NBA Trade Rumors: Atlanta's Kent Bazemore Wanted By 'Contending Teams'

Atlanta Hawks wing Kent Bazemore is reportedly attracting interest from a number of "contending teams", according to Mike Stein of the New York Times.

The 29-year-old is currently earning $18 million this season and has a $19.3 million player option for next season, which, given the number of high-profile free agents potentially available next summer, would ideally dissuade teams from using up their cap space on Bazemore.

However, there is still interest in him nonetheless.

"The interest in Bazemore — in addition to the longstanding rumblings about the expiring Hawks contracts of Jeremy Lin ($13.7 million) and Dewayne Dedmon ($7.2 million) — comes even with one more season left on his contract after this one at a heady $19.3 million," Stein wrote. "Which tells you that, in this marketplace, he’s regarded as a difference-maker."

Stein also reported that the contending teams were coveting "a versatile swingman" and previously added that there could be more trades before the end of the season given how tight the Western Conference is.

"There appear to be more buyers than sellers in the marketplace, thanks in part to a Western Conference in which 14 of the 15 teams believe they are in contention for eight playoff spots," Stein explained. "It is a climate which certainly raises the possibility that the most significant deal so far — Philadelphia’s acquisition of Jimmy Butler from Minnesota on Nov. 12 — will go down as the biggest blockbuster we get during the regular season."

A player like Bazemore could certainly help a team reach the playoffs as well as make a deep run during the postseason. The North Carolina native averages 13.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 44.3 percent shooting from the field over 29 games this season.

And while he is arguably overpaid, teams which are not expected to be major players in free agency next summer would likely be willing to absorb his contract in order to make that deep run toward the end of the season.

Who could some of those teams be? The Houston Rockets could be one of them.

Last year's No. 1 seed in the West have underperformed this season and currently have a 15-14 record in 10th place. They have also been looking for a wingman to add to the team ever since the failed Carmelo Anthony experiment and Bazemore would fill the criteria.

However, a trade package would have to include multiple players and a draft pick in order to match Bazemore's salary, especially with the Rockets already in the luxury tax.

The Portland Trail Blazers could be another team interested as they have designs on making a deep run in the playoffs and have also been looking to add an "impact player" to supplement the duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

Whichever team it may be, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Bazemore don a new jersey before the end of the season.