We are less than three weeks away from the NBA’s trade deadline, and so far trade season has been fairly quiet. Some of that is teams waiting for the biggest domino to fall in Jimmy Butler, but some of it is teams still trying to figure out exactly what they should be doing, calculating both their short- and long-term futures.
The Play-In has made those decisions even trickier, as it’s kept so many teams in the hunt for a playoff spot by just needing to finish 10th to conceivably have a shot at the postseason. This year, there are a handful of clear buyers and sellers, but for all those teams in the middle, we wanted to provide some help when it comes to deciding whether they should buy, sell, or stand pat over the next couple of weeks.
Atlanta Hawks: Stand pat
The Hawks are in a weird spot where they are a nice team who should, at the very least, make the Play-In Tournament with a good chance of breaking into the playoff field — they’re a franchise that values being in the dance a lot, so that’s a good thing. The players they could sell (De’Andre Hunter, Clint Capela) have been good this year, and they don’t need to speed things up all that much right now. As such, stand pat.
Boston Celtics: Stand pat
Are they going through a bit of a rough patch right now? Yes. Do I care? No. Brad Stevens loves tinkering and is pretty good at it, so maybe he can find something on the fringes to do between now and the deadline, but for the most part, this is their team.
Brooklyn Nets: Sellers
Easy call. The Nets are in full-blown ping pong ball mode, especially after trading Dorian Finney-Smith to the Lakers. They should be taking calls on a bunch of dudes — Cam Johnson can get them a haul in return, Ben Simmons is a gigantic expiring contract, Bojan Bogdanovic (who has not played this year) is another expiring deal — just to see if they can acquire stuff and make their team worse over the next few months.
Charlotte Hornets: Sellers
Sending Nick Richards to the Suns should be an indication of how the Hornets plan on handling the next few weeks. They have a defined core (LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller) and a few players who could be part of that going forward (Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, Tre Mann, Tidjane Salaun, maybe Nick Smith). They should take zero calls about those first two guys, should be willing to listen to calls on the next group while having a high bar to move them, and then, everyone else should be available.
Chicago Bulls: Sellers
They may not be, because they are the Chicago Bulls, but their 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected, or else it goes to the Spurs from the trade that got them DeMar DeRozan, who is not on the team anymore. They should be doing everything they can to make sure that does not convey, and even if that doesn’t mean finding a new team for Zach LaVine, they should be doing everything in their power to get stuff back for the guys who are not part of their vision for whatever the next, like, 3-5 years look like.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Buyers
The Cavs are in a bit of a tricky spot, because breaking up any bit of the core that has gotten them to a point where they have a real shot at the title would be tough to justify. But they don’t really have anyone who can guard the opposing team’s best perimeter player and be reliable on offense on a night-to-night basis, plus they have a single first-round pick they can trade in 2031. If they can find a difference-maker for that and some combination of players who do not make up their core four guys, there’s no better time than right not to go all in.
Dallas Mavericks: Stand pat
The Mavs made their big moves this offseason, and have dealt with absences by Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic this year. Dereck Lively, who has been banged up on a few occasions this year, is now dealing with a sprained ankle. There’s no reason to try and go all-in at this point, and there’s no reason to get in asset hoarding mode. Just stay afloat until Luka goes back and then trust him to handle the rest.
Denver Nuggets: Stand pat
I continue to really like the idea of making a move for Zach LaVine, which was floated earlier this season. But things are going pretty well, Nikola Jokic is Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook has been better than anyone could have anticipated, and even if they get LaVine, the team’s ceiling will ultimately be defined by how good Jamal Murray is once the playoffs roll around. As such, they should probably ride the Jokic-Murray-Aaron Gordon-Michael Porter Jr. quarter for one more year and reevaluate when the summer rolls around.
Detroit Pistons: Stand pat
How about the Pistons!? A longtime punching bag in the Eastern Conference is punching back in a big way this year, as they’re the feel good story in the conference and very well could make the playoffs without needing the Play-In. That makes them interesting, because they have a bunch of veteran guys (Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris) who they clearly got this offseason with the hopes of moving them at the deadline (or, in the case of Harris, at some point over the life of his 2-year deal), but they’ve all been pretty good for them. Maybe they end up sticking to that plan, but with their surprise success this year, why mess with a good thing when Detroit hasn’t had a good NBA thing in such a long time?
Golden State Warriors: Stand pat
Personally, I think they should be doing everything they can to try and compete for a title at some point in the next 18 months, because we do not know how much longer they can ride Steph Curry and Draymond Green before Father Time secures wins over both of them. But Curry is adamant that they need to ride this out, so I’ll defer to him and say stand pat.
Houston Rockets: Stand pat
The Rockets were expected to take a step forward this year, and they still do need the one guy they can give the ball to in crunch time and go shot-for-shot with the Lukas and Shais of the world unless this recent Jalen Green hot streak is him making an honest to god leap. But frankly, that can wait, as this core deserves a chance to see out the rest of this season together. They’re ahead of schedule, and any big moves can probably wait until this summer at the earliest — plus there’s no real reason to make a move on the margins unless they desperately want to get something back for Steven Adams, Jeff Green, or Jae’Sean Tate before they hit free agency.
Indiana Pacers: Stand pat
Indiana has stabilized things nicely after a rough start to the year, but their big thing is they’re still only into year one of five on the Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam duo. After a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, they decided to essentially run it all back, so it would be a bit weird to see them suddenly do a hard pivot. We’ll put them down as a team to watch this summer, but for now, they should stay the course.
Los Angeles Clippers: Stand pat
There is definitely something to being the team in the Pacific Division that is willing to bottom out, and you can make the case that the Clippers should try to get a jump start on that by moving guys like Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell. But they’re in a playoff spot in their first year in a fancy new building and Kawhi Leonard just got back. Their future pick situation is a bit of a mess, so they should ride this out for at least the rest of this season.
Los Angeles Lakers: Whichever one makes it so they are not wasting the final years of LeBron James
I, frankly, have no clue what the Lakers should do, only that they might only have another 16 or so months of employing LeBron James, and they better make sure his career does not go out with a whimper. Trading for Dorian Finney-Smith leads me to believe the answer is either buyers or stand pat, especially since they are in decent shape to get a playoff spot.
Memphis Grizzlies: Buyers
The Grizzlies are third in the West and are fifth in the NBA in both offensive and defensive rating (per Basketball-Reference), which puts them firmly in the contender tier. They could certainly stand pat, but they are a team built on depth that could certainly take a swing on consolidating some of that for higher-end talent for the postseason when rotations shrink. They were floated as a Jimmy Butler destination (before being told not to trade for him) but someone like the Nets’ Cam Johnson seems like the kind of fit as a high-end shooter, secondary creator, and solid defender that Memphis could use to bolster their roster for the playoffs. This isn’t a team that has to make a move, but they should be perusing the market.
Miami Heat: Sellers
This is kind of by definition, since their No. 1 job at the deadline is to trade Jimmy Butler. They shouldn’t, like, move Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro or anything like that, but seeing as how they’re the team most likely to trade an All-Star, they’re sellers.
Milwaukee Bucks: Stand pat
Part of this is because doing anything is enormously difficult for the Bucks, which are a second apron team that lacks draft capital. But they’re also good enough to compete for a top-4 spot in the Eastern Conference, and if Giannis and Dame are healthy come playoff time, they are going to be tough to deal with. So, stand pat.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Buyers and Sellers, simultaneously
This one is tricky, because they should be trying to both add reinforcements to their roster around Anthony Edwards and get something back for Julius Randle, who has a player option for next year and it is unclear what the future holds for him. I’d really like to see them get some backcourt reinforcements that can take some of the stress on a night-to-night basis off of Edwards, personally, and because they are a second apron team, they can’t aggregate contracts in a deal and can’t take back a single cent. Randle makes about $33 million this year, so perhaps they can find some help in that price range if they’re ambitious enough.
New Orleans Pelicans: Sellers
The Pelicans are terrible and should absolutely be trying to get rid of anyone (with some exceptions in guys like Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones, and Yves Missi) as long as the price is right. They’re expensive, bad, and at the very least, could stand to pile up second-round picks, as they quite literally only have one between now and 2031. Now, whether they can get anything even close to fair value for Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, or anyone else on their roster is a completely different story, but David Griffin should be spending a lot of time on the phone these next few weeks.
New York Knicks: Stand pat
I do think the Knicks would be very wise to move for a center, if only because I don’t know if they should trust in Mitchell Robinson to stay healthy — we suggested they try to move to Jakob Poeltl, for instance. But ultimately, they should probably just wait for Robinson to get back and ride it out with the longest-tenured Knick as their center, which means New York should stand pat, as they’ve already made their big trades this year with their acquisitions of Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Stand pat
Sam Presti isn’t afraid to tinker, but for the most part, Oklahoma City clearly loves its core and has only gotten 10 games out of Chet Holmgren this year due to injury. They have the picks and young players to swing for the fences, but Presti has preached patience with this group, and it’d be strange to do anything other than potentially something small on the margins after doing all that.
Orlando Magic: Buyers/stand pat
The Magic are one of the best teams in the East, but there’s a pretty clear gap between themselves and the teams that are considered full-blown title contenders in the league, even when they’re healthy. The question they have to answer: Is there a trade out there that would propel them to that top tier of contenders? If there is, they should very strongly consider beyond buyers. If not, standing pat is fine for now, but at some point, I’d love to see Orlando package some of their young talent, copious amount of draft picks, and a big enough contract or two and take a swing.
Philadelphia 76ers: Sellers
What a disaster. Philly should be one of the best teams in the East, but injuries and poor performance have just totally destroyed any chances they had of being a team worth taking seriously. With their first-round pick this year having a top-6 protection on it (OKC gets it if it conveys), they should be open to the idea of hitting the eject button on this season, as they currently have the eighth-best lottery odds. Now, what the Sixers being sellers looks like is a fair thing to question — Caleb Martin? KJ Martin? Guerschon Yabusele? — but unless they really think they can get Embiid back, healthy, and on the floor for a long enough period of time that things can coalesce ahead of the playoffs and they can reach their potential, well, Daryl Morey has never been afraid of getting creative.
Phoenix Suns: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
On one hand, I truly have no idea what the Suns being sellers looks like, even though their goose very well might be cooked and they should absolutely try to get stuff back for basically anyone and everyone on their roster. But also, there is no chance they do that, as they are all-in and are acting like a team that is trying to win a title, despite every bit of information we have about whether they can do that (both in terms of on-court results and whether they can trade stuff as a second apron team that is essentially out of picks). So they get a shrug, they’re probably gonna try to be buyers and then hope for the best.
Portland Trail Blazers: Sellers
Portland is a team playing for ping pong balls, and while it’s unclear if they can turn some of their guys on big-ish salaries (Deandre Ayton, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons) or veterans on smaller deals (Robert Williams, Matisse Thybulle?) into something else, they have a lot of directions they can go in. The important thing is they continue to build around their core, and anything that helps them do that — with the added bonus of maximizing the likelihood that they draft a difference maker in June — makes sense.
Sacramento Kings: Stand pat
A few weeks ago, this would be sellers, in part because it sure seemed like De’Aaron Fox was going to want a change in scenery. And then, the team fired Mike Brown, promoted Doug Christie, and got scorching hot. As such, they should not do anything and ride this wave of good vibes for as long as they can — but if the wheels start to come off closer to the deadline, then they have some decisions to make.
San Antonio Spurs: Buyers
The Spurs are in an interesting spot, because they have so many future draft picks they can trade that they can be buyers now and still be buyers down the road. Victor Wembanyama is already one of the best players in the world at impacting things on both ends of the floor, so if there’s a way to add talent to the roster that can help them now and in the future, there’s no harm in taking a swing. And if they end up standing pat? Totally cool, they still have Victor Wembanyama.
Toronto Raptors: Sellers
Utah Jazz: Sellers
Washington Wizards: Sellers
I will not waste your time with unique sections for each of these teams, but all of them are in the hunt for the No. 1 seed, they are not good enough to do much of anything, and they should be kicking the tires on moves for any and all guys who can get them into asset accumulation mode. The race to the bottom is going to be pretty wild ahead of the loaded 2025 NBA Draft, so unless these teams determine that individual guys are part of their long-term future, they should take and make some calls.
