NBA Rumors: D'Angelo Russell, Andre Drummond, Marcus Morris Among Best Players That Might Be Traded

The first big trade of the 2019-2020 NBA season was executed Tuesday night when the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets came together for a reported 12-player deal. A few more significant moves could be on the horizon with Thursday’s deadline approaching.

Robert Covington and Clint Capela were the best players included in the blockbuster trade. A few names that have been All-Stars in recent seasons are at the center of trade rumors. Starters that are having career years are also available.

Here are the five best players that could be traded by the 2020 NBA trade deadline.

D’Angelo Russell, Golden State Warriors

The Timberwolves’ pursuit of Russell is looking like it’s probably going to be a failure this season, though the team still has time to improve its offer. The Warriors want an unprotected 2021 first-round draft pick in the deal, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor. The Timberwolves are offering their 2020 first-rounder (possibly with protections) and the Brooklyn Nets 2020 first-rounder, which they just acquired in the recent four-team trade.

A year after Russell made the All-Star team and led Brooklyn to the playoffs, the point guard has been just as good with Golden State. He’s averaging 23.8 points, 6.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 32 games. Russell is attempting 9.8 threes per game and making 38.3% of those shots.

Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons

Drummond is certainly available with the Pistons 5.5 games behind the East’s No.8 seed, and Detroit’s asking price doesn’t appear to be very high. The center has a $28.75 million player option for next season, which is the final year of his contract. Atlanta reportedly had discussions about Drummond before trading for Capela. There’s been speculation that the Los Angeles Clippers might be interested as they search for a center.

Drummond leads the NBA with 15.8 rebounds per game. The two-time All-Star is averaging career-highs with 17.5 points and 2.0 steals per game to go along with 2.8 assists and 1.7 blocks. The 26-year-old has played on one winning team in eight seasons.

Marcus Morris, New York Knicks

New York appeared likely to keep Morris, intending to sign him to a long-term contract extension this summer. The Knicks fired team president Steve Mills, seemingly becoming more open to the idea of trading the veteran. The Clippers have been linked to Morris for weeks, potentially ready to trade Moe Harkless and their 2020 first-rounder for the forward. The 30-year-old could also make sense for the Los Angeles Lakers. New York has spoken with L.A. about Kyle Kuzma, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Morris has been one of the few bright spots on a terrible Knicks’ team, leading New York with 19.6 points per game and competing on the defensive end. The free-agent-to-be is shooting 43.9% on 6.1 three-point attempts per game.

Andre Iguodala, Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis acquired Iguodala for the purpose of trading him. The Grizzlies insist they won’t buy out Iguodala, who reportedly wants to play in Los Angeles. The Clippers can beat the Lakers’ offer since the Lakers have no first-rounders to trade after acquiring Anthony Davis. The Rockets were interested in Iguodala before trading for Covington.

Even though Iguodala hasn’t played all season, he could end up swinging the Western Conference playoffs. The former NBA Finals champion would be able to defend LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard better than most in the playoffs. When he last played, Iguodala averaged 9.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in the 2019 NBA Finals.

Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves

If Minnesota is able to land Russell, it’ll be Wiggins that goes to Golden State. Sources have told The Ringer that Wiggins has been involved in every trade scenario discussed between the Timberwolves and Warriors. Wiggins is owed $94.7 million over three years following this season, making his contract one that would allow a trade with Golden State to work.

Wiggins is averaging 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. The No.1 overall pick in the 2014 draft is widely considered to have one of the worst contracts in the NBA. Wiggins is a career 33.2% three-point shooter and has never posted a PER higher than 16.62. He’s 113th among 129 shooting guard’s in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus rankings.