Giannis, Klay Thompson, Ja Morant's Updated Landing Spots After Anthony Davis Trade to Wizards

This year's NBA trade deadline is cooking.

With players like Jaren Jackson Jr. traded to the Utah Jazz and the Washington Wizards shockingly acquiring Anthony Davis on Wednesday, this year's deadline has already provided fireworks. And more could be coming if the Dallas Mavericks go full fire sale and move on from a player like Klay Thompson, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant trade rumors have been making the rounds for quite some time.

Here, we'll break down the top potential suitors for all three. Most reporting has suggested that the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks are the favorites for Giannis, while the Heat and Sacramento Kings have most frequently been linked to Morant.

There's far less buzz on a potential Thompson move, though a reunion in Golden State would be fascinating, while you can never rule out the Los Angeles Lakers when a veteran star appears on the market.

Let's break it down.

Heat

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Miami is in NBA purgatory at the moment, as they are good enough to be a Play-In Tournament or even potentially a playoff team—likely costing them the chance to add a young superstar via the draft—but they aren't close to being actual contenders.

Pairing Giannis with Bam Adebayo would instantly change that calculus, however, while Morant would be a riskier swing but provide upside if he could stay healthy and vibe with Heat Culture.

The issue for the Heat is that they simply don't have top-tier packages they can offer, at least for Giannis. It would be one thing if Antetokounmpo was trying to steer his way to South Beach, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So a buy-low move on Morant may be more feasible at this point, but it also comes with far more risk.

Timberwolves

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Pairing Giannis with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert would instantly make the Wolves very real contenders in the West. While Gobert's lack of floor spacing on the offensive end could make for a clunky fit, good luck driving to the rim with him and Giannis lurking.

The Wolves likely would need to bring in a third team to make this work, however, so it's hard to imagine them as frontrunners in the Giannis chase at this point. But it certainly would be fun.

Warriors

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capital to help make this deal work. It would likely cost them franchise fixture Draymond Green and massive amounts of draft capital, but that juice is worth the squeeze.

There has been buzz that Giannis may not be keen on heading to the Dubs, however, which could render all of the above a moot point.

As for Thompson, would he consider a reunion in the Bay Area? He was clearly ready for a change in scenery when he left for the Dallas Mavericks, but perhaps the past year in Dallas—a pretty bizarre year, for sure—has offered Thompson some "the grass isn't always greener" clarity.

Would the Warriors consider adding Thompson? Could they loop Jonathan Kuminga into the trade, ending that saga? It's all pretty unlikely, no doubt, but it would be fun.

Knicks

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The Knicks would have to break up their current core to land Giannis, but it's fair to question whether the current core truly makes sense together or offers championship upside. A Giannis-Jalen Brunson pairing, however, would have some real juice in the watered-down East.

Again, this is a deal that likely would involved three or more teams, as it's hard to see the Bucks taking back Karl-Anthony Towns or Mikal Bridges rather than undertaking a full rebuild. So it's complicated, but Giannis would immediately raise New York's ceiling in a year when the East appears to be ripe for the taking.

Kings

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This one may be dead in the water, with reports that Morant isn't interested in playing for the Kings:

At this point, however, maybe the Kings should roll the dice anyway. The current roster construction is going nowhere fast and Morant would at least give them an exciting answer at the point guard position. Even if Morant is unhappy, it might be a risk worth taking.

Lakers

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The Lakers could use more shooting off the bench and Thompson still provides that much. There's only one problem:

So while Thompson could make sense for a Lakers team that needs to upgrade its bench, it probably would take a massive overpay. A fun possibility to consider, but apparently a pretty unlikely on