On Sunday, December 15, the green flag for the NBA trading season will truly drop. That’s when 85 players who signed new contracts (or extended old ones) become eligible to be traded, making many more deals possible and starting the NBA trade season in earnest.
With that, trade rumors start to simmer around the NBA – there’s usually a trade between December 15th and January 15th, it takes the pressure of the February 6th trade deadline to get the NBA trade market boiling. NBA. However, rumors are starting to swirl, here are the latest big names and rumors around the league.
Jimmy Butler available
If you want a little Real Housewives-level drama, we offer the Jimmy Butler business saga: Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Heat are open to hearing offers for Butler and that six-time All-Star agent Bernie Lee has made it known that Butler wants to play for a contender and plans to exercise his player option for next season ( $52.4 million, he is looking for a new, longer contract). In a classic rant referencing Peter Vecsey and ChatGBT, Lee replied on X that Charania needs to stop using her name in “fictional” stories. Charania stood by her reporting.
It’s all great entertainment, but ultimately it makes no sense.
The reality on the court is that from the moment Pat Riley said the Heat were not going to extend Butler and wanted to see him on the court more after last season, he played 60 games last season and missed the team’s playoff series against Boston. – other front offices around the league believed Butler was available via trade. No doubt the Heat will listen to offers for Butler at the deadline. That said, Miami has won four in a row and looks like a team that is starting to find its rhythm – Miami is notoriously an organization that lets things play out and makes its decisions in the offseason – so temper expectations.
Making this trade is also a lot less likely than anyone seems to want to admit. The NBA’s new CBA, with its tax aprons and trade restrictions on teams close to them, makes this trade nearly impossible to pull off at the deadline — at least with any team Butler wants to play for. Friend of this site Keith Smith did a fantastic analysis of all this over on SpoTrac..
Golden State is the most mentioned destination and is looking for a star, but with Butler making $48.8 million this season and both teams facing fiscal aprons, the only way to make Butler work with the Warriors is to call on a third team. and even then, the price is probably too high for Golden State. For example, Smith put together a trade that works under the cap, but the Warriors would have to give up Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II just to get Butler. That’s four quality rotation players for Butler, a 35-year-old with a long injury history – are the Warriors actually better after this trade? No.
According to Charania, Phoenix would be a destination Butler would be open to, but that will only happen if the Heat want Bradley Beal back in the trade, which won’t happen.
Houston could easily make the deal, but the Rockets have told everyone who will listen that they love their young core and won’t make a significant trade before this deadline. Rockets general manager Raphael Stone said on SiriusXM NBA Radio“We have absolutely no plans to change anything, and I would be shocked if anything changed this season.”
The Mavericks would have to give up five rotation players to make this work, including PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, which is not the case. People are apparently required by law to mention the Lakers in any trade, but Los Angeles getting Butler seems worse than Miami or Golden State.
Expect a lot of rumors surrounding Butler between now and the trade deadline, but don’t be shocked when he plays the rest of the season in Miami.
LeBron James controls his own destiny
The idea that LeBron James would be frustrated with the Lakers and ask for a trade is a favorite of everyone looking for engagement and clicks.
The reality is much simpler: LeBron James has a no-trade clause and is in complete control of the process. So far he has done ZERO indications that he wants to leave the Lakers – in fact, reports indicate that he wants the Lakers to make a trade to put more talent around him in Los Angeles. He could have moved on at the last trade deadline (when the Warriors initiated a trade, the Lakers asked for LeBron and he said no), and he could have done it this summer as a free agent, but instead he re-signed with the Lakers and got that no-trade clause.
LeBron loves playing in the same organization and sitting next to his son Bronny during games – he won’t leave that. Although he could ask Bronny to be part of a trade with the Warriors to try to recapture the magic of Paris with Stephen Curry, the reality is that this is a trade that is almost impossible to make in due to tax restrictions on luxury hand-binding aprons. from the Lakers and Warriors, neither can accept more money in a trade than they send (very similar to Butler for the Warriors, Butler and LeBron have very similar salaries this season). Matching an almost dollar-for-dollar trade becomes that much more difficult when LeBron asks Bronny to be part of the deal.
And all of that is moot unless LeBron demands a trade, and so far he hasn’t.
The Warriors are still looking for another star
What’s true about the LeBron and Butler speculation is this: The Warriors want another star next to Stephen Curry. This might not be possible at the trade deadline.
For now, Jonathan Kuminga has his chance – he’s in a contract year and has the opportunity to prove he should be the No. 2 on this team alongside Curry, the player who can lead the Warriors to the sequel. Steve Kerr has moved Kuminga into the starting lineup, and how that plays out has long-term implications for how the Warriors build for the future. At the deadline, it will likely look more like last summer, when the Warriors chased Paul George and Lauri Markkanen but blew their chance.
A Brandon Ingram trade is more likely
Brandon Ingram of the Pelicans is the biggest name with a legitimate chance of being moved at the trade deadline.
The challenge isn’t this season, where Ingram is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game — he could help teams on the court, he’s an elite scorer in insulation. The challenge is the years to come. Ingram is making $36 million this season and wants an extension closer to his max of around $50 million per season. The Pelicans reportedly — and front office sources at other teams that NBC Sports spoke with — want Ingram to take a reduction in his current salary. Obviously, Ingram and his new agent don’t see things that way. His next contract will be one of the most interesting subplots of this offseason.
At 5-21 and with no realistic path to the playoffs, the Pelicans are looking to the future. Other front offices are not only calling about Ingram, but also testing the waters on CJ McCollum and Herb Jones trades, ESPN’s Charania reports. There is no doubt that Trey Murphy III is being talked about by other front offices as well. (Don’t bet on an injured Zion Williamson, with three years and $128 million left on his contract, to draw serious interest during the season.)
Player to watch: Jonas Valanciunas
When talking to front office personnel, one of the most anticipated names is Wizards big man Jonas Valanciunas.
He’s a rock-solid five who can stretch the court (career 34.6% from 3), averaging 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for the Wizards and knows how to use his size to defend the paint. He has a very reasonable contract of $9.9 million this season and $20 million total for the next two seasons.
A number of teams – including the Lakers – are looking for a center and Washington will get one of the first calls.
Denver wants to trade?
Are the Nuggets title contenders? Despite having the best player on the planet in Nikola Jokic, Denver sits at 12-10 in the West and would be a game team if the playoffs started today. Everyone around Jokic has been less than impressive this season.
This makes the front office “eager” to “shake things up,” reports Marc Stein in the Stein Line Newsletter. Denver has reportedly suspended reserve forward Zeke Nnaji, who has played a very limited role for the Nuggets this season but has some fans in front offices around the league. We’ll see if that means anything, but it’s worth watching.
