NBA Trade Watch: The Northwest

Continuing down the road towards the trade deadline, here at Basketball Insiders we’ll continue to give you a division-by-division breakdown of how teams are equipped to head into the NBA’s last month of trades.

After already covering the Atlantic and Southwest divisions, we now turn our attention to one of the most competitive divisions in basketball, the Northwest.

With four teams boasting a record above .500 at the midway point of the season, it will be curious to see how if these teams decide to add to their current arsenal or stay put for the playoff push.

Minnesota Timberwolves (27-16)

After making their big moves this past offseason to bring in Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, and Taj Gibson — three of their five starters — to pair with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves are reaping the benefits of those big money decisions.

Currently leading their division, and hitting their stride as the second half of the season approaches, the Wolves are in a position to flex their star power muscles for a deep playoff run. Considering their moves in the offseason, along with inking Wiggins to a max contract and preparing to do the same for Towns, the books in Minnesota are a bit tight at the moment.

With that being said, at this point for the Timberwolves, staying put with the core that’s led them to a record 11 games over .500 so far is their most likely scenario heading into the trade deadline.

Notable Ending Contracts:

None.

Names Worth Talking About:

Like most high-level contending teams in the NBA, the Timberwolves are a bit stuck with their current core. With no real cap room to play with and no notable expiring contracts that can be used as trade chips, Minnesota doesn’t expect to be one of the more active players at the deadline. Barring an incredibly surprising move where the Wolves ship off one of their star players, don’t expect this lineup to look much, if any, different after the first week of February.

Biggest Area of Need at the Deadline:

Despite having a roster loaded with star-caliber names, there are still some serious areas of weakness for the Timberwolves. Namely three-point shooting, where Minnesota ranks 27th in the league in attempts, and 24th in percentage. As noted, it’s not like the Wolves have much wiggle room to address that need at this point; they are who they are, but if there was a situation where they could add a piece for cheap it would behoove them to take a look at some deep ball shooters.

Portland Trail Blazers (22-19)

With one of the most prolific backcourts in the entire league, the Trail Blazers are once again pushing their way to a playoff berth. Having a ton of money tied up in both Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum doesn’t help Portland all that much in terms of being able to bring any new bodies on board, but with a few expiring deals that are attached to recognizable names, the Blazers could potentially find themselves in a position to make a move should they choose to do so.

Notable Ending Contracts:

Ed Davis — $6,352,531

Noah Vonleh — $3,505,233

Jusuf Nurkic — $2,947,305

Pat Connaughton — $1,471,382

Names Worth Talking About:

The Trail Blazers’ biggest cause for concern should be preparing to sign Jusuf Nurkic to an extension. Nurkic is the perfect thunder to the team’s backcourt lightening. Leading the Blazers in rebounding and blocked shots while also chipping in 14.6 points per game, Nurkic gives Portland an inside presence that can become a matchup problem for some of the finesse teams in the Western Conference.

Alongside Lillard and McCollum, Nurkic is the perfect low-post complement to even out the team’s identity. Portland should be focusing on making sure they can lock up their Bosnian big man before adding new names to the fold.

Biggest Area of Need at the Deadline:

Even though money is tight out in Portland, the team could absolutely benefit from picking up a bench distributor. With two ball-dominant guards in their starting lineup, the Trail Blazers rank last in the NBA in assists per game. Up until this point, facilitation problems have still allowed the team to win more games than they’re losing, but as the season continues on into the playoffs, ball movement is crucial to sustained success.

Their current financial position is the biggest question mark over the next month. But finding an option to come in and kick up ball movement for the team’s various lineups could go a long way in terms of success.

Oklahoma City Thunder (22-20)

Halfway through the Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony experiment, results are mixed at best.

Despite All-Star names and All-Star paychecks, the Thunder’s trio has shown serious problems in terms of meshing their talents together for a more efficient collective result. With George and Anthony set to be free agents, the Thunder are an increasingly interesting team to watch as the deadline approaches. On record, Westbrook has said that the best free agent pitch to keep George in OKC would be winning a championship. That alone suggests Paul isn’t going anywhere this month. But again, the NBA is a wild ride, and Westbrook isn’t the general manager.

Should everyone stay put, the Thunder have the second half of the season to figure out how they can mesh three ball-dominant players well enough together to make noise during the playoffs. Regardless of what happens, all eyes will most certainly be on Oklahoma City.

Notable Ending Contracts:

Carmelo Anthony — $26,243,760

Paul George — $19,508,958

Jerami Grant — $1,524,305

Nick Collison — $1,471,382

Josh Huestis — $1,471,382

Raymond Felton — $1,471,382

Names Worth Talking About:

The most intriguing names related to the Thunder at this point in time are two players already on their roster: Anthony and George.

With the Los Angeles Lakers scenario looming over George as an evergreen possibility, the Thunder could be in a position to lose another star player for nothing if he decides to walk away from the team this summer. Considering his pairing with Westbrook hasn’t been the wild success the team was hoping for, seeing what Sam Presti could get for George on the trade market is at least a scenario worth exploring.

As for Anthony, his early termination option makes him a flight risk as well. If George bounces for Hollywood this summer, there isn’t much to suggest that Anthony would stick around in Oklahoma City as well.

It’s impossible to tell the future for the Thunder in terms of how many games they’ll win or if they can make a deep run in the playoffs, so making a move at the deadline at this point would be abandoning their experiment without giving it a full season to run its course. That was always the risk in dealing for George and Anthony, though.

Biggest Area of Need at the Deadline:

The biggest need the Thunder have to focus on as the deadline approaches is something that can’t be bought or traded for on the open market, and that’s chemistry.

With the third-highest payroll in the league, the Thunder are as strapped for cash as they come. Pulling off a blockbuster trade would require breaking up the current three-man band. Bringing on complementary pieces at this point may just not be feasible financially. Oklahoma City is married to its team at this point in time, and the best case scenario to start seeing more wins is an uptick in chemistry between the star players. Unfortunately, there’s no “chemistry exception” in the current CBA. So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this one pans out.

Denver Nuggets (21-20)

After swinging for the fences this summer and signing Paul Millsap to a three-year $90 million deal, the Denver Nuggets got a hard dose of reality when Millsap tore a ligament in his left wrist after just 16 games.

Managing to stay afloat with a record one game above .500 and keeping themselves in the playoff race, the Nuggets are in a position to add a piece or two at the deadline to pair with the return of Millsap for a playoff push.

What makes that tricky for Denver is the reality that they’re over the cap and pretty tight on cash. With a contract extension for Nikola Jokic right around the corner, it isn’t likely that the team will be in a position to make any long-term acquires. But a cheap option to fill out the second unit for a team looking to find the postseason isn’t totally out of the question.

Notable Ending Contracts:

Will Barton — $3,533,333

Richard Jefferson — $1,454,756

Names Worth Talking About:

Currently, there aren’t any names that are directly being connected to the Nuggets. With limited mobility in terms of cap space and tradable assets, there’s a good reason why things are quiet at the moment.

There are some sellers in this market, like the Lakers and their desire to move Jordan Clarkson to free up cap space. Clarkson would be a wonderful fit in Denver, where former lottery pick point guard Emmanuel Mudiay has fallen out of the rotation, as a perfect secondary option like his role in Los Angeles. The only problem is, the Nuggets don’t have the cap room to make a move like that work without shedding some money of their own.

Any particular move made by Denver will have to be the result of them finding a partner to take on contracts of their own. Otherwise, their hands are tied moving forward towards the deadline.

Biggest Area of Need at the Deadline:

As mentioned above, the Nuggets could really benefit from having a second-unit point guard to truly solidify their rotation. Since Mudiay fell out of favor, Will Barton has been responsible for that role. While Barton has his moments from time to time, his ability to facilitate an offense effectively comes into question more often than it should with a backup point guard.

Being able to shore up the backcourt of the second-unit would help create a deeper, more cohesive unit for the Nuggets as they look to force themselves into the playoff picture throughout the second half of the season.

Utah Jazz (17-24)

In their first season without Gordon Hayward, the Utah Jazz have regressed as expected. Although Donovan Mitchell has been an incredible surprise for the club, missing the seasoned scorer from the wing has been detrimental to the Jazz’s success.

Along with losing Hayward, the fact that Rudy Gobert has dealt with injury issues this season as well is adding to Utah’s tough campaign. Continuing throughout the rest of this season under their current trajectory, the Jazz will likely be on the outside looking in for the playoff picture. But according to certain reports, Utah will look to add players at the deadline in hopes to add more talent to their roster moving forward.

Notable Ending Contracts:

Derrick Favors — $12,000,000

Joe Johnson — $10,505,000

Dante Exum — $4,992,385

Rodney Hood — $2,386,864

Names Worth Talking About:

As Marc Stein of The New York Times reported, the Jazz are serious suitors for Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic.

With Utah showing interest in bringing aboard the likes of Mirotic, a frontcourt set to potentially lose Favors this offseason could find a bit more stability. An offensive-minded four, Mirotic could do well under Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, who has a knack for capitalizing on players’ offensive potential. As the trade deadline approaches for both the Bulls and Jazz, it appears that Mirotic will be the hot name.

Biggest Area of Need at the Deadline:

Piggybacking off of the Mirotic noise, the Jazz’s most obvious need at the deadline would be depth. Particularly in the frontcourt. With Gobert sidelined, and Favors a free agent, bringing in Mirotic to an offensive friendly system could be beneficial for both parties.

Whether the Jazz actually make the move or not remains to be seen, but over the course of the next month, with Gobert’s knee a question mark right now, Utah could only benefit from bringing in some back up on the front lines.