The 2022 Trade Hopefulness Ladder
With the 2022 Trade Deadline nine days away, we're ranking the players and assets we want to see moved before the clock strikes 3PM EST on Feb. 10
It’s February 2nd. My heart is constantly fluttering. I am on my phone 24/7. I’ve got Twitter notifications on for Shams, Woj, Stein, and Haynes.
(I might need to add Jake Fischer, because he’s crashed the party with some awesome intel over these past two seasons.)
If you’re reading this right now, we’re as close to the Trade Deadline as we’ve ever been. Are you prepared for your team to make a move? How do you react when your team shuffles the deck? I know Pacers fans probably can’t remember that feeling.
With so many teams in the playoff hunt, there’s very few sellers and very few teams willing to hit the reset button. Teams like Sacramento see what Cleveland has done and feel like they just need to get the right group of guys in the building.
They’re wrong.
Both this deadline and the upcoming free agency seem like traps for teams to overpay for a players who probably won’t help them win a title. I am perfectly fine with that, because the dopamine I get from a trade popping up on my phone is almost second to none.
I’ve ranked the players and trade packages I’d like to see moved before February 10th at 3PM EST. Remember: I am a fiend for roster movement and a cultivator of chaos.
8. Terrence Ross & Gary Harris
Gary Harris has an expiring contract worth $20 million and Terrence Ross is slotted to make $24 million over this season and next. Both of them are perfect players to drop in if your team needs buckets.
It really felt like Ross was going to get traded last season. He thought so too —and when the team shipped away Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic in separate deals, he had jokes about it:
It’s truly amazing how quickly Orlando has become an optimistic situation after years of mediocrity. Before, they could’ve hung a banner for catching Milwaukee in Game 1 of the Bubble playoffs. With Franz Wagner & Cole Anthony, they’ve got two awesome building blocks. Jalen Suggs is on his way to earning that status, too.
Young players need vets, so it’s not a guarantee Ross and Harris are traded. But I think Orlando can stack even more assets by moving one or both — and the Magic are going to be in position to draft a replacement of any veteran they choose to move.
Wishful Destinations: Cavs, Mavs, T-Wolves, Hornets
7. Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and the Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick
The Lakers have shopped this package around to every team and have received nothing but laughing emojis (because I know damn well they didn’t want to face the embarrassment of saying it out loud over the phone). And while I don’t think THT, Nunn, and the 2027 first-rounder will be moved, I sure do want it to happen.
Not for the Lakers’ sake — I want them to feel the aftermath of signing every single 70 overall player in NBA 2K. My mission is to absolutely roast the hell out of the team who chooses to help the Lakers out by taking on this terrible package.
This is the best group of assets the Lakers have to offer. If they get an important player back in this deal, the NBA may be rigged.
Wishful Destinations: Kings
Potential Destinations: Kings, Shanghai Sharks
6. Eric Gordon
Eric Gordon is making over $18M this year and close to $20M next season — but none of his $20.9 million in 2023-24 is guaranteed, making him the perfect player to consolidate bench pieces for in exchanged for guaranteed offense.
Gordon is the last impactful Rocket from the Harden system. He’s having a career year in True Shooting at 62.8% — that’s a pretty amazing number for a 6’3” shooting guard in his age-33 season.
While star trades almost never swing the title race (Rasheed Wallace and Marc Gasol would like a word, I’m sure), players like Eric Gordon are often the missing piece to propel a hopeful playoff team into a contender.
Gordon’s scoring and toughness fit on just about every team, and I really hope Houston swaps him out for veterans who don’t impact winning like he does.
Wishful Destinations: Cavs, Raptors, Celtics, Mavs, T-Wolves, Blazers, Suns
5. Bradley Beal and most other Washington Wizards
I’m all the way done with the Washington Wizards. They’ve got a completely new team but still feel like the same old Wizards — a franchise trying way too hard to be relevant at the price of their future.
Beal’s recent wrist injury in combination with his reluctance to sign an extension should have him on the next ticket out of town. The Wizards could have about half the league sending in mega-offers for Beal’s services — but Beal himself has wanted to be a hero for the team that drafted him, and it’s cost him a chance to contend.
It’s not only Beal. The Wizards have three good centers and many teams hardly have one. Spencer Dinwiddie’s teammates hate him. It’s a terrible environment to let prospects like Deni Avdija and Rui Hachimura blossom into important players.
Washington should trade everyone and build around Kyle frickin’ Kuzma.
Potential Bradley Beal deal: To Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, and picks.
Potential Thomas Bryant deal: To Detroit along with Deni Avdija for Jerami Grant.
Potential Davis Bertans deal: To Oklahoma City along with a 2027 lottery-protected first round pick for Darius Bazley.
Wishful Spencer Dinwiddie deal: Convert his salary from Bitcoin back to USD and trade him to the Lakers for THT and Kendrick Nunn.
4. Indiana’s top six tradable players
Shams Charania dropped a bomb early in the season, essentially reporting that the Pacers were open for business and listening to offers for Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Caris LeVert.
Here’s the thing: I want TJ Warren, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday gone, too.
The Pacers have never blown their team up. It’s time — and these next two draft classes have pieces at the top that are worth tanking for.
Sabonis is a weird fit on a lot of teams, and while Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer says that he’s definitely a name to watch — I have a hard time figuring out which team he’ll end up on. Any deal for him will feel like a surprise.
Myles Turner, on the other hand, seems destined to go to Charlotte for a package of players, Toronto for a package of players, or Detroit in a swap for Jerami Grant.
I’m betting on this one: if Caris LeVert is moved, he will be a Cleveland Cavalier on Feb. 11th.
Potential Justin Holiday deal: To Phoenix for Jalen Smith and a future pick swap.
3. Jerami Grant
In Grant’s return last night, he made some winning plays, knocked down a few shots, and was aggressive in his touches. His presence still turned Saddiq Bey into a scarecrow, but it was a flash that Grant is willing to go back to somewhere in between his roles in Detroit and Denver.
That’s a great sign for his potential to be dealt, although Marc Stein has reported that there’s a rift in the front office about Grant’s situation. GM Troy Weaver has known Grant since he was in high school and would like to retain him, while vice chairman Arn Tellem seems to be in favor of moving him.
If a star bigger than Jerami Grant is traded, it will be a surprise. We could expect Detroit to receive some pretty good offers, or just choose to keep him through the deadline.
Jake Fischer also named Detroit as a potential suitor for Collin Sexton, Deandre Ayton, and Jalen Brunson this offseason — a sign that they’re going to use their upcoming cap space, and a Grant deal could potentially open up even more space.
It also tips us off to the fact that Detroit does not want be in the lottery past this season. Does that mean the Pistons would hope to receive a similar-tiered player in return for Grant?
Potential Grant destinations: Bulls, Hawks, Wizards, Kings, Pacers
2. Ben Simmons
How is Ben Simmons not number one?
I’ll tell you why: as much as I want Ben Simmons traded, there’s a thought creeping up inside of me that wants to see the Sixers win it all without him.
It would rely on Joel Embiid staying healthy and continuing to post insane stat lines. Every time I check their scores, Embiid has 38 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. Without Simmons or a trade, this will be an MVP season for Joel Embiid — and he might be good enough to carry the Sixers to a title as currently constructed.
That premise would make the Sixers a superpower: a team fresh off a title, overcoming the adversity of Simmons’ absence and Tobias Harris’ steady diet of contested jumpers, ready and willing to make deals with a ring already in hand.
Coming back down to reality, Simmons is still at the top of this list because I want Embiid to have that title, and the right deal would give the Sixers the best shot to go get it.
Favorite Simmons destinations: Kings, Hawks, Pelicans, Clippers
1. Every Sacramento King not named Tyrese Haliburton (their actual king)
By choosing Marvin Bagley III over Luka Doncic and Trae Young in the 2018 NBA Draft, they set their franchise back at least seven years.
That’s okay — because by leaning into the tank, they could have their choice of Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, or even this year’s crop of combo-forwards if they decide soon enough.
But Kings ownership has a playoff mandate, and GM Monte McNair has the chance to swing some deals that would put them in a better spot.
How the Kings could acquire Domantas Sabonis: De’Aaron Fox, Tristan Thompson, and two second round picks for Sabonis and TJ Warren
How the Kings could acquire Jerami Grant: Richaun Holmes, Marvin Bagley III, and a 2022 top-5 protected first round pick
That leaves a starting lineup of Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Jerami Grant, and Domantas Sabonis.
Size, shooting, two combo-forward defenders and Sabonis to clean up inside.
A bench unit of Davion Mitchell, Terence Davis, TJ Warren, Mo Harkless, and Damian Jones. Defenders everywhere.
You’re welcome, Monte McNair.