Boston

• Note: Lonzo's contract drops by $10M next year, so the cap reduction is actually by about $32M

• This trade enables the celts to keep the core of White, Tatum and Brown together. Tatum and White's contracts jump $30M+ between them next year, so this clears off enough salary to where it still won't be a problem and the team will be under the 2nd Apron

• Offload Jrue Holiday who took a step back this season as he appears to be in a decline despite having an increasing contract for the next 3 years. Replace him with a PG who plays similar to how Jrue played a few years ago

• Replace Kristaps, a center who's always injured, never plays and is $17M more, with Gafford who doesn't stretch the floor but should fit the teams needs pretty will. Will need to add a stretch big elsewhere

• Not receiving much draft capital for Kristaps, but that's because of the Jrue's bad contract also going out while also getting $30M+ in immediate salary relief to keep the team together. The two 2nds the celts receive is probably an overpay here, they might need to attach picks themselves to pull this off

Bulls

• Note: Bulls only do this assuming Julius Randle agrees to the trade, and then decline's his player option to hit free agency once the trade goes through (which IS legal). Otherwise, this is too much money over the 2nd Apron in an offseason where you have to pay Josh Giddey

• You're taking on the bad, long contracts here while giving up young pieces on reasonable-to-great contracts. Basically, do this for the draft capital.

• You can put MPJ on the trade market maybe next trade deadline and see if you can get more capital back, or try to trade him as early as 2025 offseason into a team with cap space to clear even more money off the books. As long as Julius decline's his option the Bulls won't necessarily need cap space cleared, so it'll be important to prioritize draft capital

Dallas

• Gafford was on the trade block this past deadline, and will be pushed even harder now that AD is in the building and will play mostly PF but probably also some C. Get a young PG/SG who can step in for Kyrie for the next year or so while he heals, play alongside him when he's back, and be a core piece for the future.

Nuggets

• The current depth on this team is a problem, and I feel like it's really going to get exposed in the playoffs. Get a stretch big, a 3&D wing, and a backup defensive PG. All of these are sorely needed, upgrade the defense significantly while adding versatility to the offense with a couple 40% 3pt shooters.

Minnesota

• Get Kristaps to replace Randle who replaced KAT. When healthy, he's like KAT but shoots a bit less and defends way more. Also get a young wing on a great contract which will be helpful since you're giving up your pick here - you get to feel like you drafted a young guy who's shown some upside in the league at only like 20yo while also adding a win-now player who can stretch the floor and maximize Ant's abilities