All the following trade scenarios will be based upon salary cap breakdowns found here and draft pick trade values based off this chart.
Trade Scenarios with Oklahoma City:
- Trade 1 -
Oklahoma City receives: 33rd & 35th picks
Orlando receives: 21st pick
The trade values nearly even here. Orlando gets to move up for a 3rd 1st round selection and OKC will then not have the 1st-Round Pick Hold of $1,487,500 on the books. They can use one or both of their 2nd round selections as draft and stashes to help ease their salary cap issues.
- Trade 2 -
Oklahoma City receives: Nikola Vucevic, Stephen Zimmerman, 33 and 35th picks
Orlando receives: Enes Kanter, 21st pick, 2018 2nd round draft pick
This is the same scenario as Trade 1 adding in the players so as to allow OKC to dump roughly 7.5 million in salary. Kanter and Vucevic are very similar players both on deals set to expire in the 2018-2019 season. Kanter has an ETO in the 2018-2019 should he choose to exercise that option. Kanter also has a 15% trade bonus that can be waived, but it could complicate things a little. Zimmerman was included to make the math work essentially, he can be waived by OKC. Losing Zimmerman is off-set by receiving the future 2nd rounder.
- Trade 3 -
Oklahoma City receives: Nikola Vucevic, Stephen Zimmerman, 25th
Orlando receives: Enes Kanter, 21st pick, 2018 2nd round draft pick
Again, similar scenario but Orlando chooses to retain the 2 second round picks opposed to the 26th overall selection.
Of these 3 Trade Scenarios, I prefer Scenario 2. Picks 21 & 26 are roughly the same value to the 12th pick held by Detroit. Detroit is another team looking to unload some salary as they are over the cap and still have a decision to make regarding KCP who will be looking to get a near max deal this off-season. Packaging those picks and some players could net us the 12th overall selection.
Trade Scenarios with Portland:
- Trade 1 -
Portland receives: 33rd & 35th picks
Orlando receives: 20th pick
Very similar to the OKC Trade 1 scenario, just a way for Portland to avoid the $1,549,500 First-Round Pick Hold.
- Trade 2 -
Portland receives: Terrence Ross, C.J. Watson, 33rd or 35th pick
Orlando receives: Allen Crabbe, 20th pick
Portland sheds over 10 million in this scenario. They are able to retain the 15th and 26th selection to use as trade bait for Melo, they can waive C.J.'s non-guaranteed contract, and avoid the $1,549,500 First-Round Pick Hold. The Magic get to swap a 2nd round selection for the 20th overall pick and they get a much needed 3pt-shooter in Crabbe who finished the season 3rd overall in 3pt FG% at .0444%.
- Trade 3 -
Portland receives: Terrence Ross, C.J. Watson, D.J. Augustine, 25th pick
Orlando receives: Allen Crabbe, Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier 15th pick
Similar to the above scenario, but Portland gets to upgrade the backup PG slot and shed a little more cap. The picks being swapped could be adjusted but I think Orlando would have to send back the 26th to get the 15th here. Ed Davis is only on a one year deal, so it does not effect Orlando in the long run. Neither will Shabazz really.
There are so many trade scenarios that could take place between Orlando and Portland considering both teams have 7 selections in the top 35 picks combined. If they want to make a run at a Melo trade, they will need to shed some cap while still getting picks or bench players in return. I did not include Harkless in the trades because I think NY will want him included in any deal for Melo. Also, I did not include Leonard's contract because I think it is too terrible to take on.
Trade Scenario with Los Angeles Clippers:
LAC receives: Nikola Vucevic, C.J. Watson, 25th pick or the 33rd & 35 picks together
Orlando receives: DeAndre Jordan
LA desperately needs to clear some space if they want to retain CP3 and Blake and try to go after Melo which is key to CP3 staying in LA. They could clear over 10 million by trading Jordan and it has been rumored that CP3 and him don't quite get along. If trading him for a solid Center in Nikola allows them to have picks in this draft to entice NY to trade Melo and save cap, I think they seriously consider it. Vogel will get his defensive stopper at Center making Biyombo very expendable. I think this is a win-win situation for both teams if it leads to LAC landing Melo. It also could be interesting to include Detroit and the Knicks here.
Team Trade Scenarios with Detroit & OKC:
- Trade 1 -
Oklahoma City receives: Marcus Morris, 33rd & 35th picks
Orlando receives: Andre Drummond, Kyle Singler, Boban Marjanovic, 12th overall selection
Detroit receives: Nikola Vucevic, C.J. Watson, Evan Fournier, 21st overall selection
OKC is very unlikely to be able to afford to pay Taj and/or Roberson. They just do not have the cap space and would be way over the luxury tax if they tried to retain them both. Being able to turn Singler into Marcus Morris would be a huge win for them. Morris can play both the 3 and 4, the same positions they would be losing much needed depth at. Singler's and Morris' contracts are nearly identical. And they would be saving about 1 million by avoiding the First-Round Pick Hold. Detroit can waive Watson, save 6.5 million, and have enough money to match any offer for KCP while staying below the luxury tax line. And they only drop back 9 places in the draft. While Nikola is not the ideal fit in SVG's system, they will still have the ability to draft a player that is at 21 like Jeanne and let him develop behind Nikola. Orlando, admittedly, takes on 2 players that are sub-par at best. Singler is being paid $4.7 and $5 million in the final 2 years. Not a whole lot of money nor a long time. Boban's contract is $7 million with 2 years remaining as well. Not ideal to carry 3 Centers on the roster, but what we get in return is worth it in my opinion. I think Drummond is an upgrade at Center, some may disagree. Others may think Drummond is the better player, but when the contracts are taken into account Nikola is the better option. Having the 6th, 12th, and 25th picks in the draft allows Orlando the ability to find a replacement for Fournier or wing talent in general. Furthermore, the 12th and 25th picks could be packaged for the 10th and 34th from Sacramento or to move up in general if possible.
I tried to give scenarios that I thought were somewhat reasonable based upon draft pick values and targeting teams that actually have an interest in making a trade due to their salary cap issues. I welcome comments and your versions of trades with these teams.
