Ranking the Top 10 NBA Trade Chips Right Now
The 2025 NBA offseason doldrums are upon us.
The draft is a distant memory, the trade market isn't moving and free agency has been picked apart, save for those unfortunate restrictive free agents trapped in the league's latest round of basketball's endurance-based game show, Who Blinks First?
The league will snap out of this stalemate at some point, though, and we're here to give an early glimpse of who could be involved in those shakeups once they finally happen again.
More specifically, we're here to subjectively rank the top 10 trade assets on the market right now. Think of these as the chips each shopper would play if a difference-maker became available. They are the sweetest of the sweeteners, if you will.
To be clear, we're not discussing the best players who could possibly be involved in a trade. Rather, the idea is to highlight (and rank) the top trade tools used to acquire those elites. These players and draft picks must be feasibly available, too. The upcoming draft selections held by bottom-feeders would be hugely valuable, obviously, but that doesn't matter for this exercise since they'll never be put up for grabs.
Understood? Excellent, that means it's ranking time, folks.
10. Milwaukee Bucks 2029 1st-Round Pick (via Blazers)
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The Portland Trail Blazers gained control of this pick during the Sept. 2023 trade that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee as one of the teams' many whatever-it-takes efforts to appease Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Less than 24 months later, Lillard is back in Portland, but the pick still belongs to the Blazers (so long as it's more favorable than their own and the Boston Celtics').
Between Lillard's return and the offseason addition of Jrue Holiday, there are multiple indicators of Portland's desire to compete sooner than later. And with this young core having played near-.500 ball after the All-Star break (13-14), the Blazers could like their chances enough to put this valuable pick on the table for the right return.
It would have to involve a top-shelf type of talent, though, because Milwaukee's long-term future looks all kinds of murky.
Antetokounmpo doesn't sound fully committed to them, his championship supporting cast has largely aged of utility and the Bucks are saddling $22.5 million of dead money each of the next five seasons after waiving and stretching Lillard.
The jackpot prize from this pick is potentially enormous.
9. Nikola Topić, Oklahoma City Thunder
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Nikola Topić hasn't logged a second of regular-season action since the Thunder made him the 12th overall pick of the 2024 draft. And in a weird way, that's maybe a good thing in terms of building his intrigue on the trade block.
Since his would-be rookie run was erased by an ACL injury, he carries some clear mystery-box allure. Rival front offices can fully focus on his ceiling (and it's a towering one) without any obvious on-court reasons to worry about his ability to reach it.
And if you're only looking at the positives with Topić, there's some truly jaw-dropping stuff. He's a 6'6" primary playmaker who understands how to consistently create advantages for himself and his teammates—as a 19-year-old.
He could wind up as the best player in his draft class, and that's how the Thunder should try to market him if they ever deem it necessary to make an all-in push.
8. Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets
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Reed Sheppard has, admittedly, not done a lot at this level to earn such a lofty ranking. That said, forward-thinking front offices won't abandon hope on a 21-year-old based on a quiet rookie season with limited NBA exposure and a couple of forgettable summer league showings.
What matters more to those evaluators are the same things that made Sheppard the No. 3 pick of last year's draft. He is a special shooter from distance who looks like he can thrive as both a catch-and-launch off-ball spacer and a capable on-ball creator with slick (if a bit rudimentary) handles, solid instincts and shrewd vision.
While he'll lose some defensive battles due to his lack of size (6'2", 185 lbs), he'll never lose them for a lack of effort.
With Houston fully focused on climbing the Western Conference ladder, minutes have yet to come with great consistency or abundance for Sheppard. That, more than anything, feels like the biggest letdown in his NBA story.
If routed elsewhere, though, he'd have a non-zero chance of wrestling away control of a rebuilding team's entire offense.
7. Golden State Warriors 2028 1st-Round Pick
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Save for Jonathan Kuminga's unresolved restricted free agency and the Warriors' never-say-die approach to their Giannis Antetokounmpo dream, Golden State seems fairly content with the status quo. So, its willingness to pull from its future draft pick collection seems unclear.
That said, the Warriors have effectively given themselves two more cracks at again solving the championship puzzle around Stephen Curry. That's how long his contract has left, and not coincidentally, that's as long as Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green are under contract, too. Steve Kerr only has next season left on his deal, but he already sounds interested in a final go-round for the 206-27 campaign.
Maybe that's enough motivation for Golden State to go all-in on the next two seasons and see what happens. As for what comes beyond that...well, that's why the 2028 first could look so inviting for long-term shoppers.
By the 2027-28 campaign, all that's left on the books will be the final year of Moses Moody's contract and a player option for Buddy Hield.
This club could completely bottom out, and the chance of that happening locks this pick onto the list.
6. Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder
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OKC's embarrassment of riches are on full display with the reigning champs getting their second entry here in Cason Wallace.
And, honestly, this ranking might be underselling the 21-year-old, who just held a 95th percentile ranking in defensive estimated plus/minus and tied for the sixth-most playoff minutes on the world champs.
There is clear and compelling proof of concept with Wallace as one of the league's stingiest and most disruptive stoppers. This past season, he was fifth in total deflections, sixth in total steals and 111th in total minutes. This was chaos-creation at its finest.
His upside is both ginormous and obvious, but two things kept him from ranking higher. One, he has a few too many rough patches on offense to totally gloss over. If he can't level up both his shooting and creation, then he needs to become pretty special at one to offset the other. Two, the Thunder (understandably) don't seem in a hurry to reshape their roster, so his availability probably makes more sense in concept than in reality.
5. Los Angeles Clippers 2028 1st-Round Pick (via 76ers)
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Much like their Pacific Division rival Warriors, the Clippers are operating on their own two-year plan. Kawhi Leonard has two seasons left on his contract, James Harden has one guaranteed and a player option, and only Ivica Zubac will be definitely on the books for the 2027-28 season.
L.A. was already the third-oldest team headed into last season, and it has surely climbed the ladder since. During the season, it brokered a big trade for 32-year-old Bogdan Bogdanović. Since the season ended, it has brought in 32-year-old Bradley Beal, 37-year-old Brook Lopez and 40-year-old Chris Paul.
The Clippers' championship window might be the NBA's narrowest, and even if Steve Ballmer is ready to spend big on their next iteration, this organization will have a massive rebuilding effort on its hands.
That's the hope of the Philadelphia 76ers, anyway, as they own this pick and are never shy about brokering a big trade if they believe it could move them closer to a championship breakthrough.
4. Ron Holland II, Detroit Pistons
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Could recency bias be responsible for Ron Holland II ranking so high? Maybe, but when you're talking about a prospect with this much raw talent, you're kinda supposed to get carried away when they show signs of encouragement.
And the spring-loaded swingman flashed plenty of them during a dominant showing at summer league.
"Did you see a better player out here than Ron?" a Pistons executive asked Spotrac's Keith Smith in Las Vegas. "If you say you did, you better be ready for an argument! Ron was so good. We said it when we drafted him that we felt like we got one of the best players in the draft. As a rookie, he just got better every single day. Now, he's going to break out and have an incredible season. The jumper and the free-throw shooting? Those are real."
Give Holland a reliable outside shot, and everything could open up for the 6'8", athletic forward. Since the summer sample isn't big enough to assume he has one now, though, it's still worth wondering if the Pistons would consider letting him go to get Cade Cunningham a true co-star. Because if Holland's shot remains a question, then so, too, does his long-term fit with fellow non-spacers Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren.
3. Kel'el Ware, Miami Heat
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While the Heat threw their hat into the Kevin Durant sweepstakes this summer, they did so while keeping Kel'el Ware out of those talks. And that probably torpedoed their chances, while also making clear how much they value the athletic 7-footer with a potential unicorn blend of modern-big-man skills.
So, why bother putting Ware on this list? Because there's a difference between not wanting to flip a 21-year-old for a 36-year-old on an expiring contract and actually making that young player outright untouchable.
There's almost assuredly a return rich enough for Miami to loosen its grip on Ware, but it would take quite a bit.
He wasn't a rotation player at the start of his freshman season and by the end of it, he was a nightly starter and an All-Rookie second-teamer. He looks like he'll provide both shot-blocking and perimeter-shooting, plus above-the-rim finishing and plenty of rebounding, during his prime and could push for stardom if everything breaks right with his development.
2. Phoenix Suns 2027 and 2029 1st-Round Picks (via Rockets)
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While the Suns managed to improve their long-term outlook a bit this offseason, it's still among the bleakest around the league.
They can't abandon all win-now intentions since they're keeping 28-year-old Devin Booker as their historically pricey cornerstone, but they clearly took a step back when moving off of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal this offseason.
This is, in other words, hardly a playoff lock at this point, making these unprotected picks they owe the Houston Rockets absurdly valuable. Even if Phoenix finds a few hits in a young core now featuring Jalen Green, Mark Williams, Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Ryan Dunn, these might all be support players and none are great timeline fits with Booker, who turns 29 in August.
Tough-sledding seems inevitable for the Suns, and the Rockets couldn't be more thrilled about that.
While they already plucked Kevin Durant out of Phoenix, they have the resources to chase another impact player or two, and you could argue they should go that route if they feel anything less than supremely confident about their championship chances during the upcoming campaign.
1. Jared McCain, Philadelphia 76ers
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Sixers fans might cringe at the suggestion Jared McCain could somehow, someway be feasibly available. That's fair.
If you believe this current core's injury issues are too great to overcome, then the idea of dealing a 21-year-old who packed as much high-end potential into a 23-game sample as McCain just did should be a non-starter.
Philadelphia may not share that sentiment, though. Not when the healthy version of Joel Embiid remains an MVP challenger. Not when the healthy-ish version of this team should be good enough contend in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
Plus, McCain, a scoring guard with defensive limitations, maybe isn't the best long-term fit with Tyrese Maxey. Especially not if the Sixers think they could replace McCain with No. 3 pick VJ Edgecombe and a hopefully re-signed Quentin Grimes.
A McCain trade, while not likely, feels like it has greater than a non-zero chance of happening, so he'll snag our No. 1 spot by virtue of his ahead-of-schedule efficiency, ignitable scoring and no-hesitation shot-creation, which all add up to significant star potential.
