Why the Lakers do it They get rid of Westbrook and his large contract and replace him with Irving and a fantastic shooter in Bogdanovic. They take on Gay and the two years remaining on his contract (although he would also presumably help them out as well) while paying a fair price in Horton-Tucker, Nunn, and two future first-round picks.

Why the Nets do it They get four very good players between the ages of 24 and 26, all under team control for three years or more on very reasonable contracts, who should presumably fit extremely well alongside Ben Simmons, Nicolas Claxton, Royce O’Neale, and the remainder of their roster, as well as alongside one another thanks to the offensive and defensive versatility all four of them would provide. This trade would definitely keep them very competitive for years to come.

Why the Suns do it They give up their entire youth and what equates to be a large haul (Bridges, Johnson, Ayton, and four future first-round picks), but they definitely get the best player in the deal in Durant, plus a nice center who would presumably fit very in Capela, all while staying under the luxury tax threshold due to the ability to dump Saric’s and Shamet’s contracts in the trade. It would be an all-in move for the team, one that would definitely be worthwhile while trying to seriously compete for the championship over the next two to three years.

Why the Hawks do it The Hawks finally move on from Collins and establish their core throughout the foreseeable future by locking in Ayton to a four-year deal. They do have to move on from two core pieces in the aforementioned Collins and Capela, however, the acquisition of Ayton, as well as Saric and Nunn, would be a worthwhile investment for the team to make.

Why the Jazz do it They completely hit the reset button with this move and take back seven first-round draft picks (six unprotected) to give up Mitchell and Bogdanovic while taking on Westbrook’s expiring contract. They also pick up Horton-Tucker and Shamet in this trade who, although they weren’t very productive during this past season, are both still very young and have some upside.