The Trae Young trade was the kind of move that instantly resets the market, and not in the way fans expect. The Hawks moved Young to the Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, and the big takeaway around the league wasn’t “wow, blockbuster,” it was “wait, that’s it?”
Because once a real All-Star goes for a veteran contract and a clean role piece, without the usual avalanche of premium draft capital reported in the framework, every other front office starts doing the math. If that’s the return for a star guard, then a lot of teams are going to look at their own rumored guys and say, “we’re not selling low just to satisfy the timeline.”
Then you get yesterday’s Ja Morant smoke, which only adds to the chaos. Shams Charania reported the Grizzlies are entertaining offers for Morant ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline, and ESPN’s reporting included the detail that Morant has told people around the league he isn’t playing for the Grizzlies anymore. That’s the type of rumor that makes the whole NBA feel like it’s one phone call away from an “I can’t believe they did that” trade.
But here’s the thing, the Young deal is exactly why some of these “constant rumor” stars are about to stay put. Teams just watched what the market is willing to pay when leverage gets messy. And most GMs are not going to be the next headline for dumping an asset and losing the trade in public.
So let’s call it now. These are five stars who will be linked to everything for the next few weeks, and still won’t get moved, because the league just got a loud reminder that selling your star at the deadline usually means getting fleeced.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the easiest “not moving” call on this whole list, even with the Bucks sitting in a rough spot at 17-21 and outside the East play-in picture right now.
First, the basketball: Giannis is still playing like a walking cheat code. He’s putting up 29.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists this season, and he’s doing it on a hilarious 65.0% from the field. He’s also at 40.6% from three (low volume, but still), 65.6% at the line, and a 68.1% true shooting mark. That’s basically “prime Shaq efficiency” with perimeter creation mixed in, which is just unfair.
Now the trade part. The Knicks rumors have hovered since the offseason, because people love connecting stars to big markets the moment a team loses two games in a row. But Giannis finally did the thing stars rarely do: he said the quiet part out loud. He told The Athletic he will never request a trade and he’s “not going anywhere.” That’s not vague “we’ll see” talk. That’s a straight up line in the sand.
And it matters because the Bucks’ front office has been acting like buyers, not sellers. They’ve been linked to stars, and the overall vibe is “add help, fix the season,” not “blow it up.” They’ve already leaned into a roster that screams win-now around him, so pivoting into a Giannis auction in February would be an admission that everything since the title was a waste. I don’t buy it.
Also, the market just got real. The moment teams see a star move for a depressed price, every other front office starts playing chicken. They want the next deal to be cheaper too. That doesn’t work with Giannis. A Giannis trade is the kind of thing that empties your war chest: picks, swaps, young players, the whole fridge. If a team tries to “Trae Young” the Bucks with a light offer, they hang up in five seconds.
Bottom line: Giannis is still a top-tier individual force, he’s publicly committed, and the Bucks don’t behave like a franchise preparing to sell. He stays, and honestly, I think he stays for a long time.
2. Anthony Davis
Before yesterday, I would’ve told you this one felt almost inevitable. The Mavericks are 14-24, their season has been a roller coaster, and Anthony Davis has been the type of name that always sits near the top of “who could get moved” lists because of contract size, timeline questions, and the fact that teams talk themselves into his ceiling every single year.
On the floor, he’s still producing: 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game, plus 1.7 blocks, shooting 50.6% from the field. The impact is obvious when he’s out there. The problem is, that “when” part keeps punching him in the face.
Now the new wrinkle: the left-hand ligament damage. Multiple reports say he could miss months, and there’s even a scenario where he needs surgery. Even if he avoids surgery, he’s expected to miss at least six weeks. That’s basically a trade-killer for a February deadline. No contender is handing over real assets for a star they can’t medically clear or immediately plug into a playoff push.
And the contract stuff makes it even messier. Davis is making $54.1 million this season, with $58.5 million next season, plus a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28. That’s massive money to move even when he’s healthy, because matching salary at that level forces a trade into “multi-player, multi-team, complicated” territory. Add the injury risk on top, and the buyer pool shrinks to basically nothing.
What’s wild is the timing. Reports had Davis in the middle of trade speculation with teams like the Hawks and Raptors sniffing around. And now the Mavericks can’t even sell the idea of a clean Davis gamble, because it’s not just “AD gets hurt sometimes,” it’s “AD is hurt right now, and the timeline is unclear.”
So yeah, I still think the Mavericks will explore moving him eventually. The record is ugly, the fit has never felt stable, and the organization can’t keep living on medical hope. But at this exact deadline, with this exact injury, I don’t see a realistic path. The market just got nuked.
3. Zach LaVine
This is the “they want to trade him, but who’s actually paying?” entry.
Zach LaVine’s individual production is not the issue. He’s at 20.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists this season, shooting 48.7% from the field, 38.8% from three, and 87.6% from the line, with a 62.0% true shooting percentage. That’s efficient scoring. That’s not some washed chucker. If you only watched highlights, you’d think he’d have a strong market.
Then you look at the Kings, and it gets dark fast. They’re 8-30. When a team is that bad, the league starts circling like sharks, but not to pay full price. To steal.
And the contract is the giant flashing red sign. LaVine is on big money, roughly $47.5 million this season with a player option around $49.0 million next year. If a team trades for him, it’s not just “add a scorer,” it’s “commit a huge chunk of the cap to a guy who needs the ball, doesn’t tilt defense, and hasn’t proven he’s a No. 1 on a serious team.” Fair or not, that’s how front offices talk.
You can see the rumor logic, though. Teams like the Bucks have been connected to doing background work on him, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto via Bleacher Report. That’s the exact phrasing that screams: “We’re interested if the price is ugly.” Not “we’re coming with a real offer.”
That’s why I keep coming back to this point about the market shifting. If the league just watched a star situation get settled for a disappointing return, why would anyone suddenly bid hard for LaVine at $47 million? They’ll wait. They’ll push for the Kings to attach sweeteners. They’ll try to turn this into a salary dump.
And here’s my take: the Kings are better off holding him through the deadline unless someone gets desperate. You don’t trade him for peanuts just to feel busy. If the best offer is “expiring money and a role guy,” you keep him, let him keep putting up efficient numbers, and revisit it when the offseason reshuffles the league. A contract can become more tradeable the moment it has fewer years left, or the moment a team misses on its Plan A and starts panicking.
So yeah, I expect the smoke to keep coming. I just don’t think there’s real fire right now.
4. Zion Williamson
Zion Williamson is the funniest rumor guy every year because the logic always starts the same way: “The Pelicans are bad, so surely they’ll trade Zion.” And then reality hits: trading Zion is basically admitting the entire franchise plan failed.
Here’s what matters for this deadline: Chris Haynes reported the Pelicans are telling teams Zion isn’t getting moved, along with Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears. That’s not vague league chatter, that’s a direct report with names attached.
The standings context is brutal, though. The Pelicans are 9-31. That’s the kind of season where fans expect a fire sale, and it’s why the Zion noise keeps spiking. The team also doesn’t control its 2026 first-round pick, which makes “just tank” even messier.
Individually, Zion has still been Zion when he’s actually on the court: 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 57.4% shooting, with 71.2% at the line and a 62.4% true shooting mark. He’s basically a downhill wrecking ball the second he looks healthy enough to play real minutes.
But the problem is always availability. Reports have highlighted him being limited to 24 games (out of 40) due to a hamstring injury and an adductor strain. And that’s the core reason I don’t think they’ll trade him now, even if they wanted to. The league isn’t going to pay “Zion at his peak” value while his injury history sits on the table like an unpaid bill.
So what’s the move? To me, this screams leverage play and value management. You tell teams he’s not available, you try to stabilize the messaging, and you hope he strings together a real stretch that reminds everyone how dominant he can be.
If Zion ever gives you two straight months of “top-10 guy” production, that’s when the Pelicans can even dream about the five-first-rounders type of conversations teams had in other blockbuster deals.
Right now, trading him would be selling low and nuking your own identity. And with Haynes specifically putting it out there that they’re keeping him, I’m taking them at their word for this deadline.
5. LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball is the classic “everyone online wants him traded” star, but the team’s incentives say the opposite.
Start with the season line: LaMelo is at 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 7.9 assists in 28 games, with 41.3% from the field, 37.1% from three, and 87.5% from the line, plus a 54.8% true shooting mark. That’s a lot of offense to create nightly, even if the efficiency swings game to game because of his shot diet.
Now look at the Hornets’ situation. They’re 13-25. Not good, not hopeless, but clearly still in “figuring it out” territory. And that’s exactly why I don’t see them detonating the whole thing right now. When your roster is young and still forming its identity, you don’t dump the one guy who can actually bend defenses without getting a haul that resets the franchise.
The rumors exist for real reasons, though. LaMelo is heliocentric, he needs the ball, and he’s not changing your defense by himself. Those things make “what’s his real ceiling?” a fair question. But the league also just watched how weird the market can get when teams refuse to overpay. If the Hornets trade LaMelo now, there’s a real chance they get a “that’s it?” return, and that’s the kind of scar that lasts years.
I also think the fit stuff is better than people admit. The Hornets have been leaning into youth, and the early vibe with Kon Knueppel has been strong, with reports noting LaMelo has been impressed with him. Add in Brandon Miller as another high-upside scorer, and you can at least see the outline of a real offensive core that grows together instead of constantly restarting.
And even when LaMelo is banged up, you see why they keep him. He dropped 33 points with seven threes in the last game, where he came off the bench due to ankle soreness. That’s the whole LaMelo experience. Chaos, flair, shot-making that swings games.
So yeah, the Hornets will keep getting trade questions, because that’s what happens when you’re under .500 and your best player is a highlight machine. But I think the front office looks at the current market and says, “We’re not doing a discount star trade.” They’re more likely to keep building, try to solve the frontcourt, and see if this trio can actually turn into something before they even consider pressing the nuclear button.
Final Thoughts
This deadline feels like it’s going to have at least one “no way they actually did that” trade, and I’m not even trying to be dramatic. The Morant situation has too much smoke to ignore, and if the Grizzlies are really taking calls, I think it ends with him getting moved, because once a front office opens that door publicly, it’s hard to close it and pretend everything’s normal.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Hawks keep flipping pieces. If Porzingis is sitting there as an expiring, that’s exactly the kind of contract teams love to reroute in February, and they have every reason to stay aggressive and keep reshaping the roster around their new timeline.
And yeah, the Lakers are always going to be lurking. I can see them sniffing around someone like Keon Ellis as a cheap “we need a guard defender” add, but I’m not buying a Wiggins swing unless the price is way lower than people think, because they’re not in a position to throw real assets at another big contract gamble.
That’s why these five names matter. In a market that just showed you how ugly “selling a star” can look, Giannis, Davis, LaVine, Zion, and LaMelo feel like the guys most likely to stay on the sidelines. The rumors will keep flying, but the math says their teams have way more to lose than to gain by pulling the trigger right now.
