5 Teams with the Most at Stake Heading into 2020 NBA Trade Deadline

The basic binaries of the NBA trade deadline are the same as ever: Buy or sell? Win now or win later?

But the rise of "pre-agency," increased player movement and rapidly diminishing stores of patience add layers of complicated urgency to this year's potential transactions.

Several members of the contender conversation could be mere months from disassembly. It doesn't matter whether that's a coincidence or a symptom of the league's centers of power being more mobile than ever. What's important, especially for teams looking to get the most out of what could be narrow contention windows, is to understand that the moves made now determine what happens beyond April, May and June of 2020.

For that reason, the teams facing the highest stakes at Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline are the ones juggling both immediate and longer-term concerns. In some cases, the loss of key free agents hangs in the balance. In others, making the right moves now could help avoid having to make the wrong ones later.

Los Angeles Clippers

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The Los Angeles Clippers are practically unbeatable at full strength, but they have incentives to get stronger anyway.

A three-and-D wing with more juice off the bounce and a better playoff track record than Maurice Harkless would help, as would a center who could close games without sacrificing spacing or interior defensive integrity. Fusing Ivica Zubac, JaMychal Green and Montrezl Harrell together would solve that second problem, but the CBA is hazy on genetic manipulation and Frankenstein-ian monster construction.

A trade feels like a better option.

Looming over all of this is the unsettling truth that nothing is promised for the Clippers beyond 2021. Both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can escape their contracts via player options after next season, which means there's no time for missteps.

Usually, you have to choose between doing a job fast and doing a job right. L.A. has to nail it on both accounts.

The Clippers gave up a mint to make the Kawhi-PG union happen, and their resulting lack of future assets only puts increased duress on the front office to make the present count. Remember too that nothing prevents Leonard and George from angling for trades sooner if they don't like how things are shaping up in Los Angeles.

While still under contract, both have forced their way off teams in the recent past.

The Clips have title expectations, and they made a massive investment in this short window. Pressure's on.

Los Angeles Lakers

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Maybe you've heard: LeBron James is getting up there in years.

Though he's beaten back the aging process more effectively than just about anyone, even James can't keep this up forever. At 35, James is eighth all-time in regular-season minutes. He's first by a mile in career postseason minutes. Someday, perhaps soon, that historically unparalleled wear and tear will render him something less than the best player on a championship-level team.

This is why the Lakers should pursue any move that could marginally improve their chances this season. Nothing's promised beyond 2019-20, and that's before considering the uncertainty surrounding Anthony Davis, who can opt out of his deal this summer.

Chances are James and Davis will form the core of another title threat in Los Angeles next year. But haven't we learned to expect the unexpected? Would it really be so surprising if injury and decline finally get their hooks in LeBron? And would anybody be shocked if Davis decided to pursue other options?

Unlikely, sure. But impossible? Hardly.

The Lakers offense craters when James isn't on the floor, making its need for a playmaker obvious. With Leonard, George and, in a potential Finals matchup, Giannis Antetokounmpo looming on the playoff horizon, L.A. could use another wing defender with size. Danny Green, Avery Bradley and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can handle 1s and 2s. Top-line 3s are who could give the Lakers fits.

To all that, add the emotional motivation of chasing a title in honor of the late Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were already operating with incredibly high stakes, but that extra drive to do what Kobe always did, win, raises them to the heavens.

Milwaukee Bucks

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With the league's best record and an average margin of victory on pace to be the highest of all time, the Milwaukee Bucks may seem like a team free from deadline pressure.

What could a squad that good possibly need?

Success brings expectations, though, and with them, the potential for disappointment. If the Bucks sustain their juggernaut's run through the regular season, it'll ratchet up the pressure to carry that momentum through the playoffs. The days of accepting Milwaukee's incremental postseason progress are over.

The Bucks are supposed to win. Big.

Now.

There's no sense in holding on to that lottery-protected first-round pick from Indiana if trading it could add even a percentage point to Milwaukee's title odds. Of course, some might argue that if the Bucks were truly committed to winning at the highest level, they wouldn't even have that pick. They'd have Malcolm Brogdon instead.

If they hadn't decided against inking Brogdon to a new deal this past summer, the concerns over another postseason collapse from Eric Bledsoe would be diminished. Should the Bucks make a move, they could do worse than shoring up their guard rotation. Improving frontcourt depth by upgrading from Ersan Ilyasova and Robin Lopez could be worthwhile as well.

Finally, as was the case for both L.A. teams, a star's future free agency factors into the deadline calculus. Antetokounmpo's deal is up in 2021, and we've seen no shortage of small-market superstars seeking change in recent years. Realistically, the Bucks have this season and next to deliver Antetokounmpo a title.

But wouldn't it be better to get him one now and be done with it?

Minnesota Timberwolves

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The Minnesota Timberwolves stick out among the contenders that populate this list, but their inclusion proves you don't have to be in the title hunt for the deadline to matter.

This is all about Karl-Anthony Towns, who, for months now, has looked increasingly like the next young star to ditch his losing team.

To be clear, Towns hasn't asked to be traded, and we haven't seen anything like the persistent chatter that preceded Anthony Davis' extraction from New Orleans last year. The Wolves have KAT under contract through 2024 and have no incentive to move him.

But if the losing persists—Minnesota hasn't won a game Towns has played in since Nov. 27—and if Towns determines the organization isn't surrounding him with the support he wants, well...we've seen how that story typically ends.

Minnesota already dealt Robert Covington and four others in a humongous four-team deal, netting Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Jarred Vanderbilt, Evan Turner and the Atlanta Hawks' 2020 first-round pick (via the Nets), according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Covington was one of Towns' closest friends on the team, but perhaps the Wolves will still find a way to bring aboard a replacement buddy, the Golden State Warriors' D'Angelo Russell. That seems less likely in the wake of one already completed deal, but Minnesota's new braintrust, led by president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, may not want to stop until it's sure it has to proved to Towns that it knows what it's doing.

The Wolves have lost more games than anyone but the Sacramento Kings over the past decade. They have to keep Towns happy enough to stay if they want to avoid a similar fate in this one.

Philadelphia 76ers

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Even before Wednesday brought us another round of potential distress signals, the Philadelphia 76ers felt like a team destined, eventually, for a dismantling.

Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have never made for a good fit, and as the Sixers have swapped players in and out of supporting roles around those two, the constants—poor spacing, too many turnovers and insufficient secondary playmaking—have remained.

Maybe this doesn't have to end in a split, though. Maybe the right addition could bind the whole thing together.

That's effectively what's at stake over the next several hours. If the Sixers continue their current course, they'll most likely fizzle out in the early rounds of the playoffs, prompting more tweaks (or a Simmons-Embiid divorce) over the summer. But if they can find a player to address their needs, drastic summer changes may not be necessary.

Sign me up for Chris Paul if that pipe dream ever becomes remotely possible. Failing that, it's difficult to imagine how Philly can change the narrative of a team so many have already decided can't work as presently constituted.

Credit the Sixers for being unafraid to tinker. They've gone from Robert Covington and Dario Saric to Jimmy Butler to Tobias Harris, Al Horford and Josh Richardson in a short span, searching desperately for the right combination around their two young stars. Should the itch to deal strike again, Philadelphia can match huge salaries with Horford or Harris while sweetening the pot with Matisse Thybulle—if it comes to that.

The threat of a future breakup has been a factor for each of the teams we've covered so far. The Sixers are the one with the most fractures already visible. This deadline may determine whether they hold together for several more years or burst apart spectacularly.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise indicated. Accurate through games played Wednesday, Feb. 5.