The NBA trade rumor mill has slowed down a bit this offseason, but player's like Eric Bledsoe, Nick Young, Jamal Crawford, Anderson Varejao, Jose Calderon, Brandon Jennings, Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers are potential options that could be traded this year along with DeMarcus Cousins and teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Lakers, Clippers, NY Knicks, Suns, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons could be interested in making moves.
Over the summer in the NBA teams often shop players and that was the case with Bledsoe, Cousins, Varejao, Chalmers and Andersen, while Young was also shopped by the Lakers. Roy Hibbert was traded this summer to the Lakers from the Pacers and the Lakers pushed a deal for Young after that to help clear cap space. According to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, the Lakers shopped Young in trades with the Cavaliers and Bulls, but for now he will remain with the Lakers.
Eric Bledsoe was shopped before the NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns and the team offered him in a deal to the NY Knicks. According to Sean Deveney at the Sporting News, the team offered Bledsoe and a draft pick to the Knicks to move up to the fourth pick in the draft. That deal did not come close to happening and while the team is not shopping Bledsoe now, Deveney reported that league execs expected the Suns to "continue" looking for trades this year. The Suns just signed Brandon Knight to a five year deal worth $70 million this summer.
The Suns are expecting to contend in the west this season and if things go south, they could consider trading Bledsoe. The team was expecting to contend last season, but things did not go that way and the Suns ended up trading Isaiah Thomas and Goran Dragic. Jamal Crawford has come up in trade talks this offseason for the Clippers, as the team has signed Paul Pierce and Josh Smith this offseason. The Cavaliers have shown interest, but with Matthew Dellavedova returning and JR Smith likely coming back, the team may not pursue that deal.
The Miami Heat was the other team mentioned in talks about Crawford and they likely are out of the mix unless they trade someone. The team has a full roster and after trading Shabazz Napier and Zoran Dragic to the Magic and Celtics, the Heat are likely also pushing deals for Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen. The team could potentially add Crawford if they make a deal with Andersen/Chalmers to the Clippers, but Miami has been trying to cut tax and adding that contract may not fit into what the team is trying to do.
Anderson Varejao was shopped this offseason by the Cavaliers, but the team did not find any takers for his contract. The team made a trade with Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller to the Blazers to help clear the way to sign some of their own free agents and Varejao could still be moved down the line. The team is considering signing Sasha Kaun to a contract and that could come after the team signs back JR Smith and Tristan Thompson. Brandon Jennings also could be moved after the Pistons signed Reggie Jackson to a free agent contract.
Check here for more on the NBA trade market and for news on the latest deals.
