NBA offseason trades we want to see: Knicks, Cavs, Pelicans make major moves

The NBA offseason is here, and the league is less than two weeks away from another frenzy of free agent signings, max contract extensions and rookie deals.

And, of course, trades.

Which title contenders will make the biggest splashes? Who will be the biggest superstar to be dealt? Which rising team will find their missing piece?

Our NBA Insiders have been busy in the ESPN Trade Machine to find five deals they’d like to see, including a massive shakeup in New Orleans, two starters guards leaving Chicago, and Brooklyn dealing for a former All-Star.

Knicks trade a center to Memphis

Memphis Grizzlies get:
Mitchell Robinson

New York Knicks get:
Luke Kennard
Future first-round pick

The Grizzlies have an All-Star caliber big man in Jaren Jackson Jr., but after trading away both Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman Sr. last season, they should be on the lookout to build a strong offensive-rebounding presence.

Looking back on the most recent three seasons (2020-23) in which Memphis reached the playoffs, the club ranked fourth, first and sixth in offensive-rebounding percentage. The Grizzlies’ ability to make teams pay for swarming star guard Ja Morant when he drives is a staple, as evidenced by the many “Kobe assists” they garner following his misses.

That’s where the 26-year-old Robinson, who finished second leaguewide in offensive board percentage in 2021-22 and first in 2022-23 (and would have finished second this past season had he played enough to qualify for the leaderboard), comes in. He’s an incredibly physical lob threat and putback artist, while also being a rugged defender who makes drivers think twice about entering the paint. Robinson’s durability would be the biggest question, but Jackson’s ability to slide to the center position might take some of the burden off of him in that regard.

Robinson’s $14.3 million average salary isn’t prohibitive, but the Knicks might want to move off his deal to make space available to pay Isaiah Hartenstein, who came on strong this past season as a rebounder, defender and impressive passer while filling in for Robinson, who was limited to 37 games this season (including the playoffs) due to ankle issues.

Kennard, 27, makes essentially the same amount as Robinson, and, as a two-time league-leader in 3-point percentage, could help the Knicks’ spacing off the bench. The Grizzlies could throw in a future first-round pick to sweeten the deal in case the Knicks need extra motivation to deal away a starting-caliber big man.

— Chris Herring

Cavaliers land another All-Star

Cleveland Cavaliers get:
Brandon Ingram
Dyson Daniels

New Orleans Pelicans get:
Jarrett Allen
Max Strus

As much as this is a talent swap, this potential deal also comes down to dollars and sense for both teams.

Ingram, 26, is entering the final year of his contract with the Pelicans and is poised to sign an extension for up to $208 million over four years. If Ingram and his camp balk at taking anything less than $50 million per season, New Orleans could look into a trade.

Ingram is one of 10 players to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in each of the past three seasons. He went to his only All-Star game while a member of the Pelicans, earning the nod in 2020 when he was also named the league’s Most Improved Player. But after five years of trying to pair Ingram and Zion Williamson together, it might be time for New Orleans to move on. Ingram would provide the Cavaliers with an option along the wing with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley in this scenario.

For Cleveland, this breaks up the Mobley-Allen pairing in the frontcourt and slides Mobley over to full-time center. It also could spell the end of Darius Garland’s time in Cleveland if the Cavaliers were going to opt to pay Ingram, Mitchell (presumably with a lucrative extension) and the extension-eligible Mobley.

Daniels, a 6-foot-8 defensive-minded guard who turned 21 in March, gives the Cavaliers a ball handler in the deal who could play alongside Mitchell at times or run the second unit. Daniels has struggled to find his shot from deep in two seasons — 31.2% on 1.8 3-pointers per game — but brings more value on the other end.

Dealing both Ingram and Daniels saves the Pelicans room under the luxury tax and could give them a better shot at re-signing forward Naji Marshall in free agency.

Allen, an All-Star in 2022, becomes the defensive anchor for coach Willie Green’s defense that finished sixth in defensive rating (111.9) this season but could use a more versatile defender than Jonas Valanciunas. Strus, who is in the second of a four-year, $63 million deal, started every game he played this season, but could become a sixth-man in New Orleans.

The Pelicans would have Williamson, Allen, Herb Jones, CJ McCollum in the starting group, and it would allow Trey Murphy III to take Ingram’s place while Strus could strengthen the Pelicans’ bench.

Ingram becomes a player the Cavaliers could turn to down the stretch to create his own shot and even spell Mitchell at times as the team’s lead ball handler.

— Andrew Lopez

Jazz make a win-now move

Utah Jazz get:
Zach LaVine
Alex Caruso

Chicago Bulls get:
Jordan Clarkson
John Collins
2025 first-round pick (via Cleveland; lottery protected)

A LaVine trade to the Jazz does not meet the criteria for a rebuilding team, but Jazz president of basketball operations Danny Ainge went on the record to say they are open for business to improve now.

“I think that our objective is to find a player or two and we’re ready to roll, Ainge told reporters in April. “We’re ready to go big-game hunting, and that hasn’t happened in the last two years.”

The question though is if LaVine moves the needle for Utah even if the Jazz could acquire Alex Caruso.

LaVine has averaged at least 19 points in six straight seasons but is owed $138 million over the next three seasons. He underwent right foot surgery in February and missed the remainder of the 2023-24 regular season.

Caruso is viewed as one of the league’s top wing defenders, earning first team All-Defensive honors in 2023 and second team in 2024. He finished the season ranked first in deflections, sixth in steals and 15th in total charges taken. He is in the last year of his contract but Utah would be allowed to extend him before he hits free agency.

The Jazz are taking on an extra $10 million this season, but because they have salary-cap space, the contracts do not have to match.

Breaking up LaVine’s contract, even at the cost of Caruso, balances the Bulls’ roster with two positions of need, and gives Chicago immediate as well as future financial flexibility. It also has the Bulls acquiring a 2025 top-14 protected first from Cleveland.

The addition of Collins strengthens a frontcourt that has only Nikola Vucevic under contract for next season. For a seventh straight season, Collins averaged double-figure points and at least 6.5 rebounds. He has $26.6 million owed in each of the next two years.

Clarkson averaged 17 points last season in Utah but shot a career worst 29.5% from 3. He also has two years left on his contract ($14.1 and $14.3 million).

— Bobby Marks

Brooklyn lands its point guard of the future

Brooklyn Nets get:
Darius Garland
Georges Niang

Cleveland Cavaliers get:
Cameron Johnson
Dennis Schroder
2025 first-round pick (via lesser of Brooklyn/Houston swap or Phoenix)
2029 first-round pick (via lesser of Dallas/Phoenix)

If Donovan Mitchell signs an extension this summer, a Garland trade feels inevitable. Cleveland needs to put more shooting and defense around Mitchell and big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Enter Johnson, a 39% career 3-point shooter who would also give the Cavaliers more size on the perimeter in their starting five.

Instead of starting the 6-1 Garland with 6-3 Mitchell and 6-5 Max Strus, Mitchell would become Cleveland’s smallest starter with the 6-8 Johnson better equipped to defend bigger wings than Strus.

Johnson is signed to a favorable contract that pays him an average of less than $22 million over the next three seasons, while Garland’s contract ramps up to $45 million by 2027-28. Swapping Niang, who fell to the fringes of the Cavaliers’ playoff rotation, for Schroder as a backup point guard in the final season of his contract also saves enough that Cleveland could gain access to their non-taxpayer midlevel exception.

Although the 2025 first-round pick would have limited upside because of Brooklyn’s swap with the Houston Rockets, adding a first-rounder would replace the one the Cavaliers sent to the Jazz for Mitchell and give them more flexibility in trading a pick down the road.

The Nets are betting here that Garland will look like the All-Star he was in 2021-22 before Cleveland brought in Mitchell as another backcourt star. Still just 24 years old, Garland would be a dramatic upgrade on one of the weakest point guard rotations in the NBA last season, with Schroder replacing Spencer Dinwiddie in a deadline trade.

Given Brooklyn doesn’t own its first-round pick outright until 2028, staying in the lottery does the Nets little good. Garland’s playmaking, in conjunction with Mikal Bridges shifting to a secondary role on offense, could lift them back into the East playoff picture.

— Kevin Pelton

Sacramento acquires a playmaking big

Sacramento Kings get:
Kyle Kuzma

Washington Wizards get:
Kevin Huerter
Harrison Barnes
Future first-round pick (lottery-protected)

Washington is entering Year 2 of its rebuild and Michael Winger and Will Dawkins are about to make their biggest draft pick with the No. 2 selection. (Washington also has the No. 26 pick.)

The Wizards lost 67 games last season and whoever they draft isn’t expected to have the kind of immediate impact that translates into a playoff run this coming season. So Washington should listen to any interest in a veteran scorer like Kuzma to continue to build as many assets as possible.

During the summer of 2021, the Kings and Lakers had momentum toward a deal that could have sent Kuzma to the Kings in a package for Buddy Hield before the Lakers pivoted toward Russell Westbrook and sent Kuzma to DC in a trade instead.