Fresh Trade Ideas from Latest NBA Rumors: LeBron to the Knicks for Kicks + More (2024)

As we head into the final few days before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, reporting around the league continues to suggest a quiet week ahead.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on The Woj Pod that even cellar-dwelling rebuilders aren't keen to move veteran pieces ahead of the deadline. Of course, that's exactly the kind of head-fake smart organizations leak to gin up better offers. So let's not lose hope that a transactional frenzy is still possible.

The trade deadline has a way of duping us into a sense of calm before it erupts in chaos. Let's agree to stay vigilant.

Here, we'll run through the most intriguing rumors of the day and concoct hypothetical trades based on the latest reporting. If nothing else, this'll tide over the trade-hungry masses until the real deals bring satisfaction.

The Trade: New York Knicks acquire LeBron James from the Los Angeles Lakers for Julius Randle, Evan Fournier, 2024 first-round pick (via DAL), 2024 first-round pick (via DET), 2024 first-round pick (via WAS), 2025 first-round pick (via MIL), 2025 first-round pick (NYK)

We might as well start as boldly as possible here, cooking up a major-market blockbuster that'd send shockwaves rippling through the league. That's right, we're sending LeBron James to the New York Knicks, and we're using a sweat rag to get us there.

The real-world basis for such a seismic swap comes from ESPN's Brian Windhorst, who noted on The Hoop Collective that James wore a Knicks towel during a postgame interview Saturday at Madison Square Garden: "Of course, he was cognizant and aware that he was putting on a towel that said New York Knicks. Why would he mess with the Knicks? Because he was using the Knicks as a tool to pressure the Lakers."

If James was subtly trying to get his current team to act ahead of the deadline, it wouldn't be the first time. And viewed in conjunction with the hourglass emoji he posted on X last week, it's even harder to write this off as meaningless.

The Lakers are just 26-25 on the season and show no signs of repeating last year's conference finals appearance. With James holding a player option that would allow him to leave for nothing in free agency this summer, and in light of his thinly veiled frustration, it wouldn't be at all unreasonable for L.A. to consider getting something for LeBron while it can.

The Lakers would almost certainly consult James on any potential trade, but you could imagine him having interest in the Knicks. The West playoff picture is a gauntlet, and the Lakers aren't positioned to survive it. New York is only a game out of the No. 2 spot in the East and would almost certainly threaten for the top seed with James in the fold. It's possible the Knicks would only have to beat one of the Boston Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks to reach the Finals.

Focused solely on rings at this point of his career, James would have to recognize the higher likelihood of getting one with the Knicks.

The trade package coming from New York reflects James' impending free-agent status but allows the Lakers to come off looking like they got major assets. In reality, four of the five first-rounders heading to Los Angeles come via other teams and feature significant protections. The Lakers can say they got five firsts, Fournier's expiring contract and Randle (whom they could re-route to a third team or keep), but the only truly choice pick is the unprotected 2025 selection coming directly from the Knicks.

That might be the best L.A. can hope for, particularly if we assume James gets to dictate where he's going, which would prevent other teams from beating the Knicks' offer.

James gets a better title shot, the Lakers bring in assets for a player they might lose this summer and the Knicks still somehow keep a lot of powder dry for another trade down the line.

As far-fetched deals go, this one actually has some legs.

The Trade: Dallas Mavericks acquire Jerami Grant from the Portland Trail Blazers for Grant Williams, Richaun Holmes, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, a 2027 first-round pick (top-four-protected), 2026 first-round swap rights and 2028 first-round swap rights

Per The Athletic's Tim Cato, "The Mavericks' front office has been active as the deadline approaches, and the team is most interested in a tall 4, ideally with two-way ability and solid spot-up shooting."

Jerami Grant checks a lot of the boxes Cato mentions. The 29-year-old forward is averaging 21.3 points on a stellar 46.1/40.3/80.9 shooting split. Though his defensive numbers (minus-0.7 Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus) aren't what they used to be, the veteran initially made his name in the league as a multi-position stopper and seems a safe bet to defend with more verve on a team playing meaningful games.

Cato notes that Dallas resorted to a matchup zone against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 29 because it lacked the defender necessary to slow down either Paolo Banchero or Franz Wagner, two players Grant seems almost ideally suited to check.

The cost for Dallas is fairly steep. Grant's five-year, $160 million contract runs through 2027-28 (player option), and would basically lock the team into a costly three-man core that also includes Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.

Dallas may not want to part with 2023 first-rounder Prosper, and the pick it's sending Portland is its only one available to trade. That said, the Mavs may not get a better chance to add a meaningful upgrade than they have right now. It's true the Mavericks could wait until the 2024 draft to make a deal, when they'd have up to three first-rounders to move. But even armed with that upgraded package, it's unclear they could win a bidding war for Grant against a much larger number of interested teams this summer.

For Dallas, the time to strike is now.

Portland hauls in a valuable first, two swaps, a tantalizing prospect in Prosper and Williams' manageable four-year, $53 million contract. Holmes is essentially dead money necessary to make the deal work, which is part of why Dallas has to include those swaps as sweeteners. For a rebuilding squad like the Blazers, Prosper and the picks are the highlights here.

The Trade: Minnesota Timberwolves acquire Monte Morris from the Detroit Pistons for Shake Milton, Troy Brown Jr. and a 2025 second-round pick (via UTA)

The Minnesota Timberwolves need insurance behind veteran Mike Conley, and the Detroit Pistons have a player in Monte Morris whose picture shows up in the dictionary next to the term "backup point guard."

League sources told James L. Edwards III of The Athletic that Minnesota tried to trade for Morris when he was a member of the Washington Wizards last season and that several rival teams have expressed interest in the 28-year-old ahead of the deadline.

Morris missed the first 43 games of this season with a quad injury, but he's now healthy and working his way back into the rotation for a go-nowhere Pistons squad. His steady career averages of 10.4 points, 4.0 assists and 0.8 steals in 25.4 minutes per game are exactly the kind of adult-in-the-room contribution the Wolves need in relief of Conley, who's been almost alarmingly critical to their success.

Minnesota's offensive rating plummets from 115.6 to 109.8 when Conley sits, the difference between mid-pack and bottom-three scoring efficiency. At 36, Conley can't realistically play more than the 29.0 minutes per game he's currently averaging, particularly against the elevated intensity he'll see in the playoffs. Morris can give the Wolves 20-ish minutes of capable facilitation, and his career hit rate of 38.9 percent from deep means the offense won't lose any spacing either.

If the Pistons would rather have Kyle Anderson as the matching salary for Morris, the Wolves might think a little harder or withhold that second-rounder. Either way, Minnesota won't need to break the bank for a $9 million player on an expiring contract. However the particulars shake out, there's a deal to be made here.

The Trade: Boston Celtics acquire Andre Drummond from the Chicago Bulls for 2024 second-round pick (via CHI) and a 2024 second-round pick (via DAL)

Foot surgery means Zach LaVine is done for the season, and the latest intel suggests the Chicago Bulls aren't going to move DeMar DeRozan or Alex Caruso for anything less than an (unrealistically) astronomical asking price.

One player who might actually leave Chicago at the deadline: Andre Drummond.

Per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the veteran backup big man has "drawn trade interest" from the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns.

The Celtics already have Luke Kornet on the depth chart, but Drummond's recent play shows he'd be an upgrade to arguably the East's best team. The 30-year-old banger is averaging 7.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in only 15.8 minutes per game, giving him absurd per-36 averages of 17.6 points and 18.9 boards. The 55.8 percent free-throw shooting is a concern, but it's hard to imagine hack-a-Drummond will come into play if he's never on the floor for crunch-time minutes in the postseason.

Assuming good health, Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford will handle all the high-leverage moments up front.

Boston has a $6.2 million trade exception from the sign-and-trade deal that sent Grant Williams to Dallas over the summer, so it can take Drummond into that without surrendering matching salary. Two second-rounders should be enough to entice the Bulls, particularly with Drummond's deal expiring after this season.

The Trade: Phoenix Suns acquire Miles Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets for Nassir Little, Chimezie Metu and three future second-round picks

Per The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, "Phoenix has been connected to Hornets forward Miles Bridges more than any other player in the NBA, so much so that it'd be surprising if a move didn't happen before Thursday's deadline."

Before we get into the deal itself, Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer offers a couple of counters to O'Connor's logic: "The fact Bridges is playing this 2023-24 campaign on a one-year qualifying offer not only affords Bridges veto power in any trade, but dealing him elsewhere would squander Bridges' Bird rights, preventing any team that acquired him before Thursday to re-sign him this summer if it is going to be over the salary cap on June 30."

Would the Suns give up what few moveable assets they still possess for a few months of Bridges? And secondly, might another team with a first-rounder available and a better shot of keeping the athletic forward come over the top with a better offer?

Bridges is a 20-point scorer who would have likely signed a five-year, $173 million max deal in 2022 free agency if not for an arrest in June of that year on felony domestic violence charges. He pleaded no contest to a felony count of injuring a child's parent and missed the entire 2022-23 season before signing the qualifying offer to play this year with the Hornets.

Still just 25 years old, Bridges is among the most productive players that might be available at the deadline. But it's difficult to gauge his value with free agency looming and the specter of his domestic violence issues. Bridges also allegedly violated a domestic violence protection order in October 2023.

Phoenix is in an extreme win-now situation, which may make it willing to look past all the contractual uncertainty and unsavory PR side-effects of adding Bridges. Realistically, the Suns have no chance at any other player with Bridges' skill level.

For Charlotte, this is about getting assets for someone who very likely won't be back with the team next season. If the Hornets would rather have Josh Okogie than Metu, or if they want to push for more of Phoenix's five available second-rounders, it's hard to imagine the Suns making such minor issues a sticking point.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.