Top 4 Under-The-Radar NBA Trade Targets
Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jaylen Brown. Ja Morant. Kawhi Leonard. These are the superstar names who could be moved in a wild summer of potential trades in the NBA. Those names are taking up all of the oxygen on the rumor mill.
But there are plenty of others who will be moved, who right now are flying under the radar. Here we take a look at four of those unheralded, underrated trade candidates, with the help of Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report.
Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic
The Magic have been mentioned as a sleeper team in talks surrounding some of the superstars noted above. But they'll have to move players of some impact to get a deal done. Also, Orlando is in danger of going into the second apron—that dreaded tax level that seriously impedes roster moves and transactions. They need to get off some money.
"If the Magic want to keep their core of Banchero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane, Suggs may be on the block," writes Swartz. "Swapping out his $32.4 million salary for a floor general making far less would be one way for Orlando to solve its financial issues."
Davion Mitchell, Miami Heat
We don't often hear his name mentioned as trade bait, as he seems like a perfect fit on an Erik Spoelstra team. But as Swartz notes, "If the Heat make a play for Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Kevin Durant or another star and need to send Mitchell out to help salaries match, teams should be lining up to try and get involved," as a third team in the deal, to take on the scrappy 3-and-D guard.
Jabari Smith, Houston Rockets
He continues to be a solid contributor for the Rockets at the 'four', but he has "long taken a backseat with the Houston Rockets to players like Jalen Green, Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson and now Kevin Durant. It's time another team makes a strong offer for the 23-year-old forward and lets him fully spread his wings."
Dejounte Murray, New Orleans Pelicans
This is certainly not an "under the radar" name around the NBA, but Swartz includes him because he was pretty much a forgotten man last season after spending more than a year rehabilitating a ruptured Achilles tendon. But he returned and looked pretty good at the end of the year for 14 games.
The Pelicans are/should be in rebuild mode, and they have a young point guard in last year's lottery pick, Jeremiah Fears, who looks ready to take on the job full-time.
"If teams believe that his 14 games back from injury are enough to prove he has his quickness back, Murray would be a sneaky-good starting point guard for a number of franchises."
