NBA Daily: Trade Watch: Southeast Division

The NBA season is still young. Roughly 1/5^th of the way through the regular season, the top teams in the Eastern Conference appear to have settled in. Due to the coaching change and the continued improvement of Giannis Antetokounmpo, among other things, the Milwaukee Bucks have absolutely worked their way into that top group of teams. While the top of the pecking order has become clearer, so too has the grouping of teams on the lower end of the rankings.

Right now, the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets currently find themselves as the seventh and eighth seed with respectable records out of the Southeast Division. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks have quickly found their place among the league’s bottom dwellers and are more focused on player development than making this year’s postseason. For the Miami HEAT and Washington Wizards, the playoffs are not an impossible goal but each team is facing its own challenges. With all of this in mind, here are some potential trade candidates for the Southeast Division.

Orlando Magic – Terrence Ross and Nikola Vucevic

The Orlando Magic are playing surprisingly good basketball right now. Before getting too optimistic, the Magic got off to a hot start last season before quickly coming back down to earth and finishing far outside the postseason picture. So long as Orlando is in the hunt for a playoff seed, the franchise might hesitate to change things up with a trade. However, should the team ultimately look to shake things up, Terrence Ross presents an interesting trade candidate.

Ross’s salary is a relative bargain ($10 million) for a capable wing. Ross can score in bunches, is hitting over 40 percent on three-point attempts and isn’t a disaster on defense. Ross is also set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and may not figure into the team’s long-term plans. Flipping Ross’ expiring deal for some sort of asset could be a plus for the Magic.

Count Nikola Vucevic as another player on an expiring contract who doesn’t exactly fit the team’s long-term plans since Mo Bamba is slotted to be the center of the future. However, Vucevic is the team’s leading scorer and ranks second in individual net rating while Bamba is still quite raw and inexperienced. Trading Vucevic for any kind of future assets would indicate the team has shifted into tanking mode for the year, so don’t expect a deal for Vucevic to potentially materialize until we get closer to February.

Charlotte Hornets – Nicolas Batum

The Charlotte Hornets, like the Magic, have not had a lot of playoff success over the past few years. And like the Magic, should they continue to stay in the playoff hunt, they are more likely to hesitate to disrupt team chemistry with a trade.

However, this franchise does sport an expensive roster with limited flexibility. Should the opportunity ever arise, the Hornets should not hesitate to move Nicolas Batum. Batum is far and away the largest contract on the books and isn’t likely to come off until the 2020-21 season, assuming he exercises his player option. Batum’s numbers have dipped quite a bit and, while it’s still early in the season, this could become worrisome should the trend continue.

Despite being a negative asset overall, the possibility of getting off his contract would make giving up significant draft compensation and/or a promising young player worthwhile. This issue is even more pressing with Kemba Walker due for a huge pay raise from his current pay ($12 million).

Miami HEAT – Justise Winslow

There was a point in the offseason when the Miami HEAT reportedly made Josh Richardson available to the Minnesota Timberwolves in early Jimmy Butler trade talks. With the way Richardson has been playing of late, the idea of the HEAT trading him feels like a distant memory. Richardson has had a career year so far and likely isn’t even close to hitting his potential.

For now, Justise Winslow presents a more realistic trade candidate. Winslow, the 10^th overall pick in 2015, has not lived up to the lofty expectations placed on him. He has been a contributing player and has occasional flashes of brilliance. His per-36 averages have been fairly consistent the past few years but he doesn’t appear to be taking any significant steps forward in his development. The HEAT haven’t shown any urgency in moving on from Winslow, but Miami would likely move him for a decent offer. For a team unable to secure dynamic talent elsewhere, the possibility of developing Winslow further might be worth the cost.

Washington Wizards – John Wall, Otto Porter and Bradley Beal

The Washington Wizards have run back the same core of players for several years hoping for a breakthrough at some point. That breakthrough has yet to happen and now tensions are reportedly running high in Washington. As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN recently reported, Washington is now open to the idea of blowing up its roster and moving John Wall and/or Bradley Beal in a trade.

Otto Porter is essentially locked in around $27 million a year until 2020-21. Meanwhile, John Wall’s supermax contract kicks in next season and can run until 2022-23 (last year player option). Both players are highly productions but their respective contracts are massive. Should an opportunity come (unlikely but not impossible) to trade either, look for Washington to jump at the opportunity to help clear their books. Trading either player could be quite costly for the Wizards depending on what kind of assets they would have to attach to move either expensive player.

Beal is arguably the most attractive trade target of these three players. Based on recent reports, Beal is frustrated with the situation in Washington and probably would be opposed to being moved in a deal. However, Washington is going to demand a big return for Beal, so he may not be on the move any time soon.

Atlanta Hawks – Kent Bazemore

The Atlanta Hawks sit at the bottom of the Southeast Division, are only game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference and have fallen well outside of the playoff picture. While prospects for this season area already bleak in mid-November there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of rookie Trae Young. Young is showing off his dynamic skill set and is giving Hawks’ fans reason to be excited about his future. However, with a shift in focus to young prospects like Young, there is less of a need for competent veterans.

Kent Bazemore is a solid forward who can contribute on both ends of the court. This year, his three-point shooting has been off the mark as he is a few points below his career average. Regardless, he is scoring at a career-high clip and could be a useful player for a playoff contender in need of help on the wing. Bazemore has a big annual salary ($18 million) but he is good enough that a team desperate for help on the wing could get creative and swing a deal with Atlanta. A team like the Houston Rockets could use a player like Bazemore and has a few contracts and assets that could make a deal possible.

For now, the trade deadline is still a few months away and most teams don’t have a pressing need to make a move. The Southeast Division has a few teams that are in playoff contention, which may suppress an appetite for making a move. A deal for any of these players may not happen immediately but they could be on the move at some point before the February trade deadline.