What a crazy season this is. We are almost at Dec 15th and we dont really know any teams that are likely gonna be sellers apart from the obvious 5 non-competitive teams (Houston, Spurs, Charlotte, Detroit and Orlando) and one team (Wizards) that have shown indications they might tank big.
Likeliest sellers (outside of the 5 clear sellers):
1. Most likely team to provide the trade markets with solid players that competitive teams crave for is the Wizards. They have sold their first rounder to Knicks but its lottery protected so they have motivation to blow it up. Indications are there with Kuzma and Beal recent statements.
2. OKC is not looking like a competitive team, but they dont really have players they want to trade out that are of significant value, Their core is too young. Unless they decide to split Giddey and SGA (both are ball-needy and chemistry issues have been reported)... but that seems unlikely.
3. Knicks have potentially 4 picks in the 1st round next draft but all but their own are at least top 10 protected. They also have players they have waved around in trades, so they might just pull the trigger at some point and provide the player markets with something usable.
4. Pacers have their own pick plus two top 12/14 protected ones (Celtics and Cavs). They have the same problem as OKC, as the only players of any value that are not important for their future are Hield and Turner, and neither one seems like a hot commodity as they have been waved around before without much results.
5. Our picks are well documented on this site. Problem is, we dont have high value players that the organization has indicated they are willing to sell. Only Rudy Gay has been waved around. We also might not be sellers at all.
6. Kings have their own pick, but are not looking like a team that is blowing it up right now. They are hyped about the team in Sacramento.
7. Blazers pick has been traded to Bulls but its top 14 protected, so they get it if they fall into lottery. All indications seem though that they want to compete this year, and Dame being on the tail of his career means they likely will.
Talk is also that Chicago might sell (they have traded their 2023 pick as top 4 protected) as well as Miami and Toronto (both own their picks) who all need to reconfigure stuff since their current team is not functional to the level they want it to be. But those three teams are not likely gonna sell the house, but instead look to switch pieces while possibly letting go of some solid players in the process.
Outside of those, there are individual players on competitive or semi-competitive teams that want out (like John Collins and Jae Crowder), but seems the player markets are gonna be a dogfight. It might change before the deadline, but right now at the start of the window the uncertainty is definitely strong.
