Just kidding.
That'd be about the most surprising trade I could possibly think of. Though, today's Deron Williams to the Nets deal is nearly as surprising. No one saw this coming.
Nets get: Deron Williams
Jazz get: Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, 2 1st round picks
The Nets, a team completely out of the playoff picture, trade to get a superstar player in Williams while giving away current young talent and future young talent with the two first round draft picks.
The Jazz, a team in the thick of the Western playoff race (if the season ended today, they would be the 8 seed), trade away their most valuable player, seriously downgrade at the point guard position, acquire the raw hot-headed Derrick Favors who will certainly require a few years before he can be any good and 2 draft picks.
This trade goes against the logical trend of trades where the currently good players get traded to playoff teams and the promising young talent gets traded to the teams out of contention. From it's outward appearance, it seems like this deal could've waited for next year when the Nets can start over with a fresh record and the Jazz aren't in the middle of the playoff race.
For the Nets, it doesn't particularly matter whether or not they acquire Williams for this season or next season, because this season has already fallen victim to a 17-40 record. Any hopes for salvaging a birth into the playoffs has been lost.
However, for the Jazz, it is almost unthinkable that a team would trade away it's best player in the heat of a playoff race. Until, of course, you think about the circumstances.
Deron Williams has a contract that expires after next season. Someone within the Jazz organization must've sensed that Williams was not going to resign after next season. They certainly didn't want a Melo drama like the Nuggets suffered through this year. This was a preemptive strike by the Jazz.
With this trade, the Jazz are going to get worse, but perhaps the trade will payoff a couple of years from now if Favors develops and Harris gets back to playing at the all-star level. The new draft picks will help reinforce the depth of their roster even further into the future.
The Nets are building a team that people might actually want to go see, a stark contrast from the Nets teams of the past few years.
Overall, this trade will pay dividends to both teams. It's just a matter of the time frame in which these teams see those dividends. The Nets are looking to see them now. The Jazz are now looking to reshape their roster for a couple of years from now.
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