Today, November the 16th, at 12pm the NBA officially began its unconventional offseason following the adaptive NBA bubble. Beginning today NBA teams were officially allowed to begin making trades and multiple teams already seem to have changed the course of their franchise. Here are the biggest moves from day 1 of the NBA offseason.
1. Dennis Schroder to the Lakers
Even after the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship last year, a majority of NBA fans expected them to make move in the offseason. With the Golden State Warriors becoming healthy again, the Los Angeles Clippers building chemistry, and young teams like the Denver Nugget's and Dallas Mavericks maturing, the Lakers road to next year's championship looked much tougher. Many experts through around the possibility of the Lakers adding a third star to the roster, potentially veteran stars such as Chris Paul or Jrue Holiday. However, the Lakers were extremely limited to make a substantial move due to two factors. Firstly, the Lakers had almost zero possibility of absorbing a huge contract on their payroll due to the giant contracts of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And additionally, the Lakers had gutted all their young talent and draft capital in the Anthony Davis trade, and seemed to lack the assets that would be needed to pull of such a trade. Nonetheless, the Lakers still needed to find some sort of guard play and shot creation, and they found exactly that in Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder. Reports came out this morning reporting that the Lakers had traded Danny Green and their 28th draft pick in this year's draft for OKC guard Dennis Schroder. This was a huge win for the Lakers, they were able to add a guy who averaged 19 points last season for minimal assets.
For the Thunder, this trade was another step in their rebuilding process as they were able to acquire another draft pick. Additionally, NBA executives expect Danny Green to be moved before the start of the season to a team with a win now mindset.
2. Chris Paul to the Suns
The Phoenix Suns have been terrible for over a decade, ever since Steve Nash left. Over the past half decade, they began to assemble an excellent young core in the form of Devin Bookers and Deandre Ayton. The Suns were hoping that these two would be their version of Kobe and Shaq, but they were clearly not at that level. The Suns continued to be a horrible team for the past two years with a clear hole in their roster, the point guard position . The Suns clearly lacked leadership from the point guard position and therefore struggled to organize their offence. Many even criticized the Suns for selecting Josh Jackson over De 'Aaron Fox in the 2017 NBA draft. However, the Suns management seemed hesitant to make a big move, but with Devin Booker's contract coming to an end in the near future and the Suns impressive 8-0 outing in the NBA bubble, management was forced to make a win now move. Today at noon, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Phoenix Suns had traded Kelly Oubre, Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque and a 2022 first-round pick to the Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul and Abdel Nader. This move was necessary for the Suns because it showed Booker that they were going to build a winning roster around him. Chris Paul was also probably the best fit Phoenix could have asker for. Chris Paul will probably do wonders for the play of Deandre Ayton in the pick and roll. He will also elevate the play of Devin Booker by allowing him to play off-ball and get easier shots. This move immediately establishes the Suns as a playoff-contender for the 2020-2021 NBA season.
For the Thunder, this trade markers their transition into a re-tooling phase. As much of a cinderella story the Thunder were last year, they were nowhere close to contending for the title. This trade continues the Thunder's journey of acquiring young talent and draft picks, the OKC Thunder now own 17 first-round picks till they year 2027.
3. James Harden requests trade
After Russell Westbrook demanded a trade, the Houston Rockets organization seemingly fell apart. Numerous reports came out about disgruntled players. PJ Tucker reportedly felt insulted by the organization because they refused to offer him a contract extension. A multitude of reports also came out about the Rocket's faulty team chemistry. A report that stood out was how James Harden arguably blamed teammate Austin Rivers for distracting him at the free throw line. The entire Rockets organization was a huge dumpster fire. However, there was one silver lining for the Rockets, James Harden had reportedly committed to staying with the Rockets.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, it appears as though Harden has had a change of mind. Reports came out today reporting that James Harden had requested a trade from the Houston Rockets and was aggressively pushing to be moved before the season. It appears that Harden no longer believed that the Rockets were title contenders and wanted to be moved to a title contender. Reports also came out saying that Harden had his eyes set on the Brooklyn Nets.
If the Nets are able to acquire Harden, they would become immediate favorites to represent the eastern conference in the NBA Finals. However, making a trade for Harden won't be an easy task. James Harden has a behemoth contract that pays him 40 million dollars annually, matching that salary in a trade will be a challenge. The Brooklyn Nets would most likely have to build a package around Caris Levert, Spencer Dinwiddie and draft picks, but that package will likely not cut it for a player the caliber of James Harden. James Harden's contract does not include a no-trade clause, meaning that the Rockets have the leverage to trade him wherever they seem fit, and because Harden is under contract for the foreseeable future, he cannot threaten to leave in free agency like Anthony Davis did. So, that most likely means that Harden will not be a Brooklyn Net. Just last week, we talked about how the 76ers could offer a package built around Ben Simmons for Harden, and Ben Simmons would trump anything that the Nets could offer. It will be interesting to see where Harden ends up, because his placement could very well determine which team is crowned champion next year.
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