NBA Players Most Likely to Fill the 2026-27 Trade Rumor Mill

Now that NBA offseason scuttlebutt is winding down, the clock is striking Next-Year-Speculation o'clock.

A handful of players become trade-rumor staples each and every season. You know the kind. They are the household names who attract so much anonymously sourced reporting that you range from fairly surprised to flabbergasted if they don't get moved before February's deadline. 

We have identified the next crop of slop-season honorees.

These players are by no means the only ones who will be exhaustively mentioned in trade talk. But they are the most notable candidates who we're prepared to guarantee will define the NBA's gossip factory between now and the Feb. 11 deadline.

Honorable Mentions

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers owe it to Embiid and themselves to see whether the could-be best five-man lineup in basketball meets the moment. Yet, urgency remains the default in Philly after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.

If Embiid's knees can't hold up, or if he plays like a fraction of his former self, the "How many picks must they attach to move the three years and $187.8 million left on his deal?" question will need to be asked.

Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

For so long, Jokic has been among the superstars who would never request a trade or do anything that would compel the Nuggets to have some uncomfortable conversations. Does his plan to not sign an extension and instead wait until next summer, when he has a player option, change that?

We're about to find out. Especially if Denver emerges from this offseason without Peyton Watson or other key players.

Denver's Non-Jokić Starters

Speaking of the Nuggets, they currently sit inside the second apron after matching Spencer Jones' offer sheet from the Oklahoma City Thunder. That is before factoring in a new contract for Watson.

Though the Nuggets could re-sign the 23-year-old combo forward and eat the second-apron restrictions for a season, nobody actually expects them to do so. Even if they keep Watson and enter the season as a second-apron squad, the NBA populace will be waiting for them to shed salary and escape it.

Unless this summer ends with Watson on another team, Christian Braun, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson could all find themselves being bandied about the rumor mill non-stop.

Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets

Sheppard more than tripled his total court time last season compared to his rookie year. He also occasionally appeared to be exactly what the Rockets need: an on-ball option who stretches the floor and offers a dab of defensive playmaking.

But Sheppard rose to prominence with Fred VanVleet sidelined for an entire year. And before Houston added Marcus Smart. The third-year guard could find himself entrenched in rumors if head coach Ime Udoka puts him behind both of the vets in the pecking order.

Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards

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Anthony Davis becomes eligible on Aug. 6 to sign a four-year extension worth up to $272.8 million. Conventional wisdom suggests the Washington Wizards won't back up the Brink's truck for an injury-prone mid-30s-something who's yet to play a game for them.

Then again, they just gave Trae Young $212.8 million after acquiring him as part of an Atlanta Hawks salary dump and despite not having clear competition for his services. So, what do we know?

Assuming Davis doesn't get an extension, he is going to live in the rumor mill.

Heck, even as the Wizards insist they're not looking to move him, he's already living there. Davis was repeatedly viewed as a supporting character in LeBron James' free-agency decision.

It isn't clear whether peak availability and a renaissance season from AD will increase or decrease the chances he gets shipped out. But Washington already has Alex Sarr, traded for Deandre Ayton and has younger cornerstones who will eventually need to get paid and warrant higher priority. If he's dead set on getting paid like a superstar, the team's hand will be forced.

Truth be told, if Davis finishes the year in the nation's capital, we have to assume it's because his value has cratered further or the Wizards are on a 60-win pace.

Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers

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Scoot Henderson is extension eligible. Shaedon Sharpe is about to start a four-year, $90 million deal after finishing the postseason basically out of the team's rotation.

Damian Lillard is set to make his return after missing all of 2025-26 with an Achilles injury. Jrue Holiday started in all but two of his appearances last season. And faced with a shooting deficit, the Portland Trail Blazers traded for...Ja Morant.

Related: If anybody knows what in the hell this team is doing, please let us know.

Sharpe and Henderson may have always found themselves floating around the rumor mill. Portland just made the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and is on a quicker, if not flat-out urgent, trajectory. Neither guard has shown enough or remained healthy enough to guarantee themselves a spot in the bigger picture.

That uncertainty has been dialed up elevenfold while looking at the roster construction. It breaks the scale knowing the Blazers' plan is, as of now, to start Dame and Ja in the backcourt.

At this point, the real shock will be if both Henderson and Sharpe finish next season on Portland's roster.

Tyler Herro, Milwaukee Bucks

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Tyler Herro's Wisconsin homecoming may not last very long. He is entering the final year of his contract, and while the Milwaukee Bucks aren't incentivized to lose when they don't control their own first-round pick again until 2031, they do have a boatload of guards who can't be stretched into undersized wings.

Ryan Rollins and Brayden Burries are more important to the long-term program. Apart from them, Milwaukee employs the freshly re-signed Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Kasparas Jakučionis, Kevin Porter Jr. and Caris LeVert.

This says nothing of the on-ball reps required for Jaime Jaquez Jr., who will enter restricted free agency next summer, or rookie Nate Ament.

To be fair, Herro is extremely plug-and-play on the offensive end. He can provide secondary playmaking, generate his own shot or uncork threes after being stationed and moved around away from the ball.

Of all the Bucks players who will spend time in the rumor mill—Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma and Jaquez just to name a few—Herro provides the most utility of the bunch. (This stands to change if Rollins becomes available.)

Unless Milwaukee envisions paying big money to Herro and Rollins (2027-28 player option) next summer after already having overpaid GTJ, you can bet your bottom dollar somebody's getting traded. Our money is on Herro.

Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks

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The way that the Dallas Mavericks keep signaling they're not entertaining Kyrie Irving trades, you'd think he plays power forward or something.

Really, this is about timing. Hopefully, it's also about giving Cooper Flagg a capable ball-handler and shooter to play alongside. But it's definitely about timing.

Kyrie missed all of last year recovering from a torn left ACL. Going into his age-34 season, with a player option for 2027-28, his value can't be very high. Team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz aren't going to unload him at what would be the nadir of his value.

Still, Dallas has signaled on multiple occasions this offseason that it is focused on the long haul. From landing Sergio de Larrea to taking on Zaccharie Risacher, the Mavs are in full-on rebuild mode. Ujiri has even said the team is glomming onto the Cooper Flagg timeline.

Holding onto Kyrie doesn't jibe with that direction. That could change if the Mavs come out like gangbusters and shock the Western Conference. More likely, though, they'll look to showcase Kyrie early in the hopes of striking a palatable trade before Feb. 11.

Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

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Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson should be considered no-brainer inclusions for this exercise, but then you remember they play for the New Orleans Pelicans, the mother of all out-of-touch organizations.

Where we see a franchise floundering incoherently, entirely devoid of direction, the front office has illustrious visions of celebrating another 11th-place finish in the Western Conference.

New Orleans' imperceptible blueprint should come to a head this season. Zion is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, and Murphy's stock is never going to be higher than it is right now, with a team-friendly three years and $87 million left on his contract.

If the Pelicans don't want to entertain calls on either of them, then they should be listening on Derik Queen and perhaps even Jeremiah Fears. That wouldn't be ideal. But it would at least portend a unifying plan.

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Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.