Nets receive:
Rockets receive:
Cavaliers receive:
Whoa. Just...wow. I refrained from doing my usual offseason tracker due to work conflicts at the time, but today's absolute blockbuster is the perfect time for me to jump back into writing about the NBA. There is a lot to unpack from the news that Woj and Shams reported almost simultaneously, so let's break things down team by team starting with the principal participants. Indiana's inclusion might technically end up as a separate trade afterwards rather than part of a four teamer, anyway.
Brooklyn is taking quite the risk by leaving all of those draft picks and potential pick swaps unprotected, and that decision of course stands out after their disastrous 2013 trade for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry that crippled the previous regime. Those stars were much closer to the ends of their careers at the time, and the resulting teams were so bad that after the first pick in 2014 (#17, James Young), the ensuing selections were #3 in 2016 (Jaylen Brown), #1 in 2017 (Markelle Fultz, traded for Jayson Tatum), and #8 in 2018 (Collin Sexton). Harden is only 31 years old as he joins 32 year old Kevin Durant and nearly 29 year old Kyrie Irving, so the team seemingly won't be in danger of falling off the cliff as quickly as last time. They all have the option to hit free agency in 2022, however, so rookie head coach Steve Nash faces a tall order of integrating the three stars rather quickly without a training camp.
This trade also pushes them even deeper into the luxury tax since LeVert, Allen, Prince, and Kurucs combine for a little over $34 million in salary compared to Harden's nearly $41.3 million, and possible replacement signings, even at the minimum, to replace the lost depth will only add to that total,. With that being said, the former MVP could be absolutely worth this high price. This man has won the last three scoring titles and claimed the assists crown the year before that, after all. Together with another former MVP in Durant, the Nets now have two historically great offensive players together again (along with Jeff Green to complete the Broingtons reunion!) after their initial years together in Oklahoma City. That's even before getting to another All Star in the mercurial Irving, who mysteriously remains away from the team for "personal reasons."
In the mean time, Harden will obviously compensate for LeVert and injured starter Spencer Dinwiddie while Durant, Joe Harris, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Green take on even more minutes on the wing for Prince, but DeAndre Jordan and eventually young bigs Nicolas Claxton and Reggie Perry will need to step up for the loss of Allen. You'd ideally like to have some young contributors on cheap contracts like guards Landry Shamet (who likely has to give up Harden's #13) and Bruce Brown, so barring another blockbuster move involving Irving, this deal drained just about all of their big trade assets. This is likely their main team going forward aside from any potential additions through the buyout market down the line. In the aggregate, this does get them closer to the top of the East, but it's hard to say it will put them over the edge for a title to justify mortgaging the future this much. The defense could take more of a step back, and although we've seen Durant thrive with both Harden and briefly Irving, the three of them together could be a powder keg in the long run.
Houston choosing to start these picks further down the line is a bet on that potential blowup, and although you never want to trade a perennial MVP candidate, rookie GM Rafael Stone did well considering the circumstances. He was patient to get the picks he wanted without protections, and although I would have preferred just keeping LeVert and Allen in a vacuum, the final package is understandable. Oladipo has shown a little bit of a higher ceiling and appears to be back to All Star form after dealing with a myriad of ailments in recent years. He can slot into Harden's shooting guard position, albeit in a very different way, and form a dynamic back court with John Wall that is surrounded by the necessary shooting. He is a pending free agent and over two years older than LeVert, though, which is why I would've leaned towards keeping the better shooter that is on a solid contract for two more years.
LeVert does have his own lengthy injury history to be fair, but I hope this wasn't a matter of just not wanting to take on that financial commitment as they avoid going back into the luxury tax. That could also have been a factor in not simply taking a star young big like Allen since he's about to hit restricted free agency. Re-routing him to Cleveland is reasonable after they just made the nice signing of Christian Wood along with DeMarcus Cousins to a lesser extent. I'm just not sure they got enough for him, and it might be a case of also unloading Prince's contract on them in order to duck under the tax already this season. Overall, the Rockets appear to have accomplished their goal with draft capital, some star pedigree, and salary relief, so your view on the overall return depends on how you prioritize that.
1/14 UPDATE: As speculated in the intro, these are officially two separate deals for Houston, which also creates a Trade Exception of $15,451,216. They have a full calendar year to use, but since they'll likely stay out of the tax, it's more likely to be used in the offseason if they opt not to operate as an under the tax team...if they use it at all. The Cavs did make use one of theirs in order to absorb Allen, so you can see the usefulness of having that option.
1/16 UPDATE: The scary situation around LeVert's small mass on his kidney did turn this into one big four-team trade after all, and the Trade Exception for Houston was reduced as a result.
As you might expect based on that, I love this move for Cleveland. That 1st round pick was an extra one from Milwaukee that is likely to be late, and they have the cap flexibility to absorb a decent contributor in Prince, who was only included along with Kurucs for the Nets to match salaries. Exum is unfortunately sidelined by another injury, a calf strain now, so turning him and a couple of late selections into an interior force like Allen is a no brainer. They're now a little crowded up front with Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, and Larry Nance, but Allen is the core piece going forward, especially since Drummond is about to hit free agency. It's not a surprise that Brooklyn traded him after failing to negotiate an extension, but the 22 year old will be sorely missed since he's been a reliable contributor on both ends every year. This is his third straight season averaging a little under 27 minutes, about 11 points, and 1.5 blocks with the rebounds, assists, and PER increasing every year to 10.4, 1.7, and 21.4, respectively.
Likewise, I think this a nice move for Indiana for the reasons I mentioned between Oladipo and LeVert, and it makes even more sense with their cap situation. This gets them under the luxury tax this year and takes away any concern about how much it might take to re-sign Oladipo. It also doesn't hurt that they now have a little more length on the wing to provide some more flexibility with their guard heavy lineups. The fact that they also got a draft pick, albeit a 2nd a couple of years away, is just icing on the cake.
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