One trade: Isaiah Joe and a SRP to Dallas for Daniel Gafford.

Other trade: Nikola Topic, Dillon Jones and 2 SRPs to Sacramento for Keon Ellis.

For the Thunder a move that addresses weaknesses without shortening their window.

For the Mavs a trade that adds shooting and perimeter play, plus adds a future draft asset and a little cap flexibility for this year.

For the Kings a trade that provides 2 talented youngsters, including Topic who was thought to be a top 5 pick in last year's draft if he hadn't gotten injured. Plus 2 SRPs that can be used to aquire players with their large trade exception and the NTMLE. Since they will be hard capped at the first apron anyways after this trade, but they will still be close $30 million under the apron….

This trade is essentially Caruso to San Antonio for Barnes and 2 SRPs, Jones is included to avoid OKC from being hard capped at the first tax apron and San Antonio has options to avoid a hard cap as well. My reasoning for the trade is as follows:

OKC: Trading Caruso for an expiring contract and draft capitol gives Presti some financial flexibility in the summer of 26, it might even be enough to allow him to keep both Hartenstein and Dort as well as pay Chet and J-dub. Barnes also provides some added size and depth in the stretch 4 role and the SRPs will become important in filling out the 2-way player spots. The way I see these spots going forward is a way to develop young prospects with the goal of being able to promote one player each year to the standard roster. As this roster gets more expensive, this will be important for cost control. There is a saying in sports that it is better to trade an player a year to early than a year to late, although this doesn't seem like a big return…

Just playing around. What do you think? I am really not sure if this is fair for everyone or not. Looking for feedback either way….

It all seems about right to me.

The Thunder are getting a ball handler to run the second unit, a big to add some size to the front court and an extra shooter.

The Hawks are getting Brandon Ingram, 2 recent FRPs, and stay under the luxury tax.

The Lakers get a quality defensive center for the rest of the year, which they will need to protect the rim with Doncic, Reaves, and a 40 year old James. They then can decide what to do with Capela during the summer.

The Pelicans get under the luxury tax this year, plus 2 FRPs.

Is this a fair trade or does someone need more, and if someone needs more who needs to give up what draft compensation and to which team does it need to go?…

For the Nets they get a high quality young veteran role player to help show the young kids they are about to be overloaded with how to be an NBA player. Plus 2 young kids with lottery level talent that just haven't been able to get on the floor to show if they can live up to the promise of that talent. They also get a pick in the low to mid 20's in the 26 draft because the 26 pick that I included is the 2nd most favorable of the Rockets, Clippers and Thunder. They also get a true lottery ticket in the Utah pick that could be as high as number 9 in 26, but because of the protections might be converted to 2 SRP in a future draft. Other than Johnson, who is admittedly probably the biggest trade chip on the market right now, this only costs them around $4 million in cap room next summer.

For the Thunder they get deeper and bigger. This trade would be accompanied by them converting Ajay Mitchell to a 4 year standard minimum contract. And it leaves a spot open for an experienced guard on th…

The Thunder then promote Ajay Mitchell to a standard contract for the rest of the season plus a couple of years.

Reasons for the Thunder:

It adds shooting and size to the 4-spot in Cam Johnson, plus an experienced back-up to SGA in Dante Exum for the year. It also allows the Thunder to extend Alex Caruso at his max starting salary for next year and sign 2 mid FRP and stay under the estimated luxury tax for both this year and next. To me this is a big win as it puts them at the very top of title contenders without worrying about the luxury tax until the 26-27 season.

Reasons for the Mavs:

It adds a young wing and big to develop as well as providing a big to replace Maxi Kleber's minutes, possibly at an upgrade. It also brings them under the luxury tax for this year. The only question is whether that is worth giving up their FRP in the 2025 draft.

Reasons for Nets:

They accelerate their rebuild even further by trading away a productive veteran in Cam Johnson, who is having a career…

Thunder then convert Ajay Mitchell to a 4 year standard contract.

Reason for Thunder: 1) Replacing Aaron Wiggins with Cam Johnson adds a little size and shooting to stretch the floor. 2) Allows them to resign Alex Caruso to his full cap hold for next year and still stay under the luxury tax. Even after signing Ajay Mitchell and both FRP to standard contracts

Reason for Nets: 1) They accelerate their rebuild by moving one of their best veterans, and get value with 2 recent FRPs and 1 future FRP. 2) Can flip Aaron Wiggins, who is a solid role player, to another contender for more value.

Thunder lineup after trade:

Starting: SGA/Wallace/Dort/Jalen Williams/Holmgren

Bench: Mitchell/Joe/Caruso/Johnson/Hartenstein

Other: Jones/Kenrich Williams/Jaylin Williams

This year they fill the bench with minimum salary players and then they have 2 FRPs to fill those spots in the summer.

This might be a slight overpay, but it allows them to keep the team intact for the next 2 years and push for …