Fixing the NBA’s Troubled Teams: Five Stars Who Need New Homes

What was it that Bowie Kuhn called it? Ah, yes, “the best interests of baseball.”

The NBA has a nice thing going these days. Pace of play is up. The referees are starting to swallow their whistles. The Thunder are providing a once-in-a-lifetime treat. Even the return of LeBron James is being applauded.

OK, mostly.

And the fans are loving it. TV ratings have never been better and more good games are getting onto the airwaves, even if November is setting a record for most forgotten obscure-streaming-platform passwords.

Yet the league has a BIG problem, one you don’t see on TV because that’s how the NBA shields its ugliness from the masses.

The Grizzlies, Pelicans and Mavericks are embarrassments.

We’re just not talking basketball here. We’re talking about teams spiraling into dark holes from which there is no foreseeable trampoline.

And it’s being caused by three guys: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis.

These guys have got to go, but their flailing franchises have their hands tied. Big contracts. Salary-cap restrictions. Constant injuries leading to concerns about destructive attitudes.

It appears the Troubled Trio of teams is stuck with its Troubled Trio of underachieving superstars.

That’s a problem. And not just for those teams.

The NBA would be a far better product if Morant, Williamson and Davis were transferred to more favorable situations. Instant rejuvenation almost surely would occur.

But in order for this extreme case of wishful thinking to happen, a “best interests of basketball” clause would have to be invoked.

Fortunately, I've scripted one:

On December 1st, the commissioner is allowed to pluck one player from a designated “troubled” team and place him in a situation that creates fewer negative headlines and a more competitive league.

As part of the transaction: The player agrees to void the remainder of his contract, play the rest of this season for free and become a free agent at year’s end; the original team receives the next two available first-round picks from the new team (even if it includes waiving the can’t-trade-two-in-a-row rule); and the new team agrees – with no salary-cap implications – to reimburse the original team the total amount still owed the player, payable $10 million a year to help assure happy holidays for all employees.

You get better top-end teams, happier (and surely healthier) star players and addition-by-subtraction for franchises currently in hopeless situations.

That, my friends, is the mere definition of “the best interests of basketball.”

Now, where are these three guys going? Heck, let’s throw in two lesser evils and call it the “We Gotta Get Outta This Place” starting five (apologies to Eric Burdon) …

Ja Morant (to the Cavaliers)

Pace of play is up leaguewide, even in Cleveland. And scoring is up leaguewide as well … except not in Cleveland, which led the NBA in scoring last season but currently sits 12th (behind even the Knicks).

Enter Morant, who would allow Darius Garland to get back on a more reasonable recovery schedule, return De’Andre Hunter to his coveted sixth-man role and immediately increase those terrible early-season shooting percentages.

Zion Williamson (to the Lakers)

If this is, in fact, LeBron’s final season, wouldn’t it be nice if he sent the NBA a generous going-away present? What better than to mentor the disappointing Williamson and help create a dynamic force the likes of what LeBron used to be?

A productive Williamson is exactly what the Lakers need. Actually, whatever it might take to relegate the wildly inconsistent Deandre Ayton to a backup role would aid LeBron’s chances of going out with one for the thumb.

Anthony Davis (to the Warriors)

You have to feel sorry for Davis, who: a) Didn’t choose to get traded to the Mavericks; and b) Surely didn’t sign up to be a passenger on the Nico Harrison derailment.

Alas, here we are, with a very capable rim-protector (the reason Harrison acquired him in the first place) in need of a wannabe contender lacking in dunk-resistance. Wouldn’t you love to see Davis, Horford, Green, Butler and Curry get a crack at the fledgling Thunder dynasty?

Devin Booker (to the Rockets)

The unfairly athletic Rockets didn’t need an excuse to enter the NBA track meet this season, and actually might have caught a break when their 31-year-old, half-court-oriented point guard was lost for the season. But let’s not get carried away: In this new pinball game, you’re eventually going to need more offense from your guards than Josh Okogie and Amen Thompson can provide.

It’s not fair to put the surprisingly decent Suns in the same category as the Grizzlies, Pelicans and Mavericks, but they’d be better served planning for their future than getting applauded for pridefully busting their butts on a 35-win season. Losing Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal has helped their long-term vision. Completing a hat trick is good, right?

Domantas Sabonis (to the Knicks)

I’ve considered Lauri Markkanen, CJ McCollum, Jrue Holiday and LaMelo Ball for this spot, but if the goal is to rescue a sinking franchise, then the Kings have to be mentioned. Having cornered the market on win-now players playing lose-now basketball, it won’t be long until they are mentioned in the same vein as the aforementioned Terrible Trio.

The problem is: While DeMar DeRozan would be an asset to any team, he’s no longer the difference-making addition required to play in the Thunder’s league. And nobody in their right mind would want one of the Kings’ other antiques. So it’s Sabonis, one of Mike Brown’s all-time favorites, to the rescue in Gotham, grabbing all the rebounds Karl-Anthony Towns used to get before turning into Brook Lopez.