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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MARCH 12: LaMelo Ball #1 of the Charlotte Hornets and Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks looks on during the first quarter at State Farm Arena on March 12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Paras Griffin\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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As holiday shoppers prepare to take advantage of Black Friday sales, NBA teams are busy putting together their own shopping lists. <\/p>\n
One month into the 2025-26 season, the league’s trade market is starting to take shape. Teams in need of a star point guard may be in luck, too. A handful of big-name floor generals could find themselves on the trade block between now and the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Plenty could change over the next two-and-a-half months, but here’s an early look at some of the players who could headline the NBA’s trade market this year.<\/p>\n
1. LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets PG<\/p>\n
In late November, Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports reported<\/a> that LaMelo Ball had “grown increasingly frustrated” with the Charlotte Hornets and was “open to a trade away from the franchise.” Ball emphatically denied<\/a> that report the following day, telling reporters that he loved being in Charlotte, but Iko also reported that the Hornets’ front office had grown “increasingly hesitant around Ball as a long-term foundational piece, has become disillusioned with the 24-year-old and is open to moving him.” <\/p>\n Ball played in only 105 of a possible 246 games between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons, largely due to repeated ankle injuries<\/a>. He already missed six games due to an ankle injury this year as well, and it’s not as though he’s been lighting up when healthy, either.<\/p>\n Although Ball is averaging 20.3 points, 8.8 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game, he\u2019s shooting a career-worst 38.6% overall and 28.6% from deep. He has yet to shoot better than 44% overall in any of his six NBA seasons, and he\u2019s been a turnover machine as well. The Hornets have also gone 147-418 since selecting him with the No. 3 overall pick in 2020, which is the third-worst record<\/a> of any team over that stretch.<\/p>\n Ball is in the second year of a five-year, $203.8 million max contract, which could deter some potential suitors from pursing him. Some team might be willing to gamble on the talent outweighing any concerns about his contract, injury history or ability to meaningfully impact winning, though.<\/p>\n 2. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks PG<\/p>\n Trae Young was eligible to sign an extension with the Atlanta Hawks this past offseason, but Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported in mid-August<\/a> that there were “no plans” for the two sides to engage in negotiations. He added that “Young’s side has actually been resigned for some time to the prospect of seeing out the final guaranteed year on his current contract, rather than securing an extension.”<\/p>\n Young has long been Atlanta\u2019s leading scorer and playmaker, which makes him an offense unto himself. However, his 6\u20191″, 164-pound frame puts a bullseye on him defensively, and he was shooting a career-worst 37.1% overall and 19.2% from deep before he suffered an MCL sprain five games into the season that has sidelined him ever since.<\/p>\n If Young is willing to take a below-max contract, he and the Hawks might be able to find common ground before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. But if he holds out in hopes of landing of a max deal, the Hawks will have to weigh whether to move on from him by the trade deadline to avoid risk losing him for nothing in free agency.<\/p>\n After signing Dyson Daniels to a four-year, $100 million extension in October, the Hawks have more certainty<\/a> about their long-term financial outlook. Having Jalen Johnson locked up on a deal that pays only $30 million annually for the next four years is a heist, too. The Hawks might not want to jeopardize that core by maxing out Young, which will make the next two months especially interesting in Atlanta.<\/p>\n 3. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings C<\/p>\n It’s a good sign when your team’s general manager feels compelled to conduct a 30-minute interview<\/a> with a reporter to address the long-term direction of the franchise one month into the season, right? Asking for the Sacramento Kings.<\/p>\n The Phoenix Suns snapped the Kings’ season-high two-game winning streak on Wednesday, sending them tumbling to 5-14 on the year. Star center Domantas Sabonis is out for at least 2-3 more weeks<\/a> with a meniscus tear in his left knee, and it’s unclear what the team might look like upon his return.<\/p>\n A local radio host reported in mid-November<\/a> that the Kings are headed toward a multi-year rebuild and are willing to listen to offers on Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, among others. Sabonis figures to have the highest trade value of the three, although it’s unclear whether any team will be willing to cough up a huge haul for him.<\/p>\n Sabonis has led the NBA in rebounds for each of the past three seasons and is a nightly double-double threat who’s also among the best big-man passers in the league. However, he’s a defensive liability and he rarely attempts three-pointers, which is a challenging archetype to build around, especially for a center.<\/p>\n Sabonis has two years and roughly $94.1 million left on his contract after this season, which projects to be worth around 27-28% of the salary cap each year. That’s a reasonable price for someone with three All-Star nods and two All-NBA appearances since 2019-20, but the Kings might not get the, ahem, king’s ransom that they’d presumably want for him.<\/p>\n 4. Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies PG<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long for Ja Morant\u2019s season to go off the rails. After finishing with a season-low eight points in a loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on Halloween, Morant told reporters<\/a> to “go ask the coaching staff” when asked about his struggles.<\/p>\n First-year head coach Tuomas Iisalo reportedly challenged “Morant\u2019s leadership and effort in a postgame exchange,” and Morant “responded in a tone deemed inappropriate and dismissive,” per ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a>. The Grizzlies suspended him for one game, but upon his return, he told reporters<\/a> that he no longer has his usual joy playing basketball. (He appears to be taking a page out of Jimmy Butler’s playbook<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Morant’s recent history of suspensions<\/a> and reported insubordination might give teams pause about giving up the farm for him. Then again, Morant finished seventh in the MVP race in 2021-22 and 12th in 2022-23. Some team might convince itself that a fresh start could help him regain that All-NBA-caliber form.<\/p>\n The Grizzlies already broke apart their core this past offseason by sending Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for a haul including four first-round picks. If they get a similar offer for Morant, they might be inclined to turn the page to their next era with a stacked cupboard of future draft assets. <\/p>\n 5. Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors PF<\/p>\n Two weeks into the season, it seemed like Jonathan Kuminga might have been playing his way back into the Golden State Warriors’ long-term future. Head coach Steve Kerr declared<\/a> that Kuminga would be a “starter going forward,” adding, “I think he’s ready.”<\/p>\n Two weeks later, Kerr moved Kuminga back to the bench. He played 12 minutes in that game and has been sidelined with bilateral knee tendinitis ever since. <\/p>\n “He feels like the scapegoat again,” a team source told ESPN’s Anthony Slater<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Kuminga signed a two-year, $48.5 million deal with the Warriors right before the qualifying-offer deadline, ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a> reported that it was “designed for the Warriors\u2014or another team if and when Kuminga is traded during the upcoming season\u2014to rip up and complete a fresh new contract after the 2025-26 campaign.” That didn’t leave much room for ambiguity.<\/p>\n One veteran executive described Kuminga’s contract as “one of the best trade chips in the league” to Marc Stein<\/a> of The Stein Line. Once he becomes trade-eligible on Jan. 15, the Warriors will have roughly three weeks to figure out the best course of action.<\/p>\n Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com<\/a>, PBPStats<\/a>, Cleaning the Glass<\/a> or Basketball Reference<\/a>. All salary information via Spotrac<\/a> and salary-cap information via RealGM<\/a>. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n