NBA Stars Who Could Still Be Traded Before 2019-20 Season

The trade market has already reshaped the NBA landscape several times during the 2019 NBA offseason.

Incredibly, it might not be finished just yet.

Despite already witnessing stars like Anthony Davis, Paul George, Russell Westbrook and Mike Conley being sent to new locations, the pool of potential trade candidates is far from empty.

Using everything from contract length and player production to changing team needs and past rumblings, we'll break down the stars most likely to move between now and the opening tip of the 2019-20 campaign.

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Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards

Nick Wass/Associated Press

These are anxious times for the Washington Wizards.

While they've long displayed a brave face and an unwillingness to part with All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal, their resolve will soon be tested. They plan to offer him a three-year, $111 million contract extension as soon as he's eligible on Friday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Should Beal decline the deal, Washington must at least think about what that could mean for its future.

Newly minted general manager Tommy Sheppard told Wojnarowski they do not plan to engage trade talks on Beal should he turn down the offer. But what if they get wind that he's thinking about a possible relocation? Others believe that's where this is headed.

"He's out of there," one source told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post.

The Wizards might need a teardown and restart. They seemed to acknowledge some structural issues this summer, as they went younger and cheaper in free agency. The organization might be better for it in the long haul, but how did Beal react? In late June, he told Buckner, "You want to win and make sure you're in a position to do so."

Washington can't give him that opportunity. Not with John Wall sidelined indefinitely by a ruptured Achilles and the roster lacking any obvious difference-makers.

If the Wizards made Beal available, he'd surely fetch a rebuild-friendly package of prospects and picks. He's been to the past two All-Star Games, and he keeps getting better. This past season, he became the first Wizard and just the 11th player of the 2000s to average at least 25 points, five assists and five rebounds. He'll command a king's ransom if he ever hits the trade block.

Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Upon first glance, Andre Drummond looks more like a building block than a trade chip.

The 25-year-old is a two-time All-Star coming off his best season to date. He has a rebounding title to show for three of the past four seasons, and in 2018-19, he enjoyed top-20 finishes in player efficiency rating (23.4, 17th) and win shares (10.0, 11th).

But it doesn't sound like the Detroit Pistons see him as an automatic keeper. According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, multiple league sources said Drummond "could be had for the right price over the last few years."

In other words, it's not that Drummond is off limits, it's just the Motor City would need to maximize its return in any deal.

He's a peculiar trade chip. His offensive range doesn't stretch much past the restricted area (career 44.8 free-throw percentage), so he requires some floor-spacers around him. He also has never been the dominant rim protector his impressive physical tools say he should be (career 1.6 blocks per game). Detroit's defense actually fared better without him this past season.

But while his shortcomings limit his ceiling, his established strengths give him a high enough floor to always remain in the All-Star conversation. He's a relentless rebounder, an effortless above-the-rim finisher and a double-double machine.

He offers enough on the interior to attract potential trade partners, and he has just enough marks against him for the Pistons to consider a swap.

Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers

David Dermer/Associated Press

The Cleveland Cavaliers keep insisting they aren't trading Kevin Love, even while a player of his age, pedigree and pay rate makes zero sense with the rest of this roster.

Cleveland's most important non-Love players are Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr. Osman is the senior member of that quintet at 24 years old. Sexton, Garland and Porter can't legally consume an adult beverage at any point in 2019. All five players are on their rookie contracts.

Love leads an entirely different NBA existence.

While those players are climbing toward their peaks, the five-time All-Star is either trying to extend or hoping to delay his decline. Come September, he'll have been cleared to consume adult drinks—maybe mixed with chocolate milk?—for a decade. Next season will be the first of his four-year, $120.4 million extension.

Love could still offer significant value to the right team. While his 2018-19 season was largely an injury-riddled campaign to forget, he was still the Association's only player to average at least 17 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two triples. He has his shortcomings on defense, sure, but offensively he offers a little of everything. He can stretch out a defense, dismantle it on the low block or shred it as a primary passer.

The Cavs have little use for his talents. The touches he gets (and would deserve) are developmental opportunities the youngsters are denied. He'll also needlessly improve the club's record and potentially damage its draft position. Cleveland's winning percentage jumped nearly 10 points last season with him (31.8) than without (23.2).

Put him on the Portland Trail Blazers or Utah Jazz, though, and he could be a contender's missing piece.

Chris Paul, Oklahoma City Thunder

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

The Oklahoma City Thunder are trying to plunge head-first into a rebuild, but moving Chris Paul looms as their last order of business on that front.

OKC covets youth, potential and financial relief to fuel its overhaul. Paul offers none of the above. He's 34 years old, coming off the least productive campaign of his 14-year career and owed a whopping $124 million over the next three seasons.

His availability could not be more transparent. That said, his tradeability is murky.

Potential trade partners can see the same declining production and rising cost. If his age-33 campaign was so underwhelming, who's rushing out to pay $38 million-plus for the age-34, 35 and 36 versions?

Right now, no one. Trade talks are "parked," per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, despite all parties working on finding a deal. That shows how tricky his market is to navigate, especially with OKC not feeling a need to part with any draft compensation to unload Paul's contract. This does not, however, suggest the nine-time All-Star will spend his twilight seasons in the Sooner State.

He's still a force inside the lines.

His "down" year in 2018-19 would've been a career campaign for many. He was one of two players who averaged 15 points, eight assists and two triples; banana-boat buddy LeBron James was the other. Paul's 4.76 real plus-minus ranked 12th overall and fourth among point guards. When he played without James Harden, Paul's per-36-minutes averages included 22.5 points, 12.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals.

Some team—probably the Miami Heat—will gladly welcome Paul, as soon as the Thunder recognize the need to make some type of concession in these talks.

Toronto Raptors Veterans

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Kawhi Leonard's exit sent the Toronto Raptors spiraling toward a rebuild. The only question is when they'll pull the plug on the current core.

Next summer already looms as a potential expiration date. That's when most of Toronto's significant money comes off the books, including the $23 million-plus owed each to Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Theoretically, the Raptors could treat the upcoming season as a glorified victory lap and stand pat to maximize their cap space ahead of the 2020 offseason.

But would Toronto actually want to cough up the money to keep the aforementioned trio around in 12 months? If the answer is no—with no realistic shot at contending, it probably should be—don't the Raptors have to start shopping those players now to ensure they don't walk away for nothing?

Toronto has postured as if that isn't the case. The team has "no intention of moving" those three players "at least not before the season," per TSN's Josh Lewenberg. If it's already on the Raptors' mind, though, it's probably an avenue they must at least consider exploring.

Lowry could deliver something substantial in return. RPM pegged him as a top-five point guard and top-15 player this past season, and that was while adjusting to life with Leonard (and, maybe more importantly, without DeMar DeRozan). Lowry earns plus marks as a shooter, table-setter and defender. Any win-now team needing a point guard boost would do good to get him.

Gasol and Ibaka aren't quite as attractive, but each checks boxes for interior defense and frontcourt spacing (Gasol out to the three-point arc, Ibaka to the midrange). They could command a first-rounder from a desperate shopper.

While it seems most likely the Raptors wait until their championship afterglow has faded and they are into next season before moving one of these vets, it wouldn't be shocking to see one changing addresses for the right compensation.

Unless noted otherwise, statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com. Salary information via Basketball Insiders.

Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.