NBA Trade Deadline 2017: Date, End Time, Hottest Rumors, Predictions and More

If the rumors and speculation from the past few days are an indication of the action we will be seeing this week prior to the NBA trade deadline (Thursday, February 23, at 3 p.m. ET), then half of the NBA's players will be changing addresses by the weekend.

At least that's how it seems. Portland and Denver kicked things off with the Jusuf Nurkic-Mason Plumlee deal before the New Orleans Pelicans pulled off a heist by acquiring DeMarcus Cousins.

There are almost too many names to keep track of at this juncture. Let's take a look at three in particular and offer some predictions on where they will call home.

Jimmy Butler

The balance of power in the Eastern Conference can shift dramatically if Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge gives a Godfather offer to the Chicago Bulls for All-Star forward Jimmy Butler, but is Boston willing to pay what should be a hefty price?

Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report said Boston eschewed landing Cousins in hopes of acquiring the Chicago Bulls star:

And Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical also confirmed Boston's interest in Butler:

The question is whether the Celtics are willing to mortgage their future in order to try to knock Cleveland off the Eastern Conference perch. The price will be very steep. Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote more on the topic:

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Dealing for Butler carries some risk if the Bulls gore Boston. Swap the 2017 Nets pick, Jaylen Brown, Smart, and at least one other non-Nets first-rounder, and you've tossed away a lot of your future to build a team that still might not be on Cleveland's level. LeBron is that good. What if you're left with a good team, but not a great one, as Horford approaches his mid-30s -- and Thomas demands a max contract?

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The key part to Lowe's commentary is that Boston still may not be good enough to beat Cleveland even with Butler. Keep in mind that Boston would have to trade away at least two rotation players to land him, so the team would be losing some crucial depth.

Plus, the 2017 NBA draft is loaded. Malik Monk, a guard who averages 21 points per game for the University of Kentucky as a freshman, is currently slated to go ninth in the latest DraftExpress mock. He'd be going first, no questions asked, in other drafts.

Butler is a fantastic player who would instantly make the Celtics a serious threat for Cleveland's Eastern Conference crown, but the number of players who would make that trade Lowe proposed worth it is low.

Prediction: Butler stays in Chicago.

Brook Lopez

The Indiana Pacers are reeling, losers of their last six games. They are only one game above .500 and in danger of missing the postseason.

The Pacers will likely be buyers on the deadline in hopes that they can give their season a jolt of needed energy. Could Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez be the answer? According to former New York Post writer Peter Vecsey (h/t Marc Stein of ESPN), Indiana may be calling Brooklyn about Lopez's availability:

The Pacers rank a mediocre 14th in offensive efficiency, per ESPN.com, and Lopez would certainly help Indiana bolster its frontcourt scoring. It helps that Lopez has developed into an impressive shooter from the outside, making 34.4 percent of his three-point attempts while averaging 20.8 points per game.

However, bringing Lopez into the mix would create a problem: How would he co-exist with current center Myles Turner?

It's hard to see them playing together. Turner is 43rd out of 58 centers in rebounding rate, per ESPN. Lopez ranked second-to-last. Playing those two on the floor would give opposing teams a massive edge on the boards.

Still, Indiana may be tempted to give it a shot given the status quo isn't working.

Prediction: Lopez gets traded to a desperate, playoff-contending team (which may very well be Indiana) that decides last-minute to give the Nets one mid-to-late first-round pick in this year's draft.

Derrick Rose

While Derrick Rose has clearly improved since last season, when he had a below-average 13.5 player efficiency rating (per Basketball-Reference), playing him and Carmelo Anthony on the floor together clearly has not worked this season for the 23-34 New York Knicks.

One (or both) of them won't be in a Knick uniform next season, and the guess is Rose is traded now and Anthony is traded this offseason.

Speaking about Rose specifically, Ian Begley of ESPN.com reported that the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking into the possibility of reuniting Rose with his former head coach with the Chicago Bulls, Tom Thibodeau:

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It is unclear what Minnesota would offer in a potential trade for Rose. Sources say the Timberwolves are motivated to trade veteran point guard Ricky Rubio, as team president and coach Thibodeau sees rookie Kris Dunn as the point guard of the future for Minnesota.

The Timberwolves, sources say, are among several teams to reach out to the Knicks asking about potential trades for Rose.

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The Knicks would be wise to trade Rose (and his massive 26.2 usage rate, per Basketball-Reference) to open things up for Kristaps Porzingis, which should help KP's development and the potential for New York to build around him as a franchise player.

Rose might not be a great fit in Minnesota because he is a shoot-first point guard who would be inserted into an offense that revolves around usage monsters Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Plus, the T-Wolves need help defensively, and Rose's 115 defensive rating, per Basketball-Reference (one of the worst marks in the NBA), won't help that effort.

Still, Rose is an effective player who showed he's still got a lot left in the tank. New York just isn't the right fit. Minnesota doesn't seem to be either, although Thibs would know best.

Prediction: This rumor heats up in the next couple of days, and Rose is either traded to Minnesota or another young team looking for a veteran presence.