NBA Trade Winds: These Bolstered Contenders Can Beat L.A. Lakers and Celtics

Starting in the New Year, a select few teams believe that a bit of tweaking to their rosters will provide them with the wherewithal to dethrone either the Boston Celtics in the East or the L.A. Lakers in the West and they would not be out of line in their thinking.

In fact, it is these contenders that have made this season so exciting by closing the competitive gap, in their own respective city's quest for that allusive NBA Championship that is all too familiar to just two of the leagues teams.

And while this gap is closing, the Lakers continue to lose games in a continuous show of disconnection to teams that are not even in the top ten, as displayed by their recent loss (a drubbing) to the Memphis Grizzlies who seem to a have the Lakers number memorized.

Both the Lakers and the Celtics are set, from their starting rotations to their deep benches.  While the Lakers are suffering from boredom and are counting the days to the start of the playoffs, the Celtics are recovering from injuries to major players.  Yet, all looks good in the NBA’s two championship cities and they remain the teams to beat.

But they should not get too comfortable, because their enemies are at the gate, bigger in their numbers, stronger than their former selves, salivating at the smell of blood and gunning for a showdown.

And now that teams are allowed to deal players signed this past summer, the trade market is beginning to open it’s gigantic mouth and the contenders are seeking to arm themselves for battle.

While the NBA is a star driven league and you need elite players to win, you also need a solid supporting cast of players who know and can fill their roles and the eventual champion will have both elite players and efficient role players.

There are a lot of rumors making their way from coast to coast.  What trades would improve which of these contenders in their pursuit of cl...

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