Timberwolves trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks<\/a>, immediately coming to mind. With tanking dead and so many teams having dreams of contention in both the East and the West, the regular season could be set for active trade deadline, too. These are the big names who could be available on the trade market over the next year.<\/p>\nKevin Durant, F, Houston Rockets<\/p>\n
Kevin Durant\u2019s first year in Houston checked every box: there was a weird, unresolved Twitter burner scandal, a first-round playoff loss to the Lakers without Luka Doncic, and another hyper-efficient scoring season with 26 points per game on 64.1% true shooting. Durant is about to turn 38 years old, and he\u2019s under contract for this season and next season. The Rockets could be really good this season if everything goes according to plan. Fred VanVleet is back from injury, Amen Thompson again feels like he\u2019s on the verge of a true breakout, and there are multiple other young players who could level up with Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard, and Tari Eason. Then again, the West is loaded, and if Houston doesn\u2019t rise to the challenge, there\u2019s bound to be a fall guy. It could be Sengun, or head coach Ime Udoka, but Durant has a history of wearing out his welcome pretty quickly in the latter stages of his career. KD has become the NBA\u2019s ultimate mercenary, and no one should be surprised if he\u2019s on the move again in the next year.<\/p>\n
Kyrie Irving, G, Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n
The Mavs could really use Kyrie Irving\u2019s ball handling to take pressure off Cooper Flagg to begin this season. I just wonder how long that will last with Dallas projecting as a likely lottery team this year. The Mavs need to align everything around the 19-year-old Flagg, and unfortunately for them, they don\u2019t control their own first-round pick until 2031 due to trades originally intended to build around Luka Doncic. I\u2019d expect more changes in Dallas with Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz now running the front office, and Irving should have plenty of suitors if he looks good early as he returns from a torn ACL. At 34 years old, Irving doesn\u2019t fit Flagg\u2019s timeline, and I doubt the Mavs are good enough in a loaded West to reject trade interest when it comes. The Mavs need all the future assets they can get if they hope to build a contender around Flagg by the time he reaches his prime, and trading Kyrie, P.J. Washington, and others is the best way to start that process.<\/p>\n
Anthony Davis, C\/F, Washington Wizards<\/p>\n
Davis is extension eligible on Aug. 6, and that puts the Wizards in a tough spot. You know agent Rich Paul is going to want a lucrative contract, but Davis hasn\u2019t played a game for Washington yet, and his age (33) and lack of durability make him a risky bet into his mid-to-late 30s. The Wizards already gave Trae Young a nonsensical max extension, so maybe Davis will get what he wants. If he doesn\u2019t, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the trade winds start blowing with AD aiming to land on a more competitive team. The Wizards could be pretty decent this year if everything comes together, but to me this is probably still a lottery team given the depth of the Eastern Conference. Washington can probably trade Davis for a lot more than they gave up for him if he starts the season strong. I have a hard time believing he\u2019ll be in D.C. long term.<\/p>\n
James Harden, G, Cleveland Cavaliers<\/p>\n
Harden is still a free agent at the time of writing, but everyone expects he\u2019ll return to the Cavs on a multi-year deal. The veteran guard helped Cleveland reach the conference finals last season, but it\u2019s hard to feel good about that after the rest of the East improved this summer while the Cavs swung-and-missed on a LeBron reunion. Donovan Mitchell is locked in long-term, but the rest of this core shouldn\u2019t be feeling too comfortable, and that\u2019s especially true for Harden. On the brink of his 37th birthday, Harden is still a very good regular season player whose pull-up three-point shooting and playmaking brings value to any contender. If the Cavs take a step back this year, I\u2019d imagine Cleveland tries to move off Harden before it finally listens to offers for Evan Mobley.<\/p>\n
Tyler Herro, G, Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n
Herro is entering the final year of his contract on a team that is just beginning what\u2019s sure to be a long and painful rebuild. The Bucks have other guards who need opportunities with Ryan Rollins, Brayden Burries, and Kasparas Jakucionis. Herro feels likely to be on the trade regardless of whether he inks an extension. His next contract could be a bit dicey from a team perspective, but he\u2019s still an excellent offensive player with true three-level scoring ability who can help juice any offense off the bounce. He\u2019s firmly in his prime as he turns 27 years old in January, and he deserves to be spending these years with a team that is actually building toward something in the short-term. The Bucks would be wise to act quickly, let their young players get reps in a lost season, and help Herro get to his next destination before he hits free agency.<\/p>\n
Zion Williamson, F, New Orleans Pelicans<\/p>\n
Williamson\u2019s nearly $45 million contract isn\u2019t guaranteed for the 2027-28 season, and that gives New Orleans plenty of options if this season goes off the rails. The main objective for the Pelicans this season should be figuring out if Williamson can play with last year\u2019s lottery picks Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears. Queen and Williamson just feel like an odd match in the front court as two guys who need the ball in their hands and don\u2019t play any defense. It would be nice to fully turn this team over to the young guns, and let Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, and Yves Missi surround them in supporting roles, but that can\u2019t happen until they finally turn the page on the Zion era. New Orleans has some talent, but the West is so unforgiving, and it just feels like the injury bug always hits this team at the worst time. New head coach Jamahl Mosley is known for his demanding defensive principles, and it\u2019s hard to see how Zion and Queen will fit into that. It sure seems like New Orleans\u2019 front office likes Williamson quite a bit, but they fully have an out on his contract, and aren\u2019t going to win many games. That usually signals a breakup is coming eventually.<\/p>\n
Michael Porter Jr., F, Brooklyn Nets<\/p>\n
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez helped Porter Jr. turn in the best season of his career at age-27, and it came at a good time with the wing now entering the final year of his contract. Will the Nets want to give MPJ an extension? His always treacherous health situation makes that a risky bet, and there will certainly be suitors for his off-ball scoring and floor spacing if he hits the trade market. If the Nets are scared to give Porter Jr. an extension, then they have to trade him because they can\u2019t afford to lose him for nothing. Brooklyn is expected to be terrible this year, but there\u2019s actually a decent foundation here with Porter Jr., Julius Randle, Egor Demin, Mikel Brown Jr., and Day\u2019Ron Sharpe. It feels like MPJ has been waiting his whole career to play for a coach like Fernandez, so I\u2019d like to see both sides reach a deal. If it doesn\u2019t happen, expect there to be substantial trade interest as a rental.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the start of the NBA\u2019s second wave of player movement. LeBron James\u2019 prolonged free agency seemingly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-829241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}