Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard
Hot take alert.
We know the Blazers won’t trade Lillard. It’s obvious that this organization intends to retool around their franchise point guard. Still, this is about the moves teams should make. In our opinion, moving Lillard is long overdue. Even with the additions that the Blazers have made this summer, it’s hard to imagine them making a particularly deep playoff run.
Sacramento Kings: Richaun Holmes
Richaun Holmes is an archetypical rim-running, rim-protecting center. His game may lack flash, but it doesn’t want for function. If the Kings want to keep him around as one of the league’s best backups behind Domantas Sabonis, that’s fair. They should still at least shop him around to teams in need of a starting caliber center.
San Antonio Spurs: Jakob Poeltl
Having traded Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks for three first-round picks, it’s obvious that the Spurs are looking to bottom out. Keeping Poeltl around may limit their ability to do so. He’s a rock-solid defensive big. The Spurs should move him before he hurts their draft odds.
Toronto Raptors: Malachi Flynn
There was definitely some temptation to go with OG Anunoby here. If it’s true that he’s dissatisfied with his role on the Raptors, he’s the real answer.
Let’s assume he isn’t. There’s no good reason to move Anunoby in that event (unless the deal is right). The answer could still be Fred VanVleet. Still, the Raptors are probably better to stay the course. If they’re going to move anyone, it ought to be a player who seems to have fallen out of favor with Head Coach Nick Nurse anyway.
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Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell
The Utah Jazz are heavily rumored to be shopping Donovan Mitchell. So they should be. They got a massive return for Rudy Gobert, but it also made them a worse team in 2022-23. The organization might as well lean all the way into rebuilding and move their star for as much draft capital as they can find.
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Washington Wizards: Rui Hachimura
We could have taken the Blazers route and went with Bradley Beal here. There’s certainly a case to be made that it’s time for the organization to move on.
Having just inked him to a massive extension, we know they won’t do so this summer. It’s an even less likely outcome than a Lillard trade. With that in mind, they should look to move Rui Hachimura for a player who’s more ready to make a win-now impact.
