With the NBA trade deadline a little over three weeks away, it won’t be long before teams start pulling the trigger on trades.
We’re taking a look at the teams that will be most active before the trade deadline. Contending teams will be looking to make trades in an effort to beef up their roster ahead of the playoffs, while teams at the bottom of the barrel will be looking to make trades that help them get young assets in return for veteran players.
Here’s a list of the 10 teams that will be most active before the trade deadline.
Orlando Magic
The Sporting News’ Sean Deveney reports that the Magic have “picked up their attempts” to trade veteran power forward Serge Ibaka, and that center Nikola Vucevic and point guard Elfrid Payton are potential trade targets as well. Ibaka, who was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder last June, will become a free agent after this season, which explains the Magic’s eagerness to trade the 27-year-old. The Magic’s asking price for Ibaka is said to be a young player and a draft pick, according to Deveney. Orlando is currently five games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but this season has been a disappointment, and GM Rob Hennigan has said he will explore all options to improve the team.
Chicago Bulls
No one is safe in Chicago. According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, some rival executives think the Bulls and Boston Celtics “will rekindle trade talks centered on Jimmy Butler before the Feb. 23 deadline.” The teams discussed a potential trade involving the three-time All-Star prior to the 2016 NBA draft, but Chicago opted to hang onto Butler. Point guard Rajon Rondo and forward Nikola Mirotic have also been rumored to be available, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Bulls are in the middle of a playoff race in the wide-open Eastern Conference, but it sounds like the team is interested in selling if they’re willing to part with Butler, Chicago’s best player by far.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets have a couple of players they’re interested in trading. One of them is center Jusuf Nurkic. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Nikola Jokic and Nurkic “didn’t click as a pairing,” so the Nuggets are trying to find Nurkic a new home where he can be a starter. In addition to Nurkic, Stein notes that forwards Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler might be available. The Nuggets currently hold the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. But with the team heading in a new direction with its younger players, the Nuggets are probably looking to get rid of their veteran players in exchange for young players and draft picks.
Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers probably aren’t a playoff team yet despite a wealth of talented players, so we’ll go ahead and assume that they’ll be sellers at the trade deadline. By now, everybody knows the 76ers have too many big men on the roster, and they aren’t about to trade Joel Embiid based on the way he’s been playing lately, so that leaves Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel as potential trade candidates. The latter has expressed frustration about the logjam in the front court. There are plenty of teams in need of rebounding help, and Noel, who is pulling down nine rebounds per game as a starter, could be of service.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns, who currently own the second-worst record in the league, are probably heading to a lottery pick in this summer’s draft, so they may be sellers at the trade deadline. How the team performs in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline could influence the decisions of GM Ryan McDonough.
“They’re very important, obviously, in determining whether we’re a viable team to potentially compete for and get into the playoffs this year or not,” McDonough told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “If we’re within striking distance of the eighth seed at the trade deadline, that will probably help determine our approach. And if we’re not, if we’re not a viable playoff contender, that will probably determine it the other way. We’re kind of open to either direction at this point.”
Tyson Chandler, Jared Dudley, Brandon Knight and P.J. Tucker have been mentioned as possible trade candidates for the Suns. Multiple teams are said to be interested in Tucker, who is a solid defender and could help a contender.
Minnesota Timberwolves
According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Timberwolves are actively shopping point guard Ricky Rubio and have attached guard-forward Shabazz Muhammad to multiple offers. Per Wojnarwoski, Minnesota is looking for a “bridge” guard in return for Rubio, a player capable of starting in the short-term before giving way to rookie Kris Dunn. With so many teams looking for point guard help at the trade deadline, the Timberwolves should have plenty of offers for Rubio, who is still just 26 years old and under contract through 2019.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics have what a lot of teams are after at the trade deadline: young assets. In addition to their young players—Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart, etc.—the Celtics own the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round picks in 2017 and 2018, which some teams would be willing to part with star players just to get their hands on. But what the Celtics really need is some help on the glass. They rank 28th in rebounding, and there are players to be had who wouldn’t break the bank for the Celtics, so to speak. But if Boston is gunning to add a star player to play alongside point guard Isaiah Thomas, then it has the pieces to pull off a blockbuster trade.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks reportedly pulled Paul Millsap off the trade market, but there was talk earlier this season that Atlanta wanted to trigger a rebuild and use the star forward, who is a free agent after this season, as trade bait to gather young assets. But with the Hawks sitting comfortably in the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, they may try to go deep in the postseason with the roster that they have. That didn’t stop them from trading Kyle Korver to the Cleveland Cavaliers, however. It’s hard to tell which way Atlanta is leaning on possibly rebuilding, but the Hawks should still be a team to watch at the trade deadline.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors, along with the Celtics, appear to be the only challengers to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. But if Toronto is serious about dethroning LeBron James and Co., then it will need to bolster the roster ahead of the trade deadline, specifically at the power forward position where the Raptors have tried multiple players. Neither Pascal Siakam, Patrick Patterson or Jared Sullinger has solved the team’s rebounding woes, so Toronto is probably better off exploring the trade market for help. Raptors GM Masai Ujiri says he has taken a lot of trade calls, and it will be interesting to see which players he makes available.
New York Knicks
With all the trade talk surrounding star forward Carmelo Anthony these days, it comes as no surprise that the Knicks are on this list. Whether or not they move Anthony remains unclear, but they’re already reaching out to multiple teams about trading for the nine-time All-Star. The Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Celtics are among the teams that have been mentioned as suitors for Anthony, who has a no-trade clause in his contract. Trading a player of Anthony’s caliber could net the Knicks a pretty good return and possibly rid the team of a lot of drama that has gone on as of late, but it would also mean that New York, for the fourth year in a row, would miss the playoffs.
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