It's open season for trade speculation around the league right now. Having read numerous rumors and proposals from nearly every NBA media source on the planet (including this one) I've decided to submit my own trade proposal. It's pretty simple really and I think it has a decent chance of working out if we can get just a couple people to cooperate. Check this out:
Portland trades Zach Randolph and three second-round picks to Atlanta because Atlanta needs more big men.
Atlanta sends Joe Johnson to Utah because Utah needs more wings.
Utah sends Andre Kirilenko to Minnesota to form a great defensive forward corps with Kevin Garnett.
Minnesota sends Ricky Davis and Mark Blount to Phoenix because both can score and should increase their averages with the Suns.
Phoenix sends Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell plus their first round pick to Charlotte because the Bobcats just need more warm bodies at this point.
Charlotte sends Brevin Knight, Raymond Felton, Othella Harrington, and Jake Voskuhl to Boston because the Celtics will throw anything to the wall to see if it sticks and still need a point guard and big men besides.
Boston sends Theo Ratliff to Dallas because Dallas needs to wiggle out of some contracts and Theo's expires soon.
Dallas sends Erick Dampier and Greg Buckner to Cleveland because the Cavs need more help in the middle and better perimeter defense if they're going to overcome the Pistons.
Cleveland sends Eric Snow, Donyell Marshall, and Shannon Brown to Miami so the Heat can get even more fossils to add to their collection.
Miami sends Antoine Walker and Michael Doleac plus a 2008 first round pick to New Orleans for a little more size and scoring punch.
The Hornets send Bobby Jackson, Rasual Butler, Cedric Simmons, and Jannero Pargo to Milwaukee because the Bucks need serious point guard help.
Milwaukee sends Bobby Simmons and Earl Boykins to Indiana because the Pacers have too many unreliable forwards and need to get a better one. Besides they'll take anyone--even an injured Simmons--for who they're shipping out.
Indiana sends Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels, and Ike Diogu to the Lakers because the Lakers need more backcourt help and Diogu is a nice throw-in piece.
The Lakers send Kwame Brown and Vladimir Radmanovic to San Antonio because the Spurs really need younger legs in the frontcourt.
The Spurs send Brent Barry, Robert Horry, and Francisco Elson to Chicago because the Bulls need some more toughness and clutch playoff performance.
Chicago sends a re-signed Andres Nocioni plus Mike Sweetney and a 2008 first round pick (Robert Horry brings a lot of toughness) to the Clippers because the Clips would then be devastating from the perimeter.
The Clippers send Corey Maggette and Tim Thomas to the Grizzlies because Memphis would get some great scoring and become way more athletic.
The Grizzlies send Pau Gasol to New Jersey so the Nets can finally have their big man.
The Nets send Richard Jefferson to Houston because then the Rockets would have an awe-inspiring Big Three.
The Rockets send Shane Battier, Juwon Howard, Kirk Snyder, and a second-rounder to Golden State because the Warriors need more reliability, not more scoring.
The Warriors send Jason Richardson and Sarunas Jasikevicius to the Wizards because then Washington would have scorers at almost every position.
The Wizards send Etan Thomas, Antonio Daniels, and DeShawn Stevenson to Detroit because the Pistons need more bench scoring.
Detroit sends Antonio McDyess, Nazr Mohammed, and Flip Murray to Sacramento because the Kings need some more big men and Flip's athleticism wouldn't hurt.
Sacramento sends Ron Artest and Shareef Abdur-Rahim to the Knicks because New York needs more frontcourt players, not backcourt players. Besides Sacramento is really tired of Artest and Isiah will do anything.
New York sends Jamaal Crawford and Jerome James to Denver because the Nuggets have a glut of forwards but could use more centers and guards.
Denver sends Nene Hilario, J.R. Smith, and Linas Klezia so the Magic can get some beef and hops.
Orlando sends Hedo Turkoglu and Pat Garrity to Toronto because they just seem like they'll be happier there.
The Raptors send Rasho Nesterovic, Juan Dixon, and Kris Humphries to Philadelphia because, let's face it, the Sixers need some of everything.
Philadelphia sends Samuel Delambert to Seattle to give them the center they've always been missing.
Seattle re-signs Rashard Lewis for about $12 million a year and, obviously drafting Kevin Durant anyway, ships Lewis to Portland.
I think maybe New Orleans gets screwed over a little bit in this deal but you never know, they might go for it. And except for the two re-signings (which are necessarily speculative) it all pretty much works under the salary cap. I'm going to forward this to Kevin Pritchard so he can get working on it right away.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)