NBA Teams That Need To Make Trades

NBA Teams That Need To Make Trades

This week marks the NBA’s trade deadline, where teams must either make deals with the intention of improving their team, or remain content with the roster they have in hopes that it’s good enough to compete for a championship. The problem with this, however, is the fact that only a select few teams have the talent to win a title as currently constructed, meaning that several teams need to make deals to be legitimate contenders. These are the three teams most in need of a trade deadline deal in the NBA.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

It might be weird to put LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in this discussion, given that they will most likely reach the NBA Finals without breaking a sweat, but the Golden State Warriors have been good enough to where just getting to the NBA Finals might not be enough. Cleveland has been talking to several teams about potential trades, according to reports around the league, and look to be doing everything they can to improve before the trade deadline.

One such trade idea has reportedly involved sending forward Kevin Love away from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics, in a deal that would see New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony join Cleveland in Love’s place. A move like that would shake things up and give the Cavaliers a real shot to get back to the NBA Finals and win it this time.

2. Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are another unique case, one where they were not supposed to be this good this quickly. Now, instead of hanging around the NBA draft lottery, they find themselves with a top four seed in the Eastern Conference and an actual chance to make a deep playoff run. However, their current talent pool is too young for that level of success, and not deep enough to be truly scary to other clubs. But one well placed trade would change all of that.

As mentioned above, the Boston Celtics are being linked to Kevin Love, who would work well in a Celtics offense that loves spreading the floor and shooting threes. This would allow Love to play to his strengths, crashing the defensive backboards, while using his sharp shooting to draw taller defenders away from the basket to set his teammates up for drives to the basket.

1. Los Angeles Clippers

By now the Los Angeles Clippers should have won something, but they have been stuck behind all-time great teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, which has kept them from achieving their true potential. And, to be honest, it doesn’t look like they are going to magically get better than either of those teams without making changes to their roster. If the Clippers can make a smart trade, they can not only get better from a talent perspective, but can also upgrade their chemistry and give themselves a real shot at a title. While Blake Griffin has been mentioned as a potential trade chip, the Clippers can surely use other pieces to achieve their goals here.

By:Jason M. Sanin