The NBA has done a fantastic job of giving us possibly the best parity we have seen across the league in its entire history. The NBA Draft has been a tidepool of NBA talent for the last 10 years, while free agency has given players the freedom to sign with teams wherever they may choose to. Of course, there are trades as well that, depending on the player, force teams to send their stars to a new franchise of their choosing, ala James Harden to the 76ers and many others. What if those choices were suddenly restricted to a much smaller area that players were allowed to play in?
- Jaylen Brown – Atlanta Hawks
- Zion Williamson – Charlotte Hornets
- Chris Paul – Charlotte Hornets
- Anthony Davis – Chicago Bulls
- Stephen Curry – Cleveland Cavaliers
- LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers
- Julius Randle – Dallas Mavericks
- Devin Booker – Detroit Pistons
- Damian Lillard – Golden State Warriors
- Jimmy Butler – Houston Rockets
- DeMar DeRozan – Los Angeles Lakers
- Russell Westbrook – Los Angeles Lakers
- James Harden – Los Angeles Lakers
- Kawhi Leonard – Los Angeles Lakers
- Paul George – Los Angeles Lakers
- Donovan Mitchell – New York Knicks
- Trae Young – Oklahoma City Thunder
- Kyle Lowry – Philadelphia 76ers
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Toronto Raptors
- Kevin Durant – Washington Wizards
NBA players come from all over the world to compete in a 30-team league filled with the best players on the planet. This means only 30 cities and states are represented by an NBA team, and it is actually less when you count California having four teams, New York with two, and Florida with two. What if, in 2022-23, these players were only allowed to sign with teams from the states in which they were born? It would make for the most interesting time the NBA has ever seen. Today, we take a look at some of the NBA’s biggest stars and where they would end up if they could only choose from their hometown teams. It is bound to make the league a much more interesting place, so buckle in.
These are the NBA players and where they would play if they could only choose from teams in their home state.
Jaylen Brown – Atlanta Hawks
Since 2020, Jaylen Brown has been one-half of one of the best duos in the NBA. He has helped the Celtics reach the Eastern Conference Finals on 2 occasions while making the NBA Finals once in 2022. Brown has become the best second option in the NBA in 2022-23, averaging a career-high 27.1 PPG on 49.5% shooting. Brown, along with Jayson Tatum, has led the Celtics to a 26-11 start to the season while and the first seed in the East.
Brown’s addition to the Atlanta Hawks would be an astronomical boost to a roster that is underachieving at this stage. The Hawks have the NBA’s 20th-ranked offense as well as the 13th-ranked defense in 2022-23, which Brown could help on both sides of the ball. Brown would immediately bring a second 25.0 PPG or better scorer, presumably moving to the small forward position in order to make it work with Dejounte Murray and Trae Young. This signing would shake up the Eastern Conference in a big way, with Atlanta perhaps moving into the No. 1 spot ahead of Boston.
Zion Williamson – Charlotte Hornets
In 2022-23, the Charlotte Hornets have struggled mightily to begin the season amid injuries, suspensions, and failure to make any real noise this past offseason. The Hornets are 10-27 on the year so far and have the worst offense in basketball as well as the 26th-ranked defense. Star point guard LaMelo Ball has been battling injuries all year and has missed 24 games out of 37. They have had to rely on the likes of Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward to try and lift them into contention, but all attempts have failed so far.
One addition to the team that would dig them right out of that hole would be when Zion Williamson signed with his hometown team. Zion would immediately fill the void left by the suspension of Miles Bridges, and the duo of him and LaMelo would be among the most electric in the NBA. Zion would immediately become the No. 1 option on offense with his 26.0 PPG and 7.0 RPG so far in 2022-23. Williamson would provide the second star that Charlotte has longed to pair with Ball, making Charlotte a playoff contender once more.
Chris Paul – Charlotte Hornets
In sticking with the Charlotte Hornets, Chris Paul is another player who could choose to sign with his birth state’s team. Now, Chris Paul has had his fair share of injury issues in 2022-23, missing 14 games himself. However, I cannot get over the fact that Chris Paul would do wonders for the development and maturity of LaMelo in the backcourt. They could slide Ball over to the shooting guard spot while Paul runs the offense.
If Paul ran the Hornets, Ball would be able to soak in everything from him like a sponge. Paul has elevated every team he has been on to new levels as a franchise and is notorious for having a serious impact on winning. Paul is still an elite passer and playmaker, so the combination of him, Zion, and LaMelo would be the new Big 3 to look out for in the NBA. I doubt we ever actually see this, but if it were to happen, it would be Michael Jordan’s best maneuvers as a team owner since his tenure began.
Anthony Davis – Chicago Bulls
The next superstar on the move is one riddled with uncertainty. The Chicago Bulls have struggled in 2022-23 after a 2021-22 season that saw them make a run to the playoffs. One of their biggest issues that had held them back from taking the next step into serious contention is their production from the power forward and center spots. Nikola Vucevic has been steady on offense and on rebounds but is a liability nearly on the defensive side of the ball.
This is where Anthony Davis comes in. Davis would serve as a two-way cornerstone in the Bulls franchise. He would immediately fix their interior defensive issues and become their No. 1 option on offense. The only issue for Davis would be to remain healthy enough for his impact to be really prevalent. Davis has missed 99 games over the last 3 seasons, so his health would be the only deterrent from getting a deal like this done. If Chicago was able to pry Davis from the Lakers somehow, look for Chicago to enter the power struggle in the East almost immediately.
Stephen Curry – Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers may just be the biggest beneficiaries of players coming home as they get not one but two superstars out of the deal. The first of these superstars is a 4-time NBA champion and the best to ever shoot a basketball in NBA history, Stephen Curry. You could plug Curry in on any team, and the dynamic would immediately work, considering how dangerous Curry is from any range on the court. The attention he commands opens up offenses to work ten-fold, and in Cleveland, this would elevate them to an entirely new level.
Curry brings a lot to a team who is holding its own in the East right now. The Cavaliers are currently 23-14, just 3 games out of first place in the Eastern Conference. This move would likely shift Darius Garland to the bench, but Donovan Mitchell, Curry, Mobley, and Allen are a fierce and troublesome quartet. Curry to the Cavaliers would shake things up in the entire NBA and not just because of his arrival.
LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers
Joining Stephen Curry in Cleveland in his 3rd stint with the Cavaliers in his career is LeBron James. Facing all of the pressure in 2022-23, James is struggling to keep a depleted Lakers team relevant. With a move to Cleveland with Curry, that pressure drops dramatically, and James can focus on one thing at this stage in his career, winning. James wouldn’t need to do everything from an offensive standpoint, and he has reinforcements in the paint on defense. The possibilities would be endless.
James would just need to be the team’s primary playmaker. That task shouldn’t be too difficult, considering it is what James is best at, and the weapons he would be working with are immense. With Curry working off screens from Mobley and Allen, James would rack up the assists, dishing it to him on the outside or one of the 2 bigs rolling to the basket. The floor would be wide open for James to operate, and if history tells us anything, that is a recipe for another NBA championship in Cleveland.
Julius Randle – Dallas Mavericks
Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1994, Julius Randle makes the move from The Big Apple to the Big D and the Dallas Mavericks. For the past few seasons, it seems Randle has found his groove on the basketball court. He won the 2021 Most Improved Player award and helped the Knicks reach the playoffs for the first time since the Carmelo Anthony days. After struggles in 2022, Randle has once again found his game and is helping the Knicks to a solid beginning to the 2022-23 season.
With the move to Dallas, Randle would get paired with the best playmaker he has ever shared the court with, Luka Doncic. Randle would benefit greatly from Doncic as his point guard, considering Doncic’s court vision and the attention he draws from the defense. Randle is averaging 24.1 PPG and 9.7 RPG in 2022-23 with New York, so it only makes sense that those numbers would go up with a ball distributor like Doncic feeding him. Oddly enough, this is a duo we would like to see. Can you make it happen, Mark Cuban?
Devin Booker – Detroit Pistons
The next move to be made with players going to play in their home states is Devin Booker making his way to the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have been hit hard by the injury bug, with star point guard Cade Cunningham being ruled out indefinitely for the 2022-23 season. Killian Hayes has been filling in for Cunningham in his absence but to no avail for a Pistons team that had hopes of competing this season.
With the addition of Booker, the offense would run through him and Bojan Bogdanovic, who is having a stellar season as the Pistons’ new No. 1 offensive option. Booker brings a superb mid-range game and playmaking ability from the shooting guard position to the 23rd-ranked offense of the Pistons. Booker is currently averaging 27.1 PPG, a career-high, as well as 4.6 RPG and 5.6 APG. His place in the Pistons lineup would be welcomed with open arms, but I don’t see Phoenix letting him go anytime soon.
Damian Lillard – Golden State Warriors
With Stephen Curry moving on to Cleveland and the Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors find themselves in a predicament. Without even blinking an eye, a pretty good point guard with unlimited range steps in to fill the void with Damian Lillard. The Warriors’ offense may not even miss a beat aside from a decline in off-ball screens set for the point guard as Damian Lillard steps in as a shot-creator, shooter, and playmaker for Golden State.
Lillard has been up and down with injuries in 2022-23, missing 12 games so far in the early going. When on the court, he is Portland’s leading scorer with 27.8 PPG on 37.3% shooting from deep and 43.9% shooting overall. If there is any player who could step in for Curry in the Warriors’ schemes, Lillard is a great option to keep the flow and pace of the game the same and perhaps match the success Curry has had in his time there.
Jimmy Butler – Houston Rockets
The next move is one that highly benefits the team receiving the player but does the player no favors in chasing an NBA championship. The Houston Rockets are in the middle of their rebuild after trading away James Harden and Christian Wood, struggling to find themselves as competitive in a tight Western Conference. The rockets sit currently at 10-26 and dead last in said Conference with a bottom 3 offense and defense despite young stars leading the way like Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr.
The addition of Jimmy Butler only barely moves the needle in Houston. Butler brings a defensive aspect that the Rockets severely lack on the perimeter and a sound offensive game, of course. However, Houston is struggling in so many different areas that one superstar does not fix many of their glaring issues. Butler would do wonders with the development of booth Green and Porter Jr., but to be truly competitive, they would need to add an elite or star big man to compliment his game as he has in Miami with Bam Adebayo.
DeMar DeRozan – Los Angeles Lakers
The next team benefiting from players making the move to their home state is the Los Angeles Lakers. In this simulation, the Lakers have already lost LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers will be receiving 5 players to revamp their whole squad for the future. The first player headed to Los Angeles is DeMar DeRozan, almost in a straight-up trade for Davis. DeRozan fills in at the small forward spot for James, who is headed to Cleveland for his homecoming.
DeRozan brings a solid offensive game to Los Angeles and gives them more shot creation than they have had on their current roster combined. DeRozan will do what he does best for the Lakers, which is dominate the game from the mid-range and attack the basket when he sees openings. With less pressure to create, given the other stars joining him in Los Angeles, DeRozan could see another near-MVP season with the Lakers.
Russell Westbrook – Los Angeles Lakers
One move that doesn’t move the needle in any way, shape, or form for the Lakers is keeping Russell Westbrook. Most likely, Westbrook will be staying in his spot on the bench, considering the talent still flocking to the Lakers in this simulation. Westbrook has found a new calling coming off the bench for the Lakers in 2022-23, a move that the new coach wasn’t afraid to make and former coach Frank Vogel was.
Westbrook has appeared in 30 out of his 33 games off the bench for the Lakers in 2022-23 and is doing a great job at leading the second unit. In 28.1 minutes, he is averaging 14.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 7.8 APG. Most likely, he would be the Sixth Man for this new and improved Lakers lineup, doing the same amount of damage in that role. Who knows, maybe Russ leaves for the Clippers instead, but I wouldn’t, considering the moves by the Lakers still to come.
James Harden – Los Angeles Lakers
Next up for the Lakers, they get a playmaker and scorer to fill in at the shooting guard position with James Harden. For the Lakers, Harden brings in a dynamic combination of shooting, scoring, and playmaking to elevate the offense of a much-improved Lakers roster. Harden will serve more as a playmaker and passer than anything until he decides to attack the hoop and get himself to the foul line, an art he has mastered over the years.
With DeRozan next to him on the wing and the players to still be announced, Harden will have ample opportunity to rack up the assists with his new teammates. He can still shoot the ball at a decent rate from three, hitting on 37.4% of his 3-point attempts in 2022-23. Where Harden is most improved is his passing these days averaging 10.0 APG or more in each of the last 3 seasons.
Kawhi Leonard – Los Angeles Lakers
After a few injury-riddled seasons and failures with the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both make their way to the Lakers in stunning moves. Leonard is a unique case, as coach Darvin Ham will have some decisions to make with his lineup. If Kawhi is healthy, you have to have him on the court as a defender and offensive weapon. If he is struggling to maintain his availability, Ham will have no choice but to control his minutes off the bench.
When healthy, there is no doubt that Kawhi will help the Lakers chase their goal of an 18th NBA championship. He brings an energy and stifling play on defense that would be critical to any team who hopes to reach the end goal of a title. On offense, he is a silent assassin who can catch fire at any moment to spark a big run out of his team. Leonard’s arrival in LA gives fans the move they wanted 4 years ago when he became available in the summer.
Paul George – Los Angeles Lakers
The last and final piece to the Lakers’ hometown rebuild is Leonard’s teammate with the Clipper at this current time, Paul George. After years of speculation that George wanted to switch teams in LA, he finally makes the move to the Lakers, where he will fill in off the bench of start at the small forward if Coach Hame decided to go with a small ball lineup. George is another two-way extraordinaire who will be the other line of defense on the perimeter with Leonard.
Paul George also provides an extra boost to the offensive schemes of Los Angeles, allowing Ham to have fun with the construction of his lineups. George is a good shooter and stellar shot-creator who will serve as a key offensive piece for the Lakers. His presence takes all the pressure off of Harden and Kawhi to score, leaving them to excel in other areas of focus on the court. This new lineup for the Lakers may be small, but it will be tough to stop considering all the things they do well with the addition of George.
Donovan Mitchell – New York Knicks
Look away, Knicks fans. This is a move that nearly happened just this past offseason. Donovan Mitchell was nearly a member of his hometown team this past summer via trade, but the price was too steep for the Knicks to pull the trigger. It came back to haunt them in a way, considering Mitchell is playing at an All-Star level right now with the Cavaliers with 28.0 PPG and 4.6 APG on the season so far.
If Mitchell were to somehow find his way to the Knicks, it would be a huge boost already Top 10 ranked offense. By the numbers, the Knicks should be a top team in basketball but have limped their way to a 19-17 start to the year and have control of the No. 8 seed for now. Mitchell would have been a huge boost for a team that seems to be searching for that one guy to take the reins and make it his. Donovan Mitchell could easily be that guy in New York.
Trae Young – Oklahoma City Thunder
The next superstar on the move to his hometown city is Trae Young going to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Young will be replacing Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who is also on the move out of Oklahoma City, later in this simulation. The Thunder have once again begun the year under .500 and sit at 15-21 so far in the 2022-23 season. The Thunder would improve but not drastically with the addition of Young, and there is more than one reason why.
The Thunder would certainly improve in a couple of areas with the addition of Young, such as playmaking and 3-point shooting. Young led the NBA in 2022 in both total points and total assists, so he does have some great value heading into Oklahoma City. However, the Thunder take a major hit defensively as Young is statistically one of the worst defenders in the NBA. I am sure Oklahoma City would entertain the idea of bringing Tray Young in. Any smart team would. I do not believe they make the deal if it means losing Gilgeous-Alexander.
Kyle Lowry – Philadelphia 76ers
The next move is one that will replace James Harden for the Philadelphia 76ers with Kyle Lowry. The move doesn’t replace Harden’s production in the slightest, and in a perfect world, Tyrese Maxey will take over the full-time point guard duties. Lowry would be a great veteran addition for Philadelphia, and as we have seen before, those types of signing usually work out for the 76ers and their plans during the season.
At almost 37 years of age, Lowry has begun to slow down in the production department on the court. Lowry has started 32 games so far for the Miami Heat and is averaging 13.8 PPG, 5.8 APG, and 1.1 SPG. He has been a solid veteran presence for Miami and would likely serve the same role in Philadelphia, just not likely as the starter. Lowry would be a great backup to Maxey and would certainly build a relationship with his teammates, as he has done for the majority of his career.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Toronto Raptors
The next move made would be one that draws the receiving team right into contention in the Eastern Conference. The Toronto Raptors already have a pretty solid core, with Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and a trove of young stars making a significant impact on the court. Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander making his way back to the province he called home in Canada would instantly make them contenders in a difficult Eastern Conference race, considering they are beginning to enter the thick of things without him.
Sure, as of now, the Raptors are 16-20 and out of the play-in tournament. However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has taken a leap this season worthy of top Most Improved Player consideration. He is currently averaging 30.8 PPG, 5.8 APG, and 1.7 SPG, which are among the best numbers in basketball. If he was anywhere but Oklahoma City, he would be getting MVP consideration, and Toronto is definitely one of those places.
Kevin Durant – Washington Wizards
The final move is one of the most coveted superstars in basketball taking his talents back to his home district of Washington D.C., Kevin Durant makes his way to the Washington Wizards fresh off, leading the Nets to a resurgent season in 2022-23. The Wizards currently sit 10 in the East at 17-21 with the NBA’s 18th-ranked offense and 11th-ranked defense. They are searching for that one star to be able to push them over the top as a playoff threat, and Kevin Durant would easily be that guy.
Kevin Durant in 2022-23 looks to be back at the peak form he reached with the Golden State Warriors, which spells trouble for the rest of the NBA. Durant is currently averaging 29.7 PPG with the Nets and doing so with great efficiency. He is shooting 56.1% overall from the field and 36.3% from beyond the arc. His true shooting percentage is at 67.2%, which would be a career-high if it stays that way. Would Durant be able to deliver the 2nd title in Wizards History?
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