The offseason is here for the other 22 teams in the NBA. While the conference semifinals began yesterday and continue through the week, there are only eight teams left alive with hopes of making it to the ultimate goal of winning a championship. The Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, and Los Angeles Lakers are all searching for the next steps to take as a franchise, which is different for all three.
Atlanta is going to be a team worth watching too. Most will point to a potential Trae Young trade, but that does not appear likely (for now) and Atlanta may move forward with this core of Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu. If the Hawks decide to do that, they need to improve their bench in a big way this offseason. Due to the NBA’s CBA and apron rules, you are going to be seeing a lot more three-team trades between teams so salaries can move around. Atlanta could try to attach themselves to a big deal and add some pieces to their bench if they opt to move forward with this starting five.
The Lakers are always going to be among the most talked about teams in the league, but that is especially going to be true now that they have Luka Doncic. A lot of the talk is going to be around the Lakers trying to get a center to put around Doncic and LeBron James, which was a clear weakness for them in their postseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles looked like they had a trade for Hornets center Mark Williams, but was rescinded due to a physical. You can bet that the Lakers are going to be looking for a huge upgrade at the center position, but a big question will be if it will cost them Austin Reaves in the process.
Brooklyn is the furthest from the playoffs of the three teams, but they are armed with cap space and plenty of draft assets to turn things around when they want to hit the accelerate button. Will that be this offseason or next?
Here is a trade where each team could get something they need from each other.
