We’re in a transitional stage when it comes to trade deadline sellers. The past few years have been dominated by a pretty stable group of tankers. The Washington Wizards. The Utah Jazz. The Charlotte Hornets. The Brooklyn Nets. A few teams have graduated. A few teams have joined the fray this season. But we’ve known who the rebuilding teams have been for a few years now, and that’s about to change.
Washington just traded for Trae Young. While they’re going to tank out the remainder of this season to keep their top-eight protected first-round pick, that move was presumably made with the intention of playing more competitively next season. Charlotte is already more than competitive. The Hornets have a top-five offense since the beginning of December. Brooklyn has no incentive to lose next season. The Nets owe 2027 swap rights on their first-round pick to the Rockets. The Jazz can at least stop with their more brazen lineup shenanigans geared toward losing. They also owe a top-eight protected pick this season, but it expires afterward, so the idea is seemingly to start trying to win next season.
That means this year’s sellers by and large are going to be a bit more strategic than usual. They’re not just going to sell off all of the useless talent they can for the sake of increasing their draft capital. They’re going to be more strategic, trimming fat where they can but likely prioritizing not only their core players, but anyone who might make sense alongside them. Where big names are concerned, as is the case with Anthony Davis and Ja Morant, the teams in question at least have younger players in place that they can prioritize. There’s really only one likely seller out there that’s totally directionless, and to be frank, that’s been the case for the Sacramento Kings for most of the past two decades.
So let’s get into our guide to the sellers of the 2026 NBA trade deadline. We’ll cover where each possible seller sits, who they might move, what they might want and what they’re ultimately trying to accomplish in this phase of their roster-building efforts. Between the buyer’s guide published Tuesday and today’s seller’s guide, 29 of the 30 teams have been addressed. The lone holdout, Atlanta, has already made its big move in trading Trae Young, and with losses accumulating, are unlikely to buy. However, given the youth of the roster and their strong pick and cap outlook, there’s no real reason to sell either. They were the odd team out. The 10 teams below are our likely sellers.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls have an idea of who they want to be: a slightly remixed version of the Indiana Pacers. To that effort, they have two players they seem genuinely committed to: Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis. Rookie lottery pick Noa Essengue got hurt and has barely played, but he’s still so much of a mystery box that he’s likely untouchable. Everyone else is probably on the table, and there are plenty of players who might appeal to better teams.
Everyone seems to want Ayo Dosunmu, who is playing the best basketball of his career and capable on both ends of the court. Of course, the Bulls could just re-sign him in free agency this offseason, so there’s no imperative to trade him. A Coby White deal feels likelier, as he is also an impending free agent in the midst of a down year. Anyone looking for a starting-caliber scoring guard with a low cap figure, like the Timberwolves and Clippers, would probably be interested. Nikola Vučević is the last big name here, but his pricey cap figure makes a trade difficult.
The Bulls have a history of trading veterans for young players rather than picks. They turned Alex Caruso into Giddey and Lonzo Ball into Isaac Okoro. Therefore, don’t be surprised if they seek out more recent first-round picks struggling with their current teams. This is part of why Minnesota is such a popular Coby White destination. Rob Dillingham would be a very Chicago acquisition.
Charlotte Hornets
A core has seemingly developed here. LaMelo Ball is playing his way out of trade talks. Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel are untouchable. You can pry Moussa Diabaté out of Charlotte’s cold, dead hands. The idea for now would seemingly be to clear out brush. There are a lot of veterans making meaningful money here that probably won’t be part of the Charlotte team that’s trying to contend in a few years.
The biggest name is Miles Bridges, and there is such a lack of forwards on the trade market that he’d still likely fetch a decent offer despite limitations as a shooter and defender. He puts up counting stats, but the on-off data is pretty clear that the Hornets are better when he rests. One first-round pick is probably the right ballpark. Josh Green, making around mid-level money next season, could probably net a second-rounder or two. Collin Sexton’s cap figure might be too high, but keep an eye on the Clippers, who need another bench scorer and have second-rounders to spare.
This Charlotte front office has been very eager to liquidate veterans for draft picks when they aren’t in their long-term plans. They did it with P.J. Washington, Mark Williams and Terry Rozier. They won’t hesitate to move those veterans for good offers, and their balance sheet is long enough to take on longer-term money if needed. With more than $14 million in room below the luxury-tax line, the Hornets have plenty of flexibility to work with.
Brooklyn Nets
There are two sides to Brooklyn’s seller status: talent and money. Michael Porter Jr. is maybe the most desirable player on the market right now. He’s having an All-Star-caliber breakout season as Brooklyn’s top option, but his time in Denver proved he’s capable of playing a smaller role as well. Any contender looking for shooting at the forward spot should be in the mix for his services. He’s worth multiple valuable assets at this stage. Nic Claxton isn’t quite as valuable, but on a descending-salary contract and with Day’Ron Sharpe impressing as his backup, he’d surely generate interest from the many teams looking for a long-term big man (Pacers, Celtics, Lakers etc…).
But Brooklyn’s other selling point as a seller is its cap space. The Nets have around $15 million or so in space below the cap and nearly $50 million in room below the luxury tax. That makes the Nets the ultimate deadline facilitator. Anyone who wants to shed some salary or needs a third team to make the financials work on a deal is probably starting with Brooklyn. The Nets should be able to use that space to extract even more draft capital before the deadline.
Keep in mind, though, that the Nets don’t control their own 2027 first-round pick. Houston has it. The Nets are probably planning to try to be competitive next season. That might mean keeping their veterans if no viable offers come along. The need to tank this year is significant without control over next year’s pick, but teams can always find reasons to shut players down if needed. The Nets have a history of declining good trades in the name of waiting for great ones. Don’t expect to swipe their players for a bargain.
Washington Wizards
Washington ironically acted as a buyer already at this deadline, trading nothing but cap relief to the Hawks for Trae Young. Aside from Young, there are literally only three players left on the roster above the age of 25. Marvin Bagley and Anthony Gill aren’t netting much, so don’t think of the Wizards as a player-centric seller.
They are, however, an obvious cap facilitator. Washington has almost $30 million in room below the luxury tax and even with Young, is looking at around $50 million in cap space next offseason. They can afford to not only help teams save money this season, but take on longer-term deals for a draft pick premium. Khris Middleton, making $33 million on an expiring deal, is the obvious name to move in such an arrangement. If he isn’t traded, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get bought out, either. Washington bought out Marcus Smart over the summer, so it’s something the Wizards are prepared to do situationally.
With Young in place, the Wizards probably want to take a step next season. Bad salary might not bother them much if it’s attached to a good player. There’s room for the Wizards to get extra draft capital and improve their roster moving forward.
Milwaukee Bucks
Look, by now, you’re surely familiar with the ongoing Giannis Antetokounmpo-induced dilemma going on in Milwaukee. The Bucks won’t trade him until he asks them to. He, at least to this point, is not known to have asked them to. They should have traded him over the summer. They should have traded him earlier in the season. Giannis hurt his calf last week. And at this point, the Bucks are probably best-served waiting until the summer, when more teams are financially flexible and have access to an extra year’s worth of draft picks.
But Antetokounmpo isn’t the only bit of business Milwaukee can take care of this deadline. There would probably be interest in Bobby Portis from frontcourt needy teams, and whether the Bucks are going into a rebuild or retooling around Antetokounmpo over the summer, a high-level third big man is probably a luxury this team can no longer justify. He’s not getting a first-round pick at this stage of his career, but multiple second rounders seems reasonable. Gary Trent Jr. hasn’t been the massive value the Bucks assumed when they nabbed him for the minimum two summers ago, but his cap figure is so low that someone in need of depth would surely give up some second-round capital for him as well. The Bucks also have around $14 million in room below the luxury-tax line, so they could help someone save money for draft picks if the right deal comes along.
There are bigger post-Giannis questions to be answered here. There would probably be interest in Myles Turner and Ryan Rollins from other teams, but that would have to wait until Antetokounmpo gets moved. If he does get traded before the deadline though? It’s open season on this roster.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Trae Young trade set the market for Ja Morant. If there were a first-round pick or a good younger player out there for him, well, we’d probably know it by now. If the Grizzlies are trading Morant, it’s probably going to be some variety of cap dump. With two years of max salary left on his contract, a lengthy injury history and declining numbers, it’s just hard to imagine him generating much substantial positive value. Either the Grizzlies are ready to cut ties and accept that, or they’ll bring him back and try again to rehab his value.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is a much more complicated case. There would likely be substantial interest in his services. Big men who can protect the basket and shoot 3s are rare. Even on a hefty extension starting next season, there would be several teams interested in Jackson. He’d likely command something in the neighborhood of the Desmond Bane price if Memphis agreed to move him: several first-round picks, and maybe even more if the Grizzlies took back bad salary. Detroit is the obvious potential suitor. Golden State made a lot of sense before Jimmy Butler got hurt. The Lakers probably need the added pick flexibility the offseason provides. A sleeper that makes some sense, given its defense-first philosophy and need for shooting, would be Portland.
The Grizzlies are tricky to project because there’s not a fixed direction here. Do they want to tear it all down? Get off of Morant but otherwise stay competitive with Jackson? Or is there a path to reconciliation with Morant? There’s no obvious organizational directive, so the Grizzlies could go in a number of directions here.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks are in a pretty interesting position. The obvious reason to trade Anthony Davis was to initiate a tank. Dallas controls its first-round pick this year, and then doesn’t again until 2031. However, Davis getting hurt sort of solved that organically. The Mavericks will be bad enough to play the lottery. So what is the goal from there?
With Davis and Kyrie Irving coming back next season, the Mavericks have a chance to be pretty good. Does that have value to Dallas? Is getting Cooper Flagg playoff reps early a priority? If so, it would be hard to justify trading players like Daniel Gafford and Naji Marshall, whom other teams want but would be important for the Mavericks next season. Marshall might be justifiable given Dallas’ wing depth, but Gafford is pretty important in light of the injuries Davis and Dereck Lively have dealt with. Dallas went from too many big men to not enough healthy ones pretty quickly.
But if the goal is just to prioritize Flagg’s prime and setting the team up for success two or three years from now? Yea, Gafford could net a first-round pick from the center-needy teams and Marshall might even be able to get a late one as well. A Davis trade is probably off of the table for now. His wrist injury probably precludes serious interest from contenders. But that is a topic Dallas will surely revisit over the summer.
Utah Jazz
The player pool here is pretty small. Jusuf Nurkić is a nice backup center, but at around $19 million in salary, he only really makes sense if someone is dumping a bigger contract to get him. Svi Mykhailiuk is having a very nice shooting season, but has such a cheap contract with multiple non-guaranteed years that the Jazz would likely be happy just to keep him in the fold moving forward.
The Jazz, like the Wizards and Nets, are a very likely facilitator. Utah has almost $44 million in luxury-tax room, but more importantly, it has a giant $18.4 million trade exception left over from the John Collins trade that it can use to absorb a contract from another team. That’s probably the most valuable cap-dumping mechanism on the market right now. Depending on the contract in question, it’s not unreasonable to think the Jazz could get a first-round pick to take on the right deal.
By all accounts, the Jazz plan to be competitive next year. They’ve had to work hard just to try to ensure they keep their first-round pick this year, which goes to Oklahoma City if it doesn’t fall in the top eight. Between a returning Walker Kessler, the breakout of Keyonte George and several other promising players on rookie deals, the Jazz are ready to start winning. That probably takes a Lauri Markkanen deal off of the table at this point.
Sacramento Kings
Let’s get this out of the way quickly: it doesn’t seem like there’s interest in the big-name guards. No one seems interested in paying Zach LaVine the max next year, or taking on the $10 million guaranteed to an aging DeMar DeRozan. Malik Monk has two more years left on his deal, and that’s scaring possible trade partners off.
There are two interesting names to watch here. Obviously, Domantas Sabonis is one of them. His defensive vulnerabilities cap his value to an extent, but teams with strong defense elsewhere, like Toronto or Golden State, could talk themselves into him as an offensive hub. He’s still an elite rebounder with a whole range of valuable offensive functions. There’s probably an offer out there of at least one first-round pick, perhaps multiple if bad money is going the other way (such as Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl).
The other notable name here is Keon Ellis. He’s headed for free agency this offseason and the Kings have bizarrely underutilized him, but he’s a ferocious defensive guard that makes his 3s. In other words, he’s someone the entire league could use, and he’s making roughly the minimum this year. That means most teams can trade for him. The Kings are said to want a first-round pick, so it seems as though whoever coughs up the best one is going to be able to nab him.
The Kings are a teardown. Keegan Murray is the only player on the team they seem committed to keeping. They’ll be picking at the top of the draft for a few years now, and until they have a foundation, it seems as though basically everyone should be available.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans have players available at seemingly every price point. Want to pay a king’s ransom for a high-level difference-maker? Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, locked into team-friendly long-term deals at the league’s scarcest position, are here. Murphy is a burgeoning All-Star scorer with a rare combination of shooting and athleticism. Jones can defend basically anyone on the planet. You’re not getting either without a hefty package of draft picks, and even then, the Pelicans might just keep them. But these are players virtually everyone wants, and it doesn’t seem as though they’re entirely off of the table.
Looking for more modest additions? Jose Alvarado is a great defensive guard that holds his own on offense is making a pittance at $4.5 million. Whichever team swipes him for a handful of second-round picks will be better off for it. Yves Missi is a promising young center with two years left on his rookie deal. He’s shown flashes in New Orleans and would seemingly do even better playing for a more competent organization. Someone is going to get good value on him as well.
The Pelicans are one of the hardest teams in the league to read. Nobody seems to have a clue what the long-term vision is. They’ve acted as though they’re swatting Zion Williamson offers away left and right, and yes, he has played well, but there’s no world in which he and Derik Queen are viable together defensively. This team badly needs shooting. Oh, and the Hawks have their first-round pick in June. Until we have a better sense of what the Pelicans are actually planning, everyone but rookies Queen and Jeremiah Fears should be viewed as gettable.
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