There are NBA trades that could happen, and then there are those that need to transpire for franchises to take the next step toward a championship.

Whether it be the Los Angeles Lakers picking up some more offensive firepower, the Detroit Pistons adding veteran help to erase the worst season in franchise history, the Golden State Warriors punting on some of their young talent to keep the dynasty alive and other moves, some teams have to make moves this summer after disappointing 2023-24 campaigns.

These are five bold (yet realistic) trades that teams should pursue.

Dejounte Murray Returns to San Antonio

San Antonio Spurs Receive: PG Dejounte Murray

Atlanta Hawks Receive: F Keldon Johnson, PG Devonte' Graham, 2025 and 2027 first-round picks (via Atlanta Hawks)

Some teams can slowly build a winner around their star rookie, adding top draft picks over time before going all-in to chase a championship. However, Victor Wembanyama is good enough for the San Antonio Spurs to start making win-now moves immediately. With a 75-year-old head coach in Gregg Popovich, patience isn't an option.

Murray developed into an All-Star point guard with the Spurs, spending his first six seasons in San Antonio before being traded to the Hawks in 2022. That experiment has all but failed.

A reunion with Popovich on a Spurs team that needs an upgrade at point guard makes too much sense not to happen. San Antonio showed interest in Murray at this year's trade deadline, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania, and Murray spoke highly about Popovich to Trae Young on Bleacher Report's "From the Point" podcast:

"I love that dude to death, man. Like, he was a father for me. When I would lose people, I would go in his room, and he would give me that hug. I would cry on his shoulder, I would vent to him," Murray said. "He just was there for me, and that's not even nothing about no basketball. We're talking about real life. When I got hurt, tore my ACL and was out for a year, he squeezed me like, 'You're going to be great. You work, you want to learn, so this is nothing.'"

Atlanta's front office could go straight out of a scene from Draft Day and demand (some of) their first-round picks back that they gave up for Murray in the first place, along with Johnson and a backup point guard for Young in Graham.

The Hawks would get a chance to reshape the roster around Young with control of their picks back. Johnson, who averaged 16.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 27 games as a starter this past season, would give them another rotation piece to plug in.

Meanwhile, Murray would become a leader on a young Spurs team that still has extra first-round picks coming from the Toronto Raptors (top-six protected in 2024), Charlotte Hornets (lottery-protected in 2025) and Chicago Bulls (top-10 protected 2025), as well as multiple future first-round swap rights.

Suns End Bradley Beal Experiment

Miami Heat Receive: SG Bradley Beal

Phoenix Suns Receive: PG Terry Rozier, F Duncan Robinson, G/F Josh Richardson, 2026 second-round pick (via Los Angeles Lakers)

The Bradley Beal trade didn't look good at the time for the Phoenix Suns given his contract and positional overlap with Devin Booker. Now, following a first-round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, it looks even worse moving forward. Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker will be the most expensive trio in basketball next season at roughly $150.7 million in combined salary.

Phoenix should try to shop the remaining three years and $161 million on Beal's contract, but it will be limited by the new second-apron trade restrictions. The Suns won't be able to take back more than Beal's $50.2 million 2024-25 salary in a trade, can't send any cash in trades and aren't allowed to aggregate contracts in a trade.

Despite that, the Miami Heat stand out as a potential trade partner, especially since the Heat finished the regular season ranked only 21st overall in offensive rating and could use Beal's scoring and playmaking. Beal would join a core of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and others without Miami giving up any future first-round picks.

For Phoenix, this would be a way of getting off Beal's contract while slightly trimming the payroll (roughly $2.8 million in savings) and adding three starters/rotation players around Durant and Booker. Rozier (19.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 36.3 percent from three) could slide into Beal's starting backcourt spot while making less than half as much money, and Robinson (12.9 points, 39.5 percent shooting from three) would help keep the floor spread for the stars to operate.

This trade would require Beal's blessing since he possesses a no-trade clause, and Richardson would need to pick up his $3.0 million player option for next season.

Pistons Become Buyers, Bring Kyle Kuzma Home

Detroit Pistons Receive: F Kyle Kuzma

Washington Wizards Receive: F/C Isaiah Stewart, PG Marcus Sasser, 2029 first-round pick (top-five protected), 2027 second-round pick

Two of the Pistons' worst seasons in franchise history have come in the past three years. This team will be linked to a lot of veterans in both free agency and trade rumors as they look to end a tortuous rebuild for the fanbase.

One vet who could have a personal interest in seeing the revitalization of the franchise is Kuzma, who grew up an hour north of Detroit in Flint, Michigan.

"If you play basketball in Michigan, you're going to love the Pistons, especially in my era," Kuzma said via ABC12's Yousef Nasser. "It's just childhood dreams."

The 28-year-old would be a perfect fit at power forward on this young Detroit team, joining a core of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson. His 22.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 46.3 percent shooting this past season would inject some much-needed offense into the Pistons' starting five.

Meanwhile, the Wizards need to tear their franchise down to the studs and get a nice collection of players and picks for their remaining veterans.

Stewart, 22, can play both power forward and center and shot a career-high 38.3 percent from three this past season. Sasser, 23, came on strong at the end of his rookie season, putting up 17.8 points and 5.2 assists while shooting 37.1 percent from deep over his final five games.

Washington would also get a future first-round pick from Detroit, either in 2029 or two years after it conveys its protected first-round pick to the New York Knicks.

Lakers Get Zach LaVine at a Discount

Los Angeles Lakers Receive: SG Zach LaVine

Chicago Bulls Receive: PG D'Angelo Russell, PG Gabe Vincent, F Jarred Vanderbilt

LaVine won't be the favorite target for Lakers fans this summer. But if pursuits of Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young and others fail, LaVine could be a lower-cost option instead.

The 29-year-old UCLA product could thrive as a complementary piece to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He'd give the Lakers another potential 25-points-per-game scorer, and they might not have to sacrifice any future first-round picks or Austin Reaves in a deal.

A core of James, Davis, LaVine, Reaves and Rui Hachimura would be a great starting point, especially since Los Angeles would still have three first-round picks to use (either 2024 or 2025 along with 2029 and 2031) as well as some young talent to chase an additional star.

Russell doesn't look like he has a future in Los Angeles and would need to pick up his $18.7 million player option to help orchestrate this deal. Both Vincent and Vanderbilt battled injuries nearly all season.

Chicago likely won't be getting any great offers for LaVine given his recent injuries and the three years and $138 million remaining on his contract. Swapping LaVine for three starters/role players who all make under $20 million would give the Bulls far more flexibility moving forward no matter what direction they choose to go in.

Warriors Revive the Dynasty with Mikal Bridges

Golden State Warriors Receive: F Mikal Bridges, PG Dennis Schröder

Brooklyn Nets Receive: F Jonathan Kuminga, F Andrew Wiggins, 2025 first-round pick, 2026 and 2028 second-round picks (via Atlanta Hawks)

The Warriors made the mistake of sitting on their current roster at that trade deadline and not making any additions. That resulted in a 10th-place finish in the Western Conference and an opening-game play-in tournament exit.

Golden State owes it to Stephen Curry to pursue more win-now talent this offseason while trying to get off the remainder of Andrew Wiggins' contract.

Bridges is among the most reliable players in the NBA, which would be an important factor for a Warriors team planning to keep Draymond Green. The 27-year-old still hasn't missed a game in his six seasons and averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals this year while shooting 37.2 percent from deep.

Bridges would be an upgrade over both Wiggins and Kuminga on both sides of the ball, and he's making less than $25 million in each of the next two seasons. Meanwhile, Schröder (14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 37.5 percent from three) would become the new backup point guard behind Curry, since Chris Paul will almost certainly not return for financial reasons.

The Nets are in a weird spot right now since they owe so many of their own future picks to the Houston Rockets from the James Harden trade. But with this deal, they'd get a combination of veteran talent in Wiggins, a high-upside prospect in the 21-year-old Kuminga and a package of draft picks, including an unprotected first-rounder next summer.