NBA trade deadline: Best fits on NBA contenders for 10 key players
Whether or not Jimmy Butler is traded ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, it’s possible that a less heralded transaction might be the difference in transforming a team into an NBA Finals contender.
Last season’s Dallas Mavericks are a prime example. The Mavs revamped their starting five at the 2024 deadline by adding Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards and P.J. Washington from the Charlotte Hornets, boosting a team mired in the play-in race into the Finals.
But as we saw in 2023, incorporating a bigger star at the deadline remains a challenge. The Mavs missed the play-in after trading for Kyrie Irving. The Phoenix Suns — who remain linked to Butler this season — had similar difficulty with Kevin Durant after his midseason arrival, in part due to his injuries.
It’s increasingly common for players acquired via midseason trade to play more than 100 minutes in the Finals — 14 players have done so in the past 10 seasons, including both Gafford and Washington. Between 2006 and 2014, just three players did so: Pau Gasol (2008 Lakers), Rafer Alston (2009 Magic) and Nate Robinson (2010 Celtics).
With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, we examine 10 notable players who could be this season’s Gafford or Washington — including what their current team gets out of a deal and the best possible fits among teams looking to make a deep postseason run.
Jump to a position:
Guards: Beal, LaVine, Clarkson
Forwards: Boucher, Grant, Ingram, Johnson, Kuzma
Centers: Valanciunas, Vucevic
Guards
Bradley Beal, G, Phoenix Suns
Why he’s a trade candidate: Beal’s decline has made him an easy avatar for everything that’s gone wrong with the Suns this season. Because Phoenix can’t aggregate salary, Beal is a necessary inclusion in almost any significant move the Suns could make, including their pursuit of Jimmy Butler.
What he might bring to a new team: Beal is a great example of the axiom that teams trade for contracts, not players. Were Beal making a more reasonable amount than $110 million over the next two seasons, his 39% 3-point shooting and willingness to step into a smaller role might make him a respected veteran role player along the lines of Klay Thompson with the Dallas Mavericks. Beal’s .579 true shooting percentage this season is far better than Thompson’s .553 mark.
But few teams have the ability to handle that amount of salary, which probably represents a bigger obstacle to Phoenix trading him than his much-ballyhooed no-trade clause.
Best possible fit: Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee is probably the most logical option, since the Bucks could shed enough salary to slide out of the second apron and aggregate salary in return. However, it’s unclear how much the Bucks would benefit from further compromising their depth to trade for Beal. The main argument is Beal has been healthier than Khris Middleton, who has played just 106 total games over the past two-plus seasons to Beal’s 133.
Jordan Clarkson, G, Utah Jazz
Why he’s a trade candidate: The rebuilding Jazz have the West’s worst record (10-33) and the second-best chance to land the No. 1 pick in the draft, according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. The team also drafted a pair of guards in the first round last June (Isaiah Collier and Cody Williams) and is looking to get them as many minutes as it can this season.
Clarkson hasn’t played since Jan. 4 because of plantar fasciitis, freeing up minutes for Utah’s young guards, but is set to return soon.
What he might bring to a new team: The Sixth Man Award winner in 2020-21 remains a certified bucket, averaging 22.5 points per 36 minutes. Clarkson has been less efficient than in his prime years, supplying volume scoring more than anything the past two seasons, but interested teams could reasonably expect that the 32-year-old’s shot diet would get easier with better talent around him.
Per Second Spectrum’s quantified shot probability metric (qSP), Clarkson’s shots this season have been more difficult than any point since 2014-15, his rookie campaign. Although we haven’t seen Clarkson in the playoffs since 2022, when the Jazz lost in the first round to the Mavericks, his postseason track record is strong. Clarkson has averaged 17.3 PPG in 24 playoff games with Utah.
Best possible fits: Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic
Clarkson started his career with the Lakers, and a return would make sense to boost their shot creation off the bench. The Lakers could send back Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino. But Clarkson might be an even better fit for the Magic, who have dropped to 29th in offensive rating while battling injuries. Clarkson for Cole Anthony could work for both teams, giving the Magic an immediate upgrade and the Jazz an opportunity to rebuild Anthony’s value.
Zach LaVine, G, Chicago Bulls
Why he’s a trade candidate: The Bulls have reportedly been gauging interest in LaVine for more than a year as part of their slow pivot toward a younger roster more appropriate for a below-.500 team. Getting out of the $95 million LaVine is owed over the next two seasons would give Chicago more cap flexibility.
What he might bring to a new team: A LaVine trade seems far more realistic this season, with him back in form after struggling prior to season-ending foot surgery last February. In fact, LaVine has never shot so accurately: 56% inside the arc and a career-high 45% on 3-point attempts. Even if LaVine can’t quite maintain that 3-point shooting, it’s encouraging that Second Spectrum’s quantified shot probability metric shows this as LaVine’s most favorable shot diet of his career.
Best possible fits: Denver Nuggets, Lakers, Suns
The trick is figuring out where LaVine’s $43 million salary makes sense. The Nuggets, linked to LaVine early in the season, presumably have less interest with Jamal Murray playing at an All-Star level and Russell Westbrook’s addition to the starting five helping them dominate opponents.
LaVine’s shot creation would help the Lakers ease LeBron James into a smaller role on offense, certainly, but adding him to James and Anthony Davis would require the Lakers to give up at least four players, and at least two starters. Add in the necessary draft picks and there’s probably not a match.
LaVine’s contract is smaller than Beal’s, so the Suns could swap the two players. But it’s unclear the late first-round picks the Suns could offer would be worth the Bulls adding to their cap sheet rather than subtracting. As a result, Chicago might find itself in the same spot with LaVine this time next season.
Forwards
Chris Boucher, F, Toronto Raptors
Why he’s a trade candidate: The last remaining member of the Raptors’ 2019 title team, Boucher might be easier for Toronto to trade than the team’s other impending free agent, wing Bruce Brown. Few teams have expiring contracts of similar size to send back for Brown, who is making $23 million this season. Boucher’s $10.8 million contract is an easier fit.
What he might bring to a new team: Boucher’s 10.3 PPG are his most since finishing eighth in Sixth Man Award voting in 2020-21, and his 21.4 points per 36 minutes are a career high. He’s a high-volume 3-point shooter (7.9 attempts per 36 minutes) at average accuracy and is making a career-high 64% of his 2s. Boucher has been red-hot in January, shooting 18-of-34 (53%) on 3s.
Listed at 6-foot-9 and 200 pounds, Boucher has enhanced his versatility this season by defending wings on a more regular basis as part of big Raptors frontcourts after previously playing primarily power forward.
Best possible fit: LA Clippers
The Clippers are already plenty deep at forward, but adding Boucher in a deal sending P.J. Tucker and Bones Hyland to Toronto would get them out of the luxury tax while also adding another useful contributor to their bench.
Jerami Grant, F, Portland Trail Blazers
Why he’s a trade candidate: Not only is Grant the oldest player on a rebuilding Blazers team at age 30 (he’ll turn 31 in March), but he’s also no longer Portland’s best option at forward. Both Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara have outplayed Grant this season, making the need to keep him in the starting lineup awkward for coach Chauncey Billups. Moving the three years and $100-plus million remaining on Grant’s contract after this season would give Portland more of the cap flexibility rebuilding teams typically enjoy.
What he might bring to a new team: The Blazers might have missed their best moment to move Grant, whose decline this season is tough to explain. Grant hardly seemed demoralized on a lottery-bound Portland team in 2023-24, averaging 21.0 PPG on 40% 3-point shooting. Grant is still shooting reasonably well from 3 (38%) but is making a career-low 39% of his attempts inside the arc and has become far more passive offensively. Grant’s 20% usage rate is far and away his lowest since serving as a role player early in his career.
Best possible fits: Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings
A Sacramento package built around guard Kevin Huerter and forward Trey Lyles is the most logical offer for Grant, but the Kings would surely prefer to land Cameron Johnson to fill the same role.
Another possibility would be if the Timberwolves are interested in swapping Julius Randle for Grant in pursuit of improved floor spacing with their starting five. Portland could get out of Grant’s contract entirely if Randle declines his $29.5 million player option for 2025-26.
Brandon Ingram, F, New Orleans Pelicans
Why he’s a trade candidate: The Pelicans, sitting in 14th place in the West, are currently about $30 million below the 2025-26 luxury tax line before factoring in their 2025 lottery pick or a new potential deal for Ingram — who would be an unrestricted free agent this summer. With nothing left to play for this season aside from lottery positioning, New Orleans has incentive to lock in value for Ingram now.
What he might bring to a new team: Injuries first to Pelicans teammates and then to Ingram, sidelined since Dec. 7 because of a high-grade ankle sprain, have prevented him from rebuilding value after a difficult 2024 playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Going against stopper Luguentz Dort and the Thunder’s ferocious defense, Ingram averaged 14.3 PPG on 34.5% shooting as New Orleans was swept in the first round — leaving a bad taste for teams evaluating how Ingram could help them win in the playoffs.
Best possible fits: Lakers, Kings
The Kings have been linked to basically every combo forward available, but Ingram’s $36 million salary means Sacramento would have to include either DeMar DeRozan or Malik Monk in any realistic trade offer, and it’s unclear that gets the Kings closer to contending.
Similar cap space issues make a possible return for Ingram to the Lakers this season difficult after they traded D’Angelo Russell to Brooklyn for Dorian Finney-Smith, who can’t be aggregated with other players in a trade before the deadline.
