5 Blockbuster NBA Trades That Should Happen After Christmas
It's the holiday season, but that's not important right now.
Sure, celebrate with your families, maximize your merriment and all that, but hoop heads know the real prizes will come courtesy of the NBA trade market.
Which, by the way, could start bustling with activity at any moment. And based on all the big names already being bandied about, this could be a trade season to remember.
How would such a busy basketball swap market look? Well, funny you should ask, since this very article is essentially our attempt to speak these five blockbuster trade pitches into existence.
Warriors Find Their Third Scorer
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Golden State Warriors receive: Michael Porter Jr. and Haywood Highsmith
Brooklyn Nets receive: Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield, 2028 first-round pick (top-five protected) and 2030 first-round pick swap (21-30 protected)
Why Golden State does it: The Warriors clearly need to get Stephen Curry more scoring support, but they also have to be careful about forking over their entire future when they might be more than one trade away from title contention. This feels like the right tight rope to traverse.
Porter is a top-shelf shot-maker (career 49.9/40.6/79.9 slash), and his shooting threat is potent enough to pull attention away from Curry and Jimmy Butler. Plus, for a 25-point scorer who's essentially hitting half of his field goals and 40 percent of his threes, Porter should be relatively reasonably priced in a trade.
Between him and Highsmith, a sturdy three-and-D wing who should be nearing his return from offseason knee surgery, Golden State might see enough size, length and spacing to give this a go. At worst, it feels like the Warriors would be a plucky playoff opponent.
Why Brooklyn does it: The Nets already had Porter and Highsmith salary-dumped onto their laps. Being able to now flip them for additional assets would be the kind of great basketball business that every rebuilder should try to broker.
Plus, after loading up on playmakers at the draft, Brooklyn could squeeze plenty of juice out of play-finishers like Kuminga, Moody and even Hield (who'd stick around as long as needed to attract a shooting-starved shopper). The real prizes would be the pick and the swap, though, which would rocket in value if Curry doesn't extend his Golden State stay beyond his current contract, which expires after next season.
Pistons Make Their Push
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Detroit Pistons receive: Lauri Markkanen
Utah Jazz receive: Tobias Harris, Jaden Ivey, Ron Holland III, 2030 first-round pick and 2032 first-round pick
Why Detroit does it: The Pistons' potent blend of Cade Cunningham excellence, disruptive defense and pedal-floored hustle has punched their ticket into the really-good tier, but they might need one more star to graduate to greatness. And maybe they don't just want to wait and see if someone like Ivey, Holland, Jalen Duren or Ausar Thompson could fill that void internally.
Markkanen would be an all-caps AWESOME fit. He could expand the offensive menu, dramatically improve the spacing and take some heat off of Cunningham's shoulders without costing the club anything in terms of length or much in the way of disruption and general defensive resistance.
Provided the Jazz don't set a silly asking price, this is the Pistons' chance to make an aggressive move for the throne without giving up Duren or Thompson. They wouldn't actually be going all-in, but the reward would be so rich it might feel like they must have to pull it off.
Why Utah does it: The Jazz are still holding onto some hopes of building a winner around Markkanen sooner than later, but they have to ditch that dream at some point, right? The rest of this roster isn't good enough to help him, nor necessarily even close enough to getting good to provide major assistance during his prime.
Throw in that Utah only has top-eight protection on the first-round pick it owes Oklahoma City in a loaded 2026 draft, and this just feels like the right time for the Jazz to cut the cord. They wouldn't get everything the Pistons have to offer, but Holland is a legitimate building block, two unprotected future firsts are always enticing and they could flip Ivey or Harris for additional assets if they didn't want to keep them.
Spurs Snag Impact Wing
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San Antonio Spurs receive: Trey Murphy III
New Orleans Pelicans receive: Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan and 2031 first-round pick (via SAS or SAC)
Why San Antonio does it: While a mega-move for Giannis Antetokounmpo might be too costly for the Spurs, they shouldn't be opposed to dealing altogether. If they could upgrade the roster without draining their account, they'd grant Victor Wembanyama a shot at this year's title run without throwing obstacles in front of future pursuits.
Murphy could slot in as the two-way wing capable of elevating this group from an up-and-comer to a full-fledged contender. He pairs all-purpose utility on defense with the kind of offensive package perfect for a high-end support player: dunk-contest hops, a three-ball that's better than 38 percent accurate and just enough creation to steer the ship when the brightest stars need a breather.
Why New Orleans does it: Because recent hints of competitive play shouldn't change the franchise's focus for trade season. The Pelicans have to be hunting for all the assets they can get.
It's entirely possible their long-term foundation is all of two players deep: Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears. No stone should be unturned in their search for building blocks. They could offer both Johnson and Sochan an opportunity to earn that status while also bringing back a future first that could be coming from Sacramento.
Heat Go For Broke
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Miami Heat receive: Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Chris Paul
Los Angeles Clippers receive: Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Kasparas Jakučionis, Terry Rozier, 2030 first-round pick and 2032 first-round pick
Why Miami does it: It's been a while since the Heat had a whale, and if that dry spell doesn't snap soon, mediocrity might become the norm in Miami. This would be an extreme way to fight against that, but it'd also be a fascinating test of the franchise's famed culture.
If everything broke right—a more likely scenario than it sounds due to the presence of Erik Spoelstra—the Heat could have enough talent to capitalize on the wide-open Eastern Conference. Leonard could serve as the resident superstar, while Harden and Paul would combat the creativity limitations that spurred this squad into running with reckless abandon.
Miami has manufactured a fully loaded supporting cast, it just needs the right stars to support. This deal would deliver two without forcing the Heat to dismantle what they've built. There are some painful sacrifices here, obviously, but they'd still be all over a deal that netted multiple stars without costing any of Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson.
Why Los Angeles does it: The Clippers might be pushing back against external calls to sell off veterans, but honestly, what's the hold-up? The campaign is more than a quarter complete, and they've been one of its worst teams by every metric. At some point, you can't just ignore being body-checked over and over again by reality.
If the franchise was ever ready to accept its fate, this would be a welcome pivot toward something different. Herro might be a bit polarizing, but he's still All-Star-productive when healthy. Wiggins is a rock-solid two-way wing who should be infinitely movable in a separate swap. The picks are unprotected, and Jakučionis is unproven in the most enticing way. Oh, and assuming Rozier is actually tradeable, his sizable expiring salary would move the franchise a big step closer to functional flexibility.
Raptors Win Giannis Sweepstakes
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Toronto Raptors receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks receive: RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, Collin Murray-Boyles, Ja'Kobe Walter, a 2030 first-round pick, a 2032 first-round pick and a 2031 first-round pick swap
Why Toronto does it: Bucks fans will disagree, but how fun would this be? The Raptors would essentially reprise the role they played in Kawhi Leonard's split from the Spurs back in 2018 and hope to see a similar outcome—only with additional cracks at the crown.
Toronto boasts a rich collection of above-average-to-good talent, but this group needs an elite to fully enter the championship chase. Antetokounmpo is on the shortest list of the planet's best players and certainly the best among those with any kind of shot at becoming available between now and the trade deadline.
The Raptors might be a bit squeezed for spacing, and they'd have to figure out how to divvy up touches between Antetokounmpo, Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes, but just like they once did with Leonard, they'd grab the great player now and worry about making everything else fit later. And if things eventually click the way they could, nothing about this trade price would feel prohibitive in hindsight.
Why Milwaukee does it: The Bucks might be waiting on an expressly communicated trade demand from Antetokounmpo that maybe isn't coming, but what else must be said? He wants to compete for more titles, and they can't give him that chance. The writing isn't merely on the wall, it's bolded, italicized and underlined three times.
Teams that are forced to trade away a star rarely come out ahead, and chances are Milwaukee wouldn't be breaking the mold here. Still, it would get a reasonable building block in Barrett, a 25-year-old who's generally good for 20-plus points per night, and perhaps two more in Walter, the No. 19 pick in 2024, and Murray-Boyles, this year's No. 9 pick. Poeltl wouldn't be a fit with Myles Turner, but if the Bucks shipped out Antetokounmpo, they'd almost certainly flip these two centers for additional assets, too.
Beyond all that, the Bucks would net two unprotected firsts and an unprotected swap from a non-destination franchise that has one playoff trip and zero series wins to show for the past five seasons. Granted, Antetokounmpo should be a floor-raiser, but if Toronto couldn't show a clear path to contention right away, it might face the same win-right-this-second pressure that eventually buckled the Bucks. Maybe those picks wind up being as sought-after as Milwaukee's future firsts already are.
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