There are a lot of teams angling to be contending teams in the future. Two of those teams are the Denver Nuggets and the New Orleans Pelicans, both of whom made the playoffs this year and will be looking to make a push next season.
The Brooklyn Nets are a team that is currently trying to get rid of their stars, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Perhaps all three teams can help each other out via a three-team trade. Here is a trade scenario that will benefit all three teams. One thing to note is that this trade scenario can only be enacted in early August when the rookie contract signing restrictions expire for Christian Braun and Peyton Watson.
Denver Nuggets Receive: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kira Lewis Jr.
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Jeff Green, Peyton Watson, Christian Braun, Jonas Valanciunas, Devonte’ Graham, Jaxson Hayes, Trey Murphy III, 2024 First-Round Pick (NOP), 2024 First-Round Pick (LAL via NOP), 2025 First-Round Pick (NOP), 2027 First-Round Pick (MIL via NOP), 2029 First-Round Pick (DEN)
New Orleans Pelicans Receive: Ben Simmons, Bones Hyland, Zeke Nnaji
The Nuggets Create An Unstoppable Star Trio
The Denver Nuggets have not been able to make it to the NBA Finals during Nikola Jokic’s tenure thus far, though they did make a Western Conference Finals run in 2020. This trade would give the Denver Nuggets two top-tier players in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, in a clear win-now move.
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon are great young players, and they could potentially be elite in the future. The Nuggets could definitely be a competitive team if they were to keep both of them. However, trading those two players for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant would mean the Denver Nuggets improve their talent level at both the PG and the PF positions, and putting those two players next to Nikola Jokic would give the Nuggets the best big three in the league. Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant are both MVP-caliber players, while Kyrie Irving is a top-5 point guard in the NBA. The Nuggets would also receive Kira Lewis Jr., who would give them a point guard prospect for the future.
The Denver Nuggets would also have to send out Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, and Jeff Green as salary filler contracts to get this deal done. While they’d be losing a lot of youth, getting players of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant would be worth it.
Since the Denver Nuggets don’t have a huge number of tradeable first-round draft picks, they would need to find a third team to help facilitate the trade for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. That team is obviously the New Orleans Pelicans: in this scenario, they send out multiple first-round picks. The Denver Nuggets would be sending out Bones Hyland and Zeke Nnaji to the Pelicans to compensate them for giving up extra first-round picks. Hyland was notably an All-Rookie selection in 2022. The Nuggets would still have to give up their 2029 first-round pick to the Nets, which could be valuable once the team is out of its contention window.
There is no doubt that this move would make the Nuggets the favorite to win the championship. The Nuggets would still retain a key player in Michael Porter Jr. in this trade and would thus have both star power and depth.
The Nets Get A Young Star, Great Role Players, And Five First-Round Picks
The Brooklyn Nets are clearly looking to retool after the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era. It was reported that the Nets would be looking for “high-level star players” in any trade for Kevin Durant, and this trade would give them some of what they are looking for.
Jamal Murray is an electric guard who is a fantastic shot creator and off-ball player, and he is insanely shifty when getting to the basket. Murray is also a fantastic perimeter defender. Aaron Gordon is still relatively young at 26, and he is an elite defensive player that can guard multiple positions. If he develops offensively, he’ll be one of the best two-way players in the league.
There is no doubt that Jamal Murray could be a great franchise centerpiece: but obviously, his health is a risk. However, in terms of getting talent back for Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets would clearly be getting the star they can build around, along with some young prospects such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. They would also move off of Kyrie Irving in this scenario, which is something they’ve seemingly wanted to do for a while, considering Irving has been in constant trade rumors.
Ben Simmons matches up with Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon’s timeline, and usually, it would be a no-brainer to keep him. However, the issue is that CBA rules prevent Jamal Murray and Ben Simmons from being on the Nets together due to both players having designated rookie extensions and being acquired via trade.
The Brooklyn Nets would thus have to send Ben Simmons to a third team, which in this scenario is the Pelicans. They would be getting a top-10 center in Jonas Valanciunas, two solid shooters in Trey Murphy III and Devonté Graham, and an elite athletic prospect in Jaxson Hayes. The Pelicans would also be the team providing the draft picks to make this work, and the 2024 Lakers pick, and the 2027 Bucks pick, are particularly valuable. We can assume that the Nets would demand less draft compensation overall due to the number of talented players they’d be getting back, and thus only 5 first-round picks overall would be required to get the deal done.
There is no incentive for the Brooklyn Nets to tank next season, and this trade would definitely keep them afloat in the Eastern Conference. They would basically be getting a ready-made roster, receiving 9 players in this deal. Having a core of Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Jonas Valanciunas isn’t bad at all for a retool, and they could potentially end up being a play-in tier team.
The Pelicans Put Ben Simmons Next To Brandon Ingram And Zion Williamson
For the New Orleans Pelicans, this trade is about one thing: improving their defense. A Jonas Valanciunas – Zion Williamson frontcourt would be porous on the defensive end, and CJ McCollum isn’t known as an elite perimeter defender either. This trade would get the Pelicans an athletic, defensive-minded big man in Ben Simmons, and he would likely be able to start at the center position for the team. Some reports suggested that the Pelicans were interested in Ben Simmons ahead of the 2022 trade deadline.
Ben Simmons is a genuine 5-position defender who can effectively guard almost every single player in the league. Offensively, he is a fantastic finisher at the rim and also has a knack for playmaking. Simmons would be a great addition to the Pelicans. Due to Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum being on the roster, he could slide into being the 4th option offensively and get his points off of easy drives to the rim and assisted baskets.
The Pelicans would also be receiving Bones Hyland and Zeke Nnaji from the Denver Nuggets. Hyland is a promising young combo guard who can shoot and create for himself: he would fit perfectly in a sixth-man role off the bench and would definitely improve the Pelicans’ depth. Zeke Nnaji would be the backup big man behind Ben Simmons, replacing Jaxson Hayes on the depth chart.
Overall, the New Orleans Pelicans would be sending out Jonas Valanciunas, Jaxson Hayes, Kira Lewis Jr., Devonté Graham, Trey Murphy III, and four first-round picks to get back Ben Simmons, Bones Hyland, and Zeke Nnaji. While some might consider four first-round picks an overpay by the Pelicans in this scenario, it is worth it for them to get another All-Star next to Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.
This Trade Helps Everyone Achieve Their Goals
This trade would get the New Orleans Pelicans and the Denver Nuggets win-now players while giving the Brooklyn Nets a package that could help them along with their retool.
The Pelicans and the Nuggets would become top-tier teams in the Western Conference in this scenario by adding stars, while the Nets would get some solid players for the next era of Brooklyn basketball. This is legitimately a win-win-win trade, and we’ll see if a move with a similar framework happens in the future.
