NBA Trade Deadline Hypotheticals: Warriors, Hornets, Sixers Three-Teamer

The Warriors already made one trade to make themselves significantly worse in the short-term, by trading All-World chucker Monta Ellis, Kwame Brown, and the most intriguing player in the deal Ekpe Udoh to the highly confused Milwaukee Bucks for oft-injured Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson. The Warriors are slightly less confused, in that they're going to try to tank this season to get a draft pick inside the Top 7 so it doesn't go to the Nets. But they did trade away a promising Udoh and will likely have to spend a few mil to buy out Jackson this offseason.

Though everyone on Golden State will be nursing their collective sore backs long enough for Nate Robinson to take 48 shots per game in loss after loss, they may not be bad enough to fall below the likes of Toronto, New Jersey, and Detroit. The 2012 NBA Draft is good enough that they're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they have a lottery pick in there. If that's the case, they'll need to shed some more talent. Enter: Sixers.

This hypothetical series leading up to the Trade Deadline has already netted the Sixers hypothetical players including Jordan Farmar, Derrick Favors, Marcus Camby, Emeka Okafor, and J.J. Hickson. That list includes exactly zero shooting wings, a need that seems most likely for the Sixers to deal for. Let's take a shot at changing that. Oh and also: we have our first three-teamer.

Sixers Get:

Brandon Rush ($2.96M in '12, $4.09M Qualifying Offer in '13)
Andris Biedrins ($9M in '12, $9M in '13, $9M Player Option in '14)
Minnesota 2012 1st Round Pick (from New Orleans)

Warriors Get:

Chris Kaman ($14M in '12)
Craig Brackins ($1.4M in '12, $1.5M Team Option in '13, $2.4M Team Option in '14, $3.5M Qualifying Offer in '15)

Hornets Get:

Dorell Wright ($3.8M in '12, $4.1M in '13)
Andres Nocioni ($6.7M in '12, $7.5M Team Option in '13)
Lavoy Allen (One-Year Rookie deal)
Warriors 2013 2nd Round Pick
Hornets 2013 2nd Round Pick (the one they had sent us for Speezy, they get it back!)

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Did you catch all that? Phew. Three-teamers are hard. Anyway, I'll try to rationalize this beast for each team below. Let's start with the Sixers.

Why the Sixers do it

Brandon Rush would be pretty perfect next to Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala. He's a better-shooting Jodie Meeks with more upside in other areas of the game. He hasn't developed into a complete player since he left Kansas due to being bounced around a lot, but putting him behind two well-balanced swingmen should allow him to slide gracefully into a comfortable role on the Sixers. A second-unit with Rush, Meeks, and Louis Williams would be quite a sight. No defense, but a sight nonetheless.

Sure they have to take on Biedrins mammoth contract for the next two seasons after this one, but if you ignore the fact that he's making a buttload of money, he shouldn't be too offensively terrible in a reserve role. From 2007-2010, his DREB% was at 27.0. That's really, really good. Harnessing that in limited, if awkward, time would give the Sixers a solid backup to Spencer Hawes this year and whoever they get to play up front this offseason. Plus, that first round pick from Minnesota should be around 12ish depending on how far they fall post-Rubio, so they could package it with their later first rounder to move into the top 8 or so and go after some high profile big men.

Why the Warriors do it

Dorell Wright hasn't been as bad this season as his normal stats look, but the Warriors don't strike me as an advanced stats bunch (read: MONTA SHOOT MONTA SHOOT MONTA SHOOT!) so they're probably not too pleased with how he's performed this season. If they're big believers in Klay Thompson, which they are, then losing Wright and Rush won't hurt so bad, especially if they can go out and draft Harrison Barnes, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Bradley Beal with their now Top 7 pick.

And that's the biggest thing. They're not bad enough yet. So they get to shed the coma-inducing Biedrins contract, pick up a monster expiring in Kaman to lighten their cap stranglehold, and get terrible enough to pick in the top 7 spots this season. Seems incentive enough to me.

Why the Hornets do it

This is probably where the trade slips up the most, but I'll power through it in the interest of the exercise. They're thinking of signing Kaman if they don't move up. That is the worst news in the world. Just by trading him in this hypothetical, they are averting major disaster and saving years of pain and suffering. So that's one.

Two is, they still get a pretty big expiring in Noce (no team would pick up that team option), along with a promising rookie in Lavoy Allen and Dorell Wright. I really like the idea of Wright next to Eric Gordon and depending on what happens with Gordon, putting those two on your wings isn't a terrible way to start a franchise. Wright has played next to chuckers his whole career, so hopefully a move where he'd have more plays run for him would open unlock more ability from his frame.

Losing that first round pick hurts, but they're already getting one in the top three with their own first rounder, and they'd be on the receiving end of two 2nd's next season, one of which is just a re-gift of their previous one. Personally, I don't think Wright is worth half of Kaman's expiring (Kaman - Noce = HalfKaman = Haman = Happy Purim) AND a late lotto pick and they could probably get a better deal elsewhere but let's say they love Wright and think he'd help woo Gordon to stay in New Orleans. Then Xavier Henry and Al-Farouq Aminu make up their reserves and that's not a terrible 2/3 core you've got. Still a ways to go, but pairing them with - say - Andre Drummond could be a great first step and a half in the rebuilding process.

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So is this a thing? Or are we so far-fetched into the world of the unknown that I may as well be Kickpunchering my fist/foot into my face/face? I don't exactly know. I think this favors the Warriors the most. Maybe every team hates it. Maybe I hate it.

What do you think? Trade Deadline tomorrow. Clock ticks.