This is one of my craziest and most complicated deals yet. I'm a Knicks fan but as you can see there are a lot of moving parts and so other teams futures are also in the balance in this trade. Going to go straight into the team by team breakdown and a quick note that this needs to wait a few days until January 15th because of Oladipo's signing restriction.

Knicks: While injuries have no doubt played a part (along with Thibs), the Knicks once-vaunted bench has looked a shell of itself and has become a major weakness of the Knicks. The Knicks FO seems content with the team for the most part and this trade only sees players leave who the FO and Thibs clearly have no use for and can move on from. They actually get a second round pick from the Lakers for Reddish as well. They get some impact players in Oladipo and Anderson who can create their own shot and Nunn and Toscano-Anderson are mainly here for salary purposes. The bench unit then looks like: IQ, Oladipo, Anderson, Obi and Sims/Hart. That unit could do much better than the one currently and would have several vets who can contribute, even during the playoffs.

Lakers: The Lakers FINALLY go all in! They give up their 2027 and 2029 FRPs along with some second rounders for Reddish and Coby White. They get a solid (if uninspiring) center in Vucevic and an All-Star in DeRozan. They also get Fournier who gives them the 3 point shooting they want and take a flier on Reddish who the FO is reportedly fans of. Finally they get a young PG in Coby White who have proven (albeit only in flashes) that he's capable of some solid guard play. This team is still lacking in 3 point shooters but the Lakers reportedly think they can make it work with DeRozan and this team has vets with no egos (cough Westbrook) who will all put in the work. While they do get rid of all their draft capital, it's just about the only chance they have to add truly impactful players. Also, Vucevic, Reddish and White's contract are all expiring so they'd at least be able to make some moves in the free agent market in the offseason.

Heat: The Heat need a decent PF. That's pretty much it! Prince has been having a solid year in Minnesota and he'll fit right into this Heat team. They just have to give up a second rounder and Oladipo (who they don't really need) which is not a high cost to pay. They don't have much draft equity either and since their cap sheet is full, will have difficulty making any other moves.

Minnesota: Minnesota is sorely lacking in leadership, that much is very clear. They also have nearly zero in draft equity due to the Gobert trade. I don't know if this saves their season (it probably doesn't) but they at least get a second rounder out of it (and I could see the Knicks sending 1 or 2 to them) and don't lose anyone too important to the team. Yes Prince and Anderson are generally solid players, but there's far more missing from this team than they can make up for. Beverley was this teams heart and soul during last year's run and they hope that this fixes that issue. He also reportedly wants to go back to Minnesota and since his contract is expiring, between his and D-Lo's contracts, they'll have a some money to play with in free agency.

Bulls: The Bulls may have made a run recently, but it's hard to see this team going anywhere that good. It's still a gamble whether they even make the play-in, let alone the playoffs and this team is nowhere near contending for a title. Vucevic looks a shell of himself, Ball is forever injured, DeRozan is amazing but he and LaVine are struggling to play together. This team also has some locker room issues and would be better served building around their young players and at least getting something from their most valuable asset in DeRozan. They do ship off White but he's never been a part of their plans going forward. They get the very valuable Lakers FRPs, along with a couple second rounders as well. They could either use these to trade for a star or trade for picks in the 2023 or 2024 drafts to fill up with younger players.

That was a long one! Been typing a loooong time, at least for me. Sound off in the comments!