Philly Front Office

PFO covered the Eastern Conference on Monday, now it’s time to take a look at who could be making trades this year in the Western Conference and what each team has to offer.

(ranking by Vegas o/u)

1. Oklahoma City Thunder
   • Last Year: 68-14, defeated Pacers in NBA Finals, NBA Champion
   • I feel comfortable in saying that there has never been a team in NBA history that was already talented enough to be NBA champion but also had enough draft capital to make any move it could possibly want. The best shot anyone has of screwing up their repeat chances is injury. That’s how complete this team is. The only thing that can hurt them in the future is the salary cap.
   • Trade Possibilities: The Thunder aren’t even over the 1st apron this year, but could be well over the 2nd apron next season. That probably means more change is coming in the offseason rather than this year, but OKC still has a TON of draft picks. They have up to 5 extra firsts over the next 7 years as well as several swap rights. If they wanted anyone, they could add anyone. That probably won’t happen unless there is an injury though.
2. Denver Nuggets
   • Last Year: 50-32, lost to Thunder in 2nd Round
   • Thanks to getting off the Michael Porter Jr contract, the Nuggets aren’t even over the first apron this season. As for next year, they are already over with only 11 contracts. Adding Cameron Johnson and ditching MPJ was this team’s big move, they are mostly tapped.
   • Trade Possibilities: Technically, the Nuggets can still offer a 2031 1st as well as swap rights on 4 other picks, but as long as Jokic is there, I don’t know if anyone is trying to swap with Denver. They don’t even have 2nd round picks to make a move. That’s crazy.
3. Houston Rockets
   • Last Year: 52-30, lost to Warriors in 1st Round
   • Houston had itself a nice little offseason by bringing in Kevin Durant without giving up very much, keeping its war chest of draft picks ready for a different move. Point Guard is the notable area of need in that no one really trusts Reed Sheppard can go from barely playing to driving this Ferrari.
   • Trade Possibilities: The Rockets do not have a pick this year, but have up to 3 picks to trade if they want to. These aren’t just any picks though. Because of the James Harden deal and other trades, they still have swap rights with Brooklyn in 2027, Phoenix in 2029, and Dallas in 2029 AND Phoenix’s 2027 1st. They are also sitting on Fred van Vleet’s $25m contract that is just taking up space. That’s a solid starter waiting to happen on an already deep team. The trick is hoping a team with a PG falls out of the race. Too bad Jrue Holiday isn’t very good anymore, but he could still be a target if he rebounds in Portland.¹
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
   • Last Year: 49-33, lost to Thunder in Western Conference Finals
   • They just keep running out of gas in the WCF. Anthony Edwards is a killer but the team has 4 other players making $20m+ and are right up to the 2nd apron. I don’t really know why they gave Julius Randle $100m over 3 years, but he’s their guy apparently. For better or worse, these are the Wolves for the foreseeable future as they are basically capped out for the next 3 years. Their best hope at improving is Rob Dillingham getting minutes and making them count.
   • Trade Possibilities: What do they have? Seven 2nds and zero 1sts to trade. The best they can do is swap rights on two of their remaining 1sts. Would they ever move Gobert and give starting center minutes over to Naz Reid?
5. Los Angeles Clippers
   • Last Year: 50-32, lost to Nuggets in 1st Round
   • The Clippers reloaded with the oldest team possible, bringing in John Collins, Brook Lopez, Chris Paul, and Bradley Beal to integrate with 34-year-old Kawhi and 36-year-old James Harden. Maybe this will work in the regular season assuming enough of them aren’t injured at the same time, but they are going to get run off the floor in the playoffs. Then there is the possibility of monster suspensions and punishment for the Aspiration scandal that could derail even an overachieving season.
   • Trade Possibilities: Despite a bunch of trades over the years, they are finally slowly getting their picks back. Currently they can trade their 2030 and 2032 picks. I say currently because there is the possibility that the NBA takes them away because of the scandal. That may motivate them to make deals while they still can. This is bad news for the Sixers who own LA’s 2028 1st and 2029 swap. OKC owns the swap rights in 2027.
6. Los Angeles Lakers
   • Last Year: 50-32, lost to Timberwolves in 1st Round
   • Lebron James is currently unsigned for next season. Maybe he plans on retiring, maybe he is trying to force the Lakers to make even more moves to cater to his needs, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Wouldn’t it be cool if he signed a one year contract with a new team each year? It could also mean the Lakers are pivoting completely into being Luka’s team. Without Lebron, they are in great position to completely retool in just 1 year thanks to an absurd amount of cap space, up to around $90m.
   • Trade Possibilities: Signing players might have to be their deal since they only have a 2031 1st to trade along with swap rights on 4 more picks. The only 2nd rounder in their cupboard is in 2032. Would they trade Lebron this year? Just kidding, that kind of thing is fully in LBJ’s hands as he has a no trade clause. Again, that would be very cool.
7. Golden State Warriors
   • Last Year: 48-34, lost to Timberwolves in 2nd Round
   • The Warriors looked surprisingly good come playoff time last year with Curry, Butler and Draymond flanked by all the role players you could imagine. They are running that back this year, but it also means 1 more year of mileage on the 35+ year odometers of each guy. Though the huge salaries of these 3 also severely limits their maneuverability, Jonathan Kuminga coming to a contract agreement gives them a solid $22.5m to move.
   • Trade Possibilities: Golden State has been surprisingly adept at contending while not hemorrhaging draft picks like other teams. They have all but their 2030 1st to use, but NBA rules prohibit them from using more than 2 of them. Still, that means likely valuable swap rights that teams will like to lay claim to in the eventual post-Steph Curry world.
8. San Antonio Spurs
   • Last Year: 34-48, drafted #2 overall
   • That record is a little misleading considering Wemby missed the second half of the season with a blood clot. If he leveled up in his absence, the NBA is on notice. This is still a young team, so it is not expected to contend, but it is a solidly built team all around. They got lucky as all hell and finished 2nd in the Lottery nabbing the #2 overall selection, Dillon Harper.
   • Trade Possibilities: The Spurs have to be considered the real leader in an eventual Giannis trade simply because they can offer anything the Bucs want. Draft picks? They have almost all of their own picks plus swap rights with Atlanta and Sacramento. Young talent? Dillon Harper would have gone #1 most years plus they have reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. Established talent? De’Aaron Fox absolutely wouldn’t stand in the way of a Giannis trade. Any combination would be the best offer to Milwaukee if they wanted to make a deal.
9. Memphis Grizzlies
   • Last Year: 48-34, lost to Thunder in 1st Round
   • The Grizz are at a crossroads in that their star is a lightning rod for stupidity and the rest of the team is hurt and now traded. Because of a solid draft pick situation though, a soft rebuild could be in order. KCP is also here to possibly act as trade bait in a lost season.
   • Trade Possibilities: Let’s assume Memphis overachieves instead and wants to supplement the roster, what do they have to trade? How about up to 5 firsts and movable salary. I like them as the worst possible place for Zion Williamson.
10. Dallas Mavericks
    • Last Year: 39-43, drafted #1 overall
    • The luckiest team in the world made a dumbass deal in sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers then got bailed out by landing Cooper Flagg in the draft. They are going to attempt to contend this season with Flagg and Anthony Davis while hoping an injured Kyrie Irving can save them come playoff time. Personally, I would trade AD and Klay Thompson while they can and get the draft picks needed to supplement Flagg, but that’s just me.
    • Trade Possibilities: The Lakers 2029 pick is unprotected but will likely coincide with the next Lakers ascendence so it is nothing more than another first they can throw into any deal, making it a mx of 3 picks they can send. How in the world do you trade away the 5th best player in the NBA and only have 3 future picks to trade? The Grizzlies have 5 extra and they only traded Desmond Bane!!! I mean I know why, but it was still an awful way of doing business.
11. Sacramento Kings
    • Last Year: 40-42, drafted #13 overall but pick previously traded to Atlanta
    • What a sad sack franchise. They have Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Domantas Sabonis…3 guys who need the ball and are allergic to defense. How in the world do they expect to do anything with such a poorly constructed roster? Blow it all the hell up already!!! What are you holding on to?
    • Trade Possibilities: At least they have their own draft picks and likely 2 more coming. Let’s get them some more. First, under no circumstances should they resign LaVine. Not that he isn’t a great offensive player, but he is not the #1 guy on a good team. At best he is the #3 guy. A team looking for more offense like maybe Dallas or Orlando should be looking to give up at least a 1st for him. Whatever they can do to move off his $49m player option next year should be done. Sabonis is signed for the next 3 years. Washington, I’m looking in your direction. How about a 1st and Coulibaly? Whatever they can get for Monk and DeRozan needs to happen even if it’s only a bunch of 2nd rounders. This team is nauseating.
12. Portland Trailblazers
    • Last Year: 36-46, drafted #11 overall but pick traded to Memphis
    • Portland is the internet nerd darling in that everyone LOVES what they are doing even if it won’t turn into anything meaningful. Why won’t it turn into anything meaningful? Because they do not have any stars. It is that simple. They desperately needed to win that Wemby lottery but got Scoot instead. He looked better toward the end of last year, but the difference between getting 1 and 2 in that draft is everything. The worst part though is that thy have $64m tied up in Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday over the next THREE YEARS!!! Imagine if that was 1 star? I wish it were as simple as trading those 2 for a star but it’s definitely not. They can’t get anything for Grant at the moment and really did a bad move in swapping Simons for Holiday.
    • Trade Possibilities: Luckily, they have swap rights with Milwaukee in 2028 and 2030 as well as an extra 1st to send out. Once Giannis leaves, the value of those picks is going to skyrocket. They need to use them to pounce on the next star that wants out, whoever that may be.
13. Phoenix Suns
    • Last Year: 36-46, drafted #10 overall
    • Well they pulled the plug on Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal finally, reduced their luxury tax payment by approximately $10 billion, and got themselves some picks and Jalen Green. All in all, that’s not a bad improvement over last season’s complete despair. Are they in good shape now? Not at all! Their top 5 players are locked into $133m+ for the next 2 years and they traded for Mark Williams with the expectation they would extend him. Ryan Dunn is their best young player and he’s probably not any good. They are a team in need of more high end talent, but have no way of getting it. They are in NBA purgatory for the foreseeable future. Everyone knows they will have to pull the plug on Devin Booker eventually, but they are going to kill his next 2-3 years first.
    • Trade Possibilities:  They only have 1 unencumbered pick and that’s in 2032. Why not blow the roof off and trade Booker in his prime. There isn’t a team out there who wouldn’t throw the world at them for it. At least a move like that would have direction unlike this rudderless mess.
14. New Orleans Pelicans
    • Last Year: 21-61, drafted #7 overall
    • Skinny Zion has the team hoping for a return to the foundation that was on display 2 years ago before it was dashed by injury. But the team had to go and get cute by trading this year’s first round pick for a shot at Derik Queen. Why did they do that??? Anyway, if you squint this is a fun team with star upside and valuable role players, but without Zion and Dejounte Murray they are just a heap of trade assets.
    • Trade Possibilities: On the bright side, they get to swap picks with Milwaukee not this year, but next year. That pick won’t be tradeable until draft night, but if Giannis gets traded this year it vaults right up to the top of the most valuable list. After this season they have all their own picks. I would really love to see them pair down the roster to the essentials. Trade Murray once he comes back, and punt Jordan Poole into the sun. Zion, Herbert Jones, and Trey Murphy are a good cheap foundation to pair with Queen and Fears. If they wanted to really start things over, then trade Zion and try to immediately flip the assets for the next disgruntled young star.
15. Utah Jazz
    • Last Year: 17-65, drafted #5 overall
    • The Jazz shamelessly failed to put an NBA product on the floor last year by sitting out their players despite not being injured. The lottery gods frown upon such behavior and dropped Utah to the 5th pick. This did allow them to select the newest member of Philly’s Most Hated, Ace Bailey. They are going to attempt to be even worse this year and likely flip Lauri Markkanen for a ton of draft picks. That’s what they do.
    • Trade Possibilities:  One of the blunders of previously trading their two stars in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert is that the teams they were traded to have become ultra competent out of nowhere. Instead of having years of quality picks from dumb teams, they have years of picks in the late 20s. It’s still good, but the possible lottery picks they thought they were getting never came to be. Now they only have 2 extra firsts but nothing truly juicy. Expect them not to make the same mistake and target maybe a lesser trade for Markkanen if it means going to a team that has a higher chance of crapping out.

And that’s the league! I’ll have full season predictions tomorrow because I ran out of time.

All contract info courtesy of Spotrac.com. Asset info courtesy of Fanspo and their awesome trade machine.

1. I don’t want to speak this into existence, but if the 76ers detonate this season, Houston could really throw a significant package at Philly for Jared McCain or even Texas’s own Tyrese Maxey. I don’t think either happens, but it’s not crazy in the worst case Sixers scenario. ↩︎