The NBA's Big Trade Puzzle: How Teams Pull Off Complex Deals

The NBA recently saw a massive seven-team trade, and it wasn't just luck. It was a carefully planned puzzle. Teams often combine smaller deals to create bigger ones. This is because the rules allow them to move more money around in one big trade than in several small ones. For example, the Memphis Grizzlies once had a deal to trade Courtney Lee to the Charlotte Hornets for two players and some draft picks. But the incoming players earned less than Lee, so the Grizzlies looked for a way to add more money to the deal. They found it by involving the Miami Heat, who needed to reduce their payroll. The Heat took on a higher-paid player, and the Grizzlies got more draft picks. This created a three-team trade that benefited everyone. Big trades like this often happen around the draft or the trade deadline. Teams have more time to negotiate and combine deals during these periods. For instance, the recent seven-team trade involving Kevin Durant started with a simple deal between the Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns. But over time, more teams got involved, and the trade grew. The Suns used draft picks from Houston to make more trades, involving teams like the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Lakers. Each team had to give and receive something to meet the league's rules. The final trade was a complex web of picks and players, all tied together. These big trades aren't just random. They're carefully planned to follow the NBA's rules and benefit all teams involved. And they're likely to become more common in the future.