NBA Trade Deadline Rumors: The latest intel on all 30 teams

HoopsHype Senior NBA Insider Michael Scotto reports on the latest intel on all 30 NBA teams ahead of the trade deadline.

With hours until the NBA trade deadline, here’s the latest intel on all 30 teams gathered by HoopsHype. This story will be updated with any new intel as the deadline nears.

Trade rumors rankings: Dejounte Murray, Bruce Brown, D’Angelo Russell and more

HoopsHype ranks the 15 NBA players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week ahead of the Thursday trade deadline.

The 2023-24 NBA trade deadline is upon us. Will we see a flurry of trades? Will any big names be dealt? Or will it just be role players switching teams?

Just today, we saw the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz swap Kevin Knox for Simone Fontecchio and the Boston Celtics acquire rugged big man Xavier Tillman from the Memphis Grizzlies. The biggest trade on Wednesday came late in the afternoon when the Minnesota Timberwolves picked up Monte Morris from the Pistons.

But what fans want is to see major players get moved, although the likelihood of that happening by tomorrow seems slim.

Regardless, below are the players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week, as judged by appearances on our Trade Rumors page.

PJ Washington: Four trade destinations that make sense

The Charlotte Hornets have been underwhelming this season, failing to contend for a Play-In Tournament spot and seemingly taking steps backward. With Michael Jordan transitioning into a minority owner role and Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall starting …

The Charlotte Hornets have been underwhelming this season, failing to contend for a Play-In Tournament spot and seemingly taking steps backward. With Michael Jordan transitioning into a minority owner role and Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall starting to put their fingerprints on their franchise, the Hornets might want to start moving players not deemed part of their future.

With the Hornets trading Terry Rozier and focusing on LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams, roster uncertainty prevails. PJ Washington, who signed to a $48 million deal, might be movable as performance has dipped a bit this season, with a fluctuating role amid team personnel changes. Washington is only 25 years old and is under contract for the next few seasons so he could be a player a team takes a flier on. Additionally, Washington’s contract is front-loaded and its cap hit descends to $14,152,174 in the final year.

Let’s take a look at four possible destinations for him.

What did eventual NBA champions do at the trade deadline?

Sometimes it’s trading for a rotational piece. Other times it’s acquiring a legit starter. And other times still it was trading for heavily protected second-round picks that will never covey just to open up roster spots with which to attack the …

Sometimes it’s trading for a rotational piece. Other times it’s acquiring a legit starter. And other times still it was trading for heavily protected second-round picks that will never covey just to open up roster spots with which to attack the buyout market.

A lot of the time, however, it was doing nothing.

But every NBA trade deadline, all eyes point straight at the league’s top contenders to see what teams with championship aspirations are going to do to bolster their roster, if anything.

Just in the last six years, for example, four teams that went on to win championships those respective campaigns stood pat and didn’t do anything at the trade deadline.

The other two champions, though, picked up a top-notch starter – the Toronto Raptors trading for Marc Gasol at the 2018-19 trade deadline ring any bells? – and a key reserve – the Cleveland Cavaliers acquiring Channing Frye in 2015-16 – at the deadline, proving that champions can make franchise-altering moves midseason.

Below, check out what every eventual NBA champion from this century did at their respective trade deadlines.

Jalen Green: Four trade destinations that make sense

An increasingly common term used in the discourse around roster construction is that of “direction”, and while perhaps overused, it speaks to an important principle. Much as a large degree of NBA roster management is about opportunism, fortune, …

An increasingly common term used in the discourse around roster construction is that of “direction”, and while perhaps overused, it speaks to an important principle. Much as a large degree of NBA roster management is about opportunism, fortune, circumstances and scouting successes, teams are ultimately implicitly required to know who they are and where they are going, behind the obvious answer of “hopefully we will win a title like this”. Knowing the speed of travel, and when the time is to change it, is key.

To that end, the Houston Rockets have unashamedly picked a direction. Since the demise of the James Harden era, they have been last, last and second-last in the Western Conference, winning only 17, 20 and 22 games in the previous three seasons. It was not pretty, but at least it was a direction, and it yielded the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 picks across the last three drafts accordingly.

Since the last of those, though, they have distinctly changed direction. Summer-time expenditure on win-now veterans such as Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks spoke to an intent to move out of the bottom bracket, and last week’s trade of three second-round picks for the 30-year-old Steven Adams doubles down on that position. Their 23 wins so far this season, while far from competitive, have seen them move into the middle ground from the doldrums; the Rockets clearly feel as though there is better value to be had from moving forward with a more competitive environment surrounding their young core, rather than bottoming out further to add to it.

One of those young players, though, appears not to have made the grade. With just two days until the NBA trade deadline, third-year guard Jalen Green’s name has circulated in the trade rumors for some time, and, given the adage that there is no smoke without fire, his time with the team looks as though it might soon be coming to an end, less than three years after being the purpose of the first direction.

Green has averaged 18.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 49 games so far this season, and while this represents a slight decline from his 22.1 scoring average a season ago, there is nothing wrong on the surface. The decline in volume with the addition of VanVleet has not however seen any increase in his efficiency, particularly in the paint, and the defensive progress has been slow. So too has the limited passing vision.

Looking more like Collin Sexton than Donovan Mitchell, Green’s place at the top of the Rockets’ core list has been lost to Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr and arguably also Tari Eason, with Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore still to come. If the Rockets are true to their reported intention of getting older to try and make the 2024 playoffs, his spot is the vulnerable one.

Nevertheless, a third-year player who only turns 22 this week and who already has a season above the 20-point-per-game threshold under his belt will always have some value in the market. Here are four possible trade destinations for Green if Houston can get a deal over the line in the next 48 hours.

NBA Trade Deadline Intel: Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Nets, Pistons, Wizards, Grizzlies, Wolves

NBA trade deadline intel reporting on the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Nets, Pistons, Wizards, Grizzlies, and Timberwolves from HoopsHype Senior NBA Insider Michael Scotto.

With the start of NBA trade deadline week upon us, here’s the latest intel gathered by HoopsHype on the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The most and least frequent trade partners for each NBA team

Earlier this week, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Steven Adams to the Houston Rockets for Victor Oladipo, marking the 16th deal between these two franchises in the 29 years since the Grizzlies’ inception. Averaging 0.55 trades per season, this makes …

Earlier this week, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Steven Adams to the Houston Rockets for Victor Oladipo, marking the 16th deal between these two franchises in the 29 years since the Grizzlies’ inception. Averaging 0.55 trades per season, this makes them the most frequent trade partners in NBA history.

But which teams are the most and least common trade partners for each NBA franchise? Find out below.

Trade rumors rankings: LeBron James, Dejounte Murray and more

HoopsHype ranks the 16 players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week, including LeBron James himself.

With the trade deadline now less than a week away, rumors in the NBA world are heating up more and more. Most recently, we saw the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets agree to a swap of injured players, Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams, a trade that has the future in mind for both clubs.

Today, instead of our usual ranking of five or 10 players, we’re going to rank the 16 players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week as judged by appearances on our Trade Rumors page.

With so many names and so much scuttle to get through, let’s get right into the action.

Dejounte Murray: Three potential trade destinations

It seems for all the world as though the Atlanta Hawks will be trading Dejounte Murray in the next two weeks. With a 19-27 record that will struggle to make the play-in tournament let alone any noise at the top of the Eastern Conference, they need a …

It seems for all the world as though the Atlanta Hawks will be trading Dejounte Murray in the next two weeks. With a 19-27 record that will struggle to make the play-in tournament let alone any noise at the top of the Eastern Conference, they need a change; even though he was a headline acquisition relatively recently, Murray becomes on the block by default, as he is the most changeable part they have to offer.

Since coming to the Hawks and pairing with All-Star point guard Trae Young, Murray – a one-time All-Star in his own right – has played a different role. When Young is on the court, the ball is or should be in his hands, and Murray’s assists per game totals have taken a hit from 9.1 in his final season with the San Antonio Spurs, down to 5.1 in his first 45 games of this season.

On the flip side, his scoring average this season is a career-high 21.4 points per game, a continuing source of growth throughout his career. Yet Murray’s defense is not enough to offset what Young gives back on that end. It is unclear if anyone could be; nonetheless, if the defensive advantage is not there, then perhaps better offensive cohesion could be.

In terms of what Murray did wrong to be traded; he didn’t. While his defense has wilted somewhat this season, Murray is still a productive two-way player of quite some caliber and of the right age to be valuable. If the Hawks are looking to deal Murray, be it actively or passively, they are not doing so because of his individual failings. They are doing so because they need to make a winning trade.

With this in mind, here are three possible trade destinations for Dejounte Murray to have hit the rumor mill, and the reasons why they all make at least some sense.

What NBA Twitter said when the Hawks swapped Luka Doncic for Trae Young: “Young over Doncic is like Marvin over Chris Paul”

Trae Young is a fantastic NBA player, and after five and a half seasons in the NBA, he’s on a Hall of Fame path. But it’s also true that Luka Doncic is clearly better than him. At least, so far. Those two young stars will forever be linked since the …

Trae Young is a fantastic NBA player, and after five and a half seasons in the NBA, he’s on a Hall of Fame path. But it’s also true that Luka Doncic is clearly better than him. At least, so far.

Those two young stars will forever be linked since the Atlanta Hawks drafted the Slovenian guard from Real Madrid at No. 3 in the 2018 draft, then traded him to the Dallas Mavericks for Young, who was picked at No. 5.

Here’s what NBA fans and media tweeted when the deal went down: