Trade grades: The winners in the Nets-Suns-Sixers deals
The deals
Nets get: Forward Jared Dudley, 2021 protected second-round pick
Suns get: Forward Darrell Arthur, center Richaun Holmes
76ers get: Cash considerations
Get more trade grades for every deal here
Brooklyn Nets: A
The Nets have had my favorite under-the-radar offseason of any rebuilding team, including adding 2019 cap space and a protected 2019 first-round pick in the deal that saw them take on Arthur and Kenneth Faried from the Denver Nuggets. This looks like another positive move for Brooklyn.
If we consider both Arthur and Dudley non-contributors, the Nets are paying an extra $2 million or so because Dudley's 2018-19 salary is higher. Getting a second-round pick for that amount is a decent deal all by itself.
While the protection limits the upside of getting one of the first five picks of the second round -- and it remains to be seen what happens if Phoenix keeps the pick -- $2 million would typically buy a pick in the middle of the round. For example, the Houston Rockets paid $1.5 million for the No. 52 pick in this year's second round, the only straight sale of a 2018 second-rounder.
On top of that, Brooklyn has a better chance of getting some value on the floor from Dudley if the Nets decide to keep him. Amazingly, the lowly Suns actually outscored opponents by 1.3 points per 100 possessions last season when Dudley played power forward, according to an analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats. Dudley's feel for the game and the floor spacing he provides as a 4 have helped him compensate for declining athleticism. So I probably would have been OK with swapping Arthur for Dudley straight up without the draft pick.
Phoenix Suns: B-
When the Nets-Suns trade was first reported by itself, it was tricky to figure out why Phoenix would give up a second-round pick to save $2 million. That explanation came shortly thereafter when news of the Suns-Sixers trade broke, as Phoenix needed to create additional cap space to take on Holmes' salary.
If we take out Arthur (who will be waived following a buyout, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski), dealing a protected second-rounder and cash for Holmes is reasonable.
Throughout his three-year career, Holmes has put up impressive advanced statistics while failing to win the trust of the Philadelphia coaching staff. He's unreliable defensively and perhaps guilty of overhelping in the pursuit of blocked shots. Nonetheless, Holmes is an efficient lob threat and an athletic presence, and he comes cheap at the minimum in the final season of his contract. As a bonus, Holmes will carry a tiny, minimum cap hit next summer should the Suns want to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent.
The question here is whether Phoenix would have been better off waiving guard Shaquille Harrison, whose 2018-19 salary is non-guaranteed, to create room for Holmes rather than giving up the second-round pick. Harrison was a standout at the NBA Summer League, cracking my list of overachievers, so he does appear to be a keeper.
Philadelphia 76ers: C
From the 76ers' standpoint, this deal was all about clearing a spot on the roster to sign 2017 second-round pick Jonah Bolden to what Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports reports will be a four-year, $7 million deal (with the third and fourth years non-guaranteed, per Derek Bodner of The Athletic Philadelphia).
The timing of Philadelphia's moves suggests some advanced work by a front office working without a GM. The Sixers must first deal Holmes to the Suns to create the cap space necessary to sign Bolden to a deal longer than two years. Only then will Philadelphia go over the cap by completing the three-team trade reported Thursday that sends Carmelo Anthony to the Atlanta Hawks.
That said, I'm not sold that the 76ers made the right move in keeping veteran center Amir Johnson (re-signed as a free agent earlier this month) over Holmes. Granted, Johnson's a more reliable option than Holmes or Bolden, who can play multiple frontcourt positions. Philadelphia was also better last season with Johnson at center than Holmes. However, Johnson's athleticism is rapidly declining at age 31, while Holmes has room to grow at age 24.
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