The NBA trade season goes full throttle this week as 94 NBA players just became trade eligible. Now that most of the players who signed contracts before September 15 are essentially up for trade negotiations, trade rumors are expected to ramp up in the coming weeks as the season approaches its midway point.
This is the time of the year when Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charania, Brian Windhorst, and other veteran NBA insiders take center stage as they provide the latest trade rumblings around the association. However, not all rumors come from "reliable sources," as they say.
There is trade buzz that looks really legit at first glance, only for readers to find out that it is nothing more than an empty piece of reporting.
So for the sake of fair sports journalism, I have decided to break down the hottest trade rumors out there on the internet and hand out the verdict if they are newsworthy or just stuff that usually brings out an SMH or shaking my head. The rating process is simple, newsworthy for factual trade rumors report, cringe-worthy for articles that drift between legit reporting and mere speculations (usually Stephen A. Smith and Bill Simmons kind of things) and full SMH on rumors that are simply absurd.
So here it goes, the very first entry of the SMH meter.
Markelle Fultz for CJ McCollum swap
In his recent article titled “The NBA Trades That Need to Happen,” Bill Simmons came up with several trade scenarios that would pique the interest of any NBA fan. One of the trades he is vouching involves Portland Trail Blazers star guard C.J McCollum and Markelle Fultz of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons believes it’s time for the Blazers to have a talent reboot by trading one-half of their dynamic backcourt for a promising young guard in Fultz. By trading McCollum and his $23 million average annual salary to the Sixers in exchange for Fultz ($7 million), Amir Johnson ($11 millions),and Dario Saric ($2.4 million), the Blazers will get enough cap space to re-sign big man Jusuf Nurkic, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The Sixers, on the other hand, will finally complete “the Process” by adding more offensive firepower and another floor-spacer for 6-foot-10 point guard Ben Simmons to work with.
Verdict: Simmons is a savant of trade speculations and there’s nothing wrong about it. What is wrong, is the idea of trading a still unproven rookie with a nagging shoulder injury to a team that is fighting for a playoff spot. Another reason why this trade scenario is just plain bonkers is the sheer talent the Sixers need to relinquish for McCollum. And, of course, absorbing McCollum’s salary would basically kill any hope of adding LeBron James or Paul George next summer. Thus, it gets an SMH rating.
Celtics kicking tires on Nikola Mirotic, Robin Lopez
According to KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, it won’t be much of a surprise if Nikola Mirotic and Robin Lopez play for a different team this season, as the Chicago Bulls continue to push for their youth movement. In fact, teams from both the Western Conference and Eastern Conference had already begun gauging Mirotic’s trade value ahead of the February 8 trade deadline. Lopez, despite his lack of mobility, remains an intriguing trade target because of his rebounding and physicality. Bleacher Report writer Brian Marron believes the Rockets are a potential suitor for floor-spacing Mirotic, while the Boston Celtics could kick tires on both Bulls players.
Verdict: This trade rumor looks really legit until the Rockets were mentioned as trade suitors for Mirotic. Remember, the Bulls want to create cap space to go hard at two max-level free agents next summer. Giving up Mirotic and another player for Ryan Anderson’s $20 million per year deal would defeat this goal.
As for the Celtics, it’s possible for Boston to get a frontline upgrade in the form of Mirotic or Lopez before the trade deadline, but it would require some moving parts or conduit party. First of all, the salaries of both Mirotic ($12.5 million) and Lopez ($13 million) doesn’t fit with the $8.4 million DPE the Celtics received as consolation for losing Gordon Hayward to an ankle injury.
They can sure throw in a package of Marcus Smart ($4 million, restricted free agency in 2018) and Marcus Morris ($5 million), but again these two players are an integral part of the Celtics’ success early in the season. For now, these trade rumors stay at cringe-worthy or “Stephen A” level.