Predicting NBA Stars and Players Who Will Be Dealt by the 2025 Trade Deadline
August 2, 2024Predicting NBA Stars and Players Who Will Be Dealt by the 2025 Trade Deadline
The NBA trade market is quiet at the moment.
Chances are it won't stay that way for long.
The basketball world is almost always in between blockbuster deals. That's just how this league operates. Perhaps deals could slow down a bit in the new economic environment, but they'll never grind to a complete halt.
While it's sounding less likely that Utah Jazz swingman Lauri Markkanen will be on the move, here's a look at five players our crystal ball thinks will be traded between now and the 2024-25 trade deadline.
Jerami Grant, Portland Trail Blazers
Jerami Grant became an obvious candidate as soon as Damian Lillard requested a trade out of Portland—the day after Grant agreed to his five-year, $160 million deal last summer.
Both parties have played nice since, but there must be an expiration date on that. Grant may not be blocking some young, high-end forward from seeing the floor, but this rebuild would still be easier to navigate without his contract on the books. As for the swingman himself, one can assume he'd prefer not to spend his 30s buried deep down the league standings.
This situation seems untenable. And even the Blazers might know that. They reportedly have a "goal" of unloading either Grant or Anfernee Simons before training camp, per Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian.
Grant shouldn't have trouble attracting win-now suitors. His counting stats are elevated by a heavier role than he'd handle on a good team, but he would still be an easy fit as an efficient support scorer who can capably defend multiple positions. And while his contract is steep, it's not quite egregious given how the salary cap will climb.
Whether an injury opens a spot in someone's frontcourt rotation, or teams decide they're desperate enough to nab a difference-maker that they'll try picturing Grant as one, someone will get him out of the Pacific Northwest during the next six months.
Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans
The NBA playoffs were still in full swing when insider Marc Stein brought word that the Pelicans were expected to "aggressively explore" a Brandon Ingram trade this offseason.
Some might see the fact it hasn't happened yet as a possible change of plans. More likely, it's just a reflection of the market—which is notably fluid and forever subject to change.
Ingram is a tricky trade candidate, because he needs a new contract by next season and has arguments for demanding a huge one. He is a 26-year-old former No. 2 pick and All-Star who has improved as a shot-creator, defender and distributor. He is also one of only 10 players across the entire Association to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of the past three seasons.
He is clearly worth a sizable investment, but he's not a clear-cut candidate for a maximum contract (four years, $207.8 million on an extension now or five years and $269.1 million next summer). He also might be worth more to other teams than he is to New Orleans, since he isn't the high-volume shooter or shutdown stopper the Pelicans would prefer to have alongside Zion Williamson.
New Orleans clearly won't deal Ingram just to get rid of him, but his contract uncertainty gives the Pels some urgency to act. Plus, they need to clear a starting spot for Trey Murphy III sooner than later. There are more arguments for New Orleans trading Ingram than keeping him, and at some point that will manifest in an actual deal.
Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
Does this seem too obvious? Maybe, but low-hanging fruit still needs to be picked.
Zach LaVine has spent the better part of the last year (at least) on the trade block. He'd be long gone by now if it wasn't for the many warts impacting his value, like that super-sized salary, lengthy injury history and the nearly complete lack of team success on his resume.
"He's never won, he's done it his way the whole way and never won," a team source told ESPN's Jamal Collier. "If he's interested in winning, he'll do what he's asked of him. And if he's motivated to not be here, one way is to come, be compliant and be who he is."
LaVine's relationship with the Bulls has clearly run its course. He needs to find his way to a team that's closer to contention, and they need to clear as many developmental minutes and touches as they can find for their young perimeter players.
There should be enough motivation on both sides to get a trade done ahead of the deadline, so long as LaVine avoids any more injury trouble. He has his flaws, but he's still a two-time All-Star who always posts strong offensive numbers when he's healthy. Some win-now shopper that is starved for scoring and shooting will eventually target him as a quick fix.
D'Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have appeared less than thrilled with D'Angelo Russell for a while now.
First, they stripped him of his starting spot in the 2023 playoffs. While they gave him a new contract that following offseason, they only did so after he waived his implied no-trade clause. And while they didn't yank him out of the first five in this year's playoffs, they did see his numbers implode once again, as he averaged more shots (14.6) than points (14.2) while posting a grotesque shooting slash (38.4/31.8/50).
They surely let out a collective groan when he picked up his $18.7 million player option for next season, and they've been shopping him ever since, per The Athletic's Jovan Buha.
The Lakers haven't done any wheeling and dealing yet this summer, but that doesn't mean they're fully committed to this core. As Buha relayed, they've simply "made it clear they're not going to trade just to trade." They're poking around for upgrades and apparently haven't found what they're looking for yet.
Whenever they do, though, Russell will surely be let go in the exchange. They'll probably need his salary to make the money work if it's any kind of substantial swap, and he should have at least modest market value for his on-court work. Flaws and all, he was still one of just seven players to average 18 points, six assists and three three-pointers last season.
Anfernee Simons, Portland Trail Blazers
As the Trail Blazers move further away from the Damian Lillard era, they'll continue discarding a good chunk of their established talent.
Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian relayed there is a "goal" of shedding either Anfernee Simons or Jerami Grant before training camp. While Fentress added they may not move both right now, he predicted they "will be gone by next summer."
It would probably behoove the Blazers to get a Simons deal done as soon as possible. He'll need a new contract in 2026, so the earlier a team is able to acquire him, the longer it will have him under contract. If his next deal proves more lucrative than his current one, clubs will want to soak up all the cost-controlled production he can offer right now.
And there is plenty of it. This past season, he pumped in his per-game averages to new career marks of 22.6 points, 5.5 assists (against 2.7 turnovers) and 3.4 three-pointers (on 38.5 percent shooting). Those have to be awfully inviting marks for anyone in the market for scoring, table-setting, outside shooting and general bucket-getting.
Simons' trade market should be robust. He is established enough to attract win-right-now teams and young enough (turned 25 in June) to appeal to rebuilders with relatively short runways. Tack on Portland's incentive to free up minutes and shots for Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, and there are all kinds of reasons to believe the Blazers will cook up a Simmons swap soon.