Five NBA Teams Likeliest To Push Panic Button Ahead Of February 9 Trade Deadline

The 2022-23 NBA season has seen some unique surprises, but with a few teams underachieving in their current state, it would not be all that surprising to see them make some changes ahead of the February 9 trade deadline.

Here are five teams that could engage in a trade.

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks, as a whole, are in an unenviable position as of late as their star point guard Trae Young has been embroiled in a battle with the front office and with head coach Nate McMillan, plus the uncertainty of John Collins' future could have them exploring scenarios soon.

The offseason allowed them to steal away both Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs and Aaron Holiday from the Phoenix Suns to bolster their offensive capabilities while also adding depth pieces in Justin Holiday and Moe Harkless by trading Kevin Huerter.

However, the flow of the season has not been in their favor as they are currently 9th in the East–good for a play-in seed.

Collins is still their biggest trade asset available and if another franchise can offer them a decent return, it is very likely they let go of him and the remainder of his five-year, $125 million deal which amounts to around $78.5 million until the 2025-26 offseason.

Atlanta is simply too talented of a team not to make waves in the trade or buyout market and is expected to be one of the noisier teams ahead of the deadline.

Chicago Bulls

Another team that was seemingly poised for greatness this season, the Chicago Bulls have been treading water alongside the Atlanta Hawks with a 17-21 record – good for 10th in the East and a play-in seed.

"Chi-Town" entered the season with high hopes after making the postseason last year for the first time since 2017, though crashed and burned at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks after acquiring DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball.

However, another deflating knee injury to Ball has the Bulls underperforming at a time when they are supposed to be streaking after re-signing Zach LaVine to a max deal and bringing in Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic for depth.

None of it has worked out thus far and with LaVine reportedly questioning his role in Chicago, there might be a need for the front office to shake things up.

Los Angeles Clippers

It would be tempting to put their crosstown rival Los Angeles Lakers in this spot, but with their lack of assets alongside their dilemma of being so far out of the play-in picture, it makes more sense to put the Los Angeles Clippers here.

Having a team anchored by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George should make the Clippers an instant threat in the West, but the fact is that the other 29 teams are unafraid to go after them since the two stars have rarely played together.

Out of a possible 318 regular season games with the Clippers, the pair only suited up together for 94 of them according to StatMuse.

The Clippers were able to keep key pieces Robert Covington and Nicolas Batum on the team while adding the likes of Moses Brown and John Wall in the offseason, though they did lose backup center Isaiah Hartenstein and Rodney Hood then.

With them being deep in the red zone of the cap space and with few tradeable assets, the Clippers need to delve deep into the buyout market and get their pieces there.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves were one of the major players in the 2022 offseason as they struck a deal with the Utah Jazz to bring Rudy Gobert into the fold in order to provide Karl-Anthony Towns some much-needed help inside the paint.

They also brought in Kyle Anderson, Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes to help round out their roster depth in the hopes of having a deeper playoff run this time around.

However, this season has proven that the "Twin Towers" pairing is not working up to snuff as they are currently on the outside looking in on the play-in picture with just an 11th seed to show for it.

Granted Towns being on the shelf has not helped their case, a core of Gobert, D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards should have been enough to keep them afloat, but it just has not been the case for them.

Currently, Minnesota can still get their house in order by netting a more reliable small forward in the buyout market as Jaden McDaniels still needs a lot of polish in his game overall.

Phoenix Suns

Much has been said about the Phoenix Suns' surprisingly injury-plagued season thus far and it is only expected to continue after losing their fourth-straight game.

Keeping Deandre Ayton on the squad was a massive plus for them since he is still their franchise cornerstone at the center position while also bringing back Bismack Biyombo into the fold alongside trading for Jock Landale kept them strong in the position.

They also added Damion Lee and Josh Okogie to bolster their guard and forward depths respectively, but the sudden issue of Jae Crowder asking for a trade has severely hampered the team from reaching their full potential.

Add in the untimely injuries to Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Cameron Payne and newly-christened starting forward Cameron Johnson, their struggles to be a top team this season suddenly makes sense.

The Suns' window to win now is related deeply to Paul's health and production on the floor and getting a piece to complement the roster with a tough-nosed forward in either the buyout or trade market will surely put them back on the right track.