We've reached January 15th in the NBA calendar, which presents the opportunity to trade a large number of players who re-signed with their previous team last offseason. It's a more important group of players than you might think, as it includes players like D'Angelo Russell, Jerami Grant, Matisse Thybulle, Kyle Kuzma, Rui Hachimura and others. Some of these players will be listed in our updated trading forum below, some will not.
The result is that every player in the league — barring a few examples, most of whom signed long-term contract extensions within the last six months — is now trade-eligible.
We've already seen the first domino fall as the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors put aside their ongoing legal battle to complete a deal between OG Anunoby, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Expect more trades in the coming weeks. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors will look to shake up their rosters to create an edge, and others like the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards will look to sell as they exit the postseason race.
So let's take a look at some of the remaining players available in the market. With just under a month to go until the February 8th deadline, I'm remaining cautious about adding names to this list. However, the pool has increased from 25 players on our original board to 35 here as we now know a little more about teams' goals at the deadline.
Before we get to the names on this list, I want to address some names that aren't – at least not yet.
• You won't see any All-Stars Donovan Mitchell or Lauri Markkanen. Right now – even this time of year, things are fluid – my impression from conversations with league sources is that the Cleveland Cavaliers plan to play through this season with Mitchell. Meanwhile, the price for Markkanen is so high that he's effectively taken off the market, especially considering how well the Utah Jazz have been playing lately.
• You won't see it either Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody, two young players for the Golden State Warriors who could be used to facilitate a deal for a star player. I don't think the Warriors have ruled out a move, but at least for now, my impression is that they aren't actively including them in potential trade packages either. League sources believe new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. values both very highly and would like to hold on to them if he can, even if he also understands that one or both may need to be the mechanism to make much-needed changes to enable collapsing warriors. It's possible that one or both of Kuminga and Moody will appear in future versions of this forum, but that's the reason I've withheld them for now.
• The above Jeremiah Grant is not in here. It was a little difficult to gauge whether the Portland Trail Blazers were willing to trade him and how other teams value his five-year, $160 million contract.
• There aren't many Brooklyn Nets players yet because, frankly, teams around the league aren't entirely sure which direction they're going to go. This includes Dorian Finney Smith, an excellent roleplayer contender. With him under a long-term contract, the Nets are in no rush to make a decision on his future as they are in the Eastern Conference play-in race.
To reiterate, this list will be updated over the next month, so you can expect some updates. Completed trades will see some of these players disappear from the playing field, and it's even possible that others will sign contract extensions to stay with their current team. But here we sit now.
Click on each player listed below for a detailed explanation of their current trade situation.