We’ve written a lot about Thursday’s NBA trade deadline here at Sporting News. We have individual primers for the Lakers, Warriors and Raptors. We also have a trade deadline big board that ranks the top 20 players most likely to get moved, ordered by how strong of a draft pick they could return.
Now, let’s see what artificial intelligence thinks.
Elon Musk has touted Grok, Twitter’s AI bot, as having a “massive advantage over other [AI] models” because it “has real-time access to info via the X platform.” Given Musk’s confidence in his product, I decided to test Grok out and see what it thinks about the NBA trade deadline.
Here are Grok’s responses to the query “what trades should _____ make at the 2024 deadline.” Sometimes, Grok will get facts wrong. My corrections are included in italics.
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Lakers targets should include Dejounte Murray, Ben Simmons
Grok: One option could be to trade for Dejounte Murray and Ben Simmons from the Hawks and Nets, respectively. This would give them a solid point guard in Murray, who can score and defend, and a versatile defender in Simmons, who can also run the offense.
Another possibility is to acquire DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl from the Bulls. (Poeltl is on the Raptors.) DeRozan is a proven scorer who can create his own shot, while Poeltl is a solid big man who can protect the rim and rebound.
Lastly, the Lakers could try to get their hands on some young talent like Miles Bridges or Royce O’Neal (sp). (O’Neale is 30 years old.) These players would provide energy, athleticism and defense, and could be valuable pieces for the future.
We broke down the Dejounte Murray move to the Lakers here, and why it probably won’t happen.
Warriors should trade for Dejounte Murray or Miles Bridges
Grok: Here are some potential trades the Warriors could make:
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Trade for a versatile forward like Dejounte Murray or Miles Bridges to bolster their defense and add more athleticism.
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Move Chris Paul and his expiring contract to a team in need of a veteran point guard, and in return, acquire a solid role player and a future draft pick. (Paul would not be able to get even close to this type of return.)
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Package some of their young talent and future draft picks to acquire a proven star, like Pascal Siakam (recently traded to the Pacers) or Ben Simmons, who can make an immediate impact.
Here’s why we like Murray’s fit with the Warriors. Our other trade targets included Bojan Bogdanovic, DeRozan, Wendell Carter Jr. and Kyle Kuzma.
We also included players most likely to go out in a trade, along with the draft picks they have available to move.
MORE: Three NBA trade deadline deals that need to happen
Raptors should target Deandre Ayton, move Gary Trent Jr.
Grok: One potential trade could involve sending Chris Boucher and a future first-round pick to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Deandre Ayton. (Ayton plays for the Blazers. He also makes $20.7 million more than Boucher, making this trade illegal.) The Raptors would get a dominant big man to pair with their star guard, while the Suns would get a versatile forward and a pick to help them rebuild.
Another option could be to trade Gary Trent Jr. and a second-round pick to the Lakers for a package of young players and picks. (This is one of the first interesting ideas that Grok has had.) This would give the Raptors some much-needed depth and flexibility, while the Lakers would get a proven scorer to help them make a playoff push.
We suggested that the Raptors should target Nic Claxton, Wendell Carter Jr. or more picks.
We also thought Bruce Brown would be Toronto’s most likely player moved. We evaluated a potential Brown trade to the Knicks and most likely landing spots for him.
Bulls should break up their core
Grok: One potential trade could involve sending DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso to the Lakers in exchange for a package of young players and picks. This would give the Bulls some much-needed depth and flexibility, while the Lakers would get a proven scorer to help them make a playoff push.
Another option could be to trade Andre Drummond to a contender in need of a big man, like the Celtics or the Suns. This would give the Bulls some draft picks or young assets to build around, while the team acquiring Drummond would get a dominant rebounder and rim protector.
Grok might actually outperform Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas here. All of these trades would be good. But the Bulls seem reticent to move their pieces.
We wrote about why we’d like to see Caruso come back to the Lakers.
All in all, Grok’s trade proposals were exactly what you would expect from a model trained off of Twitter — it had the NBA knowledge of a drunk guy firing off tweets at a sports bar. It looks like NBA executives are safe for now from the threat of AI.
