Perhaps we’ve already seen the biggest trade of the season: Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Two contenders trading big men and a key rotation wing will be hard to top.
However, it will not be the last transaction. Perhaps far from it. With a very busy West full of quality teams and teams looking for an edge in the East, plus a handful of potential sellers looking to underperform and chase Cooper Flagg (and company), things are primed for a wave of in-season transactions.
Here are the 10 players most likely to be traded this season, broken down into a number of categories.
BIGGEST NAMES ON THE BOARD
The three names in this “big names” section were all in the trade rumors this summer, and in each case, the market was much cooler for them than they or their current teams had hoped.
Brandon Ingram
Ingram is a quality winger who can achieve team buckets. Last season he averaged 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. However, the former All-Star is viewed around the league more as a floor-raiser than a guy that teams want as a key part of a contender. These concerns lead to the bigger problem: This is the final year of Ingram’s contract and he is looking for a four-year, max $208 contract extension (or a max contract next summer). Teams don’t want to pay it. Add in the fact that no team is willing to hire him as a floor-raiser in a season where it pays to be at the top of the draft, and the market for Ingram quickly dried up.
After Paul George chose Philadelphia, the market around Ingram heated up for a while, with Sacramento, Golden State and Cleveland all mentioned as interested. All three went in different directions.
The market could recover. Team self-evaluations will change once the games start, there will be injuries, and the market for Ingram could open up again. The Pelicans may not be able to get the quality center they want in a trade, but there should be options.
Zach LaVine
LaVine has been commercially available for a year and a half and that hasn’t changed. LaVine is a former All-Star and elite isolation scorer who averaged 19.5 points per game last season and is a career 38.2% shooter from 3.
Why aren’t teams interested? It starts with a three-year contract with a remaining term of $138 million. LaVine is expensive in a tax-gap world. Then there’s his injury history: He played just 25 games last season and appeared in 65 or more games in four of his 10 NBA seasons. Finally, there are concerns about his lack of defense and how much he contributes to the win.
Like Ingram, this is a case where the market could change as the season progresses, but for now the Bulls are moving forward with LaVine as part of the team.
D’Angelo Russell
If the Lakers want to make a bold move to become contenders again in the LeBron James era, it likely means trading D’Angelo Russell.
That was also the idea we entered last season, only for Russell to become red-hot in January — averaging 22.7 points and six assists per game that month — and becoming too valuable to trade to a Laker team that was making the play- tried to get offs. Why they wanted to trade him in the first place came to the fore again in the playoffs, when he averaged 14.2 points per game on 38.4% shooting.
Russell is a veteran who can take charge and has a highly marketable $18.7 million expiring contract. His name will come up in trade talks, but whether a deal that suits the Lakers becomes available is another question.
THE BROOKLYN NETS
The next three names on this list are all from the same team: Brooklyn. The Nets are all in on tanking after trading Mikal Bridges and everyone on the roster is available. However, these names stand out.
Bojan Bogdanovic
Bogdanovic was sent to Brooklyn from New York in the Bridges trade. He’s a 6-foot-4 winger and a career 39.4% shooter from 3, a position and skill set coveted by a number of teams. Before he is traded, however, the 35-year-old will have to show that his offseason wrist surgery is a thing of the past and he can still spruce it up. Still, expect to see his name in the trade rumors as the season progresses.
Dorian Finney-Smith
It’s a bit surprising that Finney-Smith is still with the Nets. There was a lot of interest in the 31-year-old high-level defensive wing, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for Brooklyn last season. His name also came up in trade talks over the summer, but no deal was struck.
Wing defense is a high priority in the NBA, and as teams try to differentiate themselves in the crowded West — or make a splash in the East — expect a team to step up and get a deal done.
Cameron Johnson
The 6-foot-1 wing is the most coveted Nets player by many other front offices and is plug-and-play as a quality fullback who is shooting a career-high 39.2% from beyond the three-point line. He also has playoff experience , including going to the NBA Finals with the Phoenix Suns in 2021.
Brooklyn’s front office knows other teams covet Johnson and have kept the price high. However, if a team needs shooting and help on the wing — for example, if Cleveland got off to a slow start despite returning its four-man core with two big-but-questions on the wing — expect a deal to be made.
If you’re betting on one Nets player being traded, bet on Johnson.
OTHER NAMES TO LOOK AT
Kyle Kuzma
The first two names on this part of the list are Wizards, a team that is in much the same boat as Brooklyn: tanking and selling off its veterans.
Kuzma’s name has been in the trade rumors since last February’s deadline, but nothing has happened – and that’s good for Kuzma. He reportedly turned down an opportunity to be traded to Dallas last season, apparently choosing the bigger role in Washington over returning to a role with a contending team (like when he won a ring with the Lakers in 2020). Would that be different this season?
Kuzma averaged 22.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season. He’s not a great 3-point shooter (33.6% last season, in line with his career average) and is a minus defender. Kuzma can provide solid rotation depth at the forward spot and has a reasonable contract. He is making $23.5 million this season and that number will decrease over the next two years (to $19.4 million in 2026-2027). Teams like that contract, and it’s very tradable if they need to flip him again.
Jonas Valanciunas
A center with a big body and a large floor space is the kind of player a few teams could use (including the one he left behind in New Orleans). He averaged 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and is reliable, having played at least 74 games in each of the last three seasons. He also has a very reasonable contract, making $9 million this season and $20.4 million for the next two seasons combined.
The Wizards will be sellers and Valanciunas’ name will appear. That said, a deal may not happen for Valanciunas until after December 15, as he signed a new contract this summer.
Bruce Brown
The sixth man who was crucial for Denver during the championship run took the money in Indiana last season, but things never quite worked out there. Brown was traded to Toronto, but the Raptors are rebuilding around Scottie Barnes and are expected to listen to trade offers for Brown – and many GMs saw what he did in Denver and would love a guy like that on their bench.
Brown is a solid defender, is fantastic in transition and can provide secondary shot creation – a skill set that fits effortlessly on an opponent’s bench. Brown is making $23 million this season in the final year of his deal, so teams wouldn’t take long-term money.
If I were to bet on one guy on this list being traded this offseason, it would be Brown.
Jerami Grant
The Trail Blazers are rebuilding and 30-year-old Grant no longer fits into their timeline. He’s the kind of big two-way wing who can shoot the 3 (40.2% last season, up from 40% the previous two years in Portland) and provides size and scoring ability. Last season he averaged 21 points per game. He’s similar to Kuzma in that he sought a bigger offensive role on a smaller team instead of being the fourth option for a contender, but playoff teams that call on Grant will ask him to return to more of what he did in Denver.
Grant’s salary and injury history make a trade more difficult. He has four years and $132.4 million remaining on his contract (the fourth year is a player option) and he hasn’t played more than 63 games in the last four seasons. Still, there will be interest as many teams will be looking for help on the wing.
