NBA Offseason Preview: 1 trade for the New York Knicks and each team

As the NBA offseason is slated to begin even sooner than many expected, what is one trade each team should push for considering their current situation?

Transactions almost surpassed the games in terms of excitement for fans of the NBA. The trade deadline and the first few days of free agency are oftentimes the most talked about moments of the calendar year, even more so than even some playoff games.

This year will be even crazier than normal, given the reported timeline of roughly eight weeks between the agreement of a new CBA and the start of the next season (should the players agree to that). Teams will have to move quickly to make moves and fill out their roster. With so few teams with meaningful cap space, trades should be even more likely.

The trade market saw a boon in an unexpected way when Daryl Morey agreed to come on board with the Philadelphia 76ers recently. Nothing accelerates trade season like the first person willing to pull the trigger on a league-altering move.

In that spirit, let’s put on our general manager hats and make one trade for each team. Some of these will more likely than others but the goal is to be fair, address the needs of the team in question and have a little fun.

Some names will be more commonly thrown around than others given the nature of the market (looking at you Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner and Chris Paul). All of these trades have been run through tradenba.com to confirm that they work under the salary cap, as projected today. Let’s get rolling.

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks have been strongly rumored to be testing the market for the sixth pick in the draft. For better or worse the team seems to want to be a surefire playoff team next season and will make a move necessary to make that happen. If they are going to do that then they are going to have to get creative.

The LA Clippers are a prime target for this. They need something to shake up the culture of their team and have shown the ability to utilize young talent alongside their stars. Swapping the sixth pick for Lou Williams makes sense for both teams.

This may feel like selling low on a lottery pick in this draft, and it is. Given that the draft does not have much star-potential talent (at least in terms of projections) the return was always going to be less and this allows the Hawks to bring in some talent without giving up any of the young players already on the roster. They need play-making off the bench and Williams brings that.

Williams is an offensive to himself off the bench, even as he begins to decline. He finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting and would complement the roster perfectly. With the likely departure of Jeff Teague, the team is in need of a lead guard off the bench. Despite being too close to Magic City, Lou Will still perfectly fits the bill.