With one week remaining until the trade deadline, we’re back with a loaded edition of our Trade Rumor Rankings series, where we rank the 10 players who have made the most appearances on our Trade Rumors Page over the past seven days.
Spencer Dinwiddie (Washington)
In his first season back from a major knee injury, Spencer Dinwiddie has struggled to an extent, averaging 13.2 points and 5.7 assists but shooting 38.6 percent from the floor and 31.5 percent from three.
Apparently, his teammates have noticed his struggles, as The Ringer reported this week that Washington Wizards want Dinwiddie out:
The Wizards want to move Dinwiddie because he looks like a shell of his former self and his teammates don’t want him there.
That reiterates reports this week from Zach Lowe and Eric Pincus that said similar: Dinwiddie is struggling and the Wizards are open to moving him.
However, with Dinwiddie owed $18.0 million next season and $10 million guaranteed the one after, it might not be so easy for Washington to find a trade for him unless they potentially add some sweetener.
Unless Dinwiddie’s play improves, it’s difficult to see another team wanting to pick up his contract right now.
For the latest on the Spencer Dinwiddie trade front, click here.
Dennis Schroeder (Boston)
This week, reports have come out from all over the place indicating that the Boston Celtics are expected to trade Dennis Schroeder by the deadline, something that probably won’t be difficult to do considering his contract is expiring and he’s only owed $5.9 million.
The Celtics say Dennis Schröder is probable to play tonight against Miami despite right achilles tendinopathy.
Boston is widely expected to deal Schröder before the league’s Feb. 10 deadline if it can find a deal that sheds Schroder’s $5.9MM salary without taking salary back.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2022
Schroeder has performed solidly this season, too, averaging 14.6 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 34.8 percent from three, so Boston finding him a new home won’t be as difficult as it might be for the Wizards and Dinwiddie.
We also heard this week from Marc Stein that the Dallas Mavericks aren’t that into Schroeder while learning from Bleacher Report that the Cleveland Cavaliers are.
We’ll see how this one shakes out, but Schroeder looks like one of the likeliest players to be dealt over the coming week.
For the latest on the Dennis Schroeder trade front, click here.
Justin Holiday (Indiana)
Own our Michael Scotto reported early last week that Justin Holiday is being made available by the Indiana Pacers prior to the deadline and considering his cheap salary (he’s due $6.0 million this year and $6.3 million next) and solid play (he’s averaging 11.1 points and shooting 37.5 percent from three).
However, the fact that he’s unvaccinated will reportedly make his list of potential suitors dwindle some:
Bleacher Report said similarly, though while adding that a league source “guessed” Holiday might consider getting vaccinated if he’s dealt to a contender:
One league source on a top-10 team guessed that Holiday might get vaccinated if he had a chance to join a contender. But a source close to Holiday acknowledged that vaccination status could be an impediment.
That’s a tricky situation for the Pacers and whoever might be interested in Holiday and his 3-and-D skills, one that will have to get figured out in the next nine days if he is to be traded.
For the latest on the Justin Holiday trade front, click here.
John Collins (Atlanta)
Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins came up yet again in trade scuttle this week, primarily in a Bleacher Report article that mentioned him a couple of times.
The report came from Jake Fischer, who said that the Hawks are seeking a first-round pick – a valuable one – and a starting-level player for Collins:
One team contacted by Atlanta regarding Collins told Bleacher Report the Hawks were only seeking a valuable first-round pick and a starting-caliber player in exchange for the talented young forward.
Fischer would continue, stating that the Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs are two teams with interest in the floor-spacing big man.
A player of Collins’ talent level shouldn’t be difficult for Atlanta to move, but his huge salary (the former Wake Forest standout will be owed $26.6 million in 2025-26) could make things tricky as far as a mid-season move goes.
For the latest on the John Collins trade front, click here.
Jalen Brunson (Dallas)
Fans of the Dallas Mavericks might know this, but Jalen Brunson has been one of the most underrated guards in basketball over the past few years. This season, he’s averaging a career-high 15.7 points and 5.6 assists while hitting 50.2 percent of his shots from the floor.
As such, it won’t be easy for interested parties to land him in a potential trade. That was reported by ESPN this very week:
Tim MacMahon: I have been assured that they will not move (Jalen) Brunson before the trade deadline unless it is, and I quote, a “What the bleep are they thinking type of offer?”
That hasn’t stopped teams from having an interest in the talented former Villanova Wildcat, as Stein reported that although the Mavericks don’t want to move Brunson, the New York Knicks have shown interest in him:
League sources say there are no active trade discussions between the Mavericks and the New York Knicks, for example, despite the Knicks’ well-chronicled interest in luring Brunson to Gotham. I’m told that the oft-suggested notion of trading Brunson to the Knicks to reacquire the 2023 first-round pick owed to New York to complete the Kristaps Porziņģis trade is not currently under consideration in Dallas. The Mavericks regard Brunson as too vital to this season’s aspirations to trade him and retain the belief that he wants to be a Maverick long-term.
However, because Brunson is set to hit free agency this offseason, there is a chance he could land a more lucrative offer elsewhere and leave Dallas for nothing over the offseason, according to Zach Lowe:
The Mavs now have to ask themselves: Is this team really good enough? Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith will be unrestricted free agents, with big raises coming. The Brunson flight risk is real, sources say. The Mavs have no cap space to replace them.
That makes this developing situation quite interesting. Keep an eye on Brunson and the Mavericks over the coming week.
For the latest on the Jalen Brunson trade front, click here.
John Wall (Houston)
After what was reported last week on the John Wall trade front regarding the Houston Rockets being willing to take on Russell Westbrook’s contract in a deal including Wall, things have gotten somewhat quiet on that end.
However, Wall did more or less make a statement on the matter by liking a tweet from Undisputed where Skip Bayless said he’d trade Westbrook for Wall:
Does that mean Wall wants to go to the Lakers?
Maybe, but it’s more likely that he wants to go anywhere that will allow him to actually see playing time.
For the latest on the John Wall trade front, click here.
Russell Westbrook (LA Lakers)
As was just the case with Wall and things getting quiet regarding the possibility of him getting traded, likewise has it gotten quiet from Westbrook’s end.
The one update we do have on the matter from this week came courtesy of Fox Sports, stating that the Cavaliers are not interested in acquiring Westbrook to replace the now-injured Ricky Rubio:
Asked about the rumor the Cavs might be interested in dealing for the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook to replace Rubio, the source dismissed it, laughing. “I had not even heard those rumors,” he said.
It’s tough to see a Westbrook trade going down in the next week-plus, but crazier things have happened at the trade deadline.
Who knows? Maybe the Wall-for-Westbrook deal does come to fruition.
For the latest on the Russell Westbrook trade front, click here.
Ben Simmons (Philadelphia)
We’ve known for a while Ben Simmons wants an exit from the Philadelphia 76ers. We found out this week just how badly he wants that departure, however, when we learned – courtesy of ESPN – how much money he’s lost in fines since sitting out to force a trade:
Simmons has lost over $19 million in fines since the season began (each missed game costs him $360,000). He hasn’t cleared a paycheck since the $8.25 million (25% of his $33 million salary) that was due to him Oct. 1. Every two weeks the team sends a notice with an explanation of all the fines he has accumulated for failing to render services, instead of a $1.375 million paycheck. By the end of the season, if he does not play for the Sixers or any other team, Simmons could lose another $12 million. It is a staggering amount of money.
The report would go on to state that a source close to Simmons stated that the camp doesn’t five “a f—” about money, indicating that the money doesn’t matter and that Simmons just wants to find a new team.
Even worse, the report would also state that Simmons holds ill will with the organization because he feels like he got blamed more for big Philadelphia losses than Joel Embiid did:
According to sources close to Simmons, he’s upset that Embiid seemed to blame him for last season’s playoff loss, when Simmons did not blame Embiid for Embiid’s poor showing in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He’s frustrated that Rivers didn’t come to see him while he was training in Los Angeles last summer. Simmons doesn’t dispute that he didn’t reply when Rivers texted and called him several times over the summer asking to see him. But in hindsight, Simmons feels Rivers and the Sixers could’ve done more, like show up at a well-known gym in the San Fernando Valley where he was training.
We also had a report from Stein that said the Sacramento Kings, now out of the Simmons sweepstakes, were so interested in acquiring the supersized point guard that they did due diligence on Tobias Harris:
Marc Stein: Sacramento was doing some due diligence on Tobias when it was out there that there could be a deal that involved both Ben and Tobias and I know not this week but earlier this month that I did hear from some teams that suggested that they saw Sacramento as the only team that could realistically get Daryl to move off of his patience stance on Ben because there were indications that the Kings would be willing to take Tobias on if it meant getting Ben now. The Kings have sent so many mixed messages lately.
With the situation continuing to get messier – and rest assured, the leak to ESPN coming this close to the trade deadline was no accident – it’ll be interesting to see if Daryl Morey and Co. fold on their hopes to keep Simmons until the summer and trade him in the next week.
Stay tuned.
For the latest on the Ben Simmons trade front, click here.
Jerami Grant (Detroit)
Jerami Grant has been a popular name on the trade market this season, understandably so considering his level of two-way talent and the fact that the Detroit Pistons are still early on in their rebuild.
Our own Scotto reported earlier today that the Washington Wizards are a potential suitor for Grant, and could look to acquire him to keep Bradley Beal happy:
Several people I’ve spoken to around the league believe the Wizards will look to go big-game hunting with the trade deadline coming up to keep Bradley Beal happy, and they could look to acquire Domantas Sabonis or Jerami Grant.
Earlier in the week, Stein also reported that a high-ranking member of the Pistons front office is a proponent of Pistons trading Grant now.
However, Stein added today that the Pistons still have a pretty high price tag for the talented big man:
The Pistons have established a pretty high price for Jerami Grant, they don’t have to trade him right now. So they want a lot. And to this point, nobody’s come close to meeting their valuation for him. So I think when you combine that the offers are somewhat underwhelming to this point, and the fact that Troy Weaver is not in a huge rush to trade him and is the biggest Jerami Grant fan on earth at this point, you know, I think we have to start considering the possibility that there may not be a trade.
Grant could be the biggest name we see moved by the deadline, as he could be a huge boost for a contender thanks to his versatility on both ends of the floor.
For the latest on the Jerami Grant trade front, click here.
James Harden (Brooklyn)
With so much speculation about James Harden’s future with the Brooklyn Nets coming out this week, rival teams have taken notice and expect a tampering investigation to come out of it against the Sixers, according to Chris Haynes:
Teams around the NBA would consider asking the league to investigate a James Harden to 76ers deal, should the Brooklyn Nets superstar land in Philadelphia, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Harden has been linked to the 76ers because of his relationship with the president of basketball operations Daryl Morey from their time with the Houston Rockets. Harden is also friends with 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin.
However, Kyrie Irving did recently discuss that he, Harden and Kevin Durant have talked about what a long-term future together might look like, indicating that Harden might not be convinced about switching teams quite yet.
Kyrie Irving on how often he, Kevin Durant and James Harden haven’t played together: “I hate that I even have to answer that question. We think about it daily. It’s not something that’s short-sighted for us. We think about the long term and how well we gel together as a trio.” pic.twitter.com/IQKoswdpqu
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) February 2, 2022
Regardless, there’s close to a zero percent chance that the Nets do move Harden this season, so this will probably be more of a conversation for the summer.
For the latest on the James Harden trade front, click here.
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