Conquering the Trade Deadline

Two days until the NBA trade deadline and all through the house, not a fan was excited, not even the mouse. This years edition of the craziness is very not promising, as a lot of teams have made moves early in the season to try to keep up with the rest of the west. This article by Zach Lowe of Grantland outlines the nuggets future well, as well as breaks down some teams that have the most trade pieces. I'll put in my input on what the Suns, Rockets, and Raptors all should do.

Suns

The main piece of the Phoenix Suns trade deadline is Goran Dragic. His contract is up after this year, and the Suns need to either be confident they can sign him back next year, or trade him away. 

I would trade him away. You can't be sure he wants to sign back with you, and you already have a plethora of guards. Isiah Thomas wants to start, and trading Goran for some bench depth, or maybe a big. 

Rockets

Rockets have a lot of assets. They have New Orleans first, their own first, and lots of players to match salaries. What they don't have, however, is a point guard. I seem to recall a team that has a platoon of starter level guards. A team that maybe needs a big. Who could that be? Oh, the Suns! You don't often see teams have needs that accompany each other so well, which leads to the dream trade that would never happen. Goran Dragic for Donatats Motiejunas (D-Mo, for short). 

Of course, this trade would never happen. Houston likes D-Mo too much and the Suns desperately are trying to keep Goran Dragic. Just a crazy mans pipe dream, I suppose. 

Raptors

Should the Raptors even make a move. They remain adamant that they won't make a trade unless they get significant value back, in other words they won't trade their future for this year. Rumors around the league are that the Drakes are trying to trade for the Pacers David West. I think this isn't a smart move. The Raptors already have Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson at the 4, and while David West adds a lot of grit to a team and an exceptional mid range game the Raptors don't need him. If the Raptors feel like they need to do anything, I would recommend trading Terrance Ross. He hasn't developed very well, and this might be the highest you get to trade him for. Alex Kennedy Tweeted out that the Raptors are looking to sign a star with a package deal of Jonas Valancunius and Terrance Ross. Best of luck Raptors, I'd recommend just staying with what you have.