Trade Ideas to Inspire the NBA's Worst Defenses

Remember when we went through actually (or potentially) really good NBA teams that could use an infusion of defense? Well, this time around, we've brought the infusions.

As a reminder, these teams are not the Association's crummiest defenses, period.

The leakiest faucets will invariably belong to franchises not actively trying to be good.

We're attempting to improve the defensive ceilings of teams facing higher (or actual) stakes.

Most of these trades won't address all of the underlying concerns.

Scant few transactions do.

This is merely a stab at beefing up each squad's overall defensive performance by at least beginning to answer their biggest question marks or strengthen their greatest, inarguable weaknesses in ways that ensure they can be league average or better at the less glamorous end.

The Trade Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Larry Nance Jr., Minnesota's 2025 second-round pick Atlanta Hawks Receive: Dean Wade, Ty Jerome Nance has plenty of defensive utility in his own right, but he's a tad redundant when Atlanta also has Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson on the roster.

This isn't a huge deal if the Hawks are intending to play small and/or move Capela, or if they believe Nance can check wings most of the time.

The latter should be a non-starter.

Atlanta needs more of a true-wing defender.

Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher are viable options but profile as imperfect.

Daniels' offensive value exists on shaky ground if he doesn't have the ball, and expecting Risacher to emerge as a net-positive two-way ring in his rookie season is an awfully big ask.

Wade gives the Hawks a more bankable contributor.

Injuries have dogged him the past couple of seasons, but at 6'9", he's shown the ability to guard basically every position.

When this defensive package is complemented by a career 37.1 percent clip from downtown, his checkered health bill is worth rolling the dice onparticularly when he's under team control at sub-$7 million through 2025-26.

Jerome isn't some throw-in, either.

Cleveland might actually balk at including him.

He's 6'5", with a nifty shooting stroke, and scraps like hell on the defensive end.

His arrival also goes a long way toward deepening the second-string point guard minutes, which will currently be divvied up between Daniels, Kobe Bufkin and Vit Krejci.

This trade likely needs to beget another for the Cavs.

Reuniting with Nance will do wonders for their secondary front-line rotation, but if they're looking to avoid the tax and re-sign Isaac Okoro (restricted), they'll need to shed some salary.

Georges Niang or Caris LeVert are already candidates to be moved in service of acquiring another wing.

This deal increases the likelihood, and necessity, of doing that.

And if the Cavs are prepared for the necessary financial finagling, they can remove Jerome from the package entirely.

The Trade Indiana Pacers Receive: Moses Moody Golden State Warriors Receive: Isaiah Jackson, 2025 second-round pick, Utah's 2027 second-round pick, Portland's 2029 second-round pick Moody has not proved to be a lockdown defender since entering the league.

But it's hard to shed the burden of proof when your body of work's only constant is inconsistency.

Indiana just needs actual wings.

Period.

Moody fits that bill.

The Pacers would ideally bag someone taller than 6'5"/6'6", but the 22-year-old boasts a wingspan north of 7'0" and has soaked up real defensive reps across the 1 through 4 spots.

Hashing out a package is all sorts of complicated.

Giving up a first-rounder is out of the question.

Yet, while the Warriors could use some bounce on the front line beyond Jonathan Kuminga, Jackson and a second or two feels a smidgeon low.

Then again, maybe not.

Moody is extension-eligible, and Golden State has not exactly shown the utmost faith in his trajectory to date.

Bringing in Kyle Anderson and De'Anthony Melton over the offseason may only complicate his spot in the rotation.

The Warriors can push for Johnny Furphy or hold out for a better offer.

But if they're not sold on paying Moody long-term, a trio of seconds and an operable reserve big seems like a fair return under the circumstances.

The Trade Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Cody Martin Charlotte Hornets Receive: Pat Connaughton, 2031 second-round pick Life in the second apron limits what the Bucks can do on the trade market unless they're surrendering one of the Core Four.

Connaughton and Bobby Portis Jr.

profile as their best salary-matching tools.

Defaulting toward Portis' expiring deal ($12.6 million) allows Milwaukee to bring back a more expensive player.

But this team needs juice on the perimeter.

Big-for-combo-wing trades are tough to pull off if you're not aggregating salaries or including a first-round pick.

The Bucks can peddle their 2031 first-rounder.

To what end, though? Portis remains somewhat critical to Milwaukee's rotation.

Attaching a distant first is unlikely to reel in a player who supplants what he does and jazzes up the perimeter ranks.

Just so we're clear: Connaughton isn't more valuable.

Trade partners will balk at his $9.4 million player option for 2025-26.

But the Bucks can more easily justify moving him for lesser names and higher-risk gambits.

Enter Martin.

Various knee and ankle injuries have limited him to just 35 games over the past two seasons.

When healthy, though, he's a malleable on-ball defender.

Charlotte has routinely deployed him against 1s, 2s, 3s and even 4s.

At his peak, in 2021-22, Martin also showed that he can knock down spot-up threes and torch defenses as a connective passer and tertiary playmaker.

Milwaukee shouldn't need to think twice hereinjury concerns and all.

Martin's salary for 2025-26 is non-guaranteed, so worst-case scenario, it can shave serious money off next year's tax bill.

The Hornets are the bigger question mark.

Is a 2031 second-rounder enough to take on the second year attached to Connaughton's deal? Debatable.

It helps that he's not dead weight.

Connaughton still has some pop when healthy.

The Trade (After Dec.

14) Phoenix Suns Receive: Tari Eason, Torrey Craig, 2025 first-round pick (second-most favorable from Houston, Oklahoma City or Phoenix's own, via Houston) Chicago Bulls Receive : 2026 second-round pick (second-most favorable from Dallas, Oklahoma City or Philadelphia, via Houston) Houston Rockets Receive: Josh Okogie (into non-taxpayer MLE), Phoenix's 2031 first-round pick Suns team governor Mat Ishbia seems prepared to jettison the organization's 2031 first-round pick if a worthwhile opportunity comes along.

Does this qualify? Plenty of people will say no.

I disagree.

Eason metabolizes opponents' offensive possessions at warp speed when he's healthy.

Adding him to Phoenix's rotation will be a huge deal.

It's an even bigger deal when viewing him through the Kevin Durant-at-the-5 lens.

And it's a larger deal still when he has two more years, including 2024-25, left on his rookie-scale contract.

Forking over an ultra-distant first-rounder for a non-star still may not sit right.

It's easier to digest when the Suns are also landing old friend Torrey Craiganother positionally flexible defensive option who isn't as likely as the outbound Okogie to get played off the floor come playoff time.

Tack on a back-end first-rounder in next year's draft, and Phoenix is getting enough to part with that 2031 selection relative to its extremely urgent title window.

Chicago's end of this package shouldn't require much haggling.

It's either rebuilding or restructuring or concepts-of-a-planning.

A second-rounder for someone who doesn't factor into the futureor even necessarily the presentis perfectly acceptable.

Houston is the pivot point.

Eason is not someone you move just because.

But this isn't a "just because" transaction.

The Rockets have cornered the market on future Suns picks.

After this trade, they effectively control Phoenix's pick in 2027, 2029 and 2031.

If poaching Devin Booker is the endgame, or even if Houston is just loading up for other blockbuster options, this tracks with that type of asset and trajectory management.

Plus, with Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore in the fold, not to mention Jae'Sean Tate, the Rockets can treat Eason as somewhat dispensable.

The Trade Sacramento Kings Receive: Toumani Camara, Robert Williams III Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Kevin Huerter, 2027 second-round pick, 2029 second-round pick It behooves us to start with the Blazers.

Huerter's trade value is that divisive.

On the one hand, he is coming off shoulder surgery and has struggled to find his groove since the 2023 playoffs.

That's concerning enough to view the two years, $34.8 million left on his deal as a net negative.

On the other hand, he is just 26 years old and has a track record as one of the league's most dangerous complementary shooters.

There's no way he devolved from a career-long surface-of-the-sun shot-maker to borderline detriment without hope of reversal.

Portland can use his brand of spacing around its cast of youngsters and vets.

The Blazers may push for a first-rounder as compensation.

But Williams' injury history gives Portland somewhat limited leverage.

And while Camara is cheap now, his spot inside the bigger picture is partially clouded by the Blazers' big-man and combo-forward surplus.

Sacramento should pounce at the opportunity to go this route.

If push comes to shove, and I were running the show, I'd consider coughing up my (protected) 2027 first-rounder.

That sounds extreme.

It's not.

Both Williams and Camara are under team control through 2025-26.

RW3's health may be cause for alarm, but the Kings don't need him to be their starting center.

And a fully healthy Williams can cause a ruckus as a rim protector, helper and switcher at the defensive end.

Camara is even more useful.

He can tackle pretty much every assignment possible...in real volume.

Last year, Camara spent at least 13 percent of his defensive possessions guarding each of the five positions, according to BBall Index : The list of players to do the same while logging as many minutes: Kyle Anderson, Deni Avdija, Scottie Barnes, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, Kawhi Leonard and Jayson Tatum.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report.

Follow him on Twitter ( @danfavale ), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes .

Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com , Basketball Reference , Stathead or Cleaning the Glass .

Salary information via Spotrac .

Draft-pick obligations via RealGM ..

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