ESPN Insider - 10 Trades We’d Like to See (2 include the Cs)

[colincb]

http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/14779309/kevin-love-boston-carmelo-anthony-cleveland-top-trades-see-nba

FWIW. At least they work in the trade machine and there’s some sense to the rationales. First trade nets Love and Lance Thomas. Second nets Harden and DH12.

The Cleveland-Boston-New York megadeal

Cleveland Cavaliers send: Kevin Love to Boston
Boston Celtics send: Jae Crowder, Brooklyn's 2016 first-round pick and David Lee to New York
New York Knicks send: Carmelo Anthony to Cleveland and Lance Thomas to Boston

Tom Haberstroh: Who's happiest about this trade? LeBron gets to play with his buddy Carmelo Anthony. Boston gets its star in Love. And the Knicks can realistically dream about a Ben Simmons-Kristaps Porzingis frontcourt.

The Knicks would have to convince Anthony (and wife La La) to waive his no-trade clause and leave the Big Apple, but the carrot of playing for a championship with his pal LeBron James would probably be enough to ease those concerns.

Love would again become the No. 1 option he deserves to be and play for a coach who recognizes his talents. The Celtics would have the defensive muscle out on the perimeter to help mask Love's issues in the pick-and-roll.

The Knicks could rebuild around Porzingis and the Nets' pick. In this draft, that's one of the most valuable trade chips in the game. Crowder is a hard-nosed stud who would fit in the triangle and give them a quality player in return. Icing on the cake: Lee comes home to New York.



Houston starts over, Boston vaults ahead

Houston Rockets send: James Harden, Dwight Howard, Marcus Thornton and Jason Terry
Boston Celtics send: Nets' 2016 first-round pick, Isaiah Thomas, Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and David Lee

Chad Ford: The Rockets are currently out of the playoffs and the chemistry is awful. As Kevin Pelton pointed out this week, it's Harden who seems to be the biggest problem, thanks to his matador-style defense.

With this trade, GM Daryl Morey would grab a bunch of assets from his friend Danny Ainge, sell Rockets fans on a quick rebuild and hope he can land Simmons in the draft.

Whomever the Rockets get in the draft would make them younger, along with Thomas, Olynyk and Bradley and their own talented young core headlined by Clint Capela. Meanwhile, the trade might not make the Rockets any worse for this season -- what they'd lose in star power they'd gain in chemistry.

For Boston, Danny Ainge has been looking to cash in his collection of assets for a superstar. Here he would land one plus a center who still can perform at an All-Star level.

Of course, the move would be risky for the Celtics after seeing what's happened in Houston, but Ainge has something the Rockets don't: coach Brad Stevens.

In this deal, the Celtics would be keeping contributors like Marcus Smart, Crowder and Amir Johnson to supply defensive toughness. And by hanging on to several first-round picks and young players like James Young, Terry Rozier, R.J. Hunter and Jordan Mickey, the Celtics wouldn't be giving away the farm to have a legit shot at the NBA Finals in the next couple of years.

[Ilikesports17]

both trades are so incredibly unlikely, but its a nice read I suppose.

[LarBrd33]

Fun ideas.  Doubt they will be popular here.

[TheSundanceKid]

So the second one we basically become the current Houston Rockets? I mean you take the deal because of Harden but is it really that enticing?

The first one is just not gonna happen so it's not even worth speculating on

[Who]

I am quite happy to swap rosters with Houston.

The Rockets are a top 5 team in this league. There is far less wrong there than their performance this season suggests. That is a fixable team and a genuine title contender in the making.

[mctyson]

Trade #1)  Comical. Crowder and the 2016 Nets pick are not going out for Kevin Love.  Period. 

Trade #2)  More balanced asset-wise.  I am still not a fan of giving up 3 young, core players on a potential 50-win team, plus a potential top-3 draft pick, to get two guys attitude problmes from an underperforming team.  But you could argue that by keeping Crowder, Smart, Johnson, and Sully you give Harden the defense he has never had.  I wouldn't do though.

[The One]

Oh my land and shiver me timbers!

[csfansince60s]

ESPN people are D-U-M-B!!!

Harden and Howard seem to strongly dislike each other and especially DON'T like playing together.

Isn't that player meeting where they said that out there for ESPN to know about?