In just about a month, we will approach a major date on the NBA calendar, as almost every player who signed a contract in free agency this past summer becomes eligible to be traded. Why is this important? Teams across the NBA are always collecting intel and talking among themselves, which leads to questions and rumors about who will ultimately kick off the trade season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings technically already did so on Sunday when the Kings traded Nique Clifford to 2025 NBA champions, but this was simply a minor move.
All eyes across the league are on the Golden State Warriors and what they will do with Kristaps Porzingis' $20 million salary, which is essentially an inflated trade exception they can use at this point. Additionally, league personnel are also focused on and constantly discussing how the new NBA Draft Lottery rules will impact certain organizations' plans for the trade deadline.
Whereas in the past some teams gutted their rosters for draft picks, front offices can no longer operate like this and be rewarded since the bottom three teams in the NBA enter the “relegation zone” and will have worse odds of receiving the No. 1 pick than those with the fourth to tenth worst record in the league.
Although we are only in the fourth week of the 2026-27 NBA season, chatter across the league is loud, and glimpses of what is to come over the next few months before the trade deadline on February 11 are already spreading.
So, who will become sellers this trade season, and what do league personnel think of different situations across the NBA? Scouts and front-office personnel are keeping an eye on several situations developing during the early portion of the new season as the start of the trade period nears.
The known sellers across NBA
Although there is still time for each of these teams to possibly turn things around and begin trending in the right direction, it's pretty clear to everyone around the league that those currently at the bottom of the NBA standings will be open to selling at the trade deadline.
The Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings are rebuilding and will entertain offers for their top players, and the same can be said about the Chicago Bulls.
Norman Powell joined the Bulls in the offseason on a two-year, $44 million contract that contains a team option for the 2027-28 season, essentially making him a key scoring talent available in trade talks on an expiring deal. League personnel are already looking at the Bulls as a viable trade partner, and the early expectation is that Powell will be moved.
“That seemed like a contract the Bulls offered to have a trade exception in a way,” an Eastern Conference executive told ClutchPoints. “He doesn't fit their timeline, and it's pretty clear that organization is focused on finding long-term value around their youth. Flipping him at the deadline for any draft compensation was clearly the goal from the start.”
Along with Powell, there is a growing sense that Chicago will also look at potential trade avenues for Isaac Okoro, who is in the final year of his contract and has seen his minutes fall under new head coach Tiago Splitter.
Believe it or not, backup big man Jalen Smith is the player several teams around the league inquired about this past offseason and continue to hold interest in, sources said. Smith, 26, is in the final year of his contract and has proven to be a serviceable center who can stretch the court and be a threat in pick-and-pop sets off ball screens.
As for the Nets and Kings, they are open for business. Both Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. are expected to gain interest closer to the Feb. 11 trade deadline, and league personnel fully believe Domantas Sabonis will be on the move from Sacramento in the coming months.
“It's a weird fit with Darius Acuff Jr. It's also not a secret anymore that he wants a fresh start out of Sacramento,” one long-time NBA scout said. “The only problem is that contract. As good as Sabonis can be, these guys in front offices are so number-oriented nowadays that the cap figure matters more than what is seen on the court. That makes it tough to find a suitor for someone like Sabonis unless there is a significant injury somewhere.”
Two other teams expected to be open to hearing offers for virtually any of their players entering the trade deadline are the LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks.
Myles Turner and Kyle Kuzma are the two players the Bucks have been attempting to move since the offseason started. However, Milwaukee has not been receptive to calls regarding Jaime Jaquez Jr. or Ryan Rollins, sources said.
In terms of what to expect from the Clippers, this is a team that is simply waiting to see what they look like when they have all of their pieces. Brandon Ingram has not played yet this season, and the organization has an internal belief that their 2-8 start to the 2026-27 season is not reflective of the talent on their roster.
But with the Clippers facing an uphill battle to work their way back into the playoff conversation in the Western Conference, league personnel are looking at Max Strus, Brook Lopez, and Derrick Jones Jr. as the three most likely players for LA to trade by February.
The big question for the Clippers is whether they would consider trading Darius Garland, who was acquired last season in the deal that sent James Harden to Cleveland. Garland, who is under contract through the 2027-28 season, is highly respected within the organization and has put together a strong start to the 2026-27 season.
If there is a potential path to the Clippers flipping Garland for draft picks spanning from 2029 through 2033, the five-year span in which LA lost their draft picks from the Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention investigation, then this front office will have to explore such an option.
Will Hornets sell high on veterans?
One of the biggest moves this past offseason involved the Charlotte Hornets trading All-Star guard LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In exchange for Ball, the Hornets' key addition ended up being Naz Reid, a player several teams have attempted to acquire over the last year.
The Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, and Detroit Pistons were among several teams that inquired about Reid this past offseason, both before and after he was traded by Minnesota, sources said. Despite being under contract through the 2029-30 season, Reid's toughness and 3-point abilities are what make him such an attractive trade target for teams wanting to add depth to their frontcourt.
Jeff Peterson and the Hornets' front office have focused on building their future through the draft, which is evident in making Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel the faces of the franchise, as well as owning the rights to 11 future first-round picks through 2033. That is why there is an expectation that Charlotte will continue to expand on its draft pick stash at the deadline this season.
“Naz hasn't fit their Charles Lee's style of play, and there is still a ton of interest in him,” a Western Conference front-office member said. “Trading Reid creates an avenue to add more first-round picks to move around the draft as this team sees fit over the next few years, and it would also open up minutes for the Hornets to really lean into Hannes Steinbach and Ryan Kalkbrenner. If they don't move him now, Reid's value will only decrease, and they'll be married to his contract.”
Along with potentially selling high on Reid, who could just be the best big man available entering the trade season, could we see the Hornets also do the same with Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale?
Since being traded from Phoenix to Charlotte as part of the Miles Bridges trade, Allen has been the Hornets' second-best player next to Miller, averaging 15.2 points per game and shooting 47.2 percent from 3-point range. The Hornets won't be in a rush to move Allen since he is still under contract for one more year with a $19.4 million player option he will likely pick up.
Then again, if the right opportunity comes their way, the Hornets have proven in the past they will capitalize on value existing on the open market. That is what makes O'Neale an interesting name to monitor as well.
What is going on in Phoenix?
The message from Mat Ishbia for years has been simple — The Phoenix Suns will always be competitive in the Western Conference and make moves that set them up for postseason success.
Gives Ishbia a lot of credit because since he took over as the owner of the Suns, he has taken several big swings by leveraging the organization's future assets to try and win right now. Even though the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal trio didn't work out the way they imagined, Phoenix was able to work their way out of this rough situation and regain lost assets.
Adding Dillon Brooks was essential in that Durant-Houston trade, and the Suns also added Jalen Green as the key young talent in this deal. Green was supposed to be the complementary guard Phoenix has been searching for to pair with Booker in the backcourt, but his health last year and clunky fit this season have raised serious questions about his future with the team.
This season, Green is averaging a career-low 11.8 points per game and is shooting just 27.0 percent from 3-point range. Not only does it look like he's lost confidence in himself, but it seems like frustrations are beginning to mount for the Suns, who have started the year with a 5-6 record.
“The only path forward and way to improve around Booker is by trading Green,” an Eastern Conference executive told ClutchPoints. “That's a $36 million salary slot that opens up a variety of options to explore in trades, and the fact that he is still just 24 makes him appealing to rebuilding teams who have the cap flexibility to take a chance on him. If Phoenix is serious about winning, then moving him with picks is a must.”
Another league source pointed out that moving Green for a true point guard who can alleviate pressure from Booker is the only way for Phoenix to have any chance of being relevant as far as the Western Conference playoff picture goes. After all, some of Booker's best years came with a real point guard alongside him in Chris Paul, and this team made the 2021 NBA Finals with those two together.
Should the Suns aim to move Green for a legitimate point guard, New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray is already a name being connected to Phoenix as a trade target. Kyrie Irving is another All-Star guard who Phoenix would obviously be interested in, yet the Dallas Mavericks have been adamant since the summer that he is not being traded. One other guard to keep an eye on is Trail Blazers veteran Jrue Holiday.
Other than the obvious rumors surrounding Green, the Suns could also still entertain the idea of trading Miles Bridges if they wanted to. It doesn't seem like this is a path the Suns will go down right now, but this team traded for Bridges and did not extend his contract.
Bridges is making $22.8 million in the final year of his contract, and compared to Green, there would likely be more of a market for the 28-year-old forward. If the Suns' struggles continue and they are not in the playoff picture by January, noise surrounding Bridges will grow.
Overall, the big thing to note about the Suns entering the trade period is that there is a growing expectation among many rival teams that Green will be traded.
Can Orlando afford to keep roster together?
Between Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs, and Wendell Carter Jr., the Orlando Magic have committed over $180 million to their starting rotation for the 2027-28 season. That is a lot of money for a team that hasn't won a playoff series since 2010 to dish out, and what complicates things is the fact that Anthony Black didn't sign a rookie-scale extension this offseason.
As a result, Black will be a restricted free agent next summer. The clock is ticking for the Magic to make a move, and whatever decision is made will have big consequences for this organization.
Orlando has not paid luxury taxes since 2010. That will change this season… or will it?
Right now, the Magic are currently $17.4 million over the luxury tax threshold and have started the new season with a 4-7 record. Banchero will not be back until the final week of November at the earliest due to a high ankle sprain, and Suggs missed eight straight games due to a bone bruise and a hyperextended knee.
The Magic will undoubtedly wait to be fully healthy before deciding what path to go down, but the bottom line is that someone will need to be moved either this season or in the summer.
Black would seem like the obvious player to move, either in a sign-and-trade next summer or in a deal at the deadline this year, but the Magic have consistently shot down all speculation regarding the young guard's future.
That has led rival league personnel to speculate about who else could be on the move in Orlando in the near future.
“Wendell Carter Jr. would have a ton of suitors on the trade market,” a Western Conference scout told ClutchPoints. “He can shoot, he can rebound, he can defend on the perimeter, and he still has two more years on his contract at a team-friendly number. Is it crazy to think the Magic could ask for two firsts in a deal for Carter, cut back their tax number, and then add a lower-cost option if their struggles persist? I definitely don't think so.”
Article Continues BelowAs reported recently by ClutchPoints, several teams are monitoring Carter's status ahead of this year's trade deadline, including the Golden State Warriors, who continue to search for avenues to utilize Kristaps Porzingis' $20 million salary in trade talks.
The Magic are not yet flirting with the idea of blowing things up and trading pieces of their core away. However, the pressure to make some type of change to the roster will continue to grow if Orlando doesn't turn things around quickly.
Grizzlies face major NBA trade deadline decisions
Who would've thought that the Memphis Grizzlies would be the last undefeated team in the NBA to begin the season and be playing as well as they are?
The Grizzlies won 25 games last season, they finally moved off Ja Morant in the summer, and it seemed like this group would be rebuilding around No. 3 overall pick Cam Boozer. While the ladder is true, the Grizzlies have been very successful early on, winning their first six games of the season and finding themselves at 7-4 overall, just three games out of first place in the Western Conference.
Although Boozer has shown flashes of his All-Star potential, Ty Jerome has shown that he should be an All-Star right now.
Jerome is averaging 26.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from 3-point range. It may sound crazy, but Jerome ranks eighth in the league in scoring and has been the catalyst behind the Grizzlies' early-season success.
So what's next for Memphis?
“Isn't it hard to root against them? Obviously I want our team to win when we play them, but this just seems like one of those feel-good stories to start the year,” another front-office member told ClutchPoints. “Sure, all of this is fun, and Jerome has been awesome, but Zach Kleiman is always thinking. Winning this season wasn't necessarily in the cards for Memphis, and it's hard to envision that mindset changing.
If they keep winning, great, but if we've learned anything about them through the years, it's that Kleiman always sells high.”
This is true about Kleiman and the moves he's made in recent years. Desmond Bane was traded to Orlando for four first-round picks, and Jaren Jackson Jr. was traded last year to Utah for three first-round picks.
Memphis won't get this kind of value for any player on their roster right now, but could they possibly squeeze a first-round pick and additional assets out of a team for Jerome? Although the Grizzlies really like him, could a team pay a premium to try and pry Isaiah Stewart away this trade season?
Stewart has a $15 million team option on his contract for the 2027-28 season, and Jerome is essentially in the final year of his deal since he has a $9.6 million player option that will undoubtedly be declined for a major raise on a new contract in free agency.
There are a lot of mixed feelings around the league about Jerome when talking with league personnel. Whereas some think it makes the most sense to sell high on the 29-year-old guard, some believe the Grizzlies will keep him and try to negotiate a new long-term deal.
Jerome will certainly generate plenty of interest on the trade market over the next few months, with sources already labeling two teams as suitors for the breakout guard: The Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.
It is no secret to anyone that the Heat will be searching for affordable backcourt help on the trade market, and the Thunder will be able to re-aggregate Nique Clifford's contract with someone like Nikola Topic at the trade deadline to try and salvage their championship hopes amid major injury problems.
With a plethora of first-round assets still at their disposal, the Thunder will continue to loom large as a trade threat for any player on a team-friendly contract that becomes available between now and February.