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All week, we’ve been waiting to find out when the trade moratorium would be lifted. This morning, Woj filled us in.
Trade season begins Monday afternoon, sources tell ESPN. Teams were informed the NBA’s moratorium will end at noon ET and deals can begin to be consummated.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
Tentative schedule
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
December 22: Opening night.
All-Star Break (minus an ASG): March 5-10
May 16: Regular season ends
May 17-to-21: Play-in tournament for 7-to-10 seeds.
May 22: First-round playoffs
June 7: Conference semifinals
June 22: Conference Finals
July 8-22: NBA Finals
Of course, things don’t just come and go quietly in the NBA. Within minutes of this latest Woj bomb, we got our first juicy trade rumor.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in advanced talks with Oklahoma City on a trade for guard Dennis Schroder, sources tell ESPN. Deal expected to include OKC acquiring LA’s pick at No. 28 in Wednesday’s draft. Deal can be completed at noon ET on Monday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
Lakers guard Danny Green and the No. 28 overall pick have been a focus of the trade discussions for Schroder, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/KOAcjyIked
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
From the Lakers perspective, this feels like an overpay, although maybe not a massive one. If you watched a lot of the Lakers last year (hard not to), you probably noticed Danny Green didn’t quite look like his normal self on either end of the floor. Los Angeles probably was hoping for something closer to low-40%ish three-point shooting and stellar defense. They just didn’t get that.
From Oklahoma City’s perspective, this looks like it will be yet another long-term win for Oklahoma City. The 28th pick from the Lakers is fine, but what they’re probably a lot more interested in is flipping Danny Green to a contender for another pick.
Lakers and Thunder have agreement in principle on deal to send Dennis Schroder to Los Angeles, and No. 28 pick in Wednesday's Draft to OKC, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 15, 2020
With that, it appears the trade will be finalized on Monday. If LA isn’t sending Danny Green to OKC for salary purposes, they can probably still get to enough outgoing salary if a few of their guys opt-in to their player options.
One thing worth noting here that I’ll be interested to watch develop throughout the league is how much weight teams put into one season sample sizes. For instance, while moving Danny Green for Dennis Schroder certainly could make the Lakers better, it’s worth pointing out that they’re also selling-low AND buying-high. It’s possible Green has just aged past his most productive days, but this is certainly a risk that the Lakers are taking.
With that, LET CHAOS ENSUE.