Aug. 10, 2026, 6:41 a.m. ET
As we await the free agencies of the likes of James Harden, Jalen Duren and Bradley Beal to sort themselves out, we decided it’d be a fun time to run another edition of our NBA Trade Machine Rankings, in which we list the 10 players who have been getting traded most often by HoopsHype users on our Trade Machine.
This doesn’t mean we expect these players to be moved anytime soon; this is merely a fun exercise to see which players fans of teams want to see traded, either to or from their favorite teams.
Below, check out the 10 most often traded players on our trade machine.
10. Kevin Durant (Houston)
Share: 2.3 percent of trades on our trade machine
The odds of the Houston Rockets trading Kevin Durant anytime soon are next to none, as the team’s chances to contend are built around the soon-to-be 38-year-old. Sure, Houston’s season could go poorly and we could see Durant hitting the trade rumor circuit by the trade deadline, but even that possibility looks farfetched.
Even so, Durant’s name has been an active one on our trade machine, as our readers are most commonly shipping him to Detroit, Toronto, Golden State and Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the player most commonly being traded back to Houston in exchange for Durant has been sharpshooter Duncan Robinson (14 percent), making us believe this is just about Pistons fans finding fun ways to improve their roster, more than this having any sort of basis in reality.
Other players getting sent to the Rockets in exchange for Durant on our trade machine are Isaiah Joe (11 percent), Taurean Prince (nine percent) and Chaz Lanier (eight percent).
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Kevin Durant trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Kevin Durant trade rumors and salary info.
9. Jalen Johnson (Atlanta)
Share: 2.5 percent of trades on our trade machine
Blossoming star swingman Jalen Johnson is the building block of the Atlanta Hawks, as evidenced by the team being fine with trading away Trae Young last season in order to build around the former Duke standout. So we fully do not expect him to get dealt.
Even so, that hasn’t stopped Hawks fans from playing with his name on our trade machine of late, with the most common landing spots for Johnson being Denver (11 percent), Houston (eight percent), Golden State (eight percent) and Minnesota (six percent). We believe this is a case of Hawks fans having fun and shooting for stars, as the most common names being shipped back to Atlanta for Johnson have been Nikola Jokic (eight percent), Stephen Curry (six percent), Kevin Durant (four percent) and Josh Giddey (four percent).
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Jalen Johnson trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Jalen Johnson trade rumors and salary info.
8. Rudy Gobert (Minnesota)
Share: 2.5 percent of trades on our trade machine
With the Minnesota Timberwolves’ lack of frontcourt depth following offseason trades of Julius Randle and Naz Reid, there’s next to no shot Rudy Gobert gets traded anytime soon, at least not unless it’s for multiple frontcourt players, and starter-level ones, at that.
Even so, Gobert has been an active name on our trade machine, with his most common landing spots being Dallas (10 percent), Oklahoma City (eight percent), Toronto (eight percent) and Houston (seven percent). The players coming back to Minnesota in theoretical trades (including Kyrie Irving, Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Williams) don’t really make sense for the Wolves’ needs, though, so this appears to be more of a case of fans of other teams trying to add Gobert to their defensive-minded-big-man-needy teams.
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Rudy Gobert trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Rudy Gobert trade rumors and salary info.
7. Paul George (Boston)
Share: 2.7 percent of trades on our trade machine
Last week, there was a purely speculative article by Celtics writer John Karalis connecting Curry to the Boston Celtics, which led to an uptick of Curry activity on our trade machine. That, in turn, has led to Paul George being a popular name on HoopsMatic, too, as George’s salary for 2025-26 ($54.1 million) is the exact kind of contract that can land you a player like Curry, with a huge salary for next season ($62.6 million) himself.
44 percent of George trades on our trade machine have him ending up in Golden State, and 51 percent of theoretical George trades have Curry going back to Boston, on the heels of the speculation by Karalis. That makes even more sense when you further factor in that a straight Curry-for-George swap works financially.
Our trade machine users haven’t only been shipping George to Golden State, though, as seven percent of George deals have him going to Houston, five percent have him going to Washington and another five percent have him going to Cleveland, for players such as Anthony Davis (four percent), Luka Doncic (four percent) and Jimmy Butler (four percent).
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Paul George trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Paul George trade rumors and salary info.
6. De’Aaron Fox (San Antonio)
Share: 3.1 percent of trades on our trade machine
Last time we ran this exercise, De’Aaron Fox was the most popular name going to Golden State in theoretical Curry trades, because we published that piece right after popular podcaster Bill Simmons had floated a Curry-to-San-Antonio idea. That has now, obviously, been overtaken by George, but even so, the Warriors are the most common landing spot for Fox this week again, at a whopping 31 percent. What’s more, Curry is the player going back to San Antonio 26 percent of the time in Fox deals.
Considering Fox’s disastrous 2026 NBA Fianls run (and playoff run prior to that), and the fact that San Antonio has such strong, and young, guard depth in the form of Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, a Fox trade might not be the most surprising outcome at some point. We’re just not sure it’ll be soon.
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect De’Aaron Fox trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest De’Aaron Fox trade rumors and salary info.
5. Donte DiVincenzo (Minnesota)
Share: 3.2 percent of trades on our trade machine
Coming off a major Achilles injury, Wolves guard Donte DiVincenzo has been another often-used name on our trade machine lately, though with no real reporting being the basis of that. This is another case, like Gobert, of fans just having fun finding potential DiVincenzo deals.
The most popular landing spots for DiVincenzo on our trade machine have been Memphis at eight percent, with New Orleans, Portland and Toronto at six percent each. The names most frequently heading back to Minnesota in these deals are Collin Murray-Boyles, Sam Hauser, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Ja’Kobe Walter.
Murray-Boyles and Jackson-Davis make the most sense here, as both are frontcourt players, the likes of which Minnesota is currently lacking following the offseason departures of Randle and Reid.
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Donte DiVincenzo trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Donte DiVincenzo trade rumors and salary info.
4. Jarred Vanderbilt (LA Lakers)
Share: 3.3 percent of trades on our trade machine
Lakers swingman Jarred Vanderbilt has been a popular name on our trade machine, popping up in every single installment of this series we’ve done thus far, which makes sense, considering Laker fans are always desperate to find potential improvements to their roster. Couple that with some level of worry among L.A. fans about the team’s lack of two-way wing depth and frontcourt play, and you can see why Vanderbilt is so often being traded away on our trade machine.
Consistently for the past month, the most popular Vanderbilt trade idea has been Laker fans shipping him to Dallas in exchange for PJ Washington, an idea that would make sense in reality if it weren’t for reports stating that the Lakers aren’t all that into the Mavericks power forward.
Still, 15 percent of Vanderbilt deals on our trade machine have him ending up in Dallas, and eight percent have him being shipped for Washington. The most common names getting traded for Vanderbilt outside of Washington are Josh Green (four percent) and Herb Jones (three percent).
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Jarred Vanderbilt trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Jarred Vanderbilt trade rumors and salary info.
3. Jimmy Butler (Golden State)
Share: 3.4 percent of trades on our trade machine
Some trade ideas that pop up in our trade machine are far less grounded in reality than others, and Butler’s inclusion here are a prime example of that.
A leading 14 percent of Butler deals have him going back to Miami (never going to happen), with 14 percent of those deals have him being traded to the Heat for Giannis Antetokounmpo (super never going to happen).
So this is a case of Warriors fans using their biggest potential trade chip, Butler’s $56.8 million salary, in desperate hopes of finding another star to place alongside Curry, in fear of Curry getting fed up and asking out to spend his twilight in the NBA with another franchise.
Other teams that fans have been using our trade machine to ship Butler to are Boston (eight percent), Denver (eight percent) and Philadelphia (seven percent). Meanwhile, players besides the Greek Freak that Butler has been traded for our on our machine have been Jokic (seven percent), Davis (six percent) and Fox (five percent).
What Warriors fans should remember is that in games Curry and Butler played together, Golden State had a dominant 42-18 record, so just getting Butler back this season will give the Warriors a major leg up. Of course, it remains to be seen how Butler will look after blowing out his knee and soon to be 37, but even so, all hope is not lost in Golden State, even without a seismic trade to pick up another superstar to play with Curry.
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Jimmy Butler trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Jimmy Butler trade rumors and salary info.
2. Nikola Jokic (Denver)
Share: 4.3 percent of trades on our trade machine
While other superstars of late have famously taken slight pay cuts in order to help their franchises build steady contenders around them, with Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama being two such examples of that, it appears Jokic is taking a different route. Here’s what ESPN’s Bobby Marks had to say on the matter recently:
“This is the second year in a row that he’s done it: he was eligible last year for three years, he decided not to do it. He wanted to wait until the summer of 2026 because he can get a fourth year, basically an extra $70-$80 million. We get to this summer, he wants to wait till the summer of 2027 because now I can get a five-year deal worth $360 million. So, it’s an extra $80 million,” Marks said on ‘The Hoop Collective’ Show. “Man, this could be a rocky year in Denver.”
And it’s impossible to fault Jokic for that, as players should be paid their full worth.
Regardless, that hasn’t stopped fans from heading to our trade machine to find new theoretical homes for Jokic, even if he has said he wants to retire a Nugget. New York has been the most popular landing spot at 20 percent, followed by Miami at 16 percent, Golden State at nine percent and Philadelphia at eight percent.
Meanwhile, the most popular names being traded for Jokic on our trade machine are Bam Adebayo (11 percent), Josh Hart (11 percent), Tyler Kolek (eight percent) and Pacome Dadiet (seven percent).
Of course, it appears such a trade is never going to happen, as Jokic is simply delaying signing an extension until he can earn the most money possible, not because he wants to see how the season shakes out in Denver before committing to anything long-term. Granted, the latter idea makes some sense, but we have to take Jokic at his word when he says he wants to be a Nugget forever, so for now, we don’t think he’ll ever be getting traded.
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Nikola Jokic trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Nikola Jokic trade rumors and salary info.
1. Stephen Curry (Golden State)
Share: 6.7 percent of trades on our trade machine
As mentioned in the George slide, Curry’s inclusion in this week’s edition of this series has all to do with Karalis’ speculative report about Boston’s potential interest in the league’s all-time leading three-point marksman. (Breaking news: Every team in the NBA would have an interest in Curry if he did ask out.)
Even so, that report led to a huge uptick in Curry usage in our trade machine by readers, with 32 percent of his landing spots being Boston, 14 percent being San Antonio (the aftermath of weeks-old Simmons speculation about San Antonio trying to trade for Curry), 11 percent being Philadelphia and another seven percent being Denver.
The most popular names heading to Golden State in exchange for Curry have been George (17 percent), Fox (12 percent), Jayson Tatum (eight percent) and Joel Embiid (seven percent).
It goes without saying, but the Warriors will not be trading Curry unless he outright asks for it, something we don’t see happening quite yet. In reality, it seems likelier Curry will wait out this season, see how the team looks with a healthy Butler once the star two-way wing does return, and take it from there. There’s a reality in which even if Golden State never reaches true contender status again, Curry still doesn’t ask out, as he has shown the franchise nothing but loyalty.
Use our trade machine to figure out the perfect Stephen Curry trade for your team.
Check our website for the latest Stephen Curry trade rumors and salary info.
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