewhere in the news cycle.
The Dallas Mavericks, meanwhile, inked Daniel Gafford to a three-year, $54 million extension that locks him up through 2028-29. While the Mavs clearly appreciate Gafford's skill set and value his contributions, this is a team that already has Dereck Lively and Anthony Davis vying for minutes in the frontcourt, not to mention traditional power forwards like Cooper Flagg and the recently extended P.J. Washington. We can expect plenty of big lineups in Dallas, but the Mavs can only find so many minutes for their third-best center.
There's a reason his contract was designed to make him immediately trade eligible. Meanwhile, Dallas really needs help in the backcourt. Kyrie Irving's midseason return will alleviate a lot of issues on offense, but right now, the Mavs are set up to depend heavily upon the contributions of D'Angelo Russell and Jaden Hardy, which feels ill-fated. Balancing out the roster by swapping a starting-caliber center for a starting-caliber guard feels like a simple fix.
Monk might end up starting for Dallas even once Irving returns. Meanwhile, Gafford gives the Kings a more traditional rim protector to pair with Domantas Sabonis, whose defensive limitations continue to prove fatal on the postseason (or Play-In) stage. There are spacing concerns that arise if Gafford and Sabonis share the floor regularly, but Sacramento isn't short on shooters and something has to meaningfully change about the makeup of that team. This trade gives the Kings a far more dependable center rotation, with Dwight Powell a candidate for stray backup minutes, too.
Wizards trade CJ McCollum to Heat for Terry Rozier, Nikola Jovic
Terry Rozier is currently wrapped up in an NBA gambling probe, which could impact trade discussions. Assuming he's cleared to keep on playing, however, Rozier occupies a $26.5 million expiring contract. Trading him for a better scoring guard, such as CJ McCollum and his $30.6 million expiring contract, is a no-brainer.
The Washington Wizards acquired McCollum from the Jordan Poole-Pelicans trade, a deal that remains mystifying from New Orleans' perspective and a total slam dunk for Washington. McCollum is the better player and he's on a less burdensome contract. But he's also an established veteran who can still help a team win games, something the Wizards aren't interested in at this stage. If Washington can offload McCollum for a budget-version guard like Rozier and a promising young talent like Nikola Jović, it feels like another win for a front office taking the longest view in the room.
The Miami Heat clearly like Jović, but it's equally clear that Pat Riley has no intention of sitting by while his team stews in mediocrity. McCollum isn't going to fill the void left by Jimmy Butler, but he gives the Heat another 20-point scorer in the backcourt to mix and match with Tyler Herro and Norman Powell. Well respected around the league and quite adaptable in terms of his skill set, McCollum is a natural fit for 'Heat Culture.' There's no doubt that he would prefer to avoid wasting a season in his mid-30s as a mentor for the East's youngest (and worst) team.
Jović gives the Wizards a bit more flexibility in the frontcourt, capable of stretching the floor, attacking closeouts and scoring off of setups from Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson. Clearing room for Johnson, the No. 6 overall pick in June's NBA Draft, is another clear benefit for the Wizards. Rozier wouldn't get much playing time, but Washington can afford to stomach Rozier's salary while potentially waiting to flip him again at the deadline.
Heat trade Andrew Wiggins to Lakers for Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt
Andrew Wiggins has been connected to the Los Angeles Lakers all summer, so there's probably fire behind this smoke. The Heat are in a period of transition after the Jimmy Butler trade and we can hardly expect Pat Riley to sit on his hands with a team that clearly is not built to contend. Wiggins is still a productive 3-and-D wing, but if Miami can squeeze the Lakers for a couple rotation cogs and draft capital, it's a deal worth doing.
Los Angeles somehow escaped the Luka Dončić trade with two tradable first-round picks left over. After almost burning them on Mark Williams, the Lakers backed out of that deal and signed Deandre Ayton from the bargain bin as a free agent. It frees them up one of those picks on an immediate contributor like Wiggins.
With their center problem "fixed" for now, next up on the Lakers' list of priorities is adding quality defenders on the wing. Wiggins isn't the All-Defense candidate he moonlighted as in Golden State during its most recent title run, but he can handle difficult assignments and provide the Lakers with a proper stopper next to LeBron James on the wing. Since Dončić and Austin Reaves aren't stopping anyone and Ayton isn't exactly a stalwart rim protector, Wiggins could prove extremely valuable to a Lakers team hoping to contend in the rough-and-tumble West.
The Heat add Rui Hachimura, who has polished his skill set in recent years to become an effective three-level scorer on the wing. Jarred Vanderbilt's offensive contributions are sparse, but he's still a dogged defender who can muck things up off the ball. Miami's roster skews heavily toward the backcourt right now, so swapping Wiggins for two functional forwards capable of playing significant minutes is a reasonable course of action. Especially if it comes with a juicy future first-round pick.