Western Conference Buyers and Sellers at the NBA Trade Deadline
The NBA is in a weird place with less than two weeks or so out from the trade deadline on February 9. Only five teams (the Orlando Magic joined this list over the weekend) teams in the entire league are more than three games out of a spot in the Play-In Tournament. In the Western Conference, only the Houston Rockets and San Antonio spurs have no realistic shot at making the postseason.
That’s caused the trade market to be a bit jammed up. There just aren’t a lot of clearcut sellers at the moment.
Instead of presenting our annual look at who are Buyers (teams looking to add for a playoff push), Sellers (teams planning for the future), Either (teams who could buy or could sell) or Neither (teams who are likely to sit out the deadline entirely), we’re adding a twist. We’ll tell you which camp each stands in for now. (Spoiler: There are a lot of buyers!) But we’re also going to tell you what camp each team should be standing in.
Dallas Mavericks
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Mavs are looking for help around Luka Doncic. No, it wasn’t prompted by a mural, but it’s known that Dallas is looking to find the right mix to put around Doncic.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Mavericks should be buying, but they have to be careful here. They’ve cleared out some of their long-term onerous salary. If they miss and take on more bad money, it’s going to get really difficult to get the right guys in the lineup with Doncic.
Denver Nuggets
Approach at the deadline: Neither
Denver probably won’t do a whole lot. They’re talking Bones Hyland deals. The Nuggets are looking to add more depth. But Denver is already $10.5 million over the tax, and they’ve got decent depth. Don’t look for much here.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Nuggets should be soft buyers. If they can flip Hyland and something (trading picks is hard because Denver has future obligations already) for a veteran to come off the bench, that’s fine. But Denver’s top-eight is really solid already. Given their limited resources, it’s going to be hard to get much of an upgrade.
Golden State Warriors
Approach at the deadline: Neither
Outside of the Andrew Wiggins-D’Angelo Russell swap, which came when the Warriors were in a retooling season, Golden State doesn’t really do in-season trades. They seem to be reluctant to move off anyone, even the youngsters who haven’t panned out. Look for the champs to add on the buyout market instead of via trade.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
Golden State should be buying. The grand plan of young core stepping in as the veteran core ages out looks pretty shaky now. Instead, the Warriors should be maximizing what they have around their vets for another deep playoff run or two. James Wiseman (and maybe Moses Moody) isn’t going to get the development minutes he needs in the Bay Area. It’s time to move him for win-now help.
Houston Rockets
Approach at the deadline: Sellers
Houston is a seller, but one without a lot to sell. They’re looking to move Eric Gordon for the second or third deadline in a row. Beyond that, this team is mostly made of kids on their rookie scale deals. It’s hard to see any of them going anywhere.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Sellers
Houston has been rumored to be in on John Collins. If the idea is to poach him for next-to-nothing, then it makes sense. But giving real value for Collins with the Rockets still rebuilding would be a bad move. Trade Gordon and keep it moving with the kids.
LA Clippers
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Clippers are looking for a point guard and a backup center. They’ve been linked to Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley and Fred VanVleet. All would be expensive additions, but big upgrades. As LA has shown in the past, they won’t let the former stand in the way of the latter.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Clips have played well over a couple of weeks span now. They’ve shown when they care that they’re contenders. That’s enough to make it worth taking on even more in salary and tax penalties. With a bunch of midrange salaries to trade, the bet here is that LA makes at least one splashy addition before the deadline.
Los Angeles Lakers
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Lakers aren’t done after the Rui Hachimura trade. They’re still looking to flesh out their rotation, while rebalancing some guard depth for wings with size. Just don’t expect a Russell Westbrook deal. That ship seems to have sailed, assuming it was ever seaworthy to begin with.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
Los Angeles has shown enough when healthy that it’s worth buying. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still those guys to build around. Given the Pelicans control the Lakers pick, there’s no reason to do anything but to be as good as possible. The question remains: Will Rob Pelinka move either or both of the tradable first-round picks?
Memphis Grizzlies
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
Memphis is sitting in a somewhat unique spot. They are very good, contenders even, but feel one or two guys short. The Grizzlies also are a whopping $28.9 million under the tax line. They’re talking trades, but as always, Memphis is shy about moving on from their own drafted players.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Grizzlies have to get over moving their own players and go get some immediate rotation upgrades. Yes, they are young, but title contention windows snap shut as quickly as they open. Memphis is there right now. They are the best draft-and-develop team in the NBA, but it’s time to turn some of that into guys who can take them to the next level this season.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Approach at the deadline: Neither
Minnesota is in a bit of a weird place. They are showing signs of being good, but aren’t quite there yet. They’re reportedly at least somewhat open to moving D’Angelo Russell, but need a point guard back. That sort of position-for-same-position trade is pretty rare, unless you’re swapping old for young. Buzz has picked up around Jaylen Nowell and Naz Reid in recent weeks too.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Neither
It’s probably best for the Wolves to just be patient. Their big “addition” will be Karl-Anthony Towns. A trade that sends Russell away for another starting-level point guard seems unlikely. Minnesota is showing signs of figuring things out while waiting Towns return. Ride that out and make bigger moves this summer, if necessary.
New Orleans Pelicans
Approach at the deadline: Neither
The Pelicans are looking (they’ve been linked to John Collins), but it seems almost like they are being opportunistic. And that’s fine. When healthy, this team has all the ingredients to make a decent playoff run.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Neither
New Orleans shouldn’t go crazy…yet. They haven’t even seen this team as it was ideally built. Unless some sort of no-brainer deal lands at their feet, the Pels can afford to let things play out a bit. This summer feels like the big-move period vs any time in the next week or so.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Approach at the deadline: Neither
OKC is having a far better season than anyone could have ever expected. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a star and the role players are developing very quickly around him. But the Thunder aren’t ready to go all-in just yet. They’re poking around, but nothing serious seems on the table for Oklahoma City.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Neither
The Thunder are only $7.9 million under the tax line. This isn’t like last year when Sam Presti had a mountain of cap space to use. If they can add some quality size that’s signed long-term, and the cost isn’t too great, jump on that. Beyond that, it’s best for OKC to keep their flexibility into the summer.
Phoenix Suns
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Suns are looking to add. With the new ownership group set to take over before the deadline, James Jones seems to have the greenlight to add some salary. That has the Suns in on point guards (Chris Paul insurance?) and power forwards (John Collins prime among them).
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
It’s been a while since Phoenix has really geared up at the deadline, but we’re seeing things change in a major way now. Keep an eye on Jae Crowder and Dario Saric. That’s over $19 million in expiring salary. If you add Cameron Payne, and his partially guaranteed for 2023-24 deal to that mix, you’re up over $25 million in mostly-expiring salary. That’s enough to get in the mix for anyone who becomes available. The time is now for the Suns to make a big swing.
Portland Trail Blazers
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
All reports are that Portland is looking to add talent to their roster at the deadline. Josh Hart and Jusuf Nurkic are available, and the Blazers have some smaller midrange salaries they could deal too. They want to keep building around Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant, who they hope to extend or re-sign.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Sellers
It feels like the Trail Blazers are setting themselves up to sit in the middle for a while. Lillard is awesome, but the rest of the roster is full of good-but-not-great players. And there aren’t enough of those players that Portland has overwhelming depth either. In what is looking like a great seller’s market, the Blazers could reset on the fly, while also improving their cap flexibility and lottery odds. That’s an opportunity that might not exist next year.
Sacramento Kings
Approach at the deadline: Buyers
It seems like Sacramento is sort of poking around to improve around the edges of their rotation. They could use another wing and a little more shooting.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Buyers
The Kings should be thinking bigger. They can put together over $20 million in salary for non-rotation players to go make a deal. Of that group, only Richaun Holmes has money past this season. That’s enough to get Sacramento in the mix to land a big upgrade. With over $17 million to play with under the tax line, the focus should be on adding whoever the best available wing is. It would also give the Kings a bit of insurance should Harrison Barnes leave this summer.
San Antonio Spurs
Approach at the deadline: Sellers
For years, the Spurs section was the easiest to write. They never did anything at the trade deadline. They’ve been more active lately, as they’ve leaned into a rebuild. San Antonio is listening and sorting through offers for Jakob Poeltl, Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Sellers
Poeltl isn’t a must-trade for the Spurs. He could still be re-signed to a fair contract this summer, and San Antonio doesn’t have a center ready to replace him with. That said, if a team blows them away with an offer, Poeltl shouldn’t be untouchable. Richardson and McDermott should both be dealt. Richardson is probably gone after the season, and McDermott is on a fair-value deal given the shooting he can provide. All three vets can fill needs for contenders. The Spurs should be in a great spot to get a nice return here.
Utah Jazz
Approach at the deadline: Either
Danny Ainge is doing his thing with the Jazz. He made some teardown moves over the summer, but got such good returns that Utah hasn’t bottomed out. Now, Ainge is in the market to take this from a full rebuild to a quick flip. That’s exactly how he handled it with the Celtics when they got better than expected, quicker than was expected.
Ideal approach at the deadline: Sellers
Without getting crazy, Utah should still be in seller mode. In a market devoid of sellers, players like Malik Beasley, Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, Kelly Olynyk, Jarred Vanderbilt and even Rudy Gay, could all net Ainge even more picks and young players to build back up with. That said, if there’s a chance to move those vets for younger vets who fit long-term around Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler (the new core pieces), the Jazz can’t go wrong there either. That’s why a guy like John Collins could make sense, even if Utah moves off a few vets too.
