NBA Trade Board 2.0: Ja Morant, Michael Porter Jr. join list as deadline looms

Porter has been one of the breakout stars of the season following his offseason trade to Brooklyn, going from excellent starter to potential All-Star who entering Tuesday is averaging 25.8 points, 7.5 reounds and 3.2 assists as the Nets play feisty, defensive-minded basketball and are more competitive than expected under Jordi Fernandez.

The 27-year-old forward is 6-foot-10 and is one of the most efficient off-ball scorers in the league, a lights-out shooter from all three levels who is sharp as a cutter and off-ball mover. He’s added more prowess off the dribble this season, knocking down shots from all three levels like he did before his back injury in college. He’s also a killer rebounder and showed the ability to defend in the playoffs when he played with the Nuggets.

Porter is owed $38.3 million this season and $40.8 million next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent. He has also has a history of some injury questions and was flagged at the combine, meaning that teams will want to get a look at more up-to-date medicals before making any big decisions. But a move for Porter could swing the title race for teams like Detroit that could use one more scoring threat.

Mathurin remains a serious scoring threat who can get hot at any time, as he’s averaged 16 points per game over the course of his four years with the team. However, this year hasn’t been the breakout many expected with Tyrese Haliburton injured. Mathurin dealt with a turf toe injury early in the season that held him out for nearly a month, and he’s missed 10 games in a row with a right thumb injury. He’s started the 24 games that he’s played this season, but the scoring hasn’t exploded in the way many hoped. He is still a tremendous athlete who can get to his shot from a variety of ways, but the passing and decision-making haven’t taken that next step.

Mathurin is a restricted free agent who figures to get a solid salary jump next season, and the Pacers need to decide now if they want to be the ones to pay it. If they decide that the answer is no — and that would be a reasonable decision if they don’t want to be a luxury-tax team in 2026-27 — they should find a suitor now that could use his scoring either in the starting lineup or off the bench. Dallas and Minnesota both stand out as interesting options.

It feels like Barrett has been in trade rumors from the moment he arrived in Toronto, which is something of a rude homecoming for a player who has played the best basketball of his career in his hometown. In his 113 games for the Raptors, he’s averaging 21 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3. His usage has taken a step back this season, but he’s still averaging 19 points and four assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3. His true shooting percentage is one percent above league average, the best mark of his career. He has dealt with some knee soreness that resulted in a PRP injection recently, but I don’t think it’s an accident that the Raptors are 16-7 in the games he’s played. His ability to consistently get downhill and put pressure on the rim is useful, and he’s become better at picking and choosing his spots.

And yet, the Raptors probably need to shake things up or make a consolidation trade. The team struggles to get paint touches and is in the bottom five in the league in 3-point attempt rate while being last in 3-point percentage. It feels like there’s more room for growth, with Barrett being the natural pivot point given their glut of wings on the roster. Scottie Barnes is the franchise player, and the team just went out of its way to trade for and extend Brandon Ingram. Barrett isn’t the most natural fit with that duo, and he has just one year remaining on his deal until he can hit free agency. His $27.7 million deal for this year also presents the team with a natural salary match in a trade to get more help on the interior. I think Barrett is a good player who gets a bit of a bum rap, but he feels like the odd man out.

Following a protracted contract negotiation this offseason, the Warriors signed Kuminga to a two-year, $47 million deal and held firm on an arrangement where Kuminga would waive his implicit no-trade clause, thus making him eligible to be dealt without restriction on Jan. 15. That date has come and gone, Kuminga remains on the team, and he has “demanded” a trade. Things are going great.

After a positive start in which Kuminga seemed to embrace some of the finer points of the game — such as off-ball movement, quick decision-making as a passer and defense — that coach Steve Kerr wanted from him, Kuminga regressed in those areas and then missed seven games with an injury. He’s healthy again, but thanks to the emergence of players such as Pat Spencer and De’Anthony Melton, he went about a month without playing. In my opinion, the Warriors weren’t asking for much from Kuminga. They had three star players in Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. Because Green and Kuminga aren’t great shooters and Butler is not a consistent threat from 3, Kuminga needed to bring value in other areas when he takes the court. He hasn’t been able to consistently do that.

Another twist to the situation came this week when Butler tore his ACL. Without Butler, does the team look to consistently reintegrate Kuminga, who played 21 minutes Tuesday against Toronto, into the equation? Does the team give up on this season and try to build for the future? Questions abound with how the Warriors will handle this.

If the Warriors decide to cut the cord, someone will be happy to take a chance on Kuminga over the last part of the season because he’s an immense athletic presence with serious downhill driving ability. He has real scoring potential, and while his contract is expensive, the team that acquires him has all of the control regarding whether he’ll be on the roster next year because of the team option. Kuminga is definitely an upside bet for another team. Look for him to get flipped for a player or players who can help the Warriors more substantially right now.

Ellis is the King who has received the most interest on the trade market to this point, per league sources, largely because of his contract and perceived value. At times, Ellis’ ability gets a bit overstated. He is a limited offensive player without a lot of ballhandling skill. He’s also quite skinny, which means that he’s not quite a full-on switchable, stopper with All-Defense caliber-upside on that end of the court.

However, Ellis can bring energetic defensive play with excellent, disruptive hand-eye coordination. He can take on tough defensive assignments in the backcourt. As a shooter, he’s been a 41.5 percent 3-point marksman for his career (36 percent this season), excelling as the fifth offensive option on the court who can space from the corners or in relocations above-the-break. You have to guard him, although I don’t think of him as a guy that you run off-ball actions for.

The key here, though, is that Ellis only makes $2.3 million, meaning every team in the league can theoretically get involved in a potential bidding war. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but the team that acquires him would have his full Bird rights and a low cap hold. The asking price is thought to be in the range of a late first-round pick. Other teams around the league, though, are struggling to answer the question as to why he doesn’t play more on a team that could theoretically use his defense and off-ball shot-making. That might hold it back to a couple of second-rounders.

Sochan is still an intriguing prospect because of his defensive ability in an era where being able to guard with real size and length is extremely valued, but it’s unlikely that his future is locked into San Antonio. The team has a glut of young guards and wings still on rookie-scale deals or cheap deals.

For his part, Sochan did average 11 points in each of his first three seasons as a sharp cutter and transition player. But he has never developed as a shooter, and the reality is that the team should not be looking to pay him a significant salary in free agency this offseason as he’s been surpassed in the rotation and is only averaging 13 minutes per game. His $7.1 million salary could operate in multiple ways for the Spurs. The team could look to get more future-facing assets by moving him or could try to attach a first round pick to him to get a real difference-maker. The Spurs have options.

A top-eight pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Walker hasn’t quite been able to live up to that billing. Offensively, he’s quite limited to shooting from distance and cutting, but he’s also only made 37 percent of his 2-point shots somehow. After doing a great job on the offensive glass at Houston, this skill has completely abandoned him with Indiana. The good news is that he’s in the midst of his best 11-game stretch as an NBA player, averaging about 10 points, three rebounds and two assists coming off of the bench while shooting 46/55/73.

The only reason Indiana could look to move him at this point while still on his rookie deal is that he is slated to make real money next season at $8.5 million. That space could become vital as the Pacers look to bring in a new starting center to fill Myles Turner’s departure, as well as a potential top-five pick that will also have a large salary obligation. It might not be the worst idea to just move on and see if Walker can find his mojo in a new location.

Much like with Anfernee Simons (below), moving Hauser is a potential mechanism for the Celtics to get under the luxury tax. He is slated to make between $10 and $12 million over the next three years beyond this one, and dealing him without bringing anyone back in return this year would result in the Celtics getting within about $2 million of the luxury tax line to start the process of avoiding the repeater tax long-term.

League-wide, this contract is still seen as a solid one. For instance, Duncan Robinson just got $13 million for this season from the Detroit Pistons, and Hauser is a similar shooter to Robinson with a much stronger defensive reputation. This hasn’t been Hauser’s best campaign, though, as he’s averaging just 6.6 points while shooting only 34.3 percent from 3. Those numbers will bounce upward the more he plays — he’s too good a shooter for them to stay that low after four consecutive years and more than 1,200 career 3-point attempts at better than 41 percent. But the money factor is real, and because of that, it’s impossible not to put him as a candidate.

DeRozan is averaging under 20 points per game for the first time in more than a decade and has played a bit more off the ball than normal because of all the guards in Sacramento, from Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schröder to even LaVine and Monk.

You know exactly what you’re getting with DeRozan: one of the few remaining midrange assassins in the NBA, a confident scorer who is elite at getting to his spots and shooting over the top of defenders. Defensively, you have to cover for him. He’s not quite the six-time All-Star that he was in Toronto and Chicago, but he can be an effective bucket getter. On a contender, he’s probably best as a sixth man. However, some teams could use his shot creation.

DeRozan makes $24.75 million this year and has $10 million guaranteed for next. Any genuine contender that acquires him needs to acknowledge that if the team makes the NBA Finals and he plays at least 60 games, his full $25.8 million for next year would become guaranteed. That extra $10 million could be an impediment, but the Clippers would make some sense given how badly their team falls apart offensively when James Harden leaves the court.

Knecht has been unable to carve out a rotation role for the Lakers since being selected in the top 20 of the 2024 draft after a breakout senior season at Tennessee. At 6-6, Knecht can score it and shoot. But his defensive lapses are a problem, as he often will make poor rotations and decisions out of sync with the rest of the defense. The team tried to trade him for Mark Williams last year, but that trade fell through because of Williams’ medical failure upon arrival in Los Angeles. He’s definitely no longer worth the first-round pick they paid for him, but the Lakers might be able to a second-rounder or two for him from a team that wants to take a second chance on him.

Another trade deadline, another year when LaVine is available. Only, unlike last season, LaVine is not coming into the start of the deadline particularly hot. LaVine is averaging 19.8 points while shooting 39.8 percent from 3 and 48.4 percent from the field.

LaVine’s teams also seem to struggle despite his offensive exploits. With LaVine on the court, the Kings are losing by 10.1 points per 100 possessions this year. He’s been unimpressive on defense and even less impressive than normal as a rebounder. He’s also never been all that valuable as a passer and doesn’t make a ton of advanced reads. He’s a traditional shooting guard. Before this year, though, LaVine had scored at an extremely high level. He averaged 24.6 points and 4.4 assists with a true shooting percentage seven percent above league average. A team that needs scoring could very easily look at LaVine as a potential option by giving him a change of scenery.

The only problem with that is LaVine’s contract. He makes $47.5 million this year and has a player option for $49 million next year that he’ll surely exercise. There are not many teams in the league that will be willing to take that deal on unless it’s in exchange for another expensive, currently distressed asset.

There’s a real case this has been Hunter’s worst season of his career, which is why the Cavaliers might look into shaking things up. He’s averaging just 14.1 points on the worst shooting marks since his rookie year while not providing much on the defensive end because of his struggles away from the ball. In total, the Cavaliers are one point per 100 possessions better than their opposition with Hunter on the court and eight points per 100 better when he’s off the court.

Hunter has $23.3 million on the books for this season and $24.9 million on the books for next season, so his salary would be purely as a match in a bigger deal. I don’t think there would be much excitement about taking him in a trade for real value, but maybe the Cavaliers can flip him in a basketball trade to reshape the roster.

Grant has been on the list of worst contracts in the league essentially from the moment he signed his five-year, $150 million deal in Portland. He’s reverted back to averaging 20 points per game this year while hitting 40 percent of his 3s. However, it feels unignorable that the Blazers have gone on a run lately as Grant has missed games because of injury. In total, the Blazers are about 1.5 points per 100 possessions better without Grant on the court.

Grant is slated to make $32 million this season, followed by $70.5 million in the next two years total. That’s 20 percent of the salary cap for a player whom the Blazers seemed ready to move on from as a starter entering the year before injuries cratered their first trimester. The good news for the Blazers is that they don’t have the need to get off this money right now, as they’re under the tax and have a ton of space against the projected first apron entering next season. But it wouldn’t hurt if they could find a way off the deal.

The Raptors wing had a strong season last year, averaging 10 points and shooting 49.8 percent from the field, 39.9 percent from 3 and 71 percent from the line while providing athletic defense. However, he’s gotten a bit lost in the roster shuffle for the Raptors. With a glut of high-level wings that they’ve acquired via trade and drafted, including RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Ja’Kobe Walter, Gradey Dick and Jamison Battle, Agbaji’s role in the rotation has been sporadic as he plays about 15 minutes per night. In that role, his shooting has bizarrely fallen off a cliff, as he’s made just 12 of his 58 3-point attempts this season.

The 25-year-old is a restricted free agent at the end of the year after not agreeing to an extension in October, but it’s unclear what his role would be if he stayed in Toronto. Making just $6.3 million this season, Agbaji strikes me as a perfect reclamation project for wing-needy teams around the league that are desperate for athleticism and shooting potential. It’s worth noting that he’s dealt with a back injury throughout the year that has limited him, so teams will need to do their due diligence there. But for a likely cheap price, he’s probably worth a swing for a team like the Lakers or Bucks given what he probably won’t require much more than a second-round pick.

Niang still hasn’t played in his second stint with the Jazz after being acquired last offseason because of a stress reaction in his left foot. When he’s on the court, Niang has averaged nine points per game while shooting 40 percent on five 3-point attempts per game over his last four seasons. His passing numbers have never popped off the page, but he’s a quick processor and decision-maker on the court who will make a team’s offense better off the bench. You do have to work around his footspeed on defense, but he’s conscientious and willing to work.

Niang is on an expiring $8.2 million salary, so any team looking for some rotational wing or frontcourt depth could easily take Niang as an option if he can get healthy enough.

It’s a bit surprising that Dieng has made it nearly all the way through his rookie deal with the Thunder, as the team has generally been quick to let go of its failed draft picks. Dieng indeed does fall into that bucket. He’s never been able to carve out a role with the team at full strength, although he has at least shown a couple of flashes here and there at 6-9 with some perimeter skill. It wouldn’t surprise me if a team decided to take a flyer on him, but the Thunder trading him would purely be about removing his salary from the books to save some money or potentially try to acquire someone who could be useful to their playoff push without going over the luxury tax. He makes $6.7 million this year, and the team is about $1 million away from the tax.

Thybulle feels like a more likely player to move than Williams above him, if only because it would be fairly easy for the Blazers to excise him from the roster without losing any value. He’s only played in four games this year because of a thumb injury and only played in 15 last season, too. This is the final year of Thybulle’s $11.5 million deal, and the Blazers should look to move him or Williams for a more established interior presence on the defensive end who can allow them to survive minutes when Donovan Clingan is off the court. Thybulle hasn’t been all that useful on an NBA court since about 2022, when he made his second All-Defense team. I’m not sure what his future holds in the NBA at this stage, but the Blazers certainly have a mechanism to improve by utilizing his expiring salary.