If you tune out the rumors, this season has been painfully quiet on the transaction front. The deal that broke last night was only the second trade of the regular season, but it could be the small domino that teams needed to finally crack the dam. The Sacramento Kings acquired De'Andre Hunter, sending Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Detroit Pistons are 8-2 in their last 10 games and now boast a 34-11 record - six games ahead of the 29-18 New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, the conference's respective Nos. 2 and 3 seeds. They're running away with the Eastern Conference, despite one big weakness: shooting. That's where Chicago Bulls combo guard Coby White could come in. Evan Sidery of Forbes reports that the Pistons, who currently have a $14.3 million trade exception, are contemplating a potential deal for White.
Yes, I know you're afraid that the Chicago Bulls, riding a four-game winning streak, might not sell at the deadline and instead convince themselves this team deserves a real run. Trust me, it haunts my dreams too. But even one trade, say, for Coby White-if enticing enough, might actually twist Artūras Karnišovas' arm and force the issue. Over the last few weeks, we've seen a flood of Coby White trade rumors and reports.
In June 2023, the Suns acquired Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards, a deal that came on the heels of Phoenix landing Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets before that year's trade deadline. After the moves, new owner Mat Ishbia hailed the creation of the NBA's next superteam. Those trades rattled the NBA landscape. The league is in a far different place two years later.
They are an unmitigated disaster (tell me if you've heard that before!), sporting the league's fifth-worst offense and third-worst defense. Sacramento will also be without star big Domantas Sabonis (meniscus tear) for the next month. The beam is shut off, and the Kings should be on the precipice of a fire sale ... if owner Vivek Ranadive will commit to it.
It feels almost cliched to say this team needs to make a major move, but that's only because it has been ( and very much remains) true for a while. If the Heat find the right needle-moving trade, though, they should be careful about its construction. Because while Andrew Wiggins and his $28.2 million salary might help make the math work, he might be too good to give up.
