Almost immediately after the Warriors traded D’Angelo Russell to the Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and picks, there were rumors of Wiggins being moved once again this offseason. There were reports that the Warriors did not want to draft a center, but instead package Wiggins and a first round pick for an all-star caliber center instead. Well, there’s really only two options if that’s the case.
One of those is trading for Andre Drummond.
After looking at every starting center for every team in the NBA, Drummond and one other center (that I will reveal in a second) are the only realistic options I see.
However much Drummond seems to be fine with the situation in Cleveland, and he’s said that he wouldn’t mind signing there in free agency, I am sure that that is not the case. There has also been information leaked about how Drummond is actually shocked at the state the Cavaliers are in. To be honest, I’m shocked that he’s shocked at how bad the situation is.
But back to the fake trade. My proposal is: Andre Drummond to the Warriors and Andrew Wiggins plus the Timberwolves 2021 first round pick to the Cavs. This works for both teams, with the Warriors getting a bonafide all-star center, and the Cavs getting a 24-year old and a great pick, helping them rebuild for their future.
Drummond will most likely pick up his player option this summer, something the Cavs don’t want to happen. If he does, they can trade him for Wiggins, and their starting lineup would look like: Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Andrew Wiggins, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. I’m not saying that’s a playoff team, but if they’re not idiots, they’ll have a solid young core for the future.
The second fake trade is more controversial and also somewhat unrealistic. But it’s fun, so here goes nothing.
The Philadelphia 76ers should trade Joel Embiid.
Now before you close the tab or read another great article on this site, read the following.
The exact trade would be Embiid to the Warriors, and Wiggins, Eric Paschall, the Timberwolves 2021 first round pick and the Warriors 2023 first round pick to the 76ers.
Recently, there have been talks and rumors of the 76ers moving on from either Ben Simmons or Embiid. This is in large part because they are both inside-oriented players, and restrict each others movement when they’re playing together. There has also been talks of Embiid asking for a trade if the 76ers don’t make a deep playoff push, which they are not poised to make, at least not at the moment.
Obviously, the addition of Joel Embiid would greatly help the Warriors down low, help they’ve needed for a while. Embiid has the ability to set good screens for the shooters, and also play great defense against guys that kill the Warriors, like Karl-Anthony Towns or Anthony Davis or even Zion Williamson.
But Wiggins and Paschall would add immediate depth, much needed in this 76ers team. Also, the Timberwolves pick could be pretty good, because even though they have KAT and D’Lo that might not necessarily correspond with success.
With those two picks, they could either draft and add those guys to the bench, or package them to get another all-star, like Tobias Harris and those two picks for Bradley Beal or something. But that’s for another time.
Overall, the Warriors would add an All-NBA player to their already great starting lineup, who would help in their pick-and-roll action and in getting Steph and Klay open as well as solving their paint presence problem.
Meanwhile the 76ers fix their spacing problem, unlock Simmons’ and Al Horford’s full potential, add depth to their team, add more three point shooting and young players for the future.
Maybe this sounds crazy to you, but it seems to make a lot of sense to me.
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