On December 15, most NBA players who signed new contracts this past offseason can officially be traded, which could prompt a flurry of player movement. This means any team who signed a player that just isn’t working out can now find a trade partner for him instead.
In essence, it means general managers across basketball now have more flexibility by being able to include a wider variety of contracts to appease the NBA’s complicated salary-matching system during trades.
Teams have already been discussing trades for months, but as we hear all the time, discussions don’t always lead to deals. In this case, we’ve highlighted five NBA players who would be better off getting traded to a new destination this season.
John Collins must escape Atlanta
One player who’s seemingly constantly involved in NBA trade rumors is Atlanta’s John Collins. For whatever reason, reports have suggested he’s never been overly pleased with his role within the Hawks’ offense.
The offseason addition of All-Star DeJounte Murray hasn’t helped. If anything, Murray’s arrival has arguably made Collins’ situation even worse.
Collins has the worst shooting splits of his career, and to no surprise, it’s led to him averaging just 12.3 points per game, the lowest mark since his rookie year.
Something is impacting Collins when he takes the floor, and it doesn’t make any sense for the Hawks star to be struggling more when Atlanta has only put another All-Star talent around him. If anything, there should be less pressure, less attention, and more space to score. In other words, Collins needs a trade.
Ben Simmons needs a longer leash
This is nothing new, but Ben Simmons needs a longer leash. He needs to be in a situation where he’s not expected to be an All-NBA player night in and night out. While it may not be what he wants (who knows), it would be best if Simmons joined a non-contender, where he has plenty of time and space to work out his inefficiencies.
It’s understandably taken Simmons a long time to get his feel for the game back after spending so much energy trying to recover either mentally or physically from the ailments that held him out of action.
The Nets have done a fine job of fostering a favorable situation, but there’s just too much pressure, both from the local media market, from an impatient fanbase, and from within, knowing they need to reach the postseason with a star-studded roster.
Simmons should seek a situation where he is thrust into a starting role and allowed to play north of 30 minutes per game. If that means joining a tanking squad, so be it.