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The Four Hottest Trade Deadline Candidates and What the Future Might Hold for Each

Jan 29

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The trade deadline is almost a week away, and it looks to be one of the most chaotic the league has gotten in recent memory. A number of legitimate stars could be, or dare I say are likely to be on the move by next Thursday afternoon, and it’ll be fascinating to see who bites on the disgruntled talent hungry to arrive at their newest destination. Some are more obvious than others, but let’s go through the five hottest commodities on the trade deadline market, what their market is looking like, and who it makes sense for to go all-in on a big move.


  1. Jimmy Butler

The biggest story around the league as of late has been the ongoing Jimmy Butler saga in Miami, as the two sides are still very much entrenched in this messy breakup that has Butler more than anything wanting out of Miami before the trade deadline arrives next Thursday. Now in his sixth season with the team, Butler’s time with the Heat has been fascinating to say the least, with a ton of highs along the way but a tenure that might be best remembered for how ugly it’s ending. Pat Riley threw shade Butler’s way this offseason and made his hesitancy clear regarding another big contract, and the 6-time All-Star with a history of ugly exits didn’t take well to those comments and has made it his mission to make life as difficult as possible for the franchise going forward. Now serving his third team-issued suspension of the month of January alone and tanking his trade value along the way, let’s go through the best potential landing spots for Butler, who despite all these difficulties, would undoubtedly still boost the title chances of anyone granted his services. 


Golden State Warriors: Golden State likely isn’t a Jimmy Butler away from contending, but a move like this would pay homage to Stephen Curry still playing elite-level basketball by giving him at least the slimmer hope of competing they’re still a ways away from. Given their efforts to land Paul George this summer, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing for the Warriors to go after Butler here, and they’ve got the assets to make it happen especially as Butler’s value has dipped. The Warriors have always been unwilling to part ways with Jonathan Kuminga to land a win-now player, but even as the days continue to pass and Kuminga’s long-awaited leap remains to be seen, Golden State could probably get a deal done without his name even mentioned. And why not? As it stands now this is a team stuck in no man’s land, and that’s where they’ll be as long as Curry is around. Curry isn’t going anywhere, and despite assembling plenty of top draft picks over the years, that next regime of young rising stars in Golden State isn’t looking as glamorous as it once did and certainly isn’t something that shouldn’t deter their aggressiveness right now. For the Warriors it’s as simple as this - make a move like this happen, and you’ve got reason to believe down the stretch run of this season. They seemed to realize that in their Paul George pursuit this offseason, and now it’s time for them to make it happen with another similarly situated star very much on the market.


Phoenix Suns: With the problems the Suns’ supposed big three has given them in its 1.5 years of existence, they’ve moved from trying to get it right to trying to get it revamped. Butler on the market is as good an opportunity as they might get, but as was always going to be the case, it’s a matter of putting together a package that can get it done. The Suns moved around some picks in a move that signaled some interest in making it happen, but barring a three-team trade, it would require Miami taking on Bradley Beal for anything like this to work out. And unfortunately for Phoenix, Beal’s no-trade clause will likely complicate things, not to mention the Heat’s reasonable disinterest in landing Beal to begin with. While the trade logistics aren’t perfect, and far from it, the concept makes a ton of sense for a Suns team with a roster that has no choice but to compete. Durant and Booker aren’t going anywhere, and much like the Warriors, this is a middling borderline playoff team as it stands that’s not going to go any further up or down without a big move like this. These are the types of spots that make the most sense for Butler, whose timeline at 35 years old sets right up with a Suns franchise in win-now mode, and though there’s obvious holes up and down the roster, Butler would stop the bleeding more than just about any alternative. It’d be a clear upgrade defensively, which let Phoenix down late last season, and anyone with a pulse can tell you that come playoff time, you’re better off with Jimmy Butler than Bradley Beal as one of your primary options. The Suns’ cap situation doesn’t give them much flexibility here, but they might as well do what they can to facilitate some sort of solution.


Houston Rockets: The Rockets were an obvious destination for Butler even before his relationship with the Heat deteriorated to irreversible levels, with a young and coming roster plus a lot of valuable assets making a deal for a veteran star as feasible for them as anyone. But the Rockets have blown past expectations and look to be making the leap to contention as early as this season, and that’s with the core of this roster all 22 years or younger. Sure, this team’s long list of highly touted trade chips remains, but it begs the question why they’d risk what they’ve got going on for an aging star that’s gotten pretty damn good at the whole blowing teams up thing. Maybe that’s not fair to say about Butler - he’s a proven winner that has reason to be displeased with how he’s being treated in Miami - though for this Rockets team there’s no reason to think the reward is with the risk. Butler is 35, inevitably meaning his window is closing soon, and Houston is realistically positioned to peak in the back end of the 2020s and beyond and has no reason to force the issue on anything now. Sitting at 2nd in the West, this season will be a massive success even without a deep playoff run, and the assets that would have to be dealt to get Butler would all align with the timeline stars like Sengun and Jalen Green are operating on. It took some time for the Rockets to get the chemistry right between those two rising superstars, and while Butler is still a great player, he’s not the guy you throw into the mix right as things are hitting their apex.


  1. De’Aaron Fox

In a bit of a stunner, an unexpected report revealed the Kings were interested in trading longtime point guard De’Aaron Fox, with Fox reportedly having a specific destination in mind that was quickly revealed to be San Antonio. The cat’s now out of the bag that Fox re-upping with the Kings in 2026 might not be in the picture, making a trade as soon as possible the sensible move with Sacramento unlikely to seriously contend. Fox is as explosive as point guards come and in the midst of another big season, and still just 27 years old will have the highest value of any legit trade candidate this deadline.


San Antonio Spurs: The appeal of playing alongside Victor Wembanyama was always going to be a big selling point for San Antonio, with Chris Paul already choosing that over a chance at contending in perhaps the last year of his career, and Fox now becomes the first legitimate star that’s made that desire clear. With Wemby around, the days of the Spurs in the depths of the lottery are behind us. They’re already making considerable strides despite a lackluster roster still around him, and as his surroundings only continue to get better, the odds of San Antonio adding legitimate help anywhere outside of free agency/the trade market grow increasingly thin. Fox is an outstanding playmaker that attracts so much defensive attention with his quickness and three-level scoring, and it’s created an outstanding rapport with big man Domantas Sabonis, who’s played easily the best basketball of his career since joining Fox in Sacramento. With a 21-year-old Wemby, San Antonio has already been somewhat competitive with a roster sending out Devin Vassell and Jermey Sochan as the team’s next-best scorers, so it’s hard to imagine anything but a major leap with a guy like Fox added to the mix. And assessing the market as it stands, it’s not realistic to expect many opportunities like this arising soon with most of the established point guards under contract for the foreseeable future, so missing out here might very well hinder this team’s ultimate potential for years to come. The Spurs have an entourage of picks that could help make this work, and Fox is nowhere near Jimmy Butler status where the franchise has no reason to do him any favors, so this should be San Antonio’s sole priority before it’s too late.


Miami Heat: If there’s one thing we know for sure about Pat Riley, it’s that he’s never been interested in sacrificing the now for the future. As he approaches his 80th birthday, it’s hard to imagine that philosophy has changed. The Heat are preparing for their longtime star Jimmy Butler to depart, leaving them without much identity with a middling roster nowhere near competing but with enough assets to at the very least hang around the play-in picture. Considering Riley isn’t the guy to blow it all up in a situation like this, pulling a rabbit ouf of his hat like this might not be as outlandish as it seems. Fox played alongside Heat center Bam Adebayo in their lone season in Kentucky, and a volume scorer like Tyler Herro as his backcourt running mate has always been the perfect asset to pair Fox with. Between Jamie Jacquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, and maybe Kel’el Ware if Miami hasn’t already deemed him untouchable, the Heat quietly have the assets to make a trade for a true star like Fox plausible. Fox has already made his interest in San Antonio public, but Pat Riley is one of the few guys in this league I wouldn’t put it past to disregard that enough to pull the trigger on a deal like this. With the lure of South Beach plus a built-in core around him in Miami, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing for the Heat to like their chances of keeping him long-term.


  1. Zach LaVine

The Zach LaVine trade talks have been flowing forever it feels like, but there might finally be some momentum to them with this much-needed bounce-back year that’s done wonders for his trade value. LaVine has stayed healthy and put together a career year efficiency-wise, and for a Bulls team desperately trying to escape no-man’s land, this might be the golden ticket out. Even with LaVine’s play the Bulls are in the same spot they always are, so a trade remains the sensible move even as he’s begun to play up to his pay grade.


Los Angeles Lakers: For years it’s been clear as day to us all, LeBron James included, that the Lakers need some help around their two superstars and a third star would do wonders for their efforts not to waste LeBron’s final years. They’re still yet to pull the trigger on anything like that and have instead spent their summers and deadline seasons fiddling around with mediocre players that never really make much of a difference in the long run. LeBron is 40 and still great, while Anthony Davis is playing maybe the best basketball of his career, and the Lakers are seven games over .500 with real reason to believe this roster is a piece away from contention. But is LaVine the solution? An unlikely asset, Austin Reaves has emerged as the clear third option on this team in recent years, and he’s in the midst of a career year offensively as one of the few guys worth turning to when the Lakers need a bucket. So is adding LaVine, who’s $30M+ more expensive Reaves and won’t do much to improve the wing defense that continues to plague them, really what they need? Probably not, and given the defensive liabilities both LaVine and Reaves present, it’d likely have to be one or the other most of the time, and getting into a situation like that is not the solution to Los Angeles’ issues.


Denver Nuggets: It’s not easy finding great fits for LaVine, as you’ll learn as the article progresses, but none come to mind topping what Denver has to offer. Having lost a critical wing in each of the last two offseasons, options have grown slim for what the Nuggets have going on at that position group. Christian Braun has had the growth Denver needed to stay competitive, but it’s hard to imagine Denver competing for anything serious with such minimal depth and explosiveness aside from Jokic and maybe Jamal Murray. LaVine solves that, with his efficient scoring and playmaking putting him in the midst of a career year, The defense would remain an issue, and that’s a problem, but the Nuggets’ problems this year have largely stemmed from an inability to get consistency from anyone not named Jokic. Murray and MPJ are a mixed bag offensively - sometimes they’re great, sometimes not - and Denver couldn’t overcome that last postseason and seems destined to fall into those same issues again. The argument can be made that LaVine doesn’t help the defense and wouldn’t be a fit, but even with a good defending wing in KCP last season, Denver fell well short of its goals and lost to Minnesota as their offense fell apart down the stretch. With an offensive talent as generational as Jokic, they cannot let that happen again, and LaVine plays the spot Denver is currently at their weakness. The Nuggets didn’t need the offense from the two-guard spot in 2023, but all three of Murray, Porter Jr., and Gordon feel like less reliable offensive weapons than what they were during that run. Stacking defensive minded wings isn’t going to do the trick - it’s going to take an aggressive move like this to really move the needle to get where they want to be.


Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks have emerged as of late as a potential candidate for Zach LaVine, a team that looks on the brink of real contention looking for one more big name to power them over the hump. Milwaukee has been playing winning basketball for a while now after the dismal start, and that’s even without a clear third option between Giannis and Dame. The days of Khris Middleton as a legitimate top option are in the past, both thanks to his health concerns and overall decline on the court, and there aren’t many other feasible candidates to take his place on the roster as it stands. Middleton and Bobby Portis would be two obvious trade chips, but the Bucks would have to move some pieces around to get under the second apron and it might require a three-team trade to realistically get this done. And that being said, a backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and Zach LaVine might be lethal scoring the ball, but the defensive issues that have been at the center of all of the Bucks issues’ over the last two years would remain unsolved with even more cap problems arising. This would be a move out of desperation for a Bucks team that probably feels a tier below serious contention, and it’s not the sort of move I see elevating them into true contending status.


  1. Cameron Johnson

Rather than rotting away on a Nets team with no intentions of winning games, it makes sense for everyone for Cam Johnson to be dealt this deadline. A three-and-d specialist with playoff experience in his time with Phoenix, Johnson is quietly in the midst of the best statistical season of his career and makes perfect sense to be on the move even with two years remaining on his contract.


Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC seems to make perfect sense here, already without question a true contender with their only potential weakness coming exactly where Cam Johnson would slide in. The Thunder have more than gotten by with the likes of Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Lou Dort playing the undersized three, but Johnson immediately provides a massive scoring boost with defense capable enough of building on that production and taking OKC to new heights. The Thunder went a similar direction landing Gordon Hayward at last year’s deadline, and though that didn’t pan out, they have the chance to avenge that with a much younger Johnson with not even a fraction of the chance to bust. OKC is loaded across the board, but the one area you feel they could improve is exactly where Johnson would thrive, sliding in as the three-and-d wing but a far more complete scorer that keeps the defense far more off balance than what their current options provide.


Cleveland Cavaliers: This is a very similar situation to what’s above, as this is a loaded Cavs team that’s already found so much success, but if there’s one area they can certainly grow, it’s the three-spot. Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Allen are clear all-star caliber players, though a definitive fifth starter has continued to evade them with none of Dean Wade, Caris Levert, or Isaac Okoro really looking the part. Cameron Johnson does, a great three-level scorer that would be an excellent fit in the most efficient offense in basketball with his quick-trigger three but improving presence within the line, and he provides at least comparable defense to what has been Cleveland’s only claim to fame from that position this season. WIth Johnson entering the mix, defenses would have no answer against a Cavs offense with athleticism and quickness everywhere, and this could very well be the missing piece to this core finally getting over the hump.

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