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To be perfectly honest, this might be wishful thinking. With 10 playoff or play-in spots up for grabs in each conference, there aren’t as many obvious sellers as there used to be. Flattened lottery odds decreased incentives for teams to tank. And the league’s latest collective bargaining agreement greatly restricted what the top-spending teams are allowed to do in trades.
In other words, there are real reasons to be skeptical of any needle-moving trades being made between now and February. As Tim Bontemps recently reported, “several sources told ESPN in recent weeks they aren’t sure any players making more than the low $20 million range will be traded this season.”
Our crystal ball is hopeful that won’t be the case, though, and as trade-machine enthusiasts, we’ve got our fingers crossed, too. These might be more than blind hopes, too.
Just look at what we’ve seen already this season. There were Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumblings in October. November brought along Karl-Anthony Towns chatter. Cut to December, and we now have ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting the Miami Heat “are open to listening to offers” for Jimmy Butler, plus Brian Windhorst saying the Golden State Warriors will “definitely monitor” LeBron James’ status should he decide he wants out of L.A.
And that’s without touching on former All-Stars known to be on the trade block, like Zach LaVine, Brandon Ingram and D’Angelo Russell. Or without speculating on stars who could reasonably surface there, like LaMelo Ball, Trae Young or, if things really get wild, even Kevin Durant.
There could be stars on the table, in other words, and there would surely be no shortage of suitors for the best ones. The prices could be steep, and the math to make the money work would be as tricky as ever, but there’s a universe in which multiple stars are on the move this trade season, and hopefully we’re living in it.
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