NBA GMs and scouts are calling the 2017 NBA draft the best in years. The draft is especially deep at the top with as many as seven players being considered for the No. 1 overall pick.
What would it take for every projected top-5 pick in the 2017 draft to get traded at the deadline?
How could the Celtics land Paul George and Jimmy Butler? And what would the Lakers, Sixers, Suns and Magic need to move their picks?
I spoke with a number of GMs and spent some time with our ESPN Trade Machine to construct five plausible scenarios that include five All-Stars, 13 former top-10 picks and 10 teams.
Danny Ainge cashes in
Celtics get: Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas and Paul Zipser
Bulls get: Brooklyn's 2017 first-round pick, Jaylen Brown, Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, Demetrius Jackson
Pacers get: Brooklyn's 2018 first-round pick, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Tyler Zeller and James Young
View in the ESPN trade machine
Kevin Pelton just went into detail on the ongoing debate of whether the Celtics should pursue Butler or George. I'm not sure they have to choose between them. They have enough assets to get them both Thursday.
Years ago, the Celtics built the Big Three in just a few weeks by adding both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the mix after several years of collecting pieces. Could Danny Ainge do something similar now? I think so.
The Celtics currently have the best odds of winning the No. 1 pick thanks to the Nets (via a pick swap). They have a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery and a 64.3 percent chance of landing a top-three pick, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI). That makes the Celtics' pick the most coveted at the trade deadline.
They also own the Nets' pick outright in 2018 and that pick looks likely to have the best odds at ending up No. 1 as well. With elite players such as Michael Porter Jr., DeAndre Ayton and Serbian star Luka Doncic in that draft class, the Nets' 2018 first-rounder is almost equally coveted.
Add in young prospects like Brown and Smart along with one of the most underrated veterans in the league, Crowder, and I think the Celtics have enough to persuade both the Pacers and the Bulls to make a deal.
Neither the Bulls nor the Pacers really want to rebuild, but to add top-5 picks along with several other young players might be too much to pass on.
Deciding which team gets the 2017 pick and the 2018 pick isn't easy. Both teams will likely want the earlier one more. I gave it to the Bulls because in these trades the Pacers are receiving Smart and Crowder, who can come in and immediately contribute to the team.
And for the Celtics? The combo of Butler, George, Al Horford, Isaiah Thomas, Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley gives Boston massive firepower to challenge the Cavs and Raptors in the East for the next several seasons.
Drummond to the desert
Suns get: Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Reggie Bullock
Pistons get: Phoenix's 2017 first-round pick, Brandon Knight, Alex Len, TJ Warren, P.J. Tucker, Tyler Ulis, Leandro Barbosa
The Suns are slowly putting together one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. Adding Drummond to patrol the paint would expedite that process, giving them one of the best rebounders and most athletic defenders in the league.
Putting him with Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender would give the Suns one of the most intriguing and explosive young teams in the league. And while Jackson has caused his share of problems in Detroit, he still has talent and should be solid coming off the bench for Phoenix.
For the Pistons, the situation is more muddled. The team doesn't feel like it has a star to really put it over the top in the East. Drummond is just not that type of player. And getting Jackson -- and his lucrative contract (he's owed more than $16 million a year through 2019-20) -- out of Detroit is a priority.
Getting a young point guard like Lonzo Ball or Markelle Fultz or a versatile wing like Josh Jackson would give Detroit the best shot at getting there (assuming Phoenix doesn't rise too quickly after the deal). This would be a step back for the Pistons. But it would reap long-term benefits and save them significant money in the short term.
Lakers and Sixers make a lottery gamble
Lakers get: Jahlil Okafor, Richaun Holmes, Thunder's protected 2020 first-round pick
Sixers get: Lakers' 2017 first-round pick (protections removed), Tarik Black
Currently the Lakers have just a 46.8 percent chance of landing a top-three pick in this year's draft. If they fall out of the top three, they must convey the pick to the 76ers. So there's roughly a 50-50 chance L.A. gets nothing in return for its pick this year.
The Lakers can't trade the pick to another team before the draft lottery, with the Sixers holding the rights. However, they could decide to mitigate their losses this way. This also would remove the possibility that the Lakers owe Philly their first-rounder unprotected in 2018.
On the downside, it would guarantee that L.A. sends its 2019 first-rounder to the Orlando Magic. If the Lakers don't convey a first-rounder to Philly in 2017 then they owe Orlando only two second-round picks. On the other hand, they are currently likely to give up that 2019 pick anyway, and getting OKC's top-20 protected 2020 pick would be a nice bit of compensation for being willing to move the needle from likely to certain.
The Lakers almost selected Okafor in 2015 before choosing D'Angelo Russell on draft day. Okafor has lost some of his value since then, but he still would give them a young, skilled big man who can score in the paint.
For the Sixers, they are trying to move Okafor anyway. This removes any doubt that they'll receive the Lakers' pick this year and allows them to have two picks at the top of the draft.
It's a risk for both teams. The Lakers are in position to perhaps win one of the three lottery slots and a chance at Fultz or Ball for Okafor. The Sixers could end up getting this pick if the Lakers don't fall into the top three, and could've used the Okafor chip and gotten something else of value.
But I think at this point it's a reasonable risk for both teams.
Philly's immediate boost
Sixers get: Andrew Wiggins, Kris Dunn, Jordan Hill
Wolves get: Philly or Sacramento's 2017 first-round pick (whichever is higher), Nerlens Noel, Gerald Henderson, Robert Covington
I've been assured there isn't really anyone out there that the Sixers would move this pick for. Yes, if Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kyrie Irving suddenly became available then the Sixers would get serious. But none of them are on the block and won't be, despite the value of Philly's pick this year.
The Sixers need backcourt help and the closest they'd get is a player like Devin Booker or Bradley Beal. But neither player is available either -- at least not for a projected top-5 pick in this year's draft.
So this is as close as I could come to a good deal. The Sixers coveted both Wiggins and Dunn in recent drafts. Both of them fit needs and both could contribute immediately. The combo of Dunn, Wiggins, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and Joel Embiid is a very formidable one long term.
The upside of a Fultz or Ball is higher than Wiggins and Dunn combined. However, there's no guarantee that's where the Sixers will be drafting. Given their recent success, they could end up several spots lower in the draft.
As for why the Wolves would do it: Tom Thibodeau is struggling to get his team to play defense in Minnesota. Combine Noel and Henderson with a pick like Kansas' Josh Jackson -- who in almost every way looks like a better long-term prospect than Wiggins -- and perhaps the Wolves can change a team personality that some in Minnesota fear is a little soft.
Orlando goes Grit 'n' Grind
Magic get: Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Wade Baldwin
Grizzlies get: Orlando's 2017 first-round pick, Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, Elfrid Payton, Jeff Green
The Magic have been trying to figure out a way to compete for the past several years and new head coach Frank Vogel is still trying to get this team to the playoffs despite the fact that the Magic just traded away Serge Ibaka.
With the East still open after the top teams, adding veterans like Gasol and Conley while retaining key young prospect Aaron Gordon might make some sense. Gasol and Conley aren't going to push the Grizzlies over the top in the West. But surrounded by some of Orlando's young talent in the East, it's possible.
The Grizzlies might not be ready for such a drastic change in culture, but Gasol is 32 and Conley turns 30 in October. They badly need to retool and this would give them that chance. Vucevic, Fournier and Payton are all nice, young pieces, but the key would be that Magic pick.
The additions of Gasol and Conley should make that pick sit somewhere in the mid-to-late lottery in this draft instead of top five. The Magic are currently 6.5 games out of No. 8 in the East. That's a lot of ground to make up in the last 25 games of the season. Given the depth of the draft (most teams think it goes at least 12 players deep), it's worth the gamble for the Grizzlies.