NBA franchises try to keep their stars more often than not, but there are situations when regular logic don’t apply. A team might be looking for a complete overhaul, the star might be disgruntled or the emerging contract extension might not work for either side. Teams have not only traded away their top scorers in the past, but even their MVPs.
Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal (twice) and Kevin Garnett were MVPs that got traded in the past decade. We haven’t had such scenario in this decade, though LeBron James and Kevin Durant did change teams on other terms.
Getting ready for a hot summer in the NBA
With NBA players getting more motivated by other things than just the money, as seen by recent shifts, teams should understand that getting a good or even a solid deal is usually better than letting a player walk away in the free agency. There are going to be numerous rumors, fewer actual trades, as we go into the summer break, but only a couple of marquee players will find themselves in new environment, if any. I’ll evaluate the most important trades here for you, when they occur, but as we can still only speculate what’s going to happen, there would be too many options to assess them now.
Instead let’s focus on the top scoring players of each team in the NBA league for the 2016/17 season.
Isaiah Thomas (BOS)
At 27 years of age, Thomas is untouchable after a career year, but is only under contract for the next season, and will require massive increase on his current $6.5 million salary. Still, trade is highly unlikely.
Brook Lopez (BRK)
There are few players in the league who’s name appear on the trade rumors with more regularity and yet Brook Lopez has spent his entire 9-year pro career with the Nets. His contract expires after the next season, so the Nets might look into the possibility of getting some pick for him. While he raises all kinds of red flags on the pick and roll defense and work on the glass, Lopez is an attractive target for teams looking to outscore the opposition. Lakers would be a good fit for him had they not splashed cash on Mozgov, but he could work nicely with the Magic, the Thunder or the Suns. Chances are that we’ll finally see Lopez in different uniform next season.
Carmelo Anthony (NYK)
Melodrama Part II. After the unnecessary extracurricular on leaving the Denver Nuggets, Anthony is again playing his disgruntled star suit with the Knicks, but it will be hard for them to trade him. His nominal worth is much higher than high true value and other teams aren’t looking for 33 years old me-first low-efficiency scorer owed over $54 million in the next two seasons. On top of that, he has the no-trade clause to dissuade some desperate teams from the NBA cellar. I believe he’s stuck, despite all the buzz.
Joel Embiid (PHI)
Philly waited two years on Embiid, so they aren’t going to let him go. For their sake, let’s hope he doesn’t turn into another Greg Oden.
DeMar DeRozan (TOR)
DeRozan has been linked with other teams as Raptors are in terrible tax-paying situation, especially with other players’ extensions coming up. Ujiri has been known as a GM who isn’t afraid to changing things from the root and has previously traded away team’s leading scorer, so DeRozan trade does seem like a genuine possibility. The problem is, DeRozan signed a new contract just last year, so the team that would be trading for him needs to be sure that he is their guy. Without a three point shot and with a shaky D, the asking price will probably be too high for most of the suitors. There’s a slight chance Toronto would go that path.
Jimmy Butler (CHI)
Quite a few teams have been suggested to pursue Butler, but there’s little incentive for the Bulls to let him walk. He’s signed through 2018-19, with a player option for another year, and his contract is a bargain compared to what players of his reputation are getting. Not only that he’s the Chicago Bulls’ top scorer, he’s their best two-way guy and they’ll likely wait for another season to see how things pan out. I don’t think he’s going anywhere, at least not before the next summer.
LeBron James (CLE)
If James is going to play for another team in his career, he’ll just walk away and sign wherever he wants as a free agent.
Tobias Harris (DET)
The fact that Tobias Harris is Pistons’ top scorer should turn on all the alarms in the organization. I like Harris, I believe he’s versatile and good enough to play on most teams. He’s also on a front loaded contract so his last two years come pretty cheaply for the player of his abilities. However, the Pistons don’t see him as a part of the new generation foundation and have dropped him to the bench on few occasions. Harris was already a part of three trades in his first 6 years in the NBA league, and as Luke Ridnour may testify, when it starts that way, it only gets worse. There’ll be interested suitors and if the Pistons are hoping to unload either Jackson or Drummond, Harris might be included as a sweetener. I’d say that chances for him to be traded are around 30 percent.
Paul George (IND)
George has the player option for the 2018-19 season that he’ll waive to sign a more lucrative deal, so it’s a genuine deal or no-deal situation for the Pacers. He missed on the supermax extension after not being selected to any of the All-NBA teams, and it’s quite a gamble for the Pacers to wait if he becomes eligible next season. Reportedly, the Celtics and the Lakers will push for his services, and the Pacers are certainly going to listen on other offers as well. It’s a tough situation for the front office, as George is a fan favorite in Indiana, but so was Durant in OKC before he walked. If a really good offer comes up, like Fultz + Crowder + young talent(s), Indy should do it and start over. I’d say 65-75 percent he gets traded.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL)
Antetokounmpo is the face of the franchise, he’s young and hardworking, he’s happy in Wisconsin, so there’s no way the Bucks are going to give him up.
Paul Millsap (ATL)
Millsap opted out of the contract after the NBA season ended, making him an unrestricted free agent. The only way he gets traded is by a sign-and-trade option, but I don’t see this happening as there are quite a lot of teams with plenty of salary cap available.
Kemba Walker (CHA)
Walker is under a $12 million per season contract for another two years, a deal that plenty of teams would like to have. Of course, Charlotte, already a tax-paying prospect, likes it as well. No trade here.
Goran Dragic (MIA)
Dragic has three more years on his deal (the last a player option), and is key cog on the current Miami roster, but he’s already 31 and has played 9 NBA seasons with a fragile frame. Still, it’s too early to give up on him, especially after he used the up-tempo, whistle-blowing happy season to tie his career season best scoring wise with 20.3 points per game. This time next year, but not yet.
Evan Fournier (ORL)
Fournier took plenty of offensive load for the Orlando Magic last season. He was making it happen for them on each stalled attack, the lone long range threat and a guy that can finish the drive. As the scheme changed later in the season, and with the nagging injuries and fatigue, he faded, and it seems that the Magic interest in him was fading along. He’d be an excellent addition as a third or fourth option on a balanced, contending team and he’s still only 24. He signed a 5-yr/$85M deal last summer with the Magic, so they’ll likely pretend to be high on him and put up asking price that nobody would pay for third or fourth option, so I believe he’s staying in Orlando.
John Wall (WAS)
He’s one of the untouchables, for now at least.
Danilo Gallinari (DEN)
Gallinari is going to decline the player option for the next season and test the open market. He’s in his prime, but with the injury woes and absent defensive game, I believe he’ll be disappointed with the offers and will sign with the Nuggets again.
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)
Of all the NBA players on this list, Towns is probably the most unlikely to be traded. Wolves love him and rightfully so.
Russell Westbrook (OKC)
Russell Westbrook is the face, the head and the body of OKC at the moment, and after a small market team such as Thunder lost Harden and Durant, they are going to hold onto him as long as he wants them. His stock is never going to be this high though.
Damian Lillard (POR)
Lillard is signed for the next four seasons on a large contract so he’s not going to be targeted by any teams, and the Blazers aren’t exactly urging to unload him either. He stays.
Gordon Hayward (UTH)
Hayward will opt out of the last year of the current contract and will test the market. He’s an attractive option for many teams as he’s in his prime, so it’ll be tough on the Jazz to retain his services. Sign-and-trade isn’t out of the question, but isn’t very likely.
Stephen Curry (GSW)
Moving on.
Blake Griffin (LAC)
Griffin has the early termination option for the next year so he could pull a surprise on the Clippers. There are some rumors about Chris Paul being interest in what other teams have to say, so Griffin’s move might be affected by Paul’s decision. If CP3 changes the city, it would be wise of Griffin to do the same. The Clippers are confident that they’ll be able to re-sign both, but this could have different scenarios as well, including a mid-season trade.
D’Angelo Russell (LAL)
He’s still under the rookie contract, but I don’t think his position is as secure as it was before the Lakers won the second pick. If the Lakers are about to give the keys of the franchise to Lonzo Ball, Russell becomes incumbent and might be included in a preseason deal for star player targets. The teams will probably ask for him, the Lakers will probably look to keep him (but should let him go), so it’s a flip-a-coin situation.
Devin Booker (PHX)
Plenty of teams would love to add Booker, but Suns are going to cut short any conversation on his availability.
Rudy Gay, Buddy Hield (SAC)
The Kings have already shipped their best scorer this year when they traded Cousins to New Orleans, so the two players that have remained as the leading scorers played less than half of the 2016/17 NBA season. Of the two, Hield is a stay, while many suspect that Gay will be traded. The Kings actually like him and want to keep him, so it’s anyone’s guess.
Harrison Barnes (DAL)
One of the best moves Dallas has made in the last 4 or 5 offseason was to sign Barnes. He proved his worth last season and will continue to improve. He’s set.
James Harden (HOU)
Harden has his realm in Houston, he’s happy and the Rockets will do anything to keep it that way for their leading scorer.
Mike Conley (MEM)
One of the most underrated great point guards in the league suddenly became the most overrated after signing the largest contract in the NBA history. Memphis knows how good Conley is, and other teams won’t hunt for him, so there are no trade possibilities here.
Anthony Davis (NOP)
Unfortunately, no. The Pelicans have acquired Cousins for a most awkward star tandem in the NBA league, so they now have to figure things out. It’s enough to keep his hopes and the team won’t simply walk away from their franchise player, so there’ll be no action here either.
Kawhi Leonard (SAS)
The last, but not the least, Kawhi Leonard is also a player every team would like to have and only the Spurs can, and this won’t change.
After evaluating the situation on the possible trades for the best scorers of all 30 NBA teams, it is safe to say that the summer will be extremely hot. It will even get more interesting come the NBA draft time. Most of the NBA superstars will stay put with their current teams, but certain star players (Paul George, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Rudy Gay) will definitely raise some eye-brows and media attention in the trade talks this summer.
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