After months of rumors, we have finally arrived at the NBA’s February 6 trade deadline. With plenty of deals happening before the eventual deadline, one might think it will be a quiet deadline. That may prove to be very wrong. The race has become tighter, and that will put teams under pressure to make moves to improve. Let’s take a look.
Top 3 Teams Under Pressure to Make a Trade by the Deadline
In the West, plenty of teams made a move to improve their roster. The Lakers got Luka Doncic, the Spurs got De’Aaron Fox, and the Warriors got Jimmy Butler. Two of those, the Spurs and Warriors, are outside of the play-in going into the NBA’s February 6 trade deadline. While the Spurs have a young phenomenon in Victor Wembanyama, the Warriors cannot be patient. Let’s take a look at some of the teams that will be under pressure going into the deadline’s last minutes.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors just made a trade for Jimmy Butler. So, why are they on the list? Well, Butler doesn’t move the needle enough for them. They still lack shooting, and unless their plan is to go after Lauri Markkanen in the summer, they need shooting to compete this year. The point of trading for Butler is to put a roster together that can compete.
Golden State traded two of their best shooters in Andrew Wiggins and Dennis Schroder. As crazy as that sounds, Wiggins averaged 5.8 three-point attempts on 37.9% efficiency, and Schroder had 4.8 attempts per contest at 32.2% efficiency (since joining the Warriors). Butler doesn’t shoot as many threes, and the Warriors need as many of them as they can find. They are using rookie Quinten Post as a stretch center, which is enough proof they need a big man who can shoot. They might make another move such as trading for Nikola Vucevic by the deadline. After all, they still have plenty of draft picks and young players to trade.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves entered this season as one of the favorites to win the West. They were in the Western Conference Finals last year and expected a growth from Anthony Edwards. He has been great so far, but their summer trade for Julius Randle hasn’t panned out.
The Timberwolves have played better recently, going 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are still seventh in the West though, just outside of a guaranteed playoff spot. With teams below them making moves to improve, the Timberwolves might look to ship Randle and get players that fit better. Latest reports are that Randle is injured and will miss about two weeks.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks were hit with the worst injury news recently, as breakout star Jalen Johnson was ruled out for the season. Stuck in a play-in position, the Hawks have several veterans they can trade for future assets. The only reason they might compete for a higher spot is to “stick it” to the Spurs. Atlanta owes its first-round pick to San Antonio without protections. They surely do not want to give up a lottery pick.
The Hawks have been in plenty of trade rumors recently, but nothing has materialized yet. They have expiring veterans like Clint Capela and Larry Nance Jr, as well as cheap contracts like Cody Zeller. The Hawks might also canvas the market for Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has a team option for 2026-27 at $16 million. His contract is of great value, but he is 32 years old and the Hawks might decide to rebuild around Johnson and Dyson Daniels. Those two are 23 and 21 years old respectively.
The only good news for the Hawks is they are not over the luxury tax threshold, but they can surely lower their payroll.
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