Hi all,

A more unrealistic trade for you all today that explores a fair few interesting ideas. Namely the Bulls blowing up, Suns being buyers and Lakers finding their 3rd star.

Here’s why each team does this trade:

Bulls: A much discussed topic in recent weeks, the will they won’t they of the Wemby stakes. Here the Bulls blow it up, sending their two stars to the West Coast and bringing back an influx of picks in the process. They part with Lavine, damaging on the face of it but really he’s just signed a supermax and he’s coming off a knee injury that could have major long term impact on his athleticism.

Demar, their best player since Jimmy left and probably since D.Rose but what’s the point in having the aging Demar fighting to keep them in the play-in hunt? The Bulls front office have always maintained they aim to win a championship and there are simply too many holes in the roster to mount a title charge in the next 2 seasons.

So they move those two and valuable role players in Caruso, Drummond and Dragic and hit the reset button.

They don’t get much back in the way of players but 4 1st’s and two swaps replenish their picks and then some. On top of that they reset the cap! The Bulls take on an eye watering $70,000,000 in expiring salary on top of Vucevic’s contract giving them insane flexibility for the next couple of off-seasons.

I personally don’t see them getting a better offer than this considering Derozan’s age and the risk attached to Lavine considering his current health situation.

Suns: This would be so fun, Demar and Drummond provide a significant upgrade to the roster without giving up the entire future or adding to their payroll. DeRozan’s fit on the team may seem questionable at first until you remember his days in SA. My idea would be that Demar serves as a starting wing for the Suns, pushing Johnson back to the sixth man role but during the regular season he eases the load on CP3 playing point guard when Paul is off the floor, allowing him to be 100% for the playoffs.

Their spacing would suffer but being able to put out 4 players who can create their shot off the dribble in crunch time to me makes them unguardable. He’s such a high IQ player and Monty Williams is one of the best XO’s coaches in the league, I see them implementing more beautiful game Spurs principles and having the best starting 5 in the league with this trade. Side note - while Biyombo is effective for the Suns, Drummond provides a significant upgrade being one of the better bench 5’s in the league.

Lakers: All in, and I mean all in move for the Lakers. They get the most bang for their buck with this trade adding a legitimate 3rd star next to Davis and LeBron in Lavine. At his best he’s the perfect complimentary player to James, a great self shot creator and elite floor spacer on and off ball, Lavine would provide rim pressure too and elite athleticism (if healthy, big if). Crowder, McGee and Caruso are proven fits next to Bron, suddenly the Lakers would have a far more talented team than they did in their bubble year and would probably feel that they could win it all if everything breaks right for them. That being said this also has the most potential to go horribly wrong for the Lakers. With the Hield and Turner trade those players provide you a good floor in terms of their health and the financial outlay you’re committing to them.

If all went wrong for the Lakers they could soon find themself with LeBron elsewhere and two injury riddled max players and no picks to dig them out of the situation. But the upside of the move leads to a potential championship and a future post LeBron for the Lakers to look forward to.

Mavs: Lastly the Mavs get off the McGee contract and bring in two helpful bench players. A third ball handler who knows Luka in Dragic and an athletic wing who could be trialled in Bullocks spot if his poor form continues in Jones jr.

Here’s how I see each team line up post trade:

Bulls: PG: Dosunmu, SG: Green, SF: Terry, PF: Williams, C: Vucevic - Russ, Shamet, Saric, Ntilikina, White, Simunovic

A plucky roster that’ll play with high energy and not make a fool of themselves defensively. Ultimately this team struggles to win games and intentionally tanks to try and keep their pick Thai year which is top 4 protected. Best case scenario a healthy Lonzo returns next year supplemented by a young star and FA acquisitions and looks set for the future with a plethora of picks to come.

Lakers: PG: Caruso, SG: Lavine, SF: LeBron, PF: Crowder, C: Davis - Reaves, McGee, Walker, Schroeder, Brown, Bryant

Lakers are suddenly deep with star talent. A mix of experience and athleticism, impossible to predict where this team would end up but as I alluded to above it’s one of the few trades on this sight that have championship upside for the Lakers.

Suns: PG: Paul, SG, Booker, SF: Bridges, PF: DeRozan, C: Ayton - Johnson, Drummond, Craig, Payne, Lee, Landale

Suns have the most talented top 6 in the NBA with this trade and the additional firepower to get them over the hump in the playoffs. Anyone with reservations about the defence has to bare in mind that Demar and C.Johnson are both average at best defenders so to me I don’t see why the Suns couldn’t stay a top 10 defence in the league.

Mavs: PG: Luka, SG: Dinwiddie, SF: Bullock, PF: DFS, C: Wood - Green, Kleber, Dragic, Powell, Jones jr.

A third ball handler on the roster as well as another athletic wing helps balance the rotation for the Mavs while not giving up their flexibility and ability to improve significantly next off season.

Let me know your thoughts and Like and Flame if you enjoyed the read!