Trade rumor rankings: Zach LaVine, Pascal Siakam and more
As we pass the quarter mark of the 2023-24 NBA season, trade rumors are starting to get more abundant, enough for us to be able to put together this ranking of five players who have appeared most often on our Trade rumors page over the prior week.
Check out the five NBA players with the most trade rumors attached to their names recently below.
PJ Tucker (Philadelphia)
Los Angeles Clippers swingman PJ Tucker made life easy for NBA reporters by outright telling the media he’s not happy with his playing time and would like to be traded a good team that he can help with on-court contributions (via Clutch Points):
“What is your priority right now? Is it winning? Is it playing? What is your priority?” PJ Tucker: “It’s both. It’s got to be a healthy compromise. I know myself, my worth. I know what I bring. I know what I’ve brought. I know what I can continue to bring. And with that, I want to be able to go to a good team that I can be able to help that. I think it’s kind of prioritized together at the same time and playing a role. And when you know you can play that role and have played that role on championship level teams, not just winning championships, but teams that have a chance to win a championship over the last seven years, eight years. So, yeah.”
Tucker would go on to complain about not having a role on the Clippers and being out of the rotation. The seasoned forward made all of these comments after a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who reported:
Forward P.J. Tucker has expressed frustration about his current situation with the team, and both sides are discussing ways to resolve a role for him there or elsewhere, according to league sources
Tucker hasn’t seen action for Los Angeles since Nov. 27. On the season, he’s averaging 1.3 points in 15 total games, three of them starts. And considering Tucker has a player option on his contract for 2024-25 that will pay him $11.5 million, the Clippers might not have such an easy time trading him unless it’s as a throw-in on a bigger deal.
For the latest PJ Tucker trade rumors and salary info, click here.
DeMar DeRozan (Chicago)
Although the Chicago Bulls had been playing better basketball of late, rumors are still circulating that change could be on the horizon for the once-proud franchise. One of the players heavily involved in those rumors is six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan.
NBA reporter Marc Stein reported this week that the likelihood of DeRozan getting traded by the deadline has only increased lately as extension talks between the star and the team have gone nowhere of late:
Two news tidbits reported Friday during IST festivities by my podcast partner Chris Haynes: DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls remain far apart on contract extension talks, increasing the likelihood that DeRozan will be made available by the Bulls before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. DeRozan is earning $28.6 million this season in the final year of his original three-year, $81.9 million deal with Chicago.
Local Bulls writer KC Johnson reported that the DeRozan situation is one to monitor:
DeRozan is the one to watch. If you know you’re going to lose him for nothing in unrestricted free agency next summer, it’s indeed best to get what you can for him before the Feb. 8 deadline. But Karnisovas has said publicly he’d like to re-sign DeRozan.
And New York Knicks reporter Ian Begley reported that New York has not shown interest in trading for the former USC standout… at least yet:
Several reports state that the Bulls are open to moving Zach LaVine and other veterans, like DeMar DeRozan. The Athletic reported that the Knicks would be a desired landing spot for DeRozan. This makes sense as DeRozan also strongly considered signing with New York in the 2021 offseason. But as of earlier this week, the Knicks hadn’t engaged in any advanced talks with Chicago on any of their players, per SNY sources.
We’ll see if that changes but considering DeRozan is averaging 22.3 points and 5.3 assists on 43.7 percent shooting while on the last year of his contract, the Bulls shouldn’t have a hard time moving him for some decent assets this season, even despite the fact he’s already 34.
For the latest DeMar DeRozan trade rumors and salary info, click here.
Pascal Siakam (Toronto)
Charania also reported on the Toronto Raptors this week, an interesting team to look into right now considering the team is 9-14 and has lost five of six games, including an embarrassing defeat to the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 8.
According to Charania, the chances are increasing of a player like All-Star Pascal Siakam getting traded this season:
Raptors president and vice chairman Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster have stuck with their talented core of Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby over the past three seasons. But Toronto has lost three games in a row, stands 9-13 on the season and has left teams believing that now, more than ever, either Siakam or Anunoby could be traded by the Feb. 8 deadline.
Siakam is on the final year of his deal, earning $37.9 million this season, and is averaging 20.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 49.7 percent shooting. The Raptors have been 9.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor this year, too, so his stats have been extremely impactful.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentioned the Indiana Pacers as a potential landing spot for Siakam…
The Pacers are gearing up to aggressively pursue a “big, athletic two-way wing player” to pair alongside Tyrese Haliburton, per @wojespn:
“(The Pacers) are willing to give up picks and assets, because we believe we will be able to re-sign that player. They’re not going to lose… pic.twitter.com/hHkXnqajbe
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) December 8, 2023
…while our own Michael Scotto mentioned Indiana, the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings as other potentially interested teams for Siakam:
Several teams could make a trade for Pascal Siakam, including the Hawks, Kings, 76ers, Pacers, etc. The two-time All-NBA and All-Star player will be looking for a max contract, or as close to it as possible this summer, and is HoopsHype’s No. 2 overall free agent. “If Toronto is willing to pay up for Siakam, they’ll keep him,” an NBA executive opined. “I think the same goes for Anunoby, too.”
We’ll see how this situation unfolds but the vibes have been bad over the last season-plus in Toronto and with the team floundering again in 2023-24, it would be more surprising if Siakam didn’t get traded this year. After all, he’s on an expiring contract, so it would be smarter for the Raptors to trade him now rather than lose him for nothing next summer.
For the latest Pascal Siakam trade rumors and salary info, click here.
OG Anunoby (Toronto)
Everything that was reported on Siakam above also applies to OG Anunoby, making it almost seem like the Raptors plan to trade one or the other, although ultimately, both could end up being dealt away, especially if Toronto continues to struggle as it has this season.
Our own Scotto did have more to report on Anunoby recently, writing that the Raptors are concerned a rival team could offer Anunoby, likely an unrestricted free agent this summer, a short-term max contract this summer and pry him away:
Toronto is concerned about potential teams who could give OG Anunoby a shorter-term max contract due to the weak free agent market, league sources told HoopsHype. … Anunoby – who’s expected to decline his $19.93 million player option and become one of the top unrestricted free agents this summer – remains one of the top two-way wing players and has reportedly wanted a larger role dating back to last trade deadline.
The former Indiana Hoosier is averaging 15.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals on 39.4 percent shooting from three this season. He may not be a star but he’s an excellent role player who also shines on defense – a 3-and-D type with more juice in his scoring ability than most swingmen of that archetype.
If Toronto does put Anunoby on the trade block, it will certainly receive excellent offers for the 26-year-old. We’ll see if the Raptors swallow their pride and go through with that ahead of this year’s trade deadline.
For the latest OG Anunoby trade rumors and salary info, click here.
Zach LaVine (Chicago)
The 9-16 Bulls certainly have changes on the horizon, with the likeliest candidate to get moved being Zach LaVine.
It was reported by NBC Sports Chicago a few weeks ago that the Bulls wanted to trade LaVine before anyone else on their roster to see how the team looked without the disgruntled star in the mix. LaVine’s recent injury allowed them to get a look at that without trading him away, though, and Chicago has improved its play a bit, although it has now dropped its last two games and now sits at 9-16, 12th in the Eastern Conference.
LaVine is averaging 21.0 points and 3.4 assists this season on 33.6 percent shooting from three but looked pretty checked out back when he was healthy enough to be on the floor. That might be because, according to Johnson, LaVine had grown tired of the constant trade rumors surrounding his name and Chicago’s uncertainty as to whether he could lead the team to a championship as its best player:
The first sentence of the above quote is the most important. That LaVine raised that the off-the-court speculation “is on both (sides)” hammers home the root of LaVine’s frustration. He’s well aware that the Bulls tried to trade him last summer, and he’s also grown tired of the internal debate within the organization that he can be a lead player on a championship-contending team. But LaVine’s commitment to his teammates? And his genuine appreciation that the Bulls signed him to a maximum contract even as the internal debate about his on-court decision-making and winning pedigree played out? Those are both as genuine as the diamond earrings that flashed in Zach LaVine’s earlobes.
LaVine talked to the media recently and discussed the trade scuttle surrounding his name, telling fans not to believe the rumors and that he can’t wait to be back out there with the Bulls, among other things:
LaVine said all the right things: “Don’t believe every rumor; can’t wait to get back out there with my guys.” This saga will take some time. #Bulls
— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHSports) December 7, 2023
The problem for Chicago, as has been reported by The Athletic and Wojnarowski, is that there doesn’t seem to be much of a trade market for LaVine – and with good reason.
Not only is he injured but when healthy, his on-court production was mediocre at best, at least for a player of his caliber, and his contract, which is through 2026-27 when LaVine has a player option worth $49.0 million, is enormously burdensome.
Who’s going to take on that type of money for a player who has never won anything or led a team to much success, and who often misses weeks at a time with injury? That’s All-NBA money, not third-option-on-a-championship contender money, which is what LaVine probably is at this point.
We can say with certainty: We do not envy the position the Bulls front office is in right now.
For the latest Zach LaVine trade rumors and salary info, click here.
