There has never been a better time to be a contender with picks to spend — or a worse time to be a max-salary veteran on a losing team.
Oklahoma City and San Antonio are sitting on the two deepest asset piles in the sport. Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit and Atlanta all have the picks and matching salary to make real February additions as well. A normal season features two or three teams with the ammunition to strike at the deadline. This year, there are at least half a dozen. Meanwhile, under the second apron, a max or near-max veteran on a lottery team is a depreciating asset.
The players below share a few things that make them prime trade candidates: each is either an unrestricted free agent or holds a player option for the summer of 2027, none of them play for a top-tier title threat and every one of them could swing the title race if he lands in the right place.
1. Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards
When healthy, Davis is the biggest ceiling-raiser in this group, capable of All-NBA defense and All-Star offense. The Wizards acquired the oft-injured big man from the Mavericks at a fire-sale rate last season and have insisted they intend to compete this year with AD, Trae Young and AJ Dybantsa. Yeah, right.
That posturing is clearly an attempt to drum up Davis’ trade price. AD — owed $58.5M this season, with a $62.8M player option for 2027-28 — became extension-eligible Aug. 6, and Washington didn’t offer him the max extension it gave Young earlier this summer. The plan is to rehabilitate his value and flip him to the highest-bidding contender.
The hard part for buyers will be matching Davis’ salary without hamstringing the roster. The Warriors should have pushed Jimmy Butler’s expiring contract and draft capital at Washington while they were chasing LeBron James, but never made the call. Watch for another team with moveable money on the fringes of contention — Celtics? Rockets? 76ers? — to try, because a healthy Davis is the one man here who can turn a good playoff defense into a championship defense overnight.
2. Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets
Durant is owed $43.9M this season and holds a $46.1M player option for 2027-28. He was an All-NBA performer last year, but things in Houston went haywire down the stretch, and plenty of people pointed to Durant’s latest burner scandal and general moodiness as the driver of the Rockets’ collapse. Do we have a problem, Houston?
It certainly seems that way, which could mean Durant is on the move for the fifth time in his storied career. Contenders with established leadership already in place and a need for scoring and spacing are the natural suitors for the Slim Reaper — and Detroit is the team to watch. Pairing Durant with Cade Cunningham would give the Pistons some of the best halfcourt shot creation in the league and make them a real force in the East.
3. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Green’s one-year, $27.7M deal is easy to move, and he’ll be one of the most sought-after targets at the deadline if Golden State stumbles out of the gates.
The future Hall of Famer’s two-way impact far exceeds the 8.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 5.5 APG he averaged last season, especially on the defensive end. He’s still the guy you want guarding the other team’s best scorer in a high-leverage game, as his lockdown work on Kawhi Leonard in the Warriors’ play-in win last spring demonstrated.
4. Tyler Herro, Milwaukee Bucks
Herro landed in Milwaukee as the headliner in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, alongside Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and three future first-rounders. He’s on a $33M expiring deal and hits unrestricted free agency next summer.
The Bucks are in a full rebuild. Herro is 26, grew up outside the city and seems genuinely thrilled to play for his hometown team. It’s a lovely story, but if he isn’t part of Milwaukee’s long-term plans, there’s no reason to keep a player with real trade value past the deadline while the team sits at the bottom of the East. He’s one of the best pure shot-makers who will realistically be available, and his contract is easy to match. Look for a contender in need of a super-sixth man to call.
5. Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks
Irving is owed $39.5M this season with a $42.4M player option for 2027-28, and is coming off the first lost season of his career after tearing his left ACL in March 2025. The Mavericks insist the 34-year-old is still a big part of their future alongside Cooper Flagg, and by all accounts, he hasn’t lost a step.
But everything has a price. If Dallas is near the bottom of the West and a playoff team starts dangling multiple first-round picks or young assets, the Mavericks would be crazy not to listen. In-state rivals almost never do business with one another, but a Kyrie-for-De’Aaron Fox-and-two-firsts framework would be fascinating.
Irving’s closing ability and off-ball game would be a perfect fit in San Antonio, raising the Spurs’ ceiling without stalling the development of Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle. Fox, meanwhile, would give Dallas stability at point guard while Flagg continues his ascent.
Bonus: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
As good as Kyrie would look in San Antonio, there’s a better fit who could, just maybe, become available: Steph Curry.
Curry is in the final year of his deal at $62.6M and is eligible to sign a two-year extension worth up to $136.7M. The Warriors went 37-45 and lost the second play-in game to Phoenix last season. They struck out on LeBron. They wouldn’t take a risk on AD. Their answer was to re-sign Draymond and run it back.
The franchise is telling Curry he isn’t worth going “all-in” on anymore. We watched the Lakers send LeBron the same message for years, and eventually, he left for another shot at a title. Could Curry decide to do the same?