NBA trade rumors: 4 players on the block, and the asking prices for them

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Your latest heaping of NBA trade rumors with two weeks until the deadline.

With just two weeks to go until the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, the flurry of early deals still hasn’t completely expedited the league’s annual game of transactional musical chairs. Several teams that might be selling are still asking for quite a bit for their players on the block, and appear to be playing a high-stakes game of chicken before the deadline.

Below is the latest reporting around some of the players available, and what teams want for them.

Dejounte Murray

With the Lakers, Bucks and likely other teams interested in perhaps the best available player on the market, the Atlanta Hawks are still asking for a lot to move off of Murray, despite all indications being that they have given up on the backcourt pairing between the one-time All-Star and Trae Young.

According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Atlanta is asking for at least two first-round picks for Murray:

A deal highlighted by the No. 35 pick probably isn’t going to strike Atlanta’s fancy for Murray, considering the Hawks, at present, are searching for a pair of first-round picks plus a starting-level player for their All-Star combo guard, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

And hey, if the Nets reportedly want two first-rounders for Dorian Finney-Smith this far out of the deadline, it’s hard to fault Atlanta for asking for the same for Murray (a much more accomplished player). With two weeks to go until organizations have to make a decision, we’re still firmly in “teams making outlandish asks and offers before getting serious closer to the buzzer” season.

Based on other reports, however, it’s fair to assume that the Hawks would be willing to alter that asking price to perhaps a good young player and a first alongside the workable salary, given that they’ve reportedly tried to snag Austin Reaves alongside a first-round pick in talks with Los Angeles.

And according to James Edwards of The Athletic, Reaves isn’t the only promising youngster they’ve attempted to pry:

A few weeks back, the Atlanta Hawks initiated a trade discussion with the Pistons centered around Dejounte Murray, league sources told The Athletic. The Hawks were interested in Thompson/Ivey and other stuff of good value. Detroit had no interest, according to league sources.

First of all, good on the Pistons. Murray is good, but in no way fits their timeline, and trading two of their few promising youngsters for him would just be another stupid, seemingly visionless and context-ignorant transaction from a front office that is… well, known for doing pretty much exactly that.

So good work going against trend, I guess?

Edwards additionally writes that Detroit considers Ausar Thompson, Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren “their blue-chip pieces moving forward” and that the Pistons have “no interest in trading any four of those players in the immediate future.”

That doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to trade at all, though, as Edwards wrote they could be enticed to move at least two players on their roster, one of whom is seemingly perpetually both on and off the trade block at the same time.

Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks

Bogdanovic has been rumored to be available from Detroit since last season, but the Pistons have valued him more highly as a locker-room veteran and one of their few productive NBA players as they try to avoid infamy and develop the young core mentioned above. Burks has been less of a staple in the rumor mill, but as a semi-productive veteran on a potentially historically terrible team, he’s a logical candidate to be sold off for picks eventually.

However, Edwards wrote in his story that while the Pistons are not “actively shopping” either Burks or Bogdanovic this deadline, there are price points at which they’d consider sending out those players:

Detroit appears more inclined to wait until the summer to make a decision on Bogdanović, whom they really value, unless a trade for a good first-round draft pick and a good player comes along. As for Burks, the Pistons believe they have a chance to retain the bucket-getting veteran this summer. But I get the sense that two really good second-round picks, at minimum, would cause Detroit to consider a move before the deadline.

Two seconds for Burks seems totally reasonable and about what you’d expect. But a good first and a good player for a 34-year-old one-way shooter is peak silly season demands.

And hey, good on the Pistons for trying. Just color this blogger skeptical they get what they want if that is really the price for Bogdanovic.

Bruce Brown

Brown is going to be another mainstay in the rumor cycle for the next two weeks after the rebuilding Raptors acquired him in the Pascal Siakam trade.

But after insider Chris Haynes of Turner Sports predicted the Raptors would “have no problem getting what they want” (reportedly a first-round pick and quality player) for Brown earlier in the week, it sounds like — at least initially — his market may not be quite that frothy, according to Fischer (emphasis mine):

The Raptors have posted an initial price point of a first-round selection for Brown, sources said, after Toronto acquired the veteran as part of its return for Pascal Siakam. But Brown’s contract, a two-year, $45 million balloon payment with a team option for the 2024-25 season, is expected to dissuade several suitors from sacrificing that level of draft pick when Brown is considered a lower-market player than his salary. For that, Brown appears to be a much stronger possibility for Milwaukee than Murray. Another player in this salary range, Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanović, was a known target for the Bucks prior to last year’s trade deadline, sources said.

Not only is that already less than Marc Stein was reporting the Raptors wanted just a few days prior, but it appears that Brown’s contract — $22 million this season, with a team option for $23 million for next — is not only hard to salary match without sending out a key part of the rotation, but potentially just not valued at that level by contenders where every dollar up against luxury taxes counts.

It’s still early (at least by slop season standards), but it will be interesting to see what type of offers the Raptors can eventually generate for Brown, and if they ultimately have to lower their ask if they actually want to flip him to expand their asset haul from the Siakam deal.

Tyus Jones

Speaking of players being flipped to increase the returns from prior deals, it’s long appeared the Wizards are hoping to up the value of Tyus Jones by starting him, playing him a bunch, and then re-selling him to a playoff team after acquiring him from the Memphis Grizzlies as part of their multi-team Kristaps Porzingis trade.

And according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, that strategy is working… sort of, as it sounds like the Lakers are interested in Jones if they can’t ultimately pry Murray (who Jovan Buha of The Athletic described as Los Angeles’ top deadline priority in the same podcast):

There are other players the Lakers are looking at that can round out the roster. When it comes to Tyus Jones, that’s why I brought up the Wizards (in a potential three-team trade). They (Lakers) are looking for a point guard, and Jones is a player they’re looking at on an expiring contract and a player who has a great assist-to-turnover ratio.

Scotto previously reported that opposing executives expect the Wizards to ask for a first-round pick for Jones, which the Lakers can only trade one of (their 2029 first) at this deadline.

As steady as Jones is, it’s hard to imagine Los Angeles would give up their only currently tradeable pick for a tiny guard that would reinforce their depth, but not really up their ceiling. So unless someone comes in unexpectedly, one would assume the Wizards will have to either hold onto Jones or drop their asking price if they still want to trade him this year.