[Fox Sports] These teams need to play 'Let's Make a Deal'

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These teams need to play 'Let's Make a Deal'

The All-Star Weekend has passed, and with the trade deadline looming Thursday, rumors of players being dealt continue to bubble — whether based in fiction or fact.

Nevertheless, there is still a strong likelihood that several deals will be completed by the deadline, although none are expected to be of the headline-grabbing variety. So as we consider so many teams already out of the playoff picture and trying to position themselves for the June draft and financially for the off-season, here's a look at 10 teams that at least should make a deal considering their tenuous situations.
Whether or not they actually do make a move is a different story.


New York Knicks
No team has been a more pronounced ball of confusion this season. Struggling through their worst half-season in 20 years, coach Larry Brown has implemented no less than 30 starting lineups, while owner James Dolan and president Isiah Thomas are flustered with Brown's constant public derision of players. At the very least, they should rid themselves of Penny Hardaway's expiring contract to get some toughness up front to work with young and talented — but soft — Eddy Curry and Channing Frye. They can always hope to move Jamal Crawford as well. There is no getting around the waste — (or is that waist?) — of a five-year, $30 million free agent contract given to Jerome James which nobody else would touch.


Denver Nuggets
The next worst free agent signing of the off-season was the Nuggets giving third point guard Earl Watson virtually the same deal as the Knicks gave James. Why? For a third point guard? But teams are interested in Watson because there is such a dearth at the position, so he is the most likely to be moved. Talk of the injured Nene being moved continues to surface, but the hot one the past couple of weeks has been Kenyon Martin, who has $70 million left on his contract. He has not recovered from off-season microfracture knee surgery and rumors have it coach George Karl goaded him into pushing it too soon. Now resentment abounds from both sides as Martin continues to struggle. The Knicks could be the landing strip for both players.


Seattle SuperSonics
One of the big flops of this season on the floor while perpetually whining about poor finances off the floor, the Sonics have the worst defense in the league. While management plays revolving head coaches, the two players they've quit on are the same two who gave them an interior defensive presence last season — Reggie Evans and Danny Fortson. Guard Flip Murray is a terrific one-on-one scorer, but hurts the team in every other way. All three — along with invisible center Vitaly Potapenko — are candidates to hit the road. In a perfect world, they'd get a late first-round draft choice, an expiring contract and a backup point guard. That's not asking too much is it? It never is asking too much when their ownership has the nerve to continuously cry poor over the same deal they bought on the cheap just five years ago.


Chicago Bulls

They are another one of the teams that flopped after looking so promising last season. But in all fairness to general manager John Paxson, he had to do something with Curry, whose heart condition confused and undermined the future of the team, so he moved Curry to New York. In return, one of the all-time overrated players — Tim Thomas — came with his expiring huge contract. Unable to contribute on the floor, he has been deactivated and now there is a decent chance to move Thomas and either Ben Gordon or Chris Duhon for a valuable piece. They could wait and just allow Thomas' contract to end, but with one of the guards, they could acquire some much needed help at either power or small forward.


Orlando Magic
Former All-Star Steve Francis has completely fallen apart the past couple of weeks, and now figures to be dealt within days. He's the classic in-between guard — like Stephon Marbury, but with a much more fragile psyche. The most intriguing team making a play for him is the Minnesota Timberwolves — giving a legit scorer to complement lonesome Kevin Garnett. The Magic clearly are now building around Dwight Howard and (they hope) Darko Milicic up front. To get a smart, good shooting wing player (as Grant Hill moves toward retirement) would be ideal. Marko Jaric, despite his scary new contract, might even work if the chemistry is right — and the Wolves would love to dump him.


Atlanta Hawks
It just seemed like 20 minutes ago, Hawks general manager Billy Knight talked about how Al Harrington was the guy to build the team around. Now they are staring at possibly losing Harrington as an unrestricted free agent, with a younger group comprising the building blocks. Had they drafted point guard Chris Paul with the second pick of the 2005 draft, they then would have been in perfect position to re-sign Harrington instead of waffling over whether to give him money or wait on the guy they did take, Marvin Williams. So now is the time to move Harrington for — of course — a point guard. But is it worth it to take on a contract like Watson's for Harrington? Probably not. The Indiana Pacers would love to have Harrington back, but have little to deal unless a third team is involved. Either way, it would behoove the Hawks to move Harrington now.


Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers are in a quandary. The guy they'd like to move is Ruben Patterson, and he'd love to go, but his contract is a little much for such an erratic contributor — despite his exceptional energy and defensive focus. The other two contracts they'd like to get rid of belong to Theo Ratliff and Darius Miles. But Ratliff is the only security at center they have should free agent-to-be Joel Przybilla bolt in the summer, and there are people in the organization who still like Miles. Most of what they could get is based on expiring contracts, and that's not what they need. They need more players old enough to remember the team was in the playoffs 21 years in a row until 2004. Unfortunately, attendance has fallen to rock bottom; this will be the third year outside the postseason and they still look light-years away.


Cleveland Cavaliers
When the Cavs dropped $60 million on Larry Hughes last summer, eyes widened. Talent wasn't the issue. He was a guarantee to add defense, ballhandling and a legit scoring threat opposite LeBron James. Along with those promises, however, there was also the guarantee he'd get hurt. Averaging about 25 games a year out of the lineup for various reasons, this time around it was a fractured middle finger. It didn't heal right and now he's out for the rest of the regular season after playing just 28 games. And with Damon Jones nothing more than a streak shooter with a big mouth and Eric Snow aging too rapidly, they're in trouble. But it would be a bad idea to trade Drew Gooden now considering he's giving them all the rebounding and garbage points they need, despite his expiring deal. Gooden is the kind of player every team needs, and the Cavs can't afford to lose him, regardless of what they hope to get from Anderson Varejao. They'd be better off trading one of the guards they have with a future first-round pick to get backcourt help.


Houston Rockets
One of the preseason picks to push the San Antonio Spurs in the West, the Rockets are the bust of the season. They're 0-13 without Tracy McGrady and 0-16 when he doesn't finish games. In other words, they're in the playoff hunt with him, hopeless without him. They overpaid for free agent Stromile "Not So" Swift and cottony soft Derek Anderson, plus they are way too optimistic that Rafer Alston will ever be a dependable starting point guard. With McGrady and Yao Ming, they are always a dangerous threat. But McGrady apparently has personal problems taking him away for a few more games — not to mention his chronic back and burgeoning knee tendinitis issues — so reaching the postseason is a distant memory. More importantly, they'd better get realistic about the future of this team. And fast.


Golden State Warriors
Their fast finish last year (15-5) and fast start (12-6) this season was about as misleading as it gets (they're 12-22 since then). Sure, Baron Davis gave them confidence and star power. But they were winning meaningless games last year late and their home schedule was great for their early egos this time around. Davis remains the kind of "me player" who can't be trusted by his coach. Not only were his maximum contract and battered body a gamble for the Warriors, but his inevitable undermining of coach Mike Montgomery's system has begun. Davis is probably untradable, but they have to get a front-court player to run plays for in half-court sets as opposed to the B.D. style of flying up and down the floor jacking up 3-pointers and lobs for dunks. Otherwise, they'll be out of the playoffs for the league-worst 12th successive season.

Veteran NBA writer Mike Kahn is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.