The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away, as teams cannot make trades after 3:00 p.m. ET on Feb. 6. It’s unclear exactly how busy things are going to get this year, in large part thanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that teams are still in the early stages of trying to navigate.
Still, the race for a championship is pretty open at this point, as there isn’t one clear-cut team that is head and shoulders above the rest. Some, like the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, look to be in tremendous shape, but there are still plenty of teams that could stand to make changes to maximize their chances of winning a ring in the next year or two. Others just need to throw a hail mary and hope that a trade can get them to a spot where they can compete once the postseason rolls around.
Today, we looked at six trades that we think make sense, and would like to see between now and the deadline — there is no reporting happening here, this is a purely vibes-based endeavor (albeit one that is built around some reporting from other folks). The only rule is that they have to work, and fortunately, Fanspo’s spectacular trade machine lets us know what can and cannot work within the rules of the CBA. Let’s dive in.
New York gets a center
KNICKS GET: Jakob Poeltl
RAPTORS GET: Mitchell Robinson, Precious Achiuwa, Washington’s top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick, one of their 2026 second-round picks
The Knicks are a juggernaut on offense and are nowhere near good enough on defense, which is a pretty strange thing to say about a team coached by Tom Thibodeau. The thing that hurts the most: The team’s center depth chart is currently comprised of Karl-Anthony Towns, Jericho Sims, Precious Achiuwa, and Ariel Hukporti. They need someone who can actually defend the rim and let their arsenal of wing defenders fly around with the knowledge that, if they get beat, it’s not an automatic layup. Poeltl can help fix that, as he’s one of the best defensive big men in the league and would give the team the flexibility to play Towns as a four.
Toronto can be a very tricky team to deal with, since it can be really hard to get them to move guys they value, and they clearly love and value Poeltl. But an old friend in Achiuwa, a talented (albeit injury-prone) big man in Robinson, and some draft capital makes sense, as the Raptors aren’t going anywhere any time soon, plus Poeltl is already 29 and can potentially become a free agent after next season. As long as there are no hard feelings from their recent off-court foray into the legal system, this could be a beneficial deal for both teams.
Orlando’s offense gets a shot in the arm
MAGIC GET: CJ McCollum
PELICANS GET: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, Denver’s top-5 protected 2025 first-round pick
A big part of this is the injuries to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but once again, Orlando’s offense stinks. Now, they have the second-best defense in the NBA by defensive rating, so they are elite on one side of the floor, but offensive ineptitude has come to define the Magic since essentially the day after they traded Dwight Howard. And yet, Orlando navigated life without their two stars and are holding onto a top-4 seed in the Eastern Conference. They’re really good, and McCollum would give them some much-needed backcourt scoring chops. The best part about this for Orlando is that McCollum’s longstanding issue of never really being a point guard isn’t as big of a problem, because the team runs things through its two stars and Jalen Suggs, while Suggs (and the rest of the team, for that matter) can pick up some of the slack defensively.
New Orleans, meanwhile, would get off of McCollum’s deal and receive a first-round pick this year to add talent to a roster that needs it. Plus maybe changes in scenery would help Caldwell-Pope and Anthony, who have both struggled with their shots this season.
Memphis gets the big wing they’ve needed
GRIZZLIES GET: Cam Johnson
NETS GET: Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, a 2026 unprotected first-round pick
Memphis has seemingly been in the market for a big wing forever, but has never quite been able to find one. But with the team sitting in a top-3 seed in the Western Conference and looking like a potential nightmare to deal with come playoff time, what better time than right now to try and load up for a potential run at a title? Johnson would give them size, shooting, and toughness that should all fit right into what the Grizzlies are building — plus he’s in the second year of a four-year deal that is going to age quite well as the salary cap goes up. While it remains to be seen if one first-round pick is enough for him, they can make the salaries work via two guys in Smart and Kennard who have seen their roles decrease this season. Plus, if Smart and Kennard can rehab their trade value a bit in Brooklyn, they could very easily be guys the Nets flip for stuff this offseason or next season.
San Antonio swings for the fences
SPURS GET: De’Aaron Fox
KINGS GET: Keldon Johnson, Chris Paul, Atlanta’s 2025 and 2027 first-round picks, San Antonio’s 2026 first-round pick
Sacramento getting scorching hot in the aftermath of firing Mike Brown mucks this up a bit, but if Fox still has long-term questions about being a King, the Spurs are probably the team best positioned to bring him in. San Antonio is better than almost anyone could have expected, and while it might be too lofty of a goal, Victor Wembanyama can absolutely be a first-team All-NBA selection this year. Fox would give him an All-Star running mate, both now and for the future, and is theoretically the kind of ultra dynamic guard who would be a perfect fit alongside him — plus Fox teaming up with Stephon Castle would surely annoy opposing backcourts with their speed and athleticism. Of course, a big part of this would be that the Spurs turn around and give Fox a lucrative contract extension in the not too distant future, which they can do pretty easily.
San Antonio could pull this off without doing too much to their stash of future draft capital, while Johnson gets a fresh start after getting relegated to a bench role and Paul could go help a playoff team, either in Sacramento or as a buyout guy. Ultimately, wanting this at the trade deadline might be a bit too ambitious, so maybe dog ear this one and come back once the offseason rolls around.
Golden State goes for broke
WARRIORS GET: Zach LaVine
BULLS GET: Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Jonathan Kuminga
The Warriors stink, and at some point, the signs that Steph Curry can’t carry them on a night-to-night basis are going to be impossible to ignore — he’s still Steph, so he can still reach some incredible highs, it’s more that asking a soon-to-be 37-year-old to bring his A-game every single night is untenable. A thing that would help push back against that? Get him a running mate who can take some of the scoring load off of his shoulders, and if there’s one thing LaVine is very good at, it’s that. Long derided for his contract and injury history, LaVine is quietly putting together an outstanding season for the Bulls, as he’s averaging 24 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent shooting from three. If anything, he’s gotten to be a bit underrated for how good he can be at his best. Chicago, meanwhile, would get a guy going through a nice bounce back year (and someone who could potentially be traded again this summer if he plays well) in Wiggins, a good veteran in Payton, and a young guy in Kuminga who has his flaws, but is talented and is up for a contract extension.
We’d also be remiss not to mention the Nuggets here, as they were linked to LaVine recently, but things have been going well for them, so we assume they wouldn’t want to rock the boat too much.
There is no universe where this happens but hey, it’d be funny
SIXERS GET: Jimmy Butler
LAKERS GET: Paul George, Pelle Larson
HEAT GET: Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie, Jalen Hood-Schifino, a future second-round pick from the Sixers
I’ll be honest: This is only on here because I wanted to see if I could pull off a ridiculous Jimmy Butler trade that is not dependent on Bradley Beal waiving his no-trade clause. I do think this is a funny deal because it simultaneously lets the Sixers move off of the deal they just gave Paul George, which, they would immediately turn around and give Butler a lot of money, so who knows if that’d even be a good idea. George isn’t a terrible fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis — he is certainly a better fit than anyone the Lakers would be giving up here, while they’d get to keep Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht in this hypothetical deal. As for Miami, they’d get quite the grab bag of players back for Butler, and you can make the case that unless a team like Houston swings in and offers a player like Jabari Smith Jr., getting a bunch of guys back (including two in Christie and Hood-Schifino who they could try to develop) isn’t the worst approach.
