Rajon Rondo, Goran Dragic and Paul Millsap reportedly could be among the names of players shopped around before the February trade deadline. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reported the aforementioned players, because of their expiring contracts, are likely trade candidates.
The season hasn't even started, but trade rumors are already flying. Kennedy believes the contracts of a number of big-name players make them likely to be traded if their respective teams feel they might lose them in free agency.
"I'm someone who really believes that a team should trade a player on an expiring contract rather than risk losing that player in free agency, so guys like Rajon Rondo, Goran Dragic, Paul Millsap and Thaddeus Young are the first potential trade targets that come to mind," Kennedy wrote Monday. "All of those players could hit unrestricted free agency next offseason, so if their respective teams don't feel like they can re-sign them, it's very possible that they'll be shopped."
The Collective Bargaining Agreement lets a player make the most money by signing with a team as a free agent, which puts front offices into a corner: Trade the player now, or risk the player walking as a free agent in July and getting nothing?
Two players to look at, specifically: Rondo and Dragic.
All signs until recently pointed to Rondo being traded. While it could just be talk, both Rondo and Celtics president Danny Ainge indicated this week they want to remain together beyond this season. Rondo said he wants to remain in Boston, and Ainge seemed to suggest he would be open to giving Rondo a max deal.
If Ainge is confident Rondo will sign a new contract in the summer, then he has little reason to trade the four-time All-Star - unless he's planning an all-out rebuild.
Dragic's situation is interesting. He reportedly said this summer he plans to become a free agent and re-sign with Phoenix, but this was before the Suns committed to Eric Bledsoe. Dragic and Bledsoe played well together in the backcourt last season, but it'll be a matter of how much Phoenix is willing to pay Dragic and how much Dragic is willing to take and how far apart those numbers are.
If Phoenix gets the sense Dragic wants too much money or will want to leave in the offseason, the Suns will have no choice but to trade him.
The problem with dealing players on expiring contract is teams rarely get the true value of the player. Most teams, unless desperate to win now, won't trade a plethora of assets knowing they can probably get the player for free in July. Teams are also wary of trading for a player who can just as easily walk on them in the summer.
