4 NBA Players Who Will Likely Be Traded in 2019
By Chris Pyo
The NBA is a business, and teams need to make decisions that will help them for the future. Meanwhile, star players are becoming increasingly less patient with developing franchises, and oft try to force their organization's hand with trade requests. With that in mind, here are four players who will likely be traded either before or during the 2019-20 NBA season.
1. Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
Kevin Love has been there for the Cavaliers through thick and thin, from that glorious 2016 NBA Finals to one of the most putrid seasons in Cavs history this past season. Now, as the Cavs commence with their rebuilding process, there's no place for a 31-year-old veteran who's making just under 30 million dollars this year. There are definitely a couple of teams with enough cap space to absorb Love into their system and find a use for the five-time NBA All-Star.
2. Andre Iguodala, Memphis Grizzlies
It's pretty much set in stone that Iguodala will have his trade request fulfilled by the Grizzlies. After being traded to Memphis as the sacrificial lamb to make the D'Angelo Russell trade work financially for the Warriors, things hit a snafu. The Grizzlies initially wanted Iguodala to stay with them, while Iggy had no intention of doing so and was expecting to be bought out. New reports suggest that both sides are on the same page, and Iguodala will be traded as soon as the Grizzlies can work out a trade.
3. Danilo Gallinari, Oklahoma City Thunder
Gallinari was traded from the Clippers to the Oklahoma City Thunder to facilitate the Paul George trade, and there's really no reason for the Thunder to keep him. While he's a serviceable player and averaged nearly 20 points for the Clippers, he's an unrestricted free agent after this year with a monster contract, and the Thunder (yes, even with Chris Paul still on the roster) should be entering a full-fledged rebuild after this year. If Gallinari has no intent on sticking it out in Oklahoma City, the Thunder need to trade him instead of taking the risk of losing him in free agency without getting anything back.
4. Kris Dunn, Chicago Bulls
The Bulls point guard finds himself in a terrible spot surrounded by a myriad of other point guards, including Tomas Satoransky, newly-drafted Coby White, and even Zach LaVine, at least whenever Jim Boylen feels like inserting him at the PG spot. With all of this competition around him, it's no surprise that Dunn hasn't been able to blossom in the NBA as quickly as some of his counterparts from the 2016 draft class, and Chicago needs to find a way to offload him soon.