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Although just two weeks into the 2021-22 NBA season, we already have a good idea of names who could be traded before the deadline.
The Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving situations still aren’t resolved, Kristaps Porzingis looks worse than ever in Dallas, and Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III have already been in trade talks to leave the Sacramento Kings.
While these players are no stranger to trade rumors, who could secretly join them in the coming months?
Looking at players who are either seeing decreased roles, had failed contract extension talks, are suiting up for teams that are already falling out of the playoff picture or are heading toward unrestricted free agency, the following five guys could become sneaky candidates to pop up on the trade block before the February 10 deadline.
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Primary reason: Unrestricted free agency looming; no one is safe when looking to upgrade roster around Damian Lillard
While Lillard’s future in Portland seemed cloudy for a second this offseason, only a direct trade request is going to move him from the Blazers (and even that may not be enough).
Instead, this is a team that will continue to build around Lillard by any means necessary. Although Portland had a fairly quiet offseason while adding vets like Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller, Tony Snell, Ben McLemore and Dennis Smith Jr., any plunge in the standings this season could switch the Blazers into desperation mode, putting players like CJ McCollum, Anfernee Simons, Norman Powell, Nassir Little or even Jusuf Nurkic on the table if it means upgrading the roster overall.
Of the five, only Nurkic will be an unrestricted free agent this coming offseason, leaving his future in Portland in doubt. The 27-year-old center has produced when on the court, but injuries have limited him to just eight games in 2019-20 and 37 last season. Nurkic has already admitted fatigue has been an issue for him this year as well.
If Portland wants to upgrade the center position, or at least find someone who’s under contract past next summer, packaging Nurkic and some young talent and/or draft picks is an option. Myles Turner would be a better alternative defensively, Christian Wood is a more versatile scorer, and Jakob Poeltl (14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks) is off to a career-best start and has two years and $18 million left on his deal.
Nurkic is off to his own solid start this year (12.8 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 53.3 percent shooting through five games) and could be a hot deadline name if Portland looks to upgrade or wants more stability at the position before he hits free agency.
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Primary reason: Spurs turn into sellers in loaded West; the rise of Josh Primo
The San Antonio Spurs have only dipped their toe into the rebuild waters thus far, and a 13th-ranked net rating (plus-2.3) suggests they could still be competitive despite losing DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay in the offseason. Still, the West remains stacked, so even reaching the playoffs looks like a long shot for a young San Antonio squad.
Dejounte Murray has become the alpha of the group by default, and the 25-year-old point guard’s 17.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game all represent career highs. He’s also a terrific point-of-attack defender who has good size at 6’4″ with a 6’10” wingspan.
Normally a team that stays quiet at the deadline, San Antonio could get a nice return for Murray should it make him available. There’s also a chance he serves as the starter in a potential Ben Simmons deal, although Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported the “Sixers front office doesn’t appear to be moved by the prospect of landing Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker IV from San Antonio” for now.
It’s worth monitoring the progress of 18-year-old rookie Joshua Primo, whom the Spurs selected with the 12th overall pick and could be the point guard of the future. At 6’6″ with good shooting and defensive potential, Primo is going to get some run with the Austin Spurs of the G League after seeing just six total minutes thus far in the NBA.
If Primo starts producing faster than expected and the Spurs receive competitive trade offers for Murray at the deadline, it only makes sense that San Antonio could trade it’s longest-tenured player.
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Primary reason: Tanking Rockets want to capitalize on Wood’s trade value before 2023 unrestricted free agency
A 1-4 start confirms what many thought to be true coming into the season: The Houston Rockets are not a good basketball team and probably won’t be for a few more years.
While Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Alperen Sengun and others are all core pieces to Houston’s rebuild, Christian Wood, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, is on the fence.
Even though 26 isn’t considered old, there’s still quite a gap between Wood and the 19-year-old Green. There’s also free agency to consider, as Wood can decide he’s had enough rebuilding and leave Houston in the summer of 2023.
As painful as it may be in the short term, the Rockets should seriously consider trading Wood before the deadline in order to maximize what they can get in return. The power forward/center is averaging 19.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and shooting 46.2 percent from three over his first five games and would be one of the most prized trade targets should Houston make him available.
Teams like the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers could all use a center upgrade and have a combination of young talent and/or draft picks to send in return.
Trading Wood also essentially secures Houston’s spot at the bottom of the NBA, tied for the best odds of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft.
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Primary reason: Loss of a starting job and decrease in production heading into an extension summer
Coming into the season, P.J. Washington—a floor-spacing power forward who was turning into a strong defender as well—had been a starter in 118 of his 122 career games with the Charlotte Hornets.
While a right knee sprain has limited his production this year (6.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 32.1 percent shooting in 23.0 minutes), Washington was already removed from the starting five in favor of Miles Bridges.
There seems to be little chance he’ll get his starting spot back, either, given the incredibly hot start Bridges has gotten off to (25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 50.9 percent shooting in 35.7 minutes) in Washington’s old role.
If the 23-year-old is no longer viewed as a core piece in Charlotte, he’s going to become too expensive to keep.
LaMelo Ball is going to get a max contract, Gordon Hayward still has three years and $91.5 million remaining on his deal, and Terry Rozier signed a four-year, $96.3 million extension. After failing to agree to his own extension this past offseason, Bridges is going to get a hefty raise next summer in restricted free agency with his career-best play.
This could leave Washington, who is also extension-eligible next summer, as the odd man out. Teams that are looking for floor-stretching and defense should call the Hornets and check on Washington’s availability.
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Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Primary reason: Suns don’t want to give Ayton the max
While 2018 draftees Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Michael Porter Jr. were all rewarded with max contract extensions this past offseason, the No. 1 pick in the draft was not.
Deandre Ayton was eligible to sign a five-year, $172.5 million deal and wasn’t willing to accept anything less than the max, something the Suns weren’t willing to do.
His early results (13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 0.6 blocks, 62.5 percent shooting in 29.8 minutes) are basically in line with Ayton’s career averages, so it’s unlikely Phoenix will suddenly be eager to max him out next summer, either. There’s yet to be any trade chatter involving the 23-year old, although ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski acknowledged Ayton is unhappy with the organization.
“Phoenix now faces an uncertain future with Ayton. The franchise center is unhappy with the franchise’s consistent stance to his representatives that the organization simply didn’t foresee him as a max player—regardless of which of his peers in the 2018 NBA draft class earned max deals this offseason, sources said.”
The Suns can match any deal Ayton gets in restricted free agency, but that may mean maxing him out. If Phoenix isn’t comfortable doing this (with big deals already given to Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges), general manager James Jones could scan the trade market at the deadline and look at his options.
There should be plenty of teams that would love to add Ayton should he become available, possibly with a return offer that Jones and the Suns can’t refuse.
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