Deadline day is finally here. NBA teams will have until today at 2:00 pm Central time to finalize trade agreements. Anyone not traded by that time will be ineligible to be moved until after his team’s season comes to an end this spring.
After a slow start to trade season, we’ve already seen a ton of fireworks this week. Prior to February 1, only one trade had been completed since opening night, but since Sunday, 10 deals have been finalized and seven more have been agreed upon.
And it’s not as if we’re just getting a bunch of salary dumps. Unlikely buyers like the Jazz and Wizards have pulled off blockbuster moves, with Utah acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr. from Memphis in an eight-player, three-pick trade, while Washington agreed to acquire Anthony Davis from Dallas in a deal that will reportedly involve eight players and five draft picks.
The Cavaliers and Clippers got in on the fun by completing a swap of multi-time All-Stars – James Harden and Darius Garland – while players like Coby White, Keon Ellis, De’Andre Hunter, Jaden Ivey, Jared McCain, Kevin Huerter, and Collin Sexton have also been on the move, with Nikola Vucevic, Anfernee Simons, Kristaps Porzingis, Jonathan Kuminga, Lonzo Ball, and Chris Paul set to join them in pending deals.
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Those deals took many of this season’s most noteworthy trade candidates off the board, but there are still plenty of storylines to keep an eye on as Thursday’s deadline nears, starting with whether or not the Bucks will actually move two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Rival teams have been skeptical that Milwaukee will pull the trigger on a Giannis trade this week instead of waiting until the offseason, when more teams might enter the mix and current suitors could potentially improve their offers.
It sounds like at least one of the teams involved in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes isn’t counting on a Thursday deal — when Golden State agreed to trade Kuminga to Atlanta, it marked the “unofficial end” of the team’s pursuit of the Bucks star, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Shams Charania.
While Sam Amick, Nick Friedell, and Fred Katz say that Warriors team sources haven’t entirely closed the door on the possibility of an Antetokounmpo trade, those same sources added that the Bucks weren’t prepared to accept a Golden State offer centered around Kuminga, Draymond Green, four first-round picks, and a pick swap. An “extended lack of communication” from Milwaukee this week has made the Warriors and other teams believe an Antetokounmpo move won’t be happening at this time, per The Athletic.
Even if Antetokounmpo stays put, we could still see plenty of last-minute action on Thursday. Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant is among the most notable trade candidates still on the market; the Nets still have a chunk of cap room available to help teams accommodate deals; the Timberwolves and Heat could pivot to alternative options if they don’t expect to land Giannis; and potential sellers like the Kings and Pelicans still have plenty of trade chips available to move.
As those Jazz and Wizards trades show, you also never know when two teams will decide to make a move that none of us saw coming.
We’ll be keeping tabs on all the latest news and rumors all day long on Hoops Rumors, leading up to 2:00 pm CT.
In the meantime, here are some of our features and trackers to help you prepare for today’s action:
Note: The majority of these trackers are being updated as trades become official, so pending moves won’t be reflected yet.
