5 Wild NBA Trade Ideas That Could Actually Work

The NBA's 2024-25 campaign is well underway. We've even reached the league's second in-season tournament. But as the scores keep rolling in, it feels like something has been missing from this campaign.

Trades (or even trade rumors) have been sparse, despite a few situations seeming ripe for a breakup. As we inch closer to December 15 (when a lot of the deals that were signed this past offseason become eligible for trade), it's time to scan the NBA for some big-name players who need a new home and concoct some wild trades involving them. Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson for Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith Jr.



, Cam Whitmore and a top-five protected 2031 first-round pick The Miami Heat undoubtedly overachieved during this Jimmy Butler era. At its outset, if you'd told fans they'd make two NBA Finals appearances without another dramatic roster shakeup, they probably would've taken it. But losing in the 2024 first round, Butler not signing an extension this past summer and the Heat getting off to a slow start all suggest a possible trade, and the Houston Rockets may be the perfect landing spot for him.

Houston has a contract that almost seems to be designed to be traded attached to Fred VanVleet. He's making $42.8 million this season (an inflated number for his level of production), which makes him an obvious salary-matcher.

And 2025-26 is a team option, so Miami could either pick that up and have its own trade chip next season or let him go and open up some cap flexibility in the summer. The Rockets also have multiple young players and/or prospects to make whatever the next era of Miami basketball is more intriguing. Jabari Smith Jr.

and Cam Whitmore both have the kind of three-and-D potential that Erik Spoelstra can mold into helpful players. A first-round pick would be a good get for a team that's spent a lot of capital in recent years. For the Rockets, unloading two or three of the up-and-comers hardly empties their trove of young talent on the roster.

They'd still have Alperen Şengün, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson (though Miami might insist on getting him), Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard. And all of the above would be in better positions for short-term success alongside Butler. Damian Lillard and Delon Wright for Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jović and a 2031 top-three protected first-round pick On the other hand, Miami may look at the last five years and change with Butler with too much fondness to end it now.

And in that case, the front office might be willing to dangle much (or all) of the package it did for Damian Lillard back when the star guard was still with the Portland Trail Blazers. The title window might not be open long, but it'd certainly be open with Lillard, Butler, Bam Adebayo and Spoelstra in place. For the Milwaukee Bucks, this probably only makes sense if the losses keep piling up with what looks like an old, slow and uninspired core around Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This deal would make the Bucks deeper, younger (Tyler Herro is only 24) and more versatile. Nikola Jović is exactly the kind of stretch 4 who makes sense next to point Giannis. And if the two-time MVP is attacking a floor spaced out by Herro, Jović and Duncan Robinson, it'd be harder for opposing defenses to collapse on his drives.

Kawhi Leonard for Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland and a 2030 first-round pick swap Rebuilding trades aimed at getting worse might make some sense for the Detroit Pistons. Right now, they're hovering around the middle of the East without a surefire franchise cornerstone talent. The 2025 draft might get them that missing piece, and Detroit only keeps that pick if it lands in the top 13.

But the Pistons have tried that approach for much of the last 15-20 years, and it hasn't yielded much success. That could be part of why they brought in multiple veterans this offseason. Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr.

have helped a bit, but it's clear that Detroit is still far from a lock for the playoffs. An even moderately healthy Kawhi Leonard would bring them closer to that status. Of course, there's no guarantee he gets back to moderately healthy (at least relative to other NBA players).

And his contract (which pays him $50.3 million in 2026-27) is potentially onerous. But plugging his superstar upside into lineups with Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren would make Detroit a tough out for most Eastern Conference opponents.

And in the framework above, the Pistons aren't really sacrificing their future (any team would probably be foolish to for Leonard). Cunningham, Ivey, Duren and Ausar Thompson would all be left behind to play with Leonard. For the Los Angeles Clippers, this is just about getting out of the Kawhi era as quickly and painlessly as possible.

They've been competitive without him in the lineup this season, and this trade turns his contract into multiple deals that are shorter and pay less per year. It also gives them an upside play with Ron Holland and the future pick swap. L.

A. has been a consistent winner during Leonard's years there, but it's impossible to count on him being healthy for an extended playoff run (hence, the light-on-picks trade package here). Brandon Ingram for Deandre Ayton The New Orleans Pelicans entering the season with a disgruntled, unextended Brandon Ingram and without a starting-caliber center made them a pretty obvious trade candidate from the jump, but an avalanche of injuries may have changed that.

With Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy all missing significant time, New Orleans has cratered in the standings. Being ultra conservative with those injury timelines and staying near the top of the draft lottery may make sense. But if the big names start to filter back into the rotation when the play-in tournament is still within reach, the Pelicans might be wise to consider a roster-balancing move that exchanges Ingram for a 5.

And Deandre Ayton is perhaps the most obvious candidate for such a move. Much has been made of Ayton's lack of range and ability to get to the line. He doesn't have much defensive versatility either.

But he's a double-double machine who'd at least be more of a deterrent inside than Daniel Theis or the center version of Zion. And he wouldn't preclude New Orleans from rolling out the small-ball lineups that often make it more difficult to guard. It's just nice to be able to go with a more traditional look.

For the Blazers, Ingram's $36 million salary is right around Ayton's $34 million, but he's on an expiring deal, while Ayton is under contract through 2025-26. He doesn't make a ton of sense for a rebuilding team, but Portland can easily just let him walk next summer and have some extra flexibility without that final year of Ayton on the books. Is that alone worth moving Ayton? Portland might insist on getting a pick, but the answer to that question could honestly be yes.

He too doesn't make a ton of sense for the Blazers, especially with Donovan Clingan already looking like a starter-quality rim protector. Simply unloading him probably makes as much sense as hanging on for the rest of this season and the next one. Trae Young for D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, a 2029 first-round pick, a 2030 first-round pick swap and a 2031 first-round pick The idea of Trae Young joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Los Angeles Lakers seemed to have a lot more traction in the offseason.

L.A. perhaps being a bit better than expected may have chilled this particular rumor, but having it fire back up is far from impossible.

A Lakers losing streak might do the trick. The realization that the team may not be all that well-equipped to stay in the playoffs post-LeBron could do it, too. And if either or both of those things happen, L.

A. should be willing to unload the salary-matching contracts and draft picks necessary to entice the Atlanta Hawks. Young is one of the best and most prolific offensive players of all time.

He'd lighten the playmaking load LeBron is currently carrying, potentially prolonging the legend's already prolonged career. And after LeBron's retirement, Young and AD could instantly be one of the league's most dangerous guard-big combinations. For Atlanta, this may be even easier to justify.

The Hawks are once again struggling to live up to even modest expectations, and that could be a sign that having Young as the unquestioned alpha just isn't guaranteed to make you a perennial contender. Starting a new era with two extra picks, an extra pick swap and a lot more cap flexibility (the contracts of D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent all expire before Young's) might make some sense. Building around a pair of big, versatile forwards like Zaccharie Risacher and Jalen Johnson could be more likely to yield sustained success than building around one small, defensively challenged guard.

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