A Guide To The 2022 NBA Trade Deadline

The NBA Trade Deadline is just three short weeks away. Things have been quiet thus far, but chaos is on the horizon. With so many teams & players in need of fresh starts, this trade deadline could involve a lot of moving pieces.

Today, it’s my job to go over everyone who might be involved in the madness. Here’s my guide to the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline.

Players I Expect To Be Traded

Let’s start with the players expected to be traded in the coming weeks. Scouting trade deadline candidates isn’t hard. Seemingly, more players are on the trading block than ever before.

While there are more players than the names I will list, here are some of the big names I expect to be moved this season.

Jerami Grant (DET)

The Detroit Pistons are in the midst of a rebuilding project. Just one season after signing a 3-year contract, Grant seems out of place. The 27-year-old is still in the prime of his career. He can guard multiple positions with his length and has improved greatly off the dribble during his tenure with the Pistons.

20.1 points / 4.8 rebounds / 54% TS / 1.2 OBPM

(Grant has not played since December 12th, 2021 due to a thumb injury. On track to return in the coming weeks)

Per Jake Fischer, the Pistons are looking for two first-round picks or one first-round pick plus a high-upside young player for Grant. That may sound like a lot, but there are a lot of teams who could use what Grant offers.

The list of teams reportedly interested in Grant is long. The Lakers, Trail Blazers, Knicks, Jazz, Wizards, Pacers, Timberwolves, and Kings have inquired about Grant. The Pistons have all the leverage in this situation and could start a bidding war*.

(Ask Brad Pitt for advice)

Aaron Gordon was in a similar boat last year. Gordon wanted a new situation, a place with contract security. Denver, Boston, and Portland were in the sweepstakes for the forward. Gordon went to Denver at no small price, then re-signed for four seasons. Jake Fischer also reported that Grant wanted a lucrative 4-year contract with his new team. I’m sure whoever trades for Grant will keep this in mind and give him that sort of deal.

With so many teams in the running for Grant, it’s a matter of who will pay the price. Not only of getting Grant but keeping him around long-term. Of the teams mentioned, the Jazz and Lakers make the most sense.

Both teams are trying to make noise in the playoffs, both needing versatility in their lineups. Grant is the crown jewel of this trade deadline season. It’s only a matter of time before he settles into a new home.

Eric Gordon (HOU)

Gordon fits into the same boat as Grant. The Rockets are rebuilding, so it doesn’t make sense for them to carry Gordon’s hefty price tag. When he’s healthy, Gordon could be the perfect bench scorer for a playoff team.

14.9 points / 46% 3-PT (5.2 attempts) / 65% TS

Gordon is quietly having a great season. The scoring ability has always been there. The health hasn’t been, but that’s changed this season. I expect Houston’s phones will be ringing over the coming days. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that the Rockets want a first-round pick in exchange for the 33-year old.

The Rockets are better with Gordon, but shedding him would allow for more development. Armoni Brooks and Josh Christopher are guys I’d expect to see a minutes boost if Gordon were to leave.

Teams like the Suns, Cavs, Knicks have expressed interest in Gordon. However, I get the sense that the Rockets won’t give up Gordon unless the perfect return package presents itself. Gordon serves as a great mentor and a veteran presence in the locker room for this young team.

All things the same, I would love to see the Cavs or Suns get him. Both are currently in the playoff picture, with the Suns leading the Western Conference. Gordon would be the perfect fit for both teams if they’re willing to give the Rockets what they want.

Kyle Anderson (MEM)

The Memphis Grizzlies youth has driven them to near the top of the Western Conference. Kyle Anderson is a valuable member of this team, one of the regulars off their loaded bench. His versatility makes him a player that every team could use. You see where this is going.

The Grizzlies could get a lot of value from trading the veteran forward. If the right package comes along, the Grizzlies could greatly capitalize from moving his expiring contract.

8.2 points / 5.3 rebounds / 2.6 assists / 51% TS

Contending teams will make calls for Slow-Mo. Teams like Phoenix, Dallas, and the Bulls could use a player of his services. I don’t know how much Memphis will ask for, but there is a world where Anderson finds himself on a different contender. The Grizzlies might want to cash in on Anderson’s high value, not risking losing him on the open market.

Talen Horton-Tucker (LAL)

The Los Angeles Lakers are floundering. Inconsistency has been the name of the game for the 2020 Champs. Talen Horton-Tucker, thought of as one of the few youngsters worth keeping, isn’t fairing much better.

With the Lakers’ depth changing overnight this past summer, THT’s responsibilities on offense grew ten-fold. It hasn’t worked out as expected;

10.9 points / 50% TS

Horton-Tucker is shooting just 24% from outside this season. Opposing defenses dare him to beat them from outside, with him rarely making them pay. THT is on a team-friendly contract, potentially under contract for three seasons with a 2024 player option.

THT is one of the few valuable, moveable assets the Lakers have. If they were to move him, it would have to be in a player-for-player trade. The Lakers need immediate help, and THT is one of the few players they can use to improve.

Teams Looking To Buy

Which teams are looking to be aggressive at the deadline? Every year, there is one ultra-aggressive team at the deadline that swings a big move. Last year, it was the Bulls. This year, I have a couple of teams in mind who could be major players on February 10th.

Dallas Mavericks

With a reinvigorated defense, the Mavericks are a top-5 seed in the West. Their talent suggests they shouldn’t be this good, but defense has been the sole for their success. I, unfortunately, have to give Jason Kidd credit. He’s done a great job with this defense.

With that being said, the Mavericks are confusing. Despite not having any All-NBA defenders, their defense has been elite. With their meh frontcourt, someone like Myles Turner would be perfect for them. An elite rim protector who can space the floor on offense? Tell me where to sign.

With Rick Carlisle, the strength of this team was always offense. That hasn’t been the case this year. While Luka has been on a slump, poor roster construction is more to blame. Tim Hardaway Jr. has been awful and Kristaps Porzingis still can’t stay healthy.

Other than Jalen Brunson, this team needs more creators on offense. Not just scorers, but playmakers as well. There are a few names that come to mind to me;

Harrison Barnes and/or Buddy Hield (Sacramento)
John Collins (Atlanta)
Eric Gordon (Houston)
Tomas Satoranky (New Orleans) – should be really east to get

I expect Dallas to make moves at the deadline. Their roster is decent, but it could use some bulking up if they don’t want to waste Luka Doncic in the playoffs again.

Los Angeles Lakers (?)

The Lakers don’t have a ton of assets, but they need to make changes if they want to be successful. AD returning soon will help them, but there are a lot of better teams in the West. I don’t see the Lakers making it to the Conference Finals with this current roster.

The Russell Westbrook experiment has been a disaster. Westbrook has shown flashes of solid play, but he wasn’t worth giving up two of your best role players in Kuzma and KCP. His inability to space the floor plus his turnover-prone play has done more harm to LA than good.

The Lakers need better depth, but I can’t see them improving that much. They don’t have a lot of valuable assets. THT and Kedrick Nunn are the only guys I’d consider to have actual trade value. Nunn hasn’t played all season and THT has lowered his stock considerably with how poor he’s been.

The Lakers need to do something, but they’re seemingly stuck with this roster. Having guys like Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, KCP, and Alex Caruso would be really nice right about now. Hell, I think Lakers fans would even invite Dennis Schroder back.

Teams Looking To Sell

Which teams are going to start a garage sale at the deadline? Through 40-ish games this season, these teams have disappointed us all. They’re aware that their current roster isn’t great, so it’s time to change some things. Here are my sellers of the deadline.

Indiana Pacers

The worst kept secret in the NBA is approaching their day of reckoning. A few months ago, Indiana’s intentions to blow things up were revealed in an article by The Athletic. Indiana has made everyone not named Malcolm Brogdon available.

Their three best players: Sabonis, Turner, and Levert are all starting-level players in the NBA. All three should garner significant interest.

Sabonis is the lone All-Star amongst the three and the best overall player. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but he’s a great low-post player. A physical post scorer who is also a great playmaker, Sabonis would be an upgrade to most teams’ frontcourts. Indiana might look for multiple first-round picks for their All-Star.

A foot injury to Myles Turner will sideline him past the February 10th deadline. I doubt this affects his trade value much, but you never know. Teams like Dallas, New York, and Charlotte have expressed interest in the versatile center. If Turner isn’t traded right now, we could see him moved during the offseason.

And finally, Caris Levert. Levert started the season off slowly but has been a bright spot ever since. He’s a natural scorer who loves to get downhill. His playmaking is solid, making him a viable secondary creator. New reports suggest that Levert is most likely to be traded out of this trio.

Indiana’s price for Levert is a first-rounder plus a good youngster. It seems like a fair price for someone as good as Levert, who is not only young but has contract stability.

All three of Indiana’s best players are involved in trade rumors. A long rebuild is ahead for the Pacers, one that could start ahead of schedule if they’re active during the trade deadline.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings are (gasp) still a train wreck. Alvin Gentry might be a minor upgrade over Luke Walton, but it’s not their fault this roster is terribly constructed. The Kings are the epitome of trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Their roster has been assembled not based on fit, but “talent.”

To quote former GM Bob Whittsit, “I never studied chemistry in college.” That approach has never worked in basketball. The Kings are now starting to realize that.

After shopping De’Aaron Fox for months in hopes of getting a different All-Star, the Kings want to keep their franchise cornerstone. Fox is good, but Sacramento’s backcourt is too weird for me to comprehend.

With Fox unavailable, who else is? Luckily, this one isn’t much of a mystery. The Kings haven’t tried to hide their desires to move on from Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield.

Barnes is having a great season and is another piece a playoff team could use. The versatile two-way wing would fit with a lot of teams. Cleveland and Dallas are the team I think Barnes would fit with the most.

Hield is a polarizing player who should be on the Lakers, but that’s a topic for another day. As one of the most prolific shooters in the NBA, anybody could use Hield. Dallas, Toronto, and Boston could all use his shooting.

I don’t know if the Kings want to package Barnes and Hield together in a deal. If they decide to do that, the Kings could get a much bigger haul. Something to think about.

Teams That Shouldn’t Do Anything (Major)

Not messing with a good thing is a saying for a reason. Sometimes, trying to make a perfect move for your team ends up backfiring. The teams I’m about to list are not flawless. However, it would do them no good to try and make a move at the deadline.

Cleveland Cavaliers

I have complained about the Cavs’ depth all year long. Their weird, alarmingly tall lineup is currently 6th in the East. Garland, Allen, and Mobley have accelerated this group’s rebuild in the blink of an eye.

Adding more depth would be helpful, but I don’t want the Cavs to overpay. If they can move Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract or get back multiple picks for Collin Sexton, I wouldn’t be against it.

But I don’t want them to trade for the sake of trading. It’s not often you see a team in a rebuild flourish this suddenly. The Cavs are weird, but their formula works. It’s not conventional, but messing with things likely won’t work out.

If they can get their hands on someone like Eric Gordon, then I wouldn’t be mad. Other than that, I hope the Cavaliers don’t mess up what they’ve got going on right now.

Miami Heat

Like the Cavs, I have questioned Miami’s depth for this entire season. There is a caveat to that argument. Butler and Adebayo have missed a combined 43 games. The Heat were 12-6 without Butler and 17-8 without Adebayo. Their depth has kept them alive.

Former unknowns like Kyle Guy, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and Omer Yurtseven essentially saved the season. Finally healthy, we can see Miami really start to get the ball rolling.

The Heat are going to field calls for Duncan Robinson, but other than that, not making a move makes sense for a team that has hardly played together.

Toronto Raptors

A Fred VanVleet explosion powered the Raptors to around 0.500 for the season. The Raptors feature a nice blend of spotting youth and veterans. Making a move doesn’t seem like the smart thing for a team on the rise.

Unless Toronto wanted to trade Pascal Siakam or Chris Boucher, they’re trending in the right direction. The Raptors are in striking distance for the playoffs, fulfilling my preseason prediction of them making the playoffs.

You would love more consistency from this team, but not making a move makes sense for a team in more ways than one.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have slowed down considerably over the past few weeks. An injury to Draymond Green has made the offense sluggish. Stephen Curry is in the worst shooting funk of his career. Klay Thompson is working himself back into a rhythm.

With all those irregularities, you’d assume the Warriors would be in a place to change things up. The opposite is true in this case. While their play hasn’t been as great lately, when healthy, they’re the best team in the NBA. By a country mile.

They are deep. Nobody moves the ball as they do. They have the best defense in the NBA. Their bench unit is comparable to most teams’ starting units. Not to mention that Steph Curry is still Steph Curry and that Klay Thompson isn’t 100% back yet.

While trading some of their young guys like Moody or Wiseman for another piece sounds enticing, standing pat wouldn’t be the worst decision in the world. There are worse things than being the best team in the league.

Will Any Superstars Get Moved?

The final topic I want to go over is the superstars. Last season, we only saw one All-Star, Nikola Vucevic, get traded at the deadline. This season, there is much more star power on deck, including two superstars who could potentially be on the move.

Ben Simmons

Calling Ben Simmons a superstar sounds weird, but that’s not the point. The saga between Ben and 76ers management is laughable at this point. A few months ago, it seemed like the two sides would reconvene and Simmons would return.

The 76ers continue to wait for the perfect Ben Simmons trade. If it’s not Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, or James Harden, Daryl Morey has been yawning. They turned down an opportunity to get John Collins and Cam Reddish from the Hawks.

They’ve turned down De’Aaron Fox, Malcolm Brogdon, Jerami Grant, and many more. I get that you want a superstar in return for Simmons, but your team needs depth. Joel Embiid is having to carry this team. Getting another decent scorer would fill out this team more.

The 76ers are past the point of no return with Simmons. With all that’s happened, they can’t keep him on the team. But since they’re so greedy for a superstar, I don’t see him getting moved. Philly would rather not make their team better, instead, going star hunting. Make it make sense, Daryl.

Damian Lillard

With Dame out with surgery and the Blazers struggling, it seems we are one conversation away from losing the greatest Blazer ever. Dame weathered a media storm over the summer, but he hasn’t enjoyed the worst pro season of his career.

This abdomen surgery might fix that long-standing issue, but Dame’s value is still at an all-time high. The best way for my Blazers to start a rebuild is to trade Dame. In a hypothetical trade with the 76ers, the possibilities are endless. Ben Simmons? Sure. Tyrese Maxey? Why not? Three first-round picks? Don’t mind if I do.

I don’t think the Blazers will trade Dame, but as soon as he asks for one, I have no doubt he’s going to leave. I can’t tell you if he is eventually going to ask for a trade, but it’s a real possibility.

Overview

This trade deadline could be one to remember. We have a lot of teams willing to start a garage sale and others who want to haul as much as they can from those firesales. I have a hunch that from now until February 10th, things are going to go down.

Get ready for chaos, bad trades, and a lot of tweets from Woj.

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A Guide To The 2022 NBA Trade Deadline