Three Blockbuster NBA Trades We’d Love to See Before the Deadline

One of the NBA’s biggest names could be headed for a new home as the league works its way toward the trade deadline on Thursday.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo has missed his team’s last three games because of a calf strain, but injuries in general — and calf issues in particular — are no reason to call off a deal.

In what has gone down as one of the most surprising trades ever, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers last season as he sat out with a calf strain.

While the Dončić deal came out of nowhere, an Antetokounmpo trade seems inevitable. The 10-time All-Star and two-time MVP has not formally requested a trade, and the Bucks have not said they are looking to move on from their franchise player, but the sides seem to have come to an understanding that it is time for a change.

For Antetokounmpo, at age 31, there could be a desire to play for a different contender in a larger market. For the Bucks, they can see they are losing their grip as one of the top teams in the NBA.

A potential Antetokounmpo trade could be the one that starts a flood of player movement before the deadline.

Here are three trades we would like to see:

Antetokounmpo to the Warriors

A combination of Antetokounmpo and Steph Curry pulling from the same side of the rope is too irresistible to deny. It is likely going to take many first-round draft picks and players like Jonathan Kuminga and the injured Jimmy Butler to make it happen, but that Curry window is not going to stay open forever.

The reality is that Antetokounmpo to the New York Knicks would create an even bigger title contender, but the Warriors could end up offering more in order to shorten their longer championship odds.

Don’t count out the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat in making a push for Antetokounmpo. And did you hear the one about the Dallas Mavericks moving Cooper Flagg in a package to make a deal with the Bucks happen? Considering that Dallas is starting to fall deeply in love with Flagg, maybe a new heartbreak isn’t the best idea.

Ja Morant to the Timberwolves

Who were the top four teams in the Western Conference heading into play this week? If you said the Minnesota Timberwolves, it would be a reasonable assumption — but they were just on the outside looking in at teams who would have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Morant running the floor with Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle would add heat to the Minneapolis thaw this spring. Morant will be a hot commodity once Antetokounmpo is traded, so the Wolves will have stiff competition to get a deal done.

Because it was vague, Morant’s “time tells the truth” post on social media over the weekend read like more of a knock on the Grizzlies than a promise to dominate the league soon. Either way, it shows that whoever makes this acquisition will be getting a motivated player.

Anthony Davis to the Clippers

In an ordinary world, the Clippers would have set a course to tank the season right around the start of the new year to wring the most value possible from their next first-round draft pick. Except the Oklahoma City Thunder own the Clippers’ next first-round pick, so losing was not the preferred course of action.

Instead, the Clippers pushed oft-injured Kawhi Leonard to the front of their revamped offense, buckled down on defense, and have been the best team in the NBA over the past six weeks.

Without a first-round pick to look forward to, perhaps the Clippers roll the dice and move some expiring contracts for Davis, who has been a bust since the Dončić trade. The Mavericks would rather land a first-round draft pick for all of their trade troubles over the last year, but if they are out of options as the deadline ticks near, maybe salary cap relief wins out.