I think we can all agree that K-Mart and JR's contracts are going to be highly sought after and lucky for us, these are two guys that we can afford to lose given age and attitude. There are a couple of trades that I have come up with that I think would benifit both sides, and thus are more likely to happen. Also, all the following trades match up in terms of contracts.
Trade #1: Trade JR Smith and Kenyon Martin to the Orlando Magic for Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter and the 29th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Why Orlando pulls the trigger... After making it to the NBA Finals in 2009 the Magic failed to return and got eliminated fairly easily by the Celtics in 6 games. Orlando has built a winning culture around superstar Dwight Howard and after a failed Vince Carter experiment are likely ready to try something different. If there's any team in the NBA JR Smith's style of play fits, it's the Magic's. K-Mart would then give the Magic the toughness they lacked against the Celtics and would then allow Rashard Lewis to move to his natural position at SF. It's basically an experiment for Orlando, because if things don't work out both Smith and Martin's contracts would expire leaving the Magic with lots of cap space to sign different players.
Why Denver pulls the trigger... Gortat and Carter would give the Nuggets things they have been searching for for years now, a true center and a SG with no baggage. Many people may point to the struggles Carter faced this past season but keep in mind, he was appointed to be a key source of offense for the Magic at age 33. That isn't the type of roll Carter should be playing at this point in his career. With the Nuggets he would have several guys ahead of him who are big time scoring threats and thus would take on more of a roll he would likely be comfortable playing, a veteran leader who lets the game come to him. Meanwhile Gortat would assume the strong C position moving Nene to his natural position at PF, which many Stiffs have been begging for forever. This aquisition would also keep our bench production up as Afflalo would move to the pine to go alongside a strong core of role players.
As for the 29th pick in the draft... This position is a great spot. It's where many talented players who overlooked for various reasons such as gunslingers like Gilbert Arenas and All-Star PFs like Carlos Boozer go. Here we could snag any player at any position we desire.
Trade #2: Denver trades JR Smith to the Toronto Raptors for Amir Johnson and the 13th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Why Toronto pulls the trigger... This would give the Raptors a big time scoring threat to compliment Bargnani and possibly Turkoglu if he stays. It's likely that Bosh will leave and the Raptors will be looking to make some moves to please their fanbase as a substitution. This would give them a solid 4 out of 5 players in their starting rotation and could likely keep them hovering around .500 for the season, which is great considering Toronto's standards.
Why Denver pulls the trigger, and who they pick in the draft... Again, this would relive Denver of JR's troubles and at the same time give them a chance to get close to a top 10 pick, which Wark seems dead-set after, without giving up Lawson. Talented SG Xavier Henry is thought to go sometime in the early mid-first round (picks 10-15) and would serve as a wonderful replacement for JR. Henry was the High School player of the year in 2008/2009 and is reported to be the exact opposite of JR in terms of personality. His Freshman year in college didn't exactly go as many thought it would, but he came on during the latter part of the season and still remained one of the best first year players in college. I see this as your classic, caught in the moment stock drop in which performance during one season of play is judged over career accomplishments and potential, very similar to Brandon Jennings last year who slipped all the way to 10. If you ask me I think Henry will end up being an All-Star and a solid scoring threat for years to come. If we were really set on this guy it's risky to not trade up further but the only teams in need of a SG in front of Toronto are Utah at 9 and the Pacers at 10, but those positions are considered too early for Henry to go.
* These scenarios are largely a response to the news that Mark Warkentein is open to trading Ty Lawson for a top 10 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. The first allows us to obtain a big wich would then likely prevent Wark from trading Lawson, while the second may provide Wark with a close to top 10 pick without sacrificing Lawson again. In that scenario Henry is the guy I believe would be the best value but if Wark were to feel differently and take a big, at least it wouldn't be at the expense of Ty Lawson.
