Surprise Landing Spots for NBA’s Most Rumored Trade Targets

For months now, we’ve seen the same names repeatedly pop up in NBA trade conversations, from players like Trae Young and Zach LaVine to Brandon Ingram, Jimmy Butler, and others.

There have been some natural landing spots for some of these players as well. Butler or Ingram to the Philadelphia 76ers. Young to the Orlando Magic or San Antonio Spurs. LaVine with the Sacramento Kings.

Inevitably, some of these players will land with teams we didn’t see coming. Think Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers or Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks in recent years.

The following seven players would all make a lot of sense in the following spots, especially after the initial surprise wore off.

Brandon Ingram is one of the better pure scorers in the NBA, with an offensive swing rating that ranked between the 71st and 93rd percentiles the past four seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans.

For an Orlando Magic team that ranked just 22nd in total offense last season, Ingram would be the perfect starting two-guard after averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists last year. No one in Orlando chipped in more than 5.4 assists.

A starting five of Jalen Suggs, Ingram, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. (or Jonathan Isaac) would be like facing an army of Ents given their size and length.

The New Orleans Pelicans have needs at both center and point guard and should be interested in a big who can shoot (either Carter or Isaac) next to Zion Williamson. Orlando could offer Anthony Black or Cole Anthony to help get a deal done as well.

The Magic need both scoring and playmaking help. Ingram checks both these boxes while helping Orlando become a powerhouse in the East.

If the Minnesota Timberwolves are concerned about their current and future salary sheets, a Karl-Anthony Towns trade would solve a lot of money issues. The problem with Towns is that he’s a No. 2 option being paid like a No. 1 ($221 million over the next four years), something the ‘Wolves are also paying Anthony Edwards to be.

The Brooklyn Nets, unlike the ‘Wolves, don’t have any long-term salary issues. Ben Simmons is on an expiring $40.3 million deal and no one else on Brooklyn’s roster is set to make more than $26.3 million in 2024-25.

The salaries of Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schröder ($51.5 million) nearly match up perfectly with Towns ($49.3 million). Since the Timberwolves are currently in the second luxury tax apron, they can’t take on extra salary and would have to send another player back like Wendell Moore Jr. ($2.5 million salary) with Towns for the deal to be legal.

For a Nets team that doesn’t control its first-round pick for the next four years due to the James Harden trade, this is a way to improve significantly.

A core of Towns, Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton (free agent) is the start of something, especially if general manager Sean Marks uses Simmons’ expiring deal and some first-round picks coming from the Phoenix Suns to trade for a new starting point guard.

Paul George can leave the Los Angeles Clippers via free agency, a sign-and-trade or opt in to his $48.8 million player option and request to be moved. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, “if Paul George changes teams, it’s very likely going to be a situation where he opts into his contract and requests a trade”.

If George has hesitation about leaving an injury-plagued star in Kawhi Leonard to team up with another one in Joel Embiid with the Philadelphia 76ers, the nine-time All-Star should look to join a different Eastern Conference contender instead.

The Cleveland Cavaliers would be a perfect fit for George, a team needing an athletic, two-way wing with playoff experience to take them to the next level. If Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley both sign extensions with the Cavs this summer, George should be excited with the future of the team.

The most likely trade piece in this scenario would be Darius Garland, who agent Rich Paul should be thrilled to see move to Los Angeles. Garland would make the Clippers younger and is enough of an off-ball threat to share a backcourt with James Harden should L.A. bring him back as well. The Cavs would need to send one more salary (Georges Niang) to make the money work.

A starting five of Mitchell, Max Strus, George, Mobley and Jarrett Allen with Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro (restricted free agent), Dean Wade and Sam Merrill off the bench would make for a formidable team in the East and give George a far better chance at a title than staying in L.A.

If the Philadelphia 76ers don’t land a superstar like LeBron James, Paul George or Jimmy Butler this summer, Dejounte Murray would be a nice consolation prize.

Think of Murray as a bigger, better version of De’Anthony Melton, a two-way guard who played well off of Tyrese Maxey. The Sixers had a net rating of plus-12.1 when Melton shared the court with Maxey, a number that fell all the way plus-1.9 when Melton was off the floor, per Cleaning the Glass.

Letting Murray operate as the lead ball-handler for stretches opens up more off-ball opportunities for Maxey, who hit a blistering 44.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes last season.

Atlanta could use the extra salary relief and draft picks from Philadelphia given that they are projected to be $4.5 million over the luxury tax this year and still owe picks in 2025 and 2027 to the San Antonio Spurs from the original Murray deal. Moving Murray into the 76ers cap space would open up the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $12.9 million to use in free agency this summer.

The Hawks would be set up for another big trade to put pieces around Trae Young and Jalen Johnson, especially with more first-round picks coming from the Sixers in this deal.

The potential for a Jimmy Butler trade has varied, although The Ringer’s Howard Beck now feels confident that he’ll be moved:

“Jimmy Butler will be traded. Rival executives have been buzzing about it for months, for all the obvious reasons. Butler is about to turn 35 (with a lot of hard miles and a lot of injuries), with one year left on his Heat contract, and is reportedly seeking a two-year, $113 million extension. If the Heat grant it, they’ll have little to no flexibility to add another star. And they absolutely need one.”

One team that’s largely flown under the radar over the past year is the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that finished second in the West when healthy in 2022-23.

If the Grizzlies want to re-establish themselves as a powerhouse in the conference, bringing in Butler to team up with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. would certainly make a statement.

A deal based around Desmond Bane seems like the most likely outcome. Losing Butler hurts, although it gives the Heat a new 26-and-under core of Bane, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jović to build around without worrying about an extension for Butler.

Memphis would then move forward with Butler as a secondary scoring option to Morant and still have Jackson, Marcus Smart, GG Jackson, Brandon Clarke, Luke Kennard (team option), Vince Williams Jr. and others on the roster.

This would be an incredibly tough group overall with an extra fear factor added in with Butler, making the Grizzlies a team no one would want to face in their presumed return to the postseason.

Zach LaVine’s $43 million cap hit for next season is a lot, but it’s almost identical to the combined salaries of Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney ($43.4 million).

If Klay Thompson leaves in free agency (or even if he re-signs), this would be a low-cost trade opportunity for Golden State to add some offensive firepower.

LaVine would be a strong secondary scoring option alongside Stephen Curry, who needs to see his workload begin to decrease heading into his 16th season at age 36. Golden State could utilize the 29-year-old in on-and-off ball situations, as LaVine proved he can be a premier catch-and-shoot threat (41.6 percent in his healthy 2022-23 season).

The Warriors shouldn’t have to give up any draft picks or members of their young core for LaVine, either, as the Chicago Bulls should be happy getting off his contract and continuing the retooling of the roster following the trade for Josh Giddey.

If Thompson signs elsewhere, LaVine slides into his starting shooting guard spot. If Thompson is brought back (the Warriors would still be about $26.9 million under the luxury tax line if Chris Paul is waived), he could start at small forward alongside Curry, LaVine, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green.

This would be a low-risk way for the Warriors to upgrade and provide some insurance in case Thompson leaves in free agency.

If the Minnesota Timberwolves want to improve their lackluster offense, stay under the second luxury tax apron and find a long-term solution at point guard next to Anthony Edwards, a deal based around Trae Young and Karl-Anthony Towns makes a lot of sense.

The Wolves ranked just 17th in total offense (114.6 rating) and 22nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.88) last season, raising questions as to how good this scoring attack can truly be moving forward.

Inserting Young as the team’s starting point guard and letting Mike Conley Jr. come off the bench helps both units, as the former was named an All-Star in 2024 while averaging 25.7 points, 10.8 assists, 1.3 steals and shooting 37.3 percent from three.

No roster is better suited to cover for Young’s defensive deficiencies as well. Minnesota led the NBA in total defense (108.4 rating) and have four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all under contract for next season.

A straight Young-Towns swap would save the Timberwolves $6.3 million in salary for next season for a team that’s currently projected to be $6.7 million over the second apron. The Wolves could also send their No. 27 overall pick ($2.6 million projected starting salary) and/or Wendell Moore Jr. ($2.5 million) to get under the line completely.