NBA Trade Speculation: 10 Players Bound to End Up on New Team Before Deadline

We are now in the fourth month of the NBA Lockout, and with an end actually in sight (but who knows if it's an optical illusion at this point, honestly), I'm ready to start looking forward to the actual NBA season.

Odds are a deal gets done by mid-November, teams are in training camp by Thanksgiving and we have basketball going on by December 10th or so, but who the hell can tell these things at this point.

Still, I'll remain optimistic for the time being and leave it at that.

So, with the season coming up, the one thing that seems to be what will define the season is player movement.

Teams are looking to get better as quick as possible and other teams are looking to get what they can out of some of their players before they disappear in free agency.

So who will be on the move?  Who is most likely to move and what are teams thinking at this point so far as to say that they are desperate to get a player or get rid of a player?

Only time will tell the answer to those questions, but I'll give it my best shot to answer them for you.

10. Steve Nash

Of the big name players that are likely on the trading block, I would say Steve Nash is the least likely one to move, and that's only because of the shortsightedness of the Phoenix Suns.

Teams have been trading away their superstars in their contract year quite often ever since LeBron James bolted Cleveland for Miami in fear that they will lose their best player and get nothing (or almost nothing) in return.

However, over the summer Nash was not sounding as if he was eager to get to a better team to get a ring.  He seems to love the team he's on.

The only problem is that Phoenix still may be better off trading him and getting some draft picks and young players than keeping him for the next three or four years while he goes into decline at an advanced age and the team stays mediocre as the fans get antsy.

9. Chris Paul

The situation with Chris Paul is a rocky one right now.  It seems as if he has done everything he can do to try to convince himself that staying in New Orleans is a good thing to do, but at the same time he realizes that the team has been treading water for a few years.

With the NBA under control of the team, it seems as if they would be more eager to move him, but they made a move for Carl Landry last season that actually increased the team's payroll.

So, whenever the deadline starts approaching I think you will see the Hornets start to get panicky and shop him around, probably ending up shipping him out in the end.

8. Monta Ellis

The Golden State Warriors are at a crossroads.

On the one hand they are a young team with a very potent offense who could be refined into playing enough defense to get by and maybe squeak into the playoffs.  On the other hand they have a group of good young players who have a limited time of being considered "young," and will eventually just be a mediocre defensive team.

It seems as if the new administration in Golden State will want to take the route that gives them the best chance of winning, which to me seems to mean trading Monta Ellis and giving the keys of the car to Stephen Curry.

7. Antawn Jamison

The Cleveland Cavaliers should be one of the biggest players at the trade deadline this season (whenever it actually happens).

They have a number of young players that don't fit and veterans with contracts winding down that they can use to plan for their future.

Antawn Jamison hasn't set the world on fire over the season and a half that he was with the Cavs, but he hasn't completely lost all of his value either.

A contending team is bound to be looking for a player who can stretch a defense and shoot the ball because, well, there's always a team like that out there.

Going to a halfway decent team should also give Jamison a bit of a rejuvenating feeling and make him more productive than he has been over the past year. 

6. Dwight Howard

There are three things I can see happening with Dwight Howard right now.

For one, Orlando can cut their losses and trade him to Los Angeles like everyone is expecting. i can't imagine a more boring situation.

However, there are a few ballsy things Orlando can do as well.

They can play chicken with Howard, who seems to want to go to a contender, and challenge him to find that team in free agency that he wants to go to, which will be especially hard for Howard if the new CBA gives players substantially less money if they leave their team via free agency.

Finally, they can try to put a team around him that isn't a bunch of old folks and Jameer Nelson.  They could try to put a package together that could bring Josh Smith or Monta Ellis to Orlando, giving him incentive to stay put.

5. Josh Smith

The Hawks should end up trading away Josh Smith so they can start rebuilding before they have to rebuild (if that makes any sense at all).

Smith is a great defender and a prototypical forward who can swing between each position and excel, a position the league is starting to place more weight on.

The Hawks had terrible attendance last season for a team that made the playoffs (and did as well as they did), so they shouldn't have any problems getting a bit worse right now so they can be better in a year or two.

4. Rip Hamilton

Rip Hamilton has been itching to get out of Detroit for the past two years, you can see it in his facemask.

He has been stuck dealing with a team going in three different directions at once, none of which are advantageous to himself.

Hamilton is the most likely candidate to be that player that gets traded to a halfway decent team and absolutely turns on the afterburners, which seems to happen at least once every year.

3. Chris Kaman

Chris Kaman is blocking the future of the Clippers, but he is too good to be riding the pine on any team.

Sure, the Clippers could hang onto him and phase in DeAndre Jordan while they phase Kaman to the bench, but it seems like they could just as easily throw Jordan into the lake and see if he can learn to swim on his own.

This would give them the chance to trade Kaman who, in a league where big men are at a premium, is in high demand as of right now.

2. Michael Beasley

The Minnesota Timberwolves have turned Michael Beasley from a team cancer to a guy who is actually somewhat employable over the course of the past year, but they need to walk away from the table with their winnings now.

Beasley and their first round draft pick Derrick Williams will be in direct competition with each other, as they are basically the same player (speaking in terms of size), but Beasley is a decent player with a troubled past, while Williams is a promising young player with a bright future.

They should end up just giving Williams the chance to take the starting role early and send Beasley away to the highest bidder.

1. Ramon Sessions

Ramon Sessions is the odd man out in the logjam that is the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard spot.

They just drafted Kyrie Irving to be their point guard of the future, they have Baron Davis (and his un-tradeable contract for the rest of this year) until the end of next season, Boobie Gibson as a great bench player and Sessions.

He will end up competing for 20 minutes of play at best when he really should be a starter.

Sessions should end up garnering all kinds of interest from teams looking for a scoring point guard who doesn't need to do much with the ball like the Miami Heat (fat chance that Dan Gilbert lets his team help the Heat) or the Knicks, who could jump off the "We must get Chris Paul" bandwagon and start to fill their team with effective players who fit together with their team.

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