The Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets are the four clear favorites to make the NBA Finals this season, but there are some other hopeful contenders that are not too far behind these teams. The Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks all had title on their mind when they entered the 2020-21 season, but they are all going to need to improve their rosters if they hope to turn things around.
The Boston Celtics have been plummeting down the NBA power rankings the last few weeks in large part because of Marcus Smart being out with a calf injury. Even with him though, this team would be struggling because outside of their starting five, they do not really have any solid rotational players who can contribute at a high-level.
The Nuggets on the other hand do have solid secondary talents, but they are still trying to make up for the loss of Jerami Grant on the wing. Michael Porter Jr. and Will Barton have stepped up to replicate some of the success Grant had last year for the Nuggets, but with not much depth on the wing, they really need another high-level scorer to turn to in their second-unit on the wing if they are to make it back to the Western Conference Finals.
The Miami Heat have been the most disappointing team to this point in the NBA season and while they have found some success as of late, they really need to address their lack of depth. They do not look like the same team from a season ago and with not much depth, they could also use an impactful, veteran wing to pair next to Jimmy Butler.
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Lastly, the Dallas Mavericks have a MVP candidate in Luka Doncic, but outside of him, this roster has a lot of inconsistent offensive weapons. Kristaps Porzingis has been very disappointing at times this year and with no legit third scoring threat, the Mavericks have struggled against some of the better teams in the league.
All four of these hopeful contenders seem like they are one piece players away from being able to contend for a title this season, so let’s take a look at one trade target for each of them that could help turn things around and make them true contenders this season.
