We may have already seen the biggest trade of the season: Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Two contenders trading big men and a key rotational wing will be hard to beat.
However, it will not be the last trade. Perhaps far from it. With a very crowded West full of quality teams, and teams looking for an edge in the East, plus a handful of potential sellers looking to get worse and pursue Cooper Flagg (and company), things are set up for an in-season rainout. businesses
Here are 10 players most likely to be traded this season, broken down into a few categories.
BIGGEST NAMES ON THE TABLE
The three names in this “big names” section were all in trade rumors this summer and in each case the market was much cooler for them than they or their current teams had hoped.
Brandon Ingram
Ingram is a quality wing that can get a team, he averaged 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists a game last season. However, the former All-Star is seen around the league more as a floor lifter than a guy teams want as a key piece of a contender. Those concerns lead to the bigger problem: This is the final year of Ingram’s contract and he’s seeking a four-year, $208-plus contract extension (or a max contract next summer). Teams don’t want to pay it. Add in that no team wants to hire him as a floor lifter in a season where it will pay to be at the top of the draft, and the market for Ingram quickly dried up.
After Paul George chose Philadelphia, the market heated up around Ingram for a while, with Sacramento, Golden State and Cleveland all mentioned as having interest. All three went in a different direction.
The market could rebound. Teams’ self-evaluations will change once the games start, there will be injuries, and the market for Ingram could open up again. The Pelicans may not be able to get the quality center they want in a trade, but there should be options.
Zach LaVine
LaVine has been available in a trade for a year and a half and that is not changing. LaVine is a former All-Star and elite isolation scorer who averaged 19.5 points per game last season and is a career 38.2% shooter from 3.
Why aren’t teams interested? It starts with a contract that has three years and $138 million left on it — LaVine is expensive in a tax-apron world. Then there’s his injury history, he played just 25 games last season and has played in 65 or more games in four of his 10 NBA seasons. Finally, there are concerns about his lack of defense and how much he contributes to winning.
Like Ingram, this is a case where the market could change as the season progresses, but for now, the Bulls are moving forward with LaVine as part of the team.
D’Angelo Russell
If the Lakers are going to make a bold move to become contenders again in the LeBron James era, it likely involves trading D’Angelo Russell.
That was also the thinking going into last season, then Russell went red-hot in January — averaging 22.7 points and six assists a game that month — and became too valuable to trade for a Laker team trying to make the playoffs. Why they wanted to trade him in the first place came out again in the playoffs when he averaged 14.2 points per game on 38.4% shooting.
Russell is a veteran who can man the point and has a very tradable $18.7 million expiring contract. His name will appear in trade negotiations, whether a deal that suits the Lakers becomes available is another question.
THE BROOKLYN NETWORKS
The next three names on this list are all from the same team: Brooklyn. The Nets are all-in on tanking after trading Mikal Bridges and everyone on the roster is available. However, these names stand out.
Bojan Bogdanovic
Bogdanovic was sent to Brooklyn from New York in the Bridges trade. He’s a 6’7″ wing and career 39.4% shooter from 3, position and skill some teams covet. However, before he’s traded, the 35-year-old will have to show that his offseason wrist surgery is a thing of the past and that he can still light it up, though, so expect to see his name in trade rumors as the season continues.
Dorian Finney-Smith
It’s somewhat surprising that Finney-Smith is still with the Nets. There has been plenty of interest in the 31-year-old senior defensive wing, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds a game for Brooklyn last season. His name came up in trade talks over the summer as well, but no deal was struck.
Wing defense is a high priority around the NBA and as teams try to separate themselves in a crowded West — or try to make a jump in the East — expect some team to step up and make a deal.
Cameron Johnson
The most coveted Nets player by many other front offices, the 6’8″ wing is plug-and-play as a quality wing defender who is a career 39.2% shooter from beyond the 3-point line. He also has playoff experience. , including having gone to the NBA Finals with the Phoenix Suns in 2021.
Brooklyn’s front office knows other teams covet Johnson and have kept the price high. However, if a team needs shooting and help on the wing — for example, if Cleveland got off to a slow start despite bringing back its four-man core, which includes two big but question marks on the wing — wait for a deal.
If you’re betting on one Nets player to be traded, bet on Johnson.
OTHER NAMES TO LOOK AT
Kyle Kuzma
The first two names in this part of the list are Wizards, a team in almost the same boat as Brooklyn: Tanking and selling its veterans.
Kuzma’s name has been in trade rumors since last February’s deadline but nothing happened – and that’s fine with Kuzma. He reportedly turned down an opportunity to be traded to Dallas last season, apparently choosing the bigger role in Washington over returning to a role with a rival team (like when he won a ring with the Lakers in 2020). Would that be different this season?
Kuzma averaged 22.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season, he’s not a great 3-point shooter (33.6% last season, in line with his career average) and is a minus defender. Kuzma can provide solid rotation depth at the forward spot and is on a reasonable contract, making $23.5 million this season and that number drops each of the next two years (to $19.4 million in 2026-27). Teams like that contract, and it’s very tradable if they need to flip him again.
Jonas Valanciunas
A big-bodied, floor-spacing center is the type of player that some teams could use (including the one he left in New Orleans). He averaged 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and is reliable — he’s played in at least 74 games each of the past three seasons. He also has a very reasonable contract making $9 million this season and $20.4 million over the next two seasons combined.
The Wizards will be sellers and Valanciunas’ name will come up. That said, no deal can happen for Valanciunas until after December 15th as he signed a new contract this summer.
Bruce Brown
The sixth man, who was critical to Denver in their championship, took the money last season in Indiana, but things never quite fit there. Brown was traded to Toronto, but the Raptors are rebuilding around Scottie Barnes and are expected to listen to trade offers for Brown – and many GMs saw what he did in Denver and would love a guy like that on their bench.
Brown is a solid defender, is fantastic in transition and can provide secondary shot creation – a skill set that would easily plug a contender’s bench. Brown is making $23 million this season in the final year of his deal, so teams wouldn’t accept long-term money.
If I were to bet on one guy on this list to be traded this season, it would be Brown.
Jeremy Grant
The Trail Blazers are rebuilding and 30-year-old Grant no longer fits their timeline. He is the type of big two-way wing who can shoot the 3 (40.2% last season, up from 40% the previous two years in Portland) and provides size and scoring, he averaged 21 points per game last season. He’s similar to Kuzma in that he sought a bigger offensive role on a smaller team rather than being the fourth option on a contender, but playoff teams calling on Grant will ask him to return to more of what he did in Denver.
Grant’s salary and injury history make a trade more difficult. He has four years and $132.4 million on his contract (the fourth year is a player option) and he hasn’t played in more than 63 games each of the last four seasons. However, there will be interest as many teams will be looking for help on the wing.
