***At the time of recording, Myles Turner hadn't signed his extension yet***
Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. The NBA trade deadline is less than 2 weeks away and so far only the Lakers have made a move. They brought Rui Hachimura to LA and sent Kendrick Nunn with 3 second picks back to the Washington Wizards. Not exactly a move that will propel them up the standings but at the very least, Rui had a great connection with Russell Westbrook back in Washington and hopefully they can revisit that combo in LA. We’re still waiting on the rest of the league to put their cards on the table, mainly because a lot of teams haven’t actually worked out yet if they should be sellers or buyers. I’m expecting it will be quiet for another week and then we’ll start to see some movement. This week, I’m pretending to be a GM on a potential contender and focus on 5 guys that I would want to trade for at the deadline. Spoiler! Jae Crowder is not one of them. I’m Peter Peake and this is your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors. As the newly appointed GM for the LA Clippers, my first priority would be to find a suitable playmaker to join Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in their quest for the NBA title. This is the season for the Clippers, they almost can’t afford to fall short again. This is the fourth season for Kawhi in LA, and considering he missed all of last season with an ACL injury, it is time for him to give back to the front office. To do that, he needs help at the point. Reggie Jackson is not the same player anymore as he was a couple of years ago, Terance Mann seems to have plateaued and John Wall, well, let’s just say it’s hard to disappoint when there are no expectations.
So I’m looking for an experienced point guard, preferably one that can share the floor with my stars and is a good shooter. Obviously, my instinct leans towards someone who has already played AND WON with Kawhi. No, it’s not Kyle Lowry, but his 2019 back up, Fred VanVleet. VanVleet is averaging 19 points per game and 6 assists. Much like the rest of his team, he has been very up and down this season but it seems like he finally turned a corner. In 6 games in the last 2 weeks, he averaged over 28 points per game, shooting nearly 45% from deep. Add 7 assists a game and you say that Steady Freddy is finally finding his form.
A quick trip to the ESPN Trade Machine tells me that I would have to give up Robert Covington and Amir Coffey to more or less match salaries, that works out ok because these guys are not a big part of our rotation anymore and they likely won’t play in the Playoffs anyway. The stinger is that I would likely have to include Terance Mann in the trade and a pick or two to satisfy the Raptors. All in all, a great trade for the Clippers, not so much for Toronto but with Mann, they have another piece to fit around Scottie Barnes for next year. I’m not sure if Fred VanVleet will win the Clippers the Championship but I think they make more chance starting the Playoffs WITH him, than without him.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Immanuel Quickley of the New York Knicks. As the newly appointed GM of the Phoenix Suns, the new owner has given me permission to make a big splash at the trade deadline. We have seen what this team looks like without Chris Paul and Devin Booker and it does not look good. Time to start getting some back ups for these guys and obviously, we need to find a destination for Jae Crowder so we can fill his roster spot with someone who will actually play for us. I’m going to have to make some big decisions but when you have an opportunity to win the title, you can’t hesitate. I believe that if Phoenix misses out on a title again this season, their window will be firmly closed for the next few years. It might already be closed now.
My main priority is a point guard, but do I back up Paul or do I include him in the trade? Chris Paul hasn’t really been the same since his birthday last season. But he’s such an important voice in the locker room, it will be a tough decision. Let’s start by looking for a backup point guard that is experienced enough to take on that starting role when Paul is out. My first point of call is the New York Knicks, where they have a more than capable point guard sitting on the bench, waiting for minutes behind Jalen Brunson. Quickley averages 27 minutes a game and in that time he gets 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Not overly impressive but if you compare this with Chris Paul this season in the per 36 minutes stats, they’re very similar. Quickley just needs to lift his assists slightly. Quickley being 14 years younger than Paul, that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
So, we’re heading to the ESPN Trade Machine and first we compare Quickley’s contract with Jae Crowder. That’s already a big gap and I’m sure the Knicks will want me to take on Evan Fournier’s contract as well, if we want to make a deal. I can make that work by adding Landry Shamet to the trade, who doesn’t play that much for us anyway. I reckon we’ll need to add some picks too, otherwise the Knicks might say no. We are taking on the unwanted Evan Fournier, but that is cancelled out by Crowder on our end and Quickley for Shamet, well, the Suns are clearly winning there. But if the trade goes through, The Suns have their backup for Chris Paul without giving him up and someone that can grow alongside Booker into a valuable point guard for this franchise.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Alex Caruso of the Chicago Bulls. As the newly appointed GM for the Miami Heat, I've been asked by Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra to find a player or two that we can add without disrupting our entire roster. We were only a shot away from the NBA Finals last year, remember, we don’t need to change much. We are just looking for someone that will fit in with our Heat mentality and won’t need much time adjusting. My first phone call was to the Phoenix Suns to check on Jae Crowder but as soon as they mentioned Tyler Herro’s name, I hung up the phone.
The Chicago Bulls are struggling to find their groove in this season and sharks are circling the Windy City. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, they’re all mentioned in trade rumours these days. The price for any of them would be too high and too disruptive this time around, but if they’re still available during the offseason, we can revisit. No, my eye goes to their bench players, and specifically Alex Caruso. It’s not that long ago that we saw Caruso win a Championship with the Lakers and really showed us that dog mentality on the court. I’m sure the Miami front office was pretty annoyed when they missed out on him when he was a free agent.
Off to the ESPN Trade Machine! Caruso signed a pretty big contract with Chicago, so we’ll need to match that with someone on our roster. Now, the most obvious name jumping out is Victor Oladipo, who makes more or less the same amount as Caruso. This is a trade off between offence and defence. My preference, of course, is to push Chicago to take on Duncan Robinson, even if it costs me a few picks to sweeten the deal. I can trade Robinson for Caruso, Javonte Green and Andre Drummond. They’re not critical players for Chicago and with Drummond on the roster, I can take a look at Dwayne Dedmon’s role for Miami. I’ll need to make some room for these guys regardless, or I need to waive them straight away.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz. As the newly appointed GM of the Memphis Grizzlies, I’ve been asked to make a splash at the trade deadline. A move that will shock most of our competition, something that nobody will expect. Because of that the obvious move to bring in OG Anunoby is off the table. I focus my attention on one of the overperformers of the season, the Utah Jazz. A team that was supposed to be tanking, but did quite the opposite. I’m sure they’ll be excited to cash in one of their star players of the season so far.
And that’s exactly what Markkanen is this season, a star player. He’s averaging just under 25 points per game and nearly 9 rebounds per game. His shooting percentage has improved drastically, he’s now averaging 50% from the floor and 43% from deep. He is the reason Utah is still hovering around the Play-In game positions, they’ve won 26 games, already more than what Vegas predicted and there is still a third of the season left. I think that Markkanen will work well on the Grizzlies roster. You might have some concerns of him playing with Triple J, but I see him sliding him into that Dillon Brooks spot. It will hurt the Grizzlies defensively, but being one of the best defensive teams in the league, I’m sure they can work it out.
When we visit the ESPN Trade Machine, it’s clear we won’t need much shuffling to get this trade over the line. With Dillon Brooks and Santi Aldama we’re already there. Brooks is well-loved in Memphis, but needs to make room for Markkanen for the greater good and Aldama has already proven that he has a bright future, he could take over Markkanen’s role immediately in Utah. Surely Danny Ainge will want to see some picks on the table as well, which is not a problem for Memphis because they have all of their own first round picks and a Golden State first rounder for the 2024 draft. I believe that this is the move Memphis needs to make sure they can take out the Western Conference this year.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers. As the newly appointed GM of the Brooklyn Nets, no idea why I accepted this job, I’ve been tasked to find a solution for Ben Simmons and upgrade the center position. Nic Claxton is playing great this season but he’l struggle in the Playoffs. Being the over-eager new guy, I believe I can fix both problems in one trade. I have a few first round picks left up my sleeve, so that should make it manageable. My first point of call is a franchise that is looking to drop down the standings a bit, with a good center on the roster. I don't have to look very far before I end up with the Indiana Pacers.
Turner has been on the trade block all season, he even offered himself up to the Lakers while talking to Woz on his podcast. He’s averaging 17 points per game, adding about 8 rebounds and 2 and a half blocks per game but what attracts me the most is that he is a great shooter for a big. Averaging 40% on 4 attempts per game, I can count on Myles to spread the floor for KD and Kyrie Irving. Making him a more effective Ben Simmons, really. Ideally, I want to hold on to Claxton in this trade so I can keep him as backup for Turner in the Playoffs.
That takes us to the ESPN Trade Machine. Obviously, trading Ben Simmons will cost me a few draft picks to get the Pacers excited, but we’ll do what it takes. Now, Ben earns a lot more than Turner, so we need to add some salary on the Pacers end. The obvious move there would be to add Buddy Hield, another shooter for the Nets in the Playoffs and another big contract off the books for Indiana. That trade alone passes is the trade machine, but I can imagine the Pacers would want more than just Ben Simmons. Here it really depends on what the Pacers want, we can add youngsters Cam Thomas or Day’Ron Sharpe or if they want some expiring contracts, we can look at Markieff Morris and maybe Yuta Watanabe. Mission accomplished and the Nets are back on track to finally win a title for its franchise.
This is our All-NBA team of the Week. Please share our podcast and give us 5 stars. If you have any questions, you can contact the show on eight2fouroffice@gmail.com. Thank you for listening, ballers out!
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