There isn’t a single thing in sports more entertaining than transaction season in the NBA. Think about it: it comes twice a year – at the midseason trade deadline and over the summer – and every time one of those signposts comes around, there are rumors to unpack.
Players have beef; coaches and players aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, leading said player to want out or want his coach fired; players are so angry with their franchise that they begrudgingly practice with their phones in their pockets (okay, so that didn’t happen like we thought it did, but it’s not that unrealistic anymore!).
Sure, the NBA’s regular season ended just hours in the rearview, but the rumor mill never rests. Not while teams are gearing up to fight for their spot in the playoffs via play-in round; not while other teams plot the best ways to thwart their first-round opponents; not while other teams wonder if, despite being locked into their seed, it’s still possible to duck the Brooklyn Nets. (I’m looking at you, Milwaukee. You too, Philly.)
Questions continue to swirl surrounding whether or not James Harden fits in Philadelphia or whether Jimmy Butler is about to blow up yet another team in Miami, given the recent spat he had with head coach Erik Spoelstra. Doubts about whether the Jays can play together in Boston have dissipated given their recent success. Still, I’m sure Twitter eggs aplenty would be willing to argue that it would benefit Boston to trade Jaylen Brown for Ben Simmons tomorrow – personally, that makes me want to throw up.
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It matters, too. And sometimes, the idea that gossip takes precedent over the actual game being played inspires vomit. But they’re equally essential elements in how the NBA tells its story from a completist perspective. I’ll be more locked into the first-round series between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors than I will how unhappy De’Aaron Fox may or may not be in Sacramento. Still, I’ll keep a peripheral eye on that one.
As do the possible moves of other players across the league, and with the playoffs still a day away, there’s plenty of time to look at the stars who could use a change of scenery this offseason. Let’s unpack four possible options.
