Potential Trade Partners for Jeremy Lin

With D’Angelo Russell now on the Brooklyn Nets, there are questions as to what position he should play. If head coach Kenny Atkinson chooses to play him at point guard, it could spell the end for the Jeremy Lin era.

If Russell plays the point, it gives the Nets the chance to explore Lin’s trade value. Coming off a year where he had career-highs in three-point percentage, rebounds per game and the second-highest points per game average since the days of Linsanity, Jeremy Lin should be easy to move. It is safe to say that he has proven himself as a starting point guard.

But, point guards are not exactly a commodity in the NBA. There are plenty of guards in the league that could start but are relegated to bench roles. So the Nets would need to find a team that either desperately needs a guard or could use an upgrade in their backcourt rotation. Brooklyn would also likely look for teams that can offer either young players or draft picks.

With that in mind, there are five teams that would likely be involved in a Lin trade: Denver, Oklahoma City, Boston, Charlotte and Philadelphia. The Nuggets, Thunder and Hornets need point guards. Philadelphia and Boston have the assets that Brooklyn wants.

There’s a lot of upside to a trade with the Nuggets. Not only can they offer young players, like Emmanuel Mudiay, but the Nets would not have to match Lin’s salary. The Nuggets are $11 million above the cap.

However, Denver does not have a first round pick to offer. The team currently has Golden State’s second-rounder and will have to swap its second round pick with Sacremento.

OKC needs a scoring point guard so its offense doesn’t stall everytime Russell Westbrook needs to take a rest. It is possible that Lin could be one of the team’s targets. The Nets need a center, among other things, and could use Enes Kanter.

While Kanter is signed to a hefty $17 million contract for the next with a $18 million player option in 2018, the Nets have cap space to work with. Kanter is a significant upgrade over Timofey Mozgov and could teach Jarrett Allen the nuances of an NBA offense.

While Boston has the assets available to trade for Lin, it is unlikely that the team would absorb his contract. A trade for Lin would be infeasible since the Celtics already have Marcus Smart as a backup point guard.

Although he is not as effective as a scorer as Lin is, Smart is a better defender and makes nearly $8 million less.

Charlotte has a single second rounder to give up. But, the Nets could try to trade for Jeremy Lamb in order to upgrade the shooting guard position. Even though the salaries do not match, the move could be done in conjunction with a sign and trade for Ramon Sessions.

The Nets could also make a move for Frank Kaminsky or Cody Zeller in order to bolster their frontcourt.

Trading with Philadelphia might just be the best option for the Nets. It makes sense on paper. The 76ers need a better backup point guard than Jerryd Bayless and the Nets could use a new starting center like Jahlil Okafor. The Sixers also have enough cap space to absorb Lin’s contract without having to match salaries.

The big question with Philadelphia is whether the team would part with one of its draft picks. The Sixers have nine picks in the next four drafts. But will they use their picks as trade assets or continue to build through the draft?

Next: Taking a look at Jeremy Lin's trade value

At the end of the day, this is all hypothetical. The Nets could simply choose to not trade Lin. In fact, not moving Lin could be their best possible move. After all, a backcourt with Lin and Russell is not a bad backcourt at all. But exploring Lin’s trade value is worth it for the team, even just to gauge league interest.