Welcome back to the last part of this mini-series on the 2015 NBA draft. This final post will take a look at some of the draft day trades and their grades. Personally, this year’s draft was rather tame in terms of moves, but some notable trades did occur, so let’s dive right in.
1. Portland Trailblazers and Charlotte Hornets
Nicolas Batum — Gerald Henderson and Noah Vonleh
Trailblazers:Â A-
Hornets: C+
After LaMarcus Aldridge confirmed his move away form Portland to San Antonio, this move looks a lot better for the Trailblazers. They were able to dump Batum’s 12 million dollar contract in exchange for a functional wing and a young center absolutely filled with potential and athleticism. They found a solution for the future for Aldridge and also got rid of a declining player. As for the Hornets, this trade doesn’t look great. It reminds me slightly of last year’s acquisition of Lance Stephenson. It seems once again that Michael Jordan’s team believes themselves to be more competitive than they really are. Frankly, picking up Batum, who just finished arguably the worst season of his career, wasn’t a smart move. The only reason this trade passes is because Batum is still serviceable as a jack of all trades small forward, and that will still yield some value for the Hornets.
2. Luke Ridnour’s trip round the league
Poor Ridnour got traded so many times in one day, I’m not even sure he knows which team he plays for anymore. But, we’ll look at all three trades and the insane value Ridnour was able to fetch for some teams
A magical start:
Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies
Luke Ridnour — Janis Timma
I’m not going to give this trade any grades for two simple reasons. Memphis wasn’t done and I have no idea who Janis Timma even is.
Looking for honey:
Memphis Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets:
Luke Ridnour — Matt Barnes
Grizzlies: A
Do you remember the insane value I was talking about? Here it is. Managing to fetch Matt Barnes for Ridnour was an absolute steal. Barnes’ work ethic and in game attitude fit perfectly into Memphis’ identity as a rough and tough team. This was a great acquisition for the Grizz. And just like before, no grade for the Hornets, they weren’t done just yet.
An electrifying finale:
Charlotte Hornets and Oklahoma City Thunder
Luke Ridnour and secound round pick — Jeremy Lamb
Hornets: B-
Thunder: C
This trade was in no way a bad trade for the Hornets, in fact, it’s a rather good one. Getting a 23-year-old wing for Ridnour is a great acquisition. However, there’s two things holding their grade back. Firstly, they had Matt Barnes before, who would have been a much better option than Lamb. Secondly, I hold a personal dislike of Lamb’s game. He is far too lax on the defense end and isn’t able to consistently provide on the offense to make up for his lapses. If he improved his shooting a little bit and looked a little less lazy on defense, this would be a steal of a trade. As for the Thunder, I just gave them an average grade seeing as this was an obvious attempt to dodge the luxury tax. Taking on Ridnour’s non-guaranteed contract allows them to save a bunch of money come tax times, which was their goal. They accomplished it and managed to get a second round pick in the process, so overall, nothing really special.
On a side note, you have got to feel a little bad for Ridnour, being sent 3 different places in the span of a few hours only to find out he’s being released. Luckily, a  veteran point guard like him shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a team to play for.
3. Atlanta tries a little too hard
This trade comes in two parts, both of which include the Eastern Conference Finalists Atlanta Hawks. They made a decent first trade, but then completely threw all that out the window with their second one.
Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks
Pick 19 (Jerian Grant), 2 second round picks — Pick 15 (Kelly Oubre)
Wizards: A
The Wizards got a bit a of an inflated grade for this trade simply because I think Kelly Oubre was an absolutely fantastic option for them. I loved his game at Kansas and he should slide right into Washington’s rotation. Having to give up two future picks to move up 4 spots may seem like a rather irresponsible decision, but with their core players already being locked into stone, Washington doesn’t really need the chance to add too much young talent to their roster in the future. If the Hawks had just stopped here, they wouldn’t have done too badly, getting two future picks and picking up a backup point guard isn’t bad at all. Unfortunately as the title implies, they tried a little too hard to find value.
Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks
Jerian Grant — Tim Hardaway Jr.
New York Knicks: A
Atlanta Hawks: C-
They done goofed. The Hawks really did miss the mark on this trade. Even though I believe that Hardaway Jr. is a great player, this is not a trade the Hawks should have made. Grant comes out of Notre Dame as a polished and ready floor general. To the Knicks, who are pretty much in need of help at every single position, he will be an absolute gift around which they can build. He will be able to immediately run the point for them and hopefully lead them to a somewhat respectable record in the weak Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Hardaway Jr.scored a nice amount in his second year, but saw a decline in pretty much every other offense statistic which is rather worrying for a young player. Not only that, there was an obvious regression in terms of his defensive involvement. Atlanta is gambling that a change of teams will spur him to be more productive. I’m not quite that optimistic. The value they earned through the first trade was just wasted on this second one, and it may come back to bite them.
That’s all the trades I’m going to be taking a look at, however, a couple more did go down, the most notable being Minnesota trading up for Tyus Jones, but the rest are mostly small moves in the second round. It’s with this post that the three-part mini-series on the 2015 NBA draft will be finished. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading as much as I have writing!
