These 5 NBA Teams Already Need a Trade

Although NBA trade season doesn't unofficially tip off until Dec. 15, a handful of teams need to be working the phones long before then.

As in, right now.

Think this is an overreaction to the opening kick of the 2026-27 regular season? Not so fast. Many of these squads would have made the list before Game No. 1. Their inclusion indicts the offseason and the overall approach.

Certain teams are, in fact, fresh entrants into this discussion. But even their inclusion isn't totally reflexive. They already had perceived weaknesses or issues. Our concerns have merely been confirmed. In one case, a team is throwing its hat in the ring entirely on its own.

Whatever the reason, the front offices running all these franchises should have been working the phones and group texts yesterday.

Golden State Warriors

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Meet the team that put itself here. ESPN's Shams Charania reported earlier today that the Golden State Warriors are exploring trades for Kristaps Porziņģis, who is reportedly considering walking away from basketball as he deals with lingering effects from his postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

Granted, we didn't need a Porziņģis health crisis to include the Warriors. They brought back the aging, injury-riddled core of a 37-win team, plus Yaxel Lendeborg and expect fans to believe that's perfectly fine because what else were they supposed to do?

That's a whole other can of worms we won't open here. For now, the Warriors need an able-bodied center— preferably one who stands taller than 6'6", is younger than 40 and can space the floor.  

Porziņģis' contract can be the primary salary anchor that nets Golden State an upgrade. He makes $20 million this year and is guaranteed only $3 million next season, making his contract quasi-expiring. 

It isn't clear how aggressive the Warriors will be in their trade pursuits. A starting center alone isn't saving them from what's shaping up to be a gap year. They might prefer acquiring Myles Turner a half-decade too late over going after a bigger name. 

At this point, what they do isn't as important as actually doing anything at all. Otherwise, they might as well ditch all pretense and release a statement saying they're having 38-year-old Stephen Curry work from home for the rest of the season.

New Orleans Pelicans

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Harsher analysis would focus on why the New Orleans Pelicans belong here because they need to tear this directionless basketball team down. I won't do that. I know better than to think New Orleans' C-Suite would dare rip apart a core capable of peaking at, like, 34 wins. (At least they're starting Jeremiah Fears?)

If the Pelicans are going to give this roster a real shot at exceeding expectations, they need a starting-level big who can complement Zion Williamson and Derek Queen. The solution clearly isn't to play them together. Head coach Jamahl Mosley rolled out the Zion-Queen tandem for a total of five minutes on opening night. 

Yves Missi is a nice center and looked fantastic on opening night, but he's almost assuredly not the answer. He doesn't have the hands, spacing capacity or dominant defensive aura to pair effectively with either Zion or Queen. The Pelicans are allowing 117.1 points per 100 possessions with Zion and Missi on the floor together since the latter entered the league. That's the equivalent of a 24th-ranked defense during this stretch.

New Orleans shouldn't view its need in the middle as a license to go bananas on the trade market. Forking over future first-round picks when the team has no clear path to title contention would be malpractice. 

Then again, at least swinging big on a center would count as a plan—something the Pelicans don't seem to have right now.

Phoenix Suns

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Congratulations to Phoenix Suns team governor Mat Ishbia for "cleaning up that stench" in the locker room and replacing it with the Eau de Dumpster Fire fragrance they debuted on opening night in Portland.

There's a lot that could be wrong with this team, but the lack of high-volume three-point shooting stands out most. 

Phoenix traded away more than 30 percent of last season's made triples when they shipped Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, along with an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, to Charlotte in exchange for Miles Bridges. While Bridges does other (largely mediocre) things on the basketball court, stretching defenses isn't one of them. He drilled 148 triples in 77 appearances last season. Grayson Allen, by comparison, put down 159 treys in 26 fewer games.

This all says nothing of the Suns' clear need for a better passer than Devin Booker and Collin Gillespie. If only they had a 2033 first-round pick to dangle in search of a shooting and table-setting upgrade.

Unfortunately, they have neither that nor a time machine they can use to go back and get it. They also don't have a ton of matching salary options. 

Booker is probably off limits. Rerouting Bridges already would be hysterical but is unlikely. Luke Kennard (Dec. 15), Mark Williams (Jan. 15), Collin Gillespie (Jan. 15), Jordan Goodwin (Jan. 15) and Dillon Brooks (Feb. 8) aren't trade-eligible until midseason. Moving Khaman Maluach would be a giant middle finger to the future. 

That basically leaves Jalen Green. His $36.3 million salary is large enough to shop for an impact player, but underwater enough that the asset-strapped Suns will need to include sweeteners. Especially when factoring in his $36 million player option next season.  

Do they have enough to get in the running for Darius Garland? Kyrie Irving? Jrue Holiday? Somebody, anybody, else? They need to find out. 

Sacramento Kings

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Making a trade just for the sake of making a trade is almost never good practice. As long as they're not surrendering valuable draft equity, the Sacramento Kings are the greatest of all exceptions. 

You could make the case that all five of their highest-paid players—Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray—would rather be hooping elsewhere. The Kings would likely be willing to grant Sabonis, LaVine and Monk their wishes if other teams were genuinely interested. The same can probably be said for Hunter.

But league-wide perception of these contracts works against mass movement. 

Hunter ($24.9 million expiring salary) and Monk (two years, $41.8 million) are hardly immovable. Their numbers aren't exactly small or especially desirable, either. Sabonis (two years, $94.1 million) and LaVine ($48.9 million expiring salary) are making so much that acquiring them is seen as prohibitive. 

Still, the Kings feel listless as currently constructed. They don't have a ton of value to glean from playing LaVine and Sabonis, specifically, 30-plus minutes per game. While both might already be gone if they had suitors, Sacramento must sufficiently lower its bar before we can consider it trapped.

If it turns out the Kings are boxed into a coffin of their own design, a smaller move will do. Something, anything, just to refresh a roster that's depressing to think about.

Utah Jazz

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If any team on this list gets the armchair-GM's green light to aggressively buy this early in the season, it's the Utah Jazz.

They needed an upgrade at center the moment they signed-and-traded Walker Kessler to the Los Angeles Lakers. That has only become more apparent following Jusuf Nurkić's right toe injury, which is serious enough to sideline him for at least a month.

Vacillating between Jaxson Hayes minutes and Jaren Jackson Jr.-at-the-5 lineups only gets the Jazz so far. The rebounding is already an issue—at both ends of the floor. And though using JJJ at center has its advantages versus plenty of matchups, it displaces him from his most effective defensive role.

Utah has the draft equity and matching salaries beyond its core players to dream and transact big. But it could take a while for bigger names to shake loose.

In the interim, guys like Moussa Diabaté, Dylan Cardwell and Daniel Gafford should all be available. Even a flier on Brook Lopez's expiring contract could go a long way. He's not a big-time rebounder himself, but his teams always board misses better with him on the floor, and he can stay closer to the rim while Jackson wreaks havoc everywhere else.

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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.