Predicting the Next Wave of NBA Stars to Request a Trade

The closer we get to the start of the 2024-25 NBA season, the more likely trade requests become.

James Harden made one during the 2023 offseason, and Kevin Durant was the biggest name to ask out over the summer of 2022. Even if we don’t get something similar before the games start to count this year, you know another is coming.

In fact, we might even get a couple of repeat offenders.

Consider this a primer for the inevitable. Somebody—or several somebodies—will look around and decide they’d rather be someplace else. Contract stalemates, shifting organizational priorities, labor-management strife—all of those factors can push NBA relationships to their breaking points.

All those possibilities and more are in play as we lay out a list of the stars most likely to ask for trades this season.

Wherever the line is between the not-so-subtle expression of discontent and a full-on trade demand, Brandon Ingram has walked up to it, peered over at what’s on the other side and probably had a good, long think about what to do next.

It feels like a matter of time until he steps across.

With free agency looming and a clear lack of desire on the part of the New Orleans Pelicans to hand him the $200 million extension he wants, Ingram skipped a voluntary minicamp in Los Angeles and did a little passive-aggressive venting on social media.

Per ESPN’s Chris Herring, “It was no secret around the league that New Orleans, reluctant to give Ingram a max extension, made the one-time All-Star available this summer.”

New Orleans would probably prefer to get a deal done before Ingram officially asks out; trade requests sometimes hurt the quality of incoming packages. If Ingram makes a demand, the Pels will lose leverage and should expect some low-ball offers.

The trickiest part of all is that Ingram’s extension expectations will follow him wherever he goes. And based on the lack of a deal to this point, despite the Pels’ need for a center and the risks of them losing him for nothing in free agency, it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to be on the hook for Ingram’s next contract.

Those practical complications don’t lessen the odds of Ingram asking to be moved. If anything, they’ll add to his frustration and push this thing past the point of no return.

When it’s all over and you’re thinking back on Kevin Durant’s Hall of Fame career, which jersey will you picture him wearing?

The fact that it’s hard to answer that question is the reason he’s here.

To put it charitably, KD has had a hard time staying satisfied over the last decade or so. He left a promising situation with the Oklahoma City Thunder and seemed almost immediately unhappy in the middle of a dynastic run with the Golden State Warriors. Then, despite hand-picked teammates and coaches, he couldn’t find peace with the Brooklyn Nets.

He made two separate trade requests to get himself to the Phoenix Suns, the first of which came just 13 months after he signed a four-year, $194 million extension with Brooklyn.

There’s no sign of unrest in Phoenix at the moment, and the Suns, led by new head coach Mike Budenholzer and a remade supporting cast that features a couple of actual point guards, could make the Finals with a few favorable breaks. But if KD’s Warriors tenure taught us anything, it’s that no amount of team success guarantees satisfaction.

Durant is one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, but he’s also among its most mercurial. His history suggests it’s not a question of if his eye will start wandering, but when.

There haven’t been any rumblings to date, but how can you exclude a player who has basically perfected defection?

James Harden threatened to demand a trade if the Houston Rockets didn’t acquire Russell Westbrook in 2018, took a single year to change his mind about playing with the 2017 MVP and forced his way to the Brooklyn Nets. That process involved him essentially quitting on the Rockets before an official request to be moved.

It took just over a year before Harden asked out of Brooklyn…unofficially, of course.

Next came the Philadelphia 76ers, where his reunion with the executive who’d acquired him from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012 turned sour, leading to the infamous “Daryl Morey is a liar” fiasco. Harden failed to report for training camp ahead of the 2023-24 season after claiming he’d never play for Morey again, ultimately getting himself moved to the LA Clippers.

Now, with Paul George gone in free agency and questions looming about Kawhi Leonard’s health, the Clips are looking at preseason win total projections that have them finishing around .500. That almost certainly won’t be good enough to get them into the Play-In.

Harden has forced his way out of far better situations than this.

The only potential saving grace is that LA’s lack of other options means Harden might wind up getting to play much like he did as an ultra-high-usage alpha with the Rockets. But it’s not so hard to imagine him struggling with those responsibilities at age 35 and deciding he’d like to play someplace with more supporting talent.

Ultimately, Harden hasn’t stayed happy for long on any of his last three teams. Why should we believe anything will be different now?

Many teams in the Atlanta Hawks’ position would have traded Trae Young by now. Over the last four years, they’ve managed no more than 43 wins and no fewer than 36, which is precisely in that dreaded middle ground between bottoming out and contending.

Despite that mediocrity, the Hawks lucked into the No. 1 overall pick and selected Zaccharie Risacher. Even if nobody was overly juiced about the 2024 draft, that good fortune should have given Atlanta carte blanche to bust up a stale roster, trade Young for more picks and begin a full rebuild.

Unfortunately for Atlanta, it doesn’t control its first-rounders in 2025, 2026 or 2027. Thanks to the trade that brought Dejounte Murray aboard (who now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, by the way,) those belong to the San Antonio Spurs. Bottoming out won’t produce the typical draft-lottery reward for the Hawks.

That said, Atlanta could pivot anyway. In an ideal world, it’d move Young to the Spurs for some or all of its previously owned draft equity. A deal that sent Young elsewhere would still make sense. If you can’t get your own picks back, getting several of someone else’s is a solid consolation prize.

Atlanta remains a middling operation caught between extremes. If things don’t go well to start the season, Young could sense what’s coming and get out ahead of it. Sort of a “you can’t fire me; I quit!” situation.

Six full seasons, three of which included All-Star nods, is pretty long stint with an average team for someone with Young’s profile. And it’s not like rumors of the Hawks dealing him would be new.

It just feels like, one way or the other, this partnership is nearing its expiration date.

Things were quiet at Miami Heat media day…a little too quiet.

Jimmy Butler didn’t show up with any fake piercings, hair extensions or alternate personalities, a break from his last few season-opening appearances. One could interpret that as Butler recommitting to a business-as-usual approach, but in the wake of a tumultuous offseason, it might be wiser to frame Butler’s subdued demeanor as advertising.

With the ability to hit free agency via a player option this summer and no contract extension coming from the Heat, Butler could be trying to show potential suitors he’s ready to ball out and put the sideshows aside.

Even if we ignore the specifics, zooming out reveals a lot of elements that portend a possible trade request. Butler is a 35-year-old star who wants one more long-term contract from his current team and doesn’t appear likely to get it. When that happens, players in his position often try to find a team that will pony up.

Add that to the particulars in this case, and it’s even easier to imagine Butler, who has made some ugly exits from teams in the past, putting the Heat to a decision.

Last spring, Pat Riley publicly chastised Butler for talking a little too much about teams he wasn’t on the floor to face in the playoffs and called him out for his consistent lack of availability.

That kind of challenge doesn’t often sit well with stars, and Butler’s prickly reputation stands out even among that class of players.

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.