NBA Daily: Trade Watch – Atlantic Division

The NBA Trade Deadline is rapidly approaching and the number of teams looking to add talent grows with every day and new injury.  Chatter is beginning to heat up with rumors and speculation picking up in the last few days.

We kicked off a new series this week at Basketball Insiders, examining each division across the league and what possible moves, or lack thereof, each team might be looking to make. We’ll continue that with the Atlantic Division.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics’ front office must be at least mildly confused. We took a look at Boston’s talent overload in August and how it might disturb lineups and effectiveness.  To a degree, it’s done just that.

They’re still too talented to not produce results, regardless of distractions and egos. The Celtics clearly turned a corner from their early season struggles, but there is still lots of redundancy on their roster. There are two or three positions on the court for seven players, all of whom deserve significant playing time: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier and Kyrie Irving.

The Celtics would be best served by consolidating talent. They might want to dig into their bag of assets – after all, in this draft alone, they could realistically wind up with their own first round pick, as well as the Clippers, Grizzlies and 76ers or Kings’ first rounders. They don’t need to ship out all of their 2019 first-rounders to score a difference maker, but a combination of a few of them, Rozier and/or Brown could feasibly net Bradley Beal, right?

The Celtics already missed out on Paul George and Jimmy Butler because they were unwilling to entertain shipping out prized assets. At what point does their prudence turn into ignorance?

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are in the unusual situation of being neither buyers nor sellers. On the one hand, their lineups are working, and they have limited expendable players barring a blockbuster deal. And even then, it seems that Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and Jarret Allen are mostly off limits, unless it’s for Anthony Davis – and even then, they probably wouldn’t part with all three (although a Davis and D’Angelo Russell foundation sounds pretty good).  But on the other hand, they should look to clear as much cap space as possible prior to the Summer of 2019.

Speaking of Russell, he is in the precarious situation of becoming a free agent at the end of a season when the Nets hoped to chase bigger star free agents. He has been one of the very best Nets thus far, but he will likely command a near-max deal. And while the Nets seem happy with his production, they might prefer to spend that money differently or at least see who else might be interested in relocating to Brooklyn – which could potentially rub Russell the wrong way and send him out to explore the world of restricted free agency. At the very least, the Nets need to finalize plans to either sign Russell in the offseason or move him for assets because one (presumably short) playoff run wouldn’t justify losing such a valuable asset for nothing.

And then there’s Allen Crabbe, who the Nets signed to an offer sheet in the summer of 2016. The Trail Blazers matched the contract, but dealt him to the Nets shortly thereafter in July 2017. Fast forward to the present and Crabbe is shooting a career-low 34.3 percent from the field. Plus, he’s missed the past 20 games with a knee injury.

Crabbe is a fine, albeit somewhat disappointing, player; however, the real downside to Crabbe is that he has a player option for $18.5 million next season. If the team can move Crabbe, they will free up additional cap space this coming offseason. But moving Crabbe could mean attaching additional assets, which seems to go directly against the philosophy of the Nets’ regime. However, doing so would make them major players come this offseason with as much as $67 million in cap space.

New York Knicks

The Knicks have collected more than their share of assets. Noah Vonleh, Emmanuel Mudiay and Trey Burke could all help various contenders in a number of ways. All are on expiring deals, so that probably limits the return the Knicks can expect to receive in exchange for them. Teams have allegedly reached out about Frank Ntilikina, but the Knicks have resisted engaging in talks around him so far. Similarly, the Knicks aren’t motivated to help contenders improve without getting either salary cap relief or an asset, which leaves them at a bit of an impasse.

New York would prefer to move Courtney Lee or Tim Hardaway Jr. considering the money they’re owed beyond this season; however, Lee has fallen out of the rotation, thus hurting his trade value, and Hardaway is owed more than $18 million next season with a player option for the following year.

The Knicks will continue to explore moving Lee and Hardaway and cashing in their young, expiring assets for ones they can use in the future, but don’t hold your breath waiting for a deal to be made. They’re allegedly refusing to include future assets in any deal, which mostly prohibits moving future money off the books.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers are also interested in adding depth to their rotation – and, frankly, need it more than the Raptors do. They have mostly met expectations, and they were the recipient of the biggest prize of the trade market thus far this season – Jimmy Butler. The 76ers must be patient with their new star and give their team time before jumping to conclusions, be it positive or negative.

However, if a trade presents itself that results in an upgrade in talent or added depth, the 76ers possess a number of assets that would be desirable to teams in the process of rebuilding. Their most desirable asset is probably the Miami HEAT’s 2021 unprotected 1^st round pick – a draft expected to feature more talent than usual because it will be the first draft following the elimination of the draft’s current age restriction, meaning it should feature not only the regular crop of college prospects, but also the best of the graduating high school seniors.

Philadelphia is owed seven second-round draft picks from various teams over the next two drafts. The team would also probably be willing to deal Wilson Chandler and Markelle Fultz, who combine to make approximately $20 million, if they return the right piece.

The 76ers should at least get a sense of what it would take to pry Bradley Beal from Washington. If the cost is too high, they should do their due diligence on other wings who could be had for less.

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors have exceeded their already high pre-season expectations so far, boasting the second-best record in the entire league through 50 games. They are are rumored to be interested in bolstering their already impressive rotation, but haven’t been connected to many players or teams other than a few rumblings about their interest in Bradley Beat (which has all but flamed out).

Of all the teams in the Atlantic Division, the Raptors can be happy with their roster and how their players are working together. They should focus on getting Kyle Lowry back to the player he was last season. Beyond that, their focus should be on continuing to build camaraderie and keeping everyone healthy for the playoffs.

Rumors always ramp up as the trade deadline grows nearer. With only 14 days until the deadline, juicy gossip about players’ availability and where they might end up is almost inevitable. While it is entirely possible that few to no meaningful trades come to fruition before February 7, we are almost guaranteed at least a few moves to hold us over for the summer of 2019.

And with such close competition, the balance of power in the Atlantic could very well be at stake.