NBA Trade Rumors: The 20 Most Untradeable Players in the League
As we approach the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 24, there is going to be a lot of trade speculation as to where some players end up.
There already has been, with such players as Ron Artest, Richard Hamilton and Antawn Jamison amidst trade rumors.
But these players also made my list of the 20 most untradeable players in the league, under contracts that make it very hard to move them or even find someone that wants them for that price.
I've also included some players at the beginning of this list that aren't untradeable based on their contract or age or behavioral reputation, but due to the fact that an organization could never get enough for these players in a trade for it to be deemed a worthy exchange.
Thanks for reading and feel free to chime in.
20. Chris Paul, PG, New Orleans Hornets
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Chris Paul is only 25 years old and already one of the great true point guards in the game today.
Even if the Hornets wanted to trade Paul (I'd be shocked if they did), they'd never get enough for his value to deem it worthy.
That was evident before this season started when Paul was wavering to join other teams, but nothing got done.
Paul is averaging 16.7 points and 9.8 assists per game this season in 53 games.
19. John Wall, PG, Washington Wizards
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Washington Wizards 20-year-old phenom John Wall has currently, well, hit a wall, but that doesn't mean he isn't the apple of Washington's eye.
The Wizards traded away Gilbert Arenas because they saw enough of Wall to pin their future on him.
It would take a giant deal to land him, perhaps an unrealistic one.
18. Blake Griffin, PF, Los Angeles Clippers
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Blake Griffin has out-of-this-world athletic ability.
Teams around the league were hoping he wouldn't learn the game and have an out-of-this-world game.
Too late.
Griffin is already becoming a superstar and good luck to anybody trying to convince the Clippers to give him up.
17. Kevin Durant, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder
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Kevin Durant, one of the league's premiere players, is looking to be a perennial MVP candidate from here on out.
At just 22 years of age, it would have to take another gigantic deal to land him.
It's not going to happen, unless the organization goes into some kind of hypnotic trance.
16. Amir Johnson, PF, Toronto Raptors
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Amir Johnson is currently having a nice stretch with the Raptors, but he's still averaging just 10.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in 51 games.
I don't think many people are going to pay for his five-year, $34 million contract that began this season.
Not until he explodes.
15. Ron Artest, SF, Los Angeles Lakers
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In the second year of his five-year, $33 million contract with the Lakers, Ron Artest is reportedly already unhappy with his role on the team.
He's also a known head case.
He's also seen a decrease in minutes and is averaging 8.2 points per game.
Don't think the rest of the NBA hasn't noticed this.
Paying over $6 million for a role player who's 31 years old is a bit much.
14. Shawn Marion, SF, Dallas Mavericks
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Shawn Marion, now 32, signed a five-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks in 2009 for $39 million.
He's not "The Matrix" anymore because he's getting old.
Once a flashy player, he's been reduced to playing 27 minutes per game and averaging just over 11 points and six rebounds.
13. Josh Childress, SG, Phoenix Suns
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Josh Childress went to Greece for a while to make more money and perhaps increase his stock in the NBA.
I guess you could say his plan worked. Childress signed a five-year, $33.4 million contract with the Suns last offseason and has probably been laughing about it ever since.
Childress has played one of the last 12 games for the Suns, not because of injury but because the Suns don't think he's good enough.
No one in the rest of the league will pay for that.
12. Antawn Jamison, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers
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Antawn Jamison is not a bad player and is known as a scoring threat throughout the league.
But he is also due $15.1 million beyond this season.
No one wants to pay for that, as evidenced by no trades going through despite him wanting out.
The only reason he isn't higher on this list is because he actually was traded once already under the same contract, coming to the Cavs from the Washington Wizards.
Shows you anything is possible.
11. Luke Walton, SF, Los Angeles Lakers
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Luke Walton should borrow baseball great Lou Gehrig's famous line: "Today...I consider myself...the luckiest man...on the face of the earth."
Signed to a six-year, $30 million contract by the Lakers in 2007, Walton is one lucky guy.
He's a bit player on the Lakers, and it's not because he's on a team loaded with depth.
It's because he would be a bit player on any team.
Nobody cares to take on Walton for $5 million a year.
10. Eddy Curry, C, New York Knicks
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Eddy Curry should be deemed "The Invisible Man" in New York, as the organization apparently doesn't want him anywhere near the court.
He has been featured in Carmelo Anthony trade talks, but he's making $11 million this year.
I mean, c'mon, why would the Nuggets trade 'Melo AND take on Curry's contract?
9. Andrei Kirilenko, SF, Utah Jazz
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Andrei Kirilenko was a five-category monster back in the day.
But after the 2005-2006 season, something horrible happened to him.
He's been in coach Jerry Sloan's doghouse a few times since then, and he's making $17.8 million...this season alone.
Nobody is going to touch Kirilenko with a 20-foot pole this year.
8. Michael Redd, SG, Milwaukee Bucks
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Michael Redd was considered one of the top shooters in the game just two seasons ago.
But injuries have caught up to the 31-year-old, and he's played in just 51 games since the end of the 2007-2008 season.
He is currently out indefinitely after knee surgery in October.
Oh ya, and he's due $18.3 million this year.
7. Darko Milicic, C, Minnesota Timberwolves
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Darko Milicic, the second pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, is considered one of the biggest busts in the history of the game.
That didn't matter to the Timberwolves organization, apparently.
Milicic was rewarded for his ineptitude with a four-year, $20 million deal before this season.
He can block shots, but he's averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and less than 25 minutes thus far.
6. Brendan Haywood, C, Dallas Mavericks
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Brendan Haywood signed a six-year, $55 million deal with the Mavericks before this season.
He's currently averaging 3.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
Ya, good luck unloading that contract.
5. Richard Hamilton, SG, Detroit Pistons
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It is now clear that Richard Hamilton wants out of Detroit.
There's only one problem: Who's going to pay over $10 million a season for an aging guard who's shot around 40 percent the last two seasons?
That's a pretty big problem for Hamilton.
4. Emeka Okafor, C, New Orleans Hornets
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OK, I know Emeka Okafor has already been traded under his six-year, $72 million contract, but that can't possibly happen again, can it?
Okafor's a solid center, but not for this price tag, which runs through the 2013-2014 season.
3. Baron Davis, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
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I'll give Baron Davis credit for turning things around in L.A. after things looked really ugly earlier this year.
But Davis has still lost the explosiveness that seemed to die after the historic upset of the Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs when he was with the Golden State Warriors.
He also has three years and over $40 million left on his contract.
Nobody wanted to trade for him earlier in the season and that hasn't changed since he picked things up a bit.
2. Brandon Roy, SG, Portland Trail Blazers
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In 2009, Brandon Roy was the next rising superstar for the Portland Trail Blazers.
He was understandably granted a max contract because of this, around $82 million for five years.
But injuries are seriously starting to limit Roy, his knee issues becoming a constant problem.
And nobody wants to pay this kind of money for a guard that already seems to have lost some explosiveness at 26 years of age.
One of those sad, but true, stories.
1. Elton Brand, PF, Philadelphia 76ers
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I have nothing against Elton Brand as a player, let me make that clear.
But he did sign a whopping five-year, $80 million deal with the Sixers, despite being an aging big man who has had his fair share of injury problems.
This type of money is simply through the roof for a player who isn't the athlete he once was.
