The February 5 trade deadline came and went, but it didn’t really close the market. It just moved the biggest conversations to the summer, where the rules are looser, the pick packages get cleaner, and teams have time to digest what they actually are.
This ranking is not “best players who could theoretically be traded.” It’s the mix of real reporting, contract pressure, team direction, and plain logic. Some names are in the eye of the storm. Others are more about the chessboard: a team that needs to pivot, and a contract that forces a decision.
Here are the 10 stars I’d circle first when the 2026 offseason starts.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most likely star to move in the 2026 offseason because the league has already reached the stage where concrete frameworks were discussed ahead of the trade deadline.
On January 28, Shams Charania reported that Antetokounmpo was “ready for a new home” either at the February 5, 2026 deadline or in the offseason, and that the Bucks were beginning to listen as multiple teams presented aggressive offers. Charania also identified the primary suitors as the Heat, Warriors, Knicks, and Timberwolves, which signaled that the interest was not speculative and that legitimate packages were being explored.
As deadline day approached, the reporting remained consistent that the Bucks retained control of the timeline. On February 5, Charania reported that the Bucks would keep Antetokounmpo through the deadline. ESPN’s deadline reaction coverage treated the situation as unresolved rather than concluded, with an emphasis on the offseason as the next practical window for a transaction of this scale.
More reporting supported that framing. During deadline week, Marc Stein wrote that the Warriors believed they had a real opportunity to acquire Antetokounmpo before the deadline, while still acknowledging that an offseason deal remained the more realistic pathway if the Bucks declined to act in-season.
The outcome is straightforward: no trade occurred by February 5. The projection into the offseason is equally direct. Once a top insider reports that a player is “ready for a new home” and a short list of engaged suitors is established, the matter typically shifts to the summer, when teams can construct larger draft packages, manage salary matching more cleanly, and the Bucks can evaluate their direction without the constraints of the deadline calendar.
2. Ja Morant
Ja Morant remains a top-tier offseason trade candidate because the deadline established two realities at once: the Grizzlies explored the market, and the market did not meet their bar on February 5, 2026.
The clearest “what changed” reporting came immediately after the buzzer. On February 6, Joe Vardon reported for The Athletic that the Grizzlies’ lack of a deadline deal was “not considered a reversal of course” and that the organization still intends to trade Morant in the summer. Yahoo Sports echoed the same theme in its post-deadline coverage, framing the plan as an offseason push after the deadline market failed to produce the return the Grizzlies wanted.
On the leverage side, Brian Windhorst sharpened the explanation on Get Up. In the clip posted on February 6, 2026, Windhorst said Morant had what teams refer to as “negative value” in the context of trade talks, explaining that teams were not willing to take on Morant’s deal unless the Grizzlies also attached draft compensation. That is not a comment about Morant’s talent. It is a comment about risk, money, and the fact that contenders did not want to commit major assets in-season without stronger certainty.
From an offseason-ranking perspective, this is exactly the profile that often moves in July. The Grizzlies can wait for a cleaner market, buyers can construct larger pick packages, and the league has more time to reconcile the upside with the financial and availability concerns that depressed February offers. The reporting out of deadline week points in the same direction: Morant did not move on February, but the situation did not close.
3. Domantas Sabonis
Domantas Sabonis ranks this high because the Kings reached the point in deadline week where rival front offices were discussing an identifiable structure, but the deal never cleared the final hurdles by February 5.
On February 4, Michael Scotto reported that trade talks between the Kings and Raptors involving Sabonis had “paused.” Scotto’s reporting attached real framework details, including RJ Barrett and Ochai Agbaji as components on the Kings side, and it noted that the broader mechanics were complicated by the need to route Jakob Poeltl to a third team and the level of first-round pick compensation required to complete that part of the structure.
In parallel, Marc Stein wrote that the Kings were seeking first-round draft capital in any Sabonis deal, which aligns with an organization treating this as more than a theoretical conversation. The combination of those two reports is the key signal for an offseason ranking: the Kings were not simply taking calls, they were attached to a specific buyer type and a specific return threshold, and the negotiation was deep enough to reach the “package construction” stage.
Sabonis’ production still supports top-end demand. He is averaging 15.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 2025-26. For teams that want an offensive hub at center, the fit is straightforward, particularly because his game scales without requiring a guard-heavy system.
The Kings ultimately held him, but the reporting around the stalled framework is precisely why he remains a credible summer candidate. When a deadline deal pauses over pick cost, third-team logistics, and salary routing, those are the exact issues that often get revisited once the offseason opens and teams can build larger, cleaner constructions.
4. Draymond Green
Draymond Green is an offseason name because he was treated as real salary ballast in the biggest sweepstakes of deadline week, and that is not the kind of toothpaste teams put back in the tube.
On February 4, Marc Stein wrote that a Giannis Antetokounmpo deal “could require saying a painful goodbye” to Green, explicitly positioning him as the core contract that would have to be moved to make the math work. In the same deadline window, ESPN reported that Green was part of the Warriors’ offer frameworks to the Bucks in the Giannis discussions, even though the talks never gained serious traction.
Green also addressed it publicly after the deadline. In postgame comments, he said the conversations with the front office around a Giannis scenario made the rumors feel “real,” and he described the basic salary-matching reality that either he or another large contract would have to be included.
Then came the organizational pushback. On February 7, Warriors decision-makers publicly denied that Green was being shopped, emphasizing that calls around veteran players are common and do not necessarily reflect active intent to move them.
The offseason implication is equally clear. Once a franchise pillar is publicly connected to a superstar framework, with ª Antetokounmpo openly available on the summer, it becomes easier for rival teams to test the market in July, especially if the Warriors revisit a consolidation Giannis move after the season.
5. Karl-Anthony Towns
During the deadline cycle, Steve Popper reported that the Knicks had held trade discussions involving Karl-Anthony Towns with the Hornets, Magic, and Grizzlies. That report was dated on January, and it was widely recirculated during deadline week.
Separately, Sam Amick reported that Towns had “hard feelings” tied to his name being involved in prior superstar trade conversations, and that those feelings “remain to this day,” per team sources.
If you want the clean, deadline-week takeaway for an offseason-trade ranking, it is this: the Knicks were not simply shutting down inquiries. Towns’ name was in enough real conversations, with enough credible sourcing, to create internal sensitivity. Once a star learns his market is being tested, even passively, it becomes harder to fully reset that relationship, especially if the team’s season ends short of expectations.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo potentially in play again this summer, and the Knicks being framed as a recent suitor, Towns makes this list as the clearest salary matching took for the Knicks in the offseason.
6. Zion Williamson
The pre-deadline posture from the Pelicans was clear, and it came from a top insider. On January 9, Chris Haynes reportedthe Pelicans were telling teams they would not trade Zion Williamson or several other core pieces through the trade deadline. The deadline then passed without a deal, which is why Williamson becomes a more realistic offseason candidate than an in-season one.
The standings context strengthens that logic. Now, the Pelicans sit 14th in the West at 14–40, which keeps them in a position where the offseason is the cleanest moment to choose a true direction. When teams are that far down the table, they generally stop prioritizing “marginal upgrades” and start prioritizing clarity.
The other key thread is the leaguewide belief that Williamson’s market may not require months of negotiation. In reporting attributed to Brett Siegel (ClutchPoints), one league source described the Pelicans as prepared to accept the “first decent, reasonable offer” that arrives for Williamson. If that premise holds, the offseason matters because the pool of “reasonable offers” is simply larger in July than it is on a February deadline clock.
There is also buyer-side smoke that fits your framework. Josh Robbins of The Athletic reported in January 2026 that “league sources speculated” the Wizards would have to consider Williamson “if the price is right,” using the idea of a low-cost distressed-asset swing as the template. And even after the deadline, Williamson stayed in the inquiry lane: Joe Cowley reporting indicated the Bulls had recently checked in on Williamson’s availability.
Put together, the picture is straightforward. The Pelicans resisted deadline pressure, but the record, the repeated buyer curiosity, and the “reasonable offer” framing point to the offseason as the primary inflection point for Williamson’s future.
7. DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan is an offseason trade candidate primarily because deadline week clarified the Kings’ posture: they viewed him as a tradeable contract, not a buyout case.
On February 4, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported that if DeRozan remained with the Kings past the deadline, the team had “zero plans” to pursue a buyout and had not held buyout discussions with his side. Slater also noted DeRozan is owed $25.7 million in 2026-27, which helps explain why a buyout was never a clean solution for either side.
At the same time, reporting around the deadline framed DeRozan as a player whose contract could still be routed in a summer deal. Brett Siegel wrote that a DeRozan buyout would be costly and pointed to earlier Kings discussions with the Clippers involving a DeRozan package that ultimately did not materialize.
The deadline outcome was simple: DeRozan stayed with the Kings through February 5, 2026. The offseason angle follows logically from the same reporting. If the Kings decide to reshape the roster, DeRozan is more useful as a tradable mid-sized contract than as a buyout discussion, and July is when teams can build cleaner multi-player constructions and attach draft value without the midseason clock.
8. Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard is a legitimate offseason trade candidate because the Clippers’ deadline actions created an unavoidable follow-up question: what is the long-term plan with Leonard at the center of the project.
The roster context changed sharply in the final days before February. The Clippers traded James Harden to the Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, a clear signal of a timeline pivot. They also moved Ivica Zubac to the Pacers for a package that included Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, and multiple picks. When a team trades away that level of immediate production at the deadline, the league reads it as a structural decision, not a minor adjustment.
That is why the post-deadline reporting around Leonard matters. In reporting published by Chris Haynes, Leonard and the Clippers are expected to meet in the offseason to evaluate their future together. Haynes also reported that the Clippers did not engage in serious deadline discussions involving Leonard, which frames this more as an offseason evaluation than a sudden midseason breakup.
The logic for a summer move is straightforward. Leonard remains a top-end playoff player when healthy, but the Clippers now have clearer incentives to assess flexibility, age curve, and roster construction after shedding major pieces around him. A decision point like this rarely stays quiet once it is publicly established. If the Clippers decide the next version of the roster should be built without Leonard, the offseason is the cleanest window to execute it.
9. Donovan Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell is on the 2026 offseason trade board because the Cavaliers’ deadline approach was framed, directly, as an effort to protect their extension outcome this summer.
In ESPN’s deadline intel piece published on February 3, 2026, Tim Bontemps wrote that the Cavaliers’ interest in a major move was “about another All-Star: Donovan Mitchell,” because the franchise is “facing a huge decision this summer.” Bontemps added the key conditional: if the Cavaliers exit in the first or second round again, “will he be willing to commit to another extension” this summer, and he described that as unlikely.
That is the clearest version of the risk, and it aligns with what Windhorst has been emphasizing in the same deadline window: the Cavaliers understand they cannot drift into an offseason where Mitchell is not fully bought in. ESPN’s post-deadline intel on February 6 reinforced that the Cavaliers were operating with Mitchell’s contract timeline as a primary driver of decision-making.
The reason Mitchell belongs in this ranking is not that a trade is inevitable. It is that the offseason becomes binary once the extension question arrives. If the Cavaliers make a deep run, the pressure eases and an extension becomes plausible. If they fall short again, the league will interpret the summer as a point where the Cavaliers may have to consider a trade rather than risk losing leverage later in the cycle.
10. Zach LaVine
Zach LaVine makes this list because deadline-week reporting made two points clear: the Kings could not find a palatable trade lane by February 5, and LaVine’s contract structure keeps the conversation alive into the summer.
On February 3, Sam Amick reported that LaVine intended to exercise his $48.9 million player option for 2026-27, and added that LaVine was “not expected” to be traded by the deadline. The reason is straightforward: a near-$50 million cap hit is difficult to route in-season without a multi-team build or meaningful incentives.
From a roster-building standpoint, the Kings’ payroll is unusually concentrated for a team that sits bottom of the West, with their top contracts making future-year salary matching harder for potential partners. That is the type of cap pressure that frequently turns into offseason consolidation, when teams can take on longer-term money with more planning and can attach draft compensation without the midseason urgency.
If LaVine opts in for next season, the Kings have a clear expiring deal and can structure a summer trade around teams that want scoring and are willing to treat the contract as a short-term bet. If he opts out, the market changes entirely, but the February reporting strongly pointed toward the opt-in outcome.
The offseason rationale follows from the same reporting: LaVine is expensive, movable with the right structure, and far easier to place in July than in February.
