76ers: JJJ, Aldama, Williams Jr, Landale, Kleber

Raptors: Ja, Allen, Pippen Jr

Lakers: Caldwell-Pope, Clarke, Jerome, Bona

Cavs: Oubre Jr, Drummond, Hachimura, Raptors 2026 1st Round Pick & 2027/2029 2nd Round Picks

Grizzlies: George, Quickley, Hunter, Poeltl, Vanderbilt, Vincent, Murray-Boyles, Mccain, Clipper 2028 Unprotected 1st (Via 76ers), Raptors Unprotected 1st, Lakers 2030 & 2031 1st Unprotected pick swaps, 76ers 2032 Top 5 Protected 1st Round

Lets start unpacking this chaos with the 76ers. Big JoJo has slowly starting playing like his old self, and seems to be getting better and better each game. If you end up getting 85% of Joel, combined with Maxey playing legit All Nba level of basketball, and a do it all rookie who does nothing but help your team win...you have to give yourself a real chance to win. You can't do that with George on your books. The Griz take on his awful contract, and send out JJJ and Aldama to match that contract. To pay for this transaction, it costs two potential very valuable 1sts, Bona, who looks like a stud, and then good role pieces with Drummond and Oubre. Also you lose the flyer of Mccain, who has been very disappointing this year. You do replace those role players with Williams Jr, and Landale, with a very nice expiring contract coming in Kleber. While Joel has been killing it on offense recently, his defense looks like a washed up injured old man, pairing JJJ alongside him lets him preserve what little energy he has these days for offense, while JJJ picks up the slack on the defensive end. Love this idea of a pairing, and I think it's worth the price.

Lets next take a look at the Raptors. Poeltl's contract is one of the worst in the league, no getting around that, and while I think Quickley's contract is not as bad as people say, he has not played up to the value of the contract for sure. The Grizzlies take on these two contracts and replace Quickley with Ja, and say what you want about Ja, there's no possible way he would not be an upgrade to Quickley if he stays on the court. They also replace Poeltl with a legit big man, in Jarrett Allen. To cap this deal off they get another fantastic role point guard, in Scotty Pippen Jr, to solidify the back court minutes with Ja, RJ, Pippin Jr, and Shead. In this deal I have them giving a very low value first to the Cavs for Allen, and a more valuable, but probably still low value 1st plus Murray-Boyles to the Griz for taking on bad contracts, and getting Ja. I think this move helps out the Raptors for the short and long term goals of the team.

Now lets talk about the Lakers. I added the Lakers because at this point I was saying, who's desperate to win now, with horrible contracts on their team, and instantly Vanderbilt jumped into mind. With the Griz already taking on PG, Quickley, and Poeltl, it's obvious that they're entering a hard rebuild with these moves...if you're gonna be bad, why just be half bad, give us any contract you don't want for a price. The Lakers finally move off of Vando, and other useless expiring contracts who don't contribute to the roster in any way (besides Rui, who I guess you can say contributes....I wouldn't say that though). In return they get a few good rotational players to give desperate depth and defense to the team in KCP, Clarke, and Jerome. The cherry on the cake comes in the young, very, very interesting big man in Bona, who has proved to be one of the league's best defenders at such a young age. This does cost them their future, in 2030 and 2031 pick swaps, but I added two because it's possible the Lakers are still good in those years, or the Grizzlies somehow turn it around by then in which case, these picks could never convey. Realistically, I think the Lakers will be bad then, and the Grizzlies make out like a bandit here, but the Lakers are desperate, and I think they can sell this move to their fans.

The Cavs are next, and how sad a time it is for the Cavs. Everyone on that roster, besides Spida, has been very disappointing this year. The Cavs go for a soft retool, while saving money and adding financial flexibility for next year. They move off of Allen's money, and get a short term replacement in Drummond, and a low value first for it. They also move off of Deandre Hunter, who very possibly has been the most unimproved player in the league, if that was a thing. They again get a short term replacement, in Oubre, with massive expiring money coming with Rui in this deal. I don't love this, per se, for the Cavs, but if I'm being honest, this situation is almost impossible to salvage without it being a sad move like this.

Lastly...The Grizzlies. They take on 4 completely horrible contracts, which will almost ensure that they are horrible for the next 4ish years. To compensate this fact, they get a flyer in Mccain, a player with good upside in Quickley, and a great young stud in Murray-Boyles. Tanking for a few years, and building around your young core of Quickley, Wells, Coward, Murray-Boyles, and Edey sounds really good to me. You legitametly have a starting 5 of very high upside young players with this trade, so you just eat a few years, let them grow, and slowly surround them with correct pieces, and turn this team into a very scary team for years to come.

I think every team is improving in ways that they should be, whether it's improving current talent, or increasing future assets, this pushes each team in the directions they should be heading down. Let me know who you think says no!