NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Victor Oladipo, Possible Top-3 Draft Deals

With the 2019-20 NBA season set to resume late July, the league is currently in a "transaction window," which started this past Tuesday afternoon and ends next Tuesday night. During this time, all 30 teams are allowed to sign players, which is even more important for the 22 that will be playing in Orlando, Florida. However, teams are not currently allowed to make trades.

But once the season is complete, there will surely be trades that take place this upcoming offseason. And what happens the rest of the season could influence the potential deals that teams will make later this year.

Here's some of the latest trade buzz from around the NBA.

Could a trade be in Oladipo's future?

Indiana Pacers shooting guard Victor Oladipo missed a year with a torn quad tendon in his right leg. He returned to action in late January and played 13 games before the season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, but his play wasn't quite up to par with what it had been his first six NBA seasons.

Oladipo averaged 13.8 points per game and shot 39.1 percent from the field. He's never shot worse than 41.9 percent in a season, and that happened when he was a rookie with the Orlando Magic in 2013-14.

Signed with the Pacers through the end of the 2020-21 season, Oladipo's future could be up in the air, making the rest of this season important for the 28-year-old to show he can still play at a high level after his injury. Will Indiana consider signing him to an extension, or could it potentially look to trade him if it doesn't think he has a future with the team long term?

ESPN's Tim Bontemps recently reported that a Western Conference head coach told him that if Oladipo plays well during the conclusion of this season, teams could be reminded just how strong of a player he can be.

"If he proves he looks the part, you're gonna see teams like the Knicks, and other teams trying to build something, try to go get him," the Western Conference coach told Bontemps.

Oladipo's best season came during his first year in Indiana in 2017-18, when he averaged 23.1 points and an NBA-high 2.4 steals over 75 games. He was solid in 2018-19, averaging 18.8 points per game and earning his second straight All-Star appearance, but he was limited to 36 games because of his injury.

If Oladipo returns to the courts in Orlando, where the remainder of the season will be played, and returns to an elite level, not only will it be fun to watch, but it could have a great impact on his future.

Will teams consider trading top NBA draft picks?

First-round NBA draft picks are valuable, especially those at the top of the order. Some years, it would likely be nearly impossible to get a team to part with a top selection in a trade. For example, the New Orleans Pelicans would not have traded the No. 1 overall pick last year with Zion Williamson available.

This year's draft class doesn't have that type of elite prospect, though. There are some exciting top players in the class (such as Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball and others), but it's tough to predict how the first picks will unfold with there not being a prospect like Williamson.

That's why teams could be more willing to trade down from a top pick, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, so they can still select a solid player a bit later, while not having to pay quite as much to sign him.

"With no consensus regarding who the best prospects are, dropping out of the top three appears less costly this year," Givony recently wrote. "Several NBA executives have told me they would welcome it because of the question marks surrounding the top talents and the cost savings the rookie scale would provide."

Givony noted that "under current projections," it would cost "nearly $47 million over four years" to sign the No. 1 overall pick, while it would be $29 million to sign the No. 5 pick. For a team like the Golden State Warriors, that could impact their decision if they end up with the No. 1 selection in the draft lottery.

It's also worth noting Givony reported that the Warriors are "high" on Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who likely won't be one of the first three or four players selected. Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Golden State has interest in Villanova small forward Saddiq Bey and Florida State shooting guard Devin Vassell, two more players who could be available after the top five picks are made.  

It will be interesting to see if the Warriors and/or some of the other top teams that own picks will take this route, as well as which teams could be interested in moving up to draft some of the top prospects available.