Pre-Draft Trades 2020

Last year we saw three pre-draft trades go down before the draft, highlighted by a Damian Lillard for Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris swap. Well, this time we had a dazzling seven trades go off before the draft even started! Needless to say, all that action made this commissioner a very happy man. For the record I think we could have had even more action!

Trade ID#101:
• FUNK receive Trae Young
• BUFF receive Ben Simmons

The biggest names were switched with ID#101, featuring the swap of two young points guards. Ben Simmons has been on Funk Coalition since being draft first overall in 2017. After a redshirt rookie season, Simmons' nightly triple-double threat — 16.9 PTS, 8.8 REB, 7.7 AST — got him to the NBA All-Star game in his third year. Throw in 1.4 STL and 0.8 BLK, plus 56.3 FG%, and he has served as an off-kilter building block for Funk over the past two seasons. Alas, Simmons also suffered from legendary setbacks, like his entire lack of outside shooting. His fit with 2016 first overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns was deemed to be not so great and he was moved out of town.

Last year we rated Buffy with the worst keeper core around, headlined by a lack of a "gold" player, aka a superstar. Well, drafting Trae Young at RD1.4 — after DeAndre Ayton, Luka Doncic, and Jaren Jackson Jr. — seemed to help cure that. After an icy start, Young proved himself to be quite the passing and shooting machine, with 8.1 AST and 1.9 3PT, along with 19.1 PTS. While the FG% and defensive stats were lacking, Young was quickly cast as the leader of a growing Buffy squad.

However, Young was operating on a team with two other gunners — Klay Thompson and Kyle Kuzma — and Buffy had one of the worst defenses in the league last season. Nobody averaged over a block a game, or more than 0.7 STL, save for Thompson. Exchanging Young for Simmons should allow Buffy to start constructing a defense, and Simmons’ awful FT% will match Brandon Ingram’s -- which could be mitigated somewhat by Thompson and Malcolm Brogdon’s stellar numbers from the line. In short, it’s a win win!

Trade ID#103:
• SQSQ receive Blake Griffin, Bam Adebayo
• SNAC receive Nikola Vucevic 

Trade ID#104:
• HSTL receive Wendell Carter, Jaylen Brown
• SNAC receive Josh Richardson

Despite losing the 2019 Toilet Bowl, Snack Bears was looking at the 2020 first overall pick coming in, thanks to our new anti-tanking rules. (Fully deserved as they upended their way to a TB Finals showing from #14!) Even with Zion Williamson about to join the team, GM Brandon didn’t rest on his laurels as Snack pulled off a pair of two-for-one trades to tighten their keeper core.

Looking for a center, Snack was rumored to be hunting big fish and got it with the bagging of twenty-eight year old Nikola Vucevic. The first time All-Star put up 20.8 PTS and 12.0 REB, along with a 1/1/1 split. Armed with a new contract in Orlando, Vucevic should serve as the perfect addition to Snack’s frontline of Zion and Kristaps Porzingis.

After getting Vucevic, GM Brandon then went looking for an upgrade at the wing position, bringing in Josh Richardson. J-Rich lost some of his defensive luster last season after being force-fed shots in Miami, but it looks like he should return to his proper 3-and-D ways now that he’s in Philadelphia. With these moves, Snack should move from Toilet Bowl contender to real contender!

Let’s look at what the other two teams got out of these deals. Squirtle Squad acquired Vucevic alllll the way back in 2013 — remember Al Jefferson?! — and has seen him grow into an All-Star. However, with NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo having emerged into his full powers, it was time to put some more pieces around him for a potential championship run.

Blake Griffin may be thirty years old but he’s expanded his game to include an incredible 2.5 3PT last season. And while his defensive stats are lacking, Griffin’s FT% is no longer an anchor like earlier in his career and his 20+ PTS and 5+ AST — along with that 3PT shooting — makes him a unique frontcourt player. Add in the upcoming breakout season from twenty-two year old Bam Adebayo and SQSQ is powered up and ready to go.

After an inactive initial campaign from new owner Dave, Hilt the Stilt made two trades pre-draft. Wendell Carter Jr. — SNAC’s 2019 RD1.6 selection — had an injury plagued rookie year but plenty of potential as a beautiful percentage big man with PTS, REB, and BLK potential. On a roster that was previously filled with centers, Carter will now get a chance to carve out the power forward position all for himself.

Stepping in for Josh Richardson — HSTL’s RD6 dispersal pick — will be Jaylen Brown, who is perpetually on the verge and could be finally edging up a step after this summer’s selection to Team USA. Brown suffers from poor FT% but that won't be a problem on this team, as he'll fit right in next to Andre Drummond. Brown and Carter are twenty-two and twenty years old respectively, which fits right in with Hilt's young build for their sophomore run in SlamNation.

Trade ID#100:
• FUNK receive Kevin Huerter
• SWMP receive FUNK 2021 RD4 

Trade ID#102:
• TRUO receive Julius Randle
• ILCN receive TRUO 2020 RD3 

Trade ID#105:
• SOUR receive Terry Rozier
• HSTL receive SOUR 2020 RD4 

Trade ID#106:
• SWMP receive Kelly Oubre
• CHMK receive SWMP 2020 RD3

These were this offseason’s extra keepers for draft picks results. Funk Coalition scooped up another guy from Swamp Dragons — will they ever win a trade with them? — and will now have the entire Atlanta backcourt.

IL Conceived paid a big price for last year’s rental of Julius Randle, Caris LeVert, and Montrezl Harrell — but having fallen short of getting the number one overall pick, recouped some of that cost by sending Randle to Team Thien, who made the tough decision to drop the ailing John Wall. Randle should be 20/10 guy in New York this season and gives TRUO a nice big man pairing next to Lauri Markkanen.

Our returning champs were actually quite devoid of keeper depth, as Kevin Durant and semi-recent acquisition DeMarcus Cousins are both on the shelf with Achilles tendon tears. After making the tough decision to let Boogie go -- but at least he got a ring! -- Trieu swooped in to grab Terry Rozier from HSTL for a pick. Sour Snails should be able to eat Scary Terry’s terrible FG% in exchange for his starting gig numbers in Charlotte. Or will this ex-Celtic destroy Sour from the inside out...?!

After a 2019 Finals loss to Trieu, Swamp Dragons have their sights set on a revenge season. After deciding not to wait a year for Jusuf Nurkic — or keep Markelle Fultz, again — Eddie made a last-minute deal for Kelly Oubre, freeing up Chunky Monkey to retain their RD1.16 pick from last season, Collin Sexton. The twenty-three year old Oubre was a defensive revelation after getting traded to Phoenix last season, with 1.5 STL and 1.0 BLK. Adding in 16.9 PTS and 1.7 3PT seemed too good to be true. After signing a new two-year deal, Oubre should help Swamp glide over the early season wait for Paul George.