It is possible that, with the trade deadline just around the corner, this season's three biggest moves have already been made. The Los Angeles Clippers brought James Harden home on Halloween, the New York Knicks acquired OG Anunoby in late December and the Indiana Pacers landed Pascal Siakam in mid-January.
There are more deals to be done, though. Every contender is trying to improve around the edges, and, if your favorite team isn't on that level, it's probably either trying to get there or one of several "sellers." Last week, the Miami Heat nabbed Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets, and both teams involved might make more moves.
What follows is not an exhaustive list of everyone whose name has appeared in trade rumors lately. It's a look at 25 of the most interesting players (in no particular order) who might be on a different team by 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 8, based on reporting, rumors and recent history.
Sometimes, it's pretty simple: The player in question is worth more to better teams than he is to his current one. Let's start there.
Which players are the sellers selling?
If someone who hadn't watched a single game or heard a single trade rumor wanted to figure out who might be on the move, identifying experienced, high-salaried players on non-playoff teams would be a good place to start. When a player and his team are not on the same timeline, a trade often follows.
1. Dejounte Murray, Hawks
It's not like Murray is having a bad season; he's actually never been more efficient, mostly because he's taking more 3s than ever before and making 38.8% of them (through 45 games). Pairing him with Trae Young hasn't worked the way the Hawks hoped, though, as they've been dismal defensively and are well below .500. Atlanta gave up a lot of draft capital to get Murray in the summer of 2022, and now the team should be looking to recoup some of it. His four-year, $114.1 million extension kicks in next season, and while that is a fine value proposition, it no longer makes much sense for this franchise, which is clearly in need of a reset. (It's also fair to wonder if it's time for the Hawks to trade Young, their franchise player. This doesn't seem likely at the moment, but much crazier things have happened.)
2. Bogdan Bogdanovic, Hawks
Once again one of the best reserves in the NBA, Bogdanovic has been instant offense for Atlanta, averaging a career-high 21.6 points per 36 minutes on pretty good efficiency. In a different situation, the 31-year-old could be a bit more of a playmaker and a bit less of a bucket-getter. Since he is making $18.7 million this season and is on a descending contract, he's one of the more manageable potential additions for win-now teams that can't realistically -- or just don't want to -- trade for, say, the next guy on this list. (Clint Capela, the Hawks' 29-year-old center, and AJ Griffin, their 20-year-old, out-of-the-rotation wing, are also names to monitor.)
3. Bojan Bogdanovic, Pistons
Bogdanovic has remained remarkably consistent over the last few years and it's no mystery why Detroit is playing him 33 minutes a game even though he turns 35 in April. Part of the appeal is that he's an awesome shooter -- he's shooting 41% from deep again -- but he is much more than a floor spacer. The 6-foot-7 forward is a source of offense in the pick-and-roll, in the post and as a cutter, and, in the event that a better team pries him away from the Pistons, there's no reason to expect he'd struggle with fewer touches. I'm curious, though, whether or not Detroit will be willing to part with him. You'd think that the vets with trade value -- Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Monte Morris -- would be more than available, but if the organization fears finishing with the worst record of all-time, it might approach the deadline differently than a terrible team typically would.
4. Kyle Kuzma, Wizards
Washington is in the first season of a rebuild that should have started years earlier. It traded its two best players last summer, but, since one of them had a no-trade clause and the other had a player option for this season, it didn't get the sort of return that teams usually do when they blow it up. To remedy that, it could -- and probably should -- trade Kuzma, who is 28 years old and in Year 1 of a four-year, $90 million contract that descends in value every season. This was a smart, team-friendly deal for the Wizards, and, for some teams that didn't go after Anunoby or Siakam, acquiring Kuzma might make more sense. His career-high 30.2% usage rate (through 46 games) will drop drastically just about anywhere else, but it's encouraging that his efficiency -- admittedly only decent -- has stayed steady in this featured role.
5. Jerami Grant, Trail Blazers
Grant will be 30 in March -- not old, but not on the Blazers' timeline. His new contract is less favorable than Kuzma's, but it's not so huge as to kill all of his trade value. This season has been the best season of Grant's career, in terms of blending usage (25.6%) and efficiency (58.1% true shooting), and Portland will likely never get better trade offers for him. (Fun fact: In 105 games since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Grant has made 40.7% of his catch-and-shoot 3s on 5.1 attempts per game.)
6. Malcolm Brogdon, Trail Blazers
The Blazers have been way better with the 2023 Sixth Man of the Year than without him, but how much does that matter? The 31-year-old Brogdon has been an obvious trade candidate since the moment Portland landed him in the Jrue Holiday trade, and while he's been a stabilizing influence this season, the front office would value a decent first-rounder more … right? (I'm also curious what it could get for centers Robert Williams III and Deandre Ayton, should it make them available. The former is out for the season and the latter has remained perplexing.)
7. Bruce Brown, Raptors
Brown, acquired in the Siakam trade, can fit anywhere because he'll tailor his game to whatever the situation demands. If he's next to a bunch of stars who need the ball, he'll cut, screen, roll, space and bring his particular brand of energy and defensive versatility every night. If his team needs him to initiate offense, well, just last season he was the backup point guard for the team that won the NBA title. Brown's salary might seem steep for a role player, but some teams will see this is a feature, not a bug -- Indiana has already used his contract as part of a deal for a star, and that could happen again. Even Toronto needs to weigh whatever it can get for him now against the possibility of doing something bigger with him later. (Reserve big man Chris Boucher is in a similar position with the Raptors; he's making $11.8 million this season and owed $10.8 million next season.)
8. PJ Washington, Hornets
Are the Hornets having a full-on fire sale or are they going to be selective? It made sense to move Rozier and it makes sense to move Miles Bridges' expiring contract, but Washington might be a different story. He's 25, just signed an extremely affordable contract in restricted free agency and isn't likely to lose much value if they keep him for the rest of the season. The case to trade him, though, is simple: Charlotte probably can't get much of anything for the other guys it would consider moving, so, if there's a good prospective Washington deal on the table, it might as well take the win.
9. Luke Kennard, Grizzlies
Memphis doesn't need to trade Kennard before he has played with all of its core players for an extended period of time. If it has seen enough to determine that it can't play him next to Ja Morant (because defense), though, then it might be best to find a deal before he's just an expiring contract. Kennard remains one of the league's best shooters; in 45 games with the Grizzlies since being acquired at last season's deadline, he has shot 110 for 207 (53.1%) on catch-and-shoot 3s. (If Memphis is in sell mode, I could see some smart team nabbing glue-guy extraordinaire John Konchar, who is on a $2.4 million expiring contract.)
10. Dorian Finney-Smith, Nets
The Nets' season has been spiraling downward for seven weeks, but, since they don't own their 2024 draft pick, there is no incentive to bottom out. Finney-Smith, 30, is the kind of role player every good team wants, a 3-and-D-and-a-bit-more forward who stands 6-foot-7 and can guard up or down. His contract, which doesn't expire until the summer of 2026, makes him even more valuable, and it also gives Brooklyn options -- if the offers are good enough, it can move him and stay flexible as it builds the roster back up; if not, it can keep him and see what the offseason brings. (The Nets are one of the league's most intriguing teams ahead of the deadline, as they could conceivably be buyers, sellers or a hybrid, i.e. buy in one transaction, sell in another. It's worth noting that 30-year-old wing Royce O'Neale and 30-year-old guard Spencer Dinwiddie are both on expiring contracts, as is 24-year-old center Nicolas Claxton.)
Which players could the buyers be moving?
Sometimes, a team will shop a player around less because of how he has played than because of the position in which the team has found itself. If you're an executive trying to fill a hole on the roster, you need stuff -- picks, prospects and, often, sizable salaries -- to send the other way.
11. Tim Hardaway Jr., Mavericks
Hardaway is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate and his shooting gravity is important to the Mavericks, so they shouldn't exactly be desperate to move him. It is possible, though, that he will end up playing his way out of Dallas -- the team ranks 22nd on defense despite its efforts to balance the roster last offseason, and, if the front office is going to acquire someone who could make a difference, it will have to give up someone with real value. Trading Hardaway, perhaps with a young player, might be the only path to an upgrade.
12. Andrew Wiggins, Warriors
The Warriors are not even in the play-in right now, and, if you have a straightforward trade involving Wiggins that would solve their problems, I'd love to hear it. He's on the list, though, because he's the best representation of the complicated spot in which they've found themselves. This has been the worst season of his career, but he turns 29 in February, so he's in his theoretical prime, in the first year of a contract that looked favorable for Golden State when he signed it. This team desperately needs a player exactly like the version of Wiggins it had a couple of years ago, and, very recently, as part of a new starting frontcourt next to Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green, Wiggins has started to look more like that guy. (If the Warriors bet on him finding his form -- or if his value has sunk so low that they keep him around by default -- and they don't blow up their longtime core, then they can either stand pat or try to package Chris Paul's $30.8 million expiring contract with young players.)
13. P.J. Tucker, Clippers
Tucker, 38, can still play, but he hasn't for two months. It turns out the Clippers, who employ Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, didn't need another guy to defend star forwards. And given that they start a non-shooting big and bring Russell Westbrook off the bench, the spacing has been easier to manage without Tucker in the rotation. There aren't a lot of holes on this roster, but if the front office can turn the veteran into a player who fits more cleanly, it should.
14. D'Angelo Russell, Lakers
It's a funny time for Russell to be on a hot streak. He entered Monday's loss against Houston averaging 27.5 points on 52.3/54.2/92.0 shooting in his previous eight games, and it's unclear whether this makes him more likely to be traded or less so. The Lakers re-signed Russell last summer despite the fact he was unable to stay on the floor against the Nuggets in the playoffs, but it was widely assumed that they'd look for an upgrade at his position. He can still theoretically be packaged with a future first-rounder and forward Rui Hachimura, who's making $15.7 million in Year 1 of a three-year deal, to bring back a high-salaried star … but who's the obtainable star in this scenario? As obvious as it has been that Los Angeles' offense isn't good enough, it might not be able to fix it with a big Hollywood blockbuster.
15. Tyler Herro, Heat
Miami is on a seven-game losing streak, in the middle of the pack and presumably unwilling to trade rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. It's not that Herro is the only guy the Heat could realistically shop, but in Rozier the Heat did just acquire a fairly similar offensive player. The question now is under what circumstances they'd be willing to move him. Previously, whenever Herro's name has been in trade rumors, the front office has been star-hunting. Could he now be swapped for a non-star that makes Miami's pieces fit better?
16. Quentin Grimes, Knicks
The 23-year-old wing is no longer starting, and rather than empowering him to do more with the ball in his hands, it might just trade him for a proven playmaker. His $2.4 million salary could be combined with Evan Fournier's $18.9 million, and the Knicks have played well enough since acquiring Anunoby to justify aggressively trying to improve the team further. Unfortunately for them, though, Grimes' value has surely dipped since they were trying to keep him out of potential Donovan Mitchell deals following his strong showing at summer league in 2022.
17. Davis Bertans, Thunder
Bertans rarely sees the court for Oklahoma City, but his $17 million salary can basically be used as a giant trade exception. If the Thunder, who are a game out of first in the West, have their eyes on a player that fits with their extremely young, extremely talented core, they might be able get him by bundling Bertans with future picks, of which they have many. (The Rockets can do the same thing with Victor Oladipo's expiring contract, and I feel obligated to mention that 22-year-old OKC curiosity Aleksej Pokusevski, who had a nice little run early in the 2022-23 season before a leg injury, is in the last year of his rookie deal on a $5 million salary.)
18. Robert Covington, 76ers
He could be a part of the Sixers' playoff rotation, but he's been out for a while with a knee injury, isn't coming back for at least another few weeks and got a couple of DNP-CDs before he got hurt. As soon as they made the Harden deal, which brought Covington back to town, team president Daryl Morey told reporters they'd evaluate the roster and "see where the gaps are, and then now we have a good asset base and a lot of flexibility" to improve the roster. No one should be surprised, then, if the master of deflections is re-routed, and the same goes for fellow veteran forward Marcus Morris, who is on a $17.1 million expiring contract. One might even argue, as Philadelphia guard Patrick Beverley did on a recent podcast, that the front office owes it to Joel Embiid to add talent. (This might not be the right market for it, but if there's a chance to swing big, then Tobias Harris' $39.3 million expiring contract could come into play.)
19. Harrison Barnes, Kings
Barnes, 31, has caught fire a couple of times in January, including a career-high 39-point performance against Golden State. He was reportedly on the table when the Kings were interested in Siakam, though, and the Kings' 27-18 record could be extremely misleading -- in non-garbage-time minutes, they had a negative point differential before Monday's win against Memphis' B team, per Cleaning The Glass. They probably need to do something, and it's not like they're about to trade De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis or Keegan Murray.
Don't forget about pre-agency
Free agency has been deemphasized in recent years, as more and more stars have instead changed teams via trade. There is still risk inherent in keeping a soon-to-be free agent through the end of the season, though, and, in many instances, a front office trading for a player's Bird rights in February is effectively getting its offseason work done early.
20. DeMar DeRozan, Bulls
There hasn't been that much buzz about DeRozan lately, but what happens if the six-time All-Star just plays out the season in Chicago? He'll be 35 in August; are the Bulls prepared to pay what it would take to re-sign him? This partnership started pretty well two-and-a-half seasons ago, but ever since Lonzo Ball's injury, the team has been adrift in the league's murky middle, which is not where DeRozan would prefer to be. His salary isn't prohibitive, especially compared to LaVine's, but he's older and suitors must account for the cost of retaining him. (It's also notable that Clippers star Paul George hasn't signed a contract extension and could be a free agent, but they've been playing so well that it felt wrong to include him, particularly given how optimistic everybody sounded after Kawhi Leonard extended.)
21. Obi Toppin, Pacers
I still like how Toppin fits with the Pacers, but they moved him to the second unit for defensive purposes well before they acquired Siakam. There are only so many minutes available for him for the foreseeable future, and rookie Jarace Walker is waiting in the wings. If Indiana doesn't anticipate re-signing Toppin in restricted free agency, then it could send him to a place that has more room for him, just like New York did last summer. (Two other forwards from the 2020 draft who are heading into restricted free agency and haven't exactly broken out: Chicago's Patrick Williams and Atlanta's Saddiq Bey.)
22. Gary Trent Jr., Raptors
Trent just turned 25, and the Raptors should not be trying to get worse at shooting. That said, they've lost several players for nothing in recent offseasons, and letting him hit free agency risks adding him to the list. Maybe they can make a move similar to the one that originally brought Trent to Toronto, in which they swap a more established player (back then it was Norman Powell) for a younger one who will be cheaper to retain.
23. Kelly Olynyk, Jazz
Olynyk will never be the face of the NBA's positional revolution, but he's a 6-foot-11 "big" who functions as a guard most of the time in Utah's offense. Since he's been such an important part of the Jazz's turnaround, they can't possibly be in a hurry to trade him. There could be a real bidding war, though, and at a certain point it might be silly for them to say, "No, you can't have this complementary player who turns 33 in April and can bolt in July." (Utah guard Jordan Clarkson has been in the rumor mill, too, but his situation is a bit different because he's signed through 2026. Clarkson might actually be the more likely Jazzman to move, as there are a couple other score-first guards on the roster and Olynyk's skill set is rare.)
24. Tyus Jones, Wizards
Jones, 27, has been super efficient for the Wizards this season, but even if he weren't about to be a free agent, I'd strongly bet against him being their point guard when they next have a playoff-caliber roster. He profiles as precisely the type of player who can adjust to a new situation smoothly, so any contender looking for more playmaking should have interest in him. And unless Washington is serious about re-signing Jones in a few months, it should try to get something for him while it can. (Same deal for Delon Wright, Jones' backup, if there's a worthwhile return.)
