New NBA Top-5 Trade Rumor Has Jazz Implications
The rumor mill continues churning out breadcrumbs in regard to lottery picks up for sale in the upcoming NBA draft. The latest comes from ESPN NBA insider’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon, discussing potential trades concerning picks 3, 4, and 5 on The Hoop Collective Podcast.
“What people are talking about in the league right now — the lottery picks that could be available right now,” Windhorst said. ”There was an assumption that maybe Portland would be very interested in moving its pick based off stuff that Damian Lillard and their GM John Cronin said at the end of the regular season.”
All eyes will be on Portland as we approach the NBA draft on June 29. With time ticking on Damian Lillard’s quest to win a championship, the Trail Blazers could be looking to push all their chips in the middle for 2023-24.
The Utah Jazz have the means to acquire the pick, but there would be no getting around having All-Star Lauri Markkanen as part of the exchange. The Trail Blazers will only be interested in players that can help them in the present.
That said, a package centered around Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons would buy Jazz CEO Danny Ainge more time to build a contender. Simons is under team control for three years, while Henderson wouldn’t be an unrestricted free agent for the life of two contracts. Markkanen will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025.
Windhorst then pivoted to the possibility of the Detroit Pistons' No. 5 pick being up for grabs.
“After the lottery, Troy Weaver, the general manager of the Detroit Pistons, indicated that their pick at five could be available,” Windhorst said.
The Pistons sacrificing the No. 5 pick could be a different story. If there’s a player Ainge perceives as head and shoulders better than what would be available at No. 9, then a deal could be had without Markkanen or Walker Kessler being part of the equation. The Thompson twins, Cam Whitmore, and Taylor Hendricks are all candidates to be taken at No. 5 overall.
The conversation then switched gears with MacMahon dishing the dirt on what’s going on with the Houston Rockets and the No. 4 pick.
“I wouldn’t rule out four, by the way. The Rockets have made it very clear that they want to contend for the playoffs this season —because they don’t benefit from being bad anymore,” MacMahon said. “They owe a top-four protected pick to OKC in two of the next three years — and the year they don’t owe the pick, it’s a top ten protected swap.”
The projected No. 4 pick at this stage would most likely be shooting guard Amen Thompson. Certainly, Thompson is a player that would garner interest, but if Houston is in a win-now mode, then a deal involving Markkanen may be too much to ask without Jalen Green or Kevin Porter Jr. part of the exchange.
Either way, it’s going to be a busy month at Jazz HQ leading up to June 29th.
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