I’ll start: Wendell Carter Jr.
His points are way down, dropping from 15.2 to 9.4 as is his outside shooting, from 35.6% to 31.3%. To add to his struggles, he broke his hand five games in and needed surgery. In the interim, Orlando has become one of the hottest teams in the league without him.
However, as a versatile big who can play the 4 or 5, and can shoot from outside while last year putting up 85% at the rim, now might be a great time to buy low. Also averaging 8 rpg. He’s only 24 so on Luka’s timeline. His contract is also very good.
Although his sample size is small, CraftedNBA rates him the 5th in the league under “Best Rim Protectors” with opponents shooting 20% worse than “expected” and a 42.9% FG% at the rim. I think he is insanely underrated - especially now in a down year - and Orlando’s frontcourt depth makes him somewhat expendable. He can start as the PF next to Lively with his outside shooting and perimeter versatility, and we can keep one or the other on court at all times to have a legit rim protector (or two). I would consider trading multiple of Hardy, Green or OMax and even putting the 2027 1st on the table if they’ll take Kleber or Holmes instead.
Jerami Grant is the best trade target in my view. He’s 6’8” with a 7’3” wingspan, super skilled on offense, great shooter, and he’s been a very impactful weakside rim protector before which is what we’d demand of him defensively. Also, he’d be cheap to acquire from an asset POV cuz his contract is not great.
Right now, Orlando has the #1 defense and WCJ will be a big part of that when he gets back from injury, they won’t trade him for scraps.