As the NBA calendar turns to December 15th, the NBA trade season begins in earnest.
Why is December 15th so important? At this point, many of the players who agreed to free agent deals over the summer are eligible to move, which opens up significantly more opportunities for a move. As my colleague John Hollinger often says: In the NBA, you trade contracts, not players. The December 15th date therefore creates more contractual flexibility.
The other reason December 15th is such a critical date is because it leads up to the G League Showcase, which is scheduled to take place from December 19th to 22nd this season. This is the first event in a season where a significant number of league power brokers are all gathered in one place so they can sit down – perhaps over a few drinks – and talk about the state of their squads. With a sample of nearly two months left in the season, executives will feel like they have a better handle on their teams' futures this season.
With that in mind, it's time to release the NBA Trade Deadline Big Board, our annual list of potential trade targets across the league ahead of the February 8th trade deadline.
This first version is a bit conservative. As you will notice, there are many players with a combination of the following attributes:
- Their names have already been mentioned in trade talks between teams.
- They play for teams that already appear to be outside of the playoffs.
- They have contracts that expire after this season.
- They are currently not in their team's player rotation.
As you'll see, with a few exceptions, there aren't many All-Star players. Lauri Markkanen, for example, isn't here because despite the Utah Jazz's poor record, there's no evidence (yet) that they'll actually try to move him, as he's tied to a bargain deal for the next two years. One could easily argue that the Jazz should look to move Markkanen with the thought that his trade value will never be higher than it is now. If Markkanen continues to improve, he will eventually get a contract worth twice as much as this one. But there's no real need for the Jazz to move him right now despite their loss, and they still have time to figure out his long-term situation. Beyond Markkanen, however, Utah has several options available, from moving under-contracted veterans like John Collins and Collin Sexton to simply moving expiring contracts.
On the other hand, a team like the Toronto Raptors doesn't have time for Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby since both are free agents at the end of the year (Anunoby has a player option for 2024-25 but will almost certainly opt out). These two players are at the top of our first board because the Raptors need to take a look at what's out there and understand their options moving forward.
This trading forum will change over the next two months. The names presented now are subject to change based on further reports or signed extensions that exclude the player from the trade market. But let's start here.
GO DEEPER
Shams: What I'm hearing about possible trades for Siakam, LaVine and more