The NBA trade deadline for the 2025-26 season is February 5. The date is fast approaching, and general managers and coaches across the league are under pressure to make the right changes. Although the Dallas Mavericks look unlikely for play-ins as it stands, there is less than 1% win differential between the play-in and guaranteed playoff teams in both conferences. So there’s much to play for in the remainder of the season. But what are some of the biggest potential moves and positional needs for teams across the league?
This piece will briefly look at around half a dozen teams with skin still in the game, splitting the league into three brackets: top, middle, and bottom of the pack teams from each conference, and analyzing potential trades for each. The focus will be on the Western Conference, particularly the Mavericks, while also looking at a broader range of teams under deadline pressure.
Top Teams Won’t Be Making Big Moves, but Small Adjustments
The standout team of the season has been the Oklahoma Thunder, so don’t expect to see much change from the clear Western Conference leaders. As the only team with more than 30 wins in either conference, they’re also the only team with an 80% plus win percentage. And one of the two teams over 70% alongside the Eastern Conference leaders the Detroit Pistons.
The Thunder may not have been on top form in recent games, but there’s no sense of urgency to change things up just yet on what is a stacked roster. Both talent and salary-wise.
Elsewhere, at the top end of the Western Conference, Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas have both been out for weeks with recent injuries, and the team is looking light on center cover until they’re both back and in full game sharpness.
In what might please Mavs fans just a little bit, the Lakers may also be in need of some adjustments. With four losses in the last five, several teams chasing guaranteed playoffs below them are on much better form heading into the closing stages. A lot has been noted about the defensive fragility of a team with undoubted attacking star power in Luka Dončić, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves. The team is in serious need of some more two-way players for effective balance.
Any big changes in teams’ rosters, and sometimes even rumors, can cause noticeable shifts in NBA betting odds at major sportsbooks as they react to new information.
Mid-Tier Teams Might Need One Player to Fit the Puzzle Together
Teams in the playoff bubble are often those with the most pressure on them towards the back end of the season. In the West, that means the Phoenix Suns and the LA Clippers.
The two teams are on respective sides of the bubble, with the Suns looking down at potentially losing their guaranteed playoff berth while the Clippers are looking hungrily up at the Memphis Grizzlies, who are just above them in the final play-in spot.
The Clippers started out the season well, but a severe lack of bench scorers (one of the lowest in the league) has seen injuries and dropoffs in form really hurt their scoring threat. However, the Clipper are still paying off the expensive trade cost in terms of outgoing draft capital for acquiring Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder years ago. They are fully incentivized to win now, but have little to offer in terms of trades.
Meanwhile, the Suns are on a decent streak so they really just need to not bow to the pressure to make any drastic changes and trust their form will keep them clear. They have a solid defense, ninth best in the league, but that could be improved around the rim as they have low scores in rebounds and blocks.
Teams Towards the Bottom of the NBA Look Towards Resetting and Rebuilding
At the lower end of the Western Conference, the Mavs have had a fairly poor season, but one man will dominate the trade discussion until the window closes. Anthony Davis. Acquired in the ridiculous deal that saw the generational talent Dončić head to the Lakers, veteran Davis hardly set the court alight throughout the season before recent injuries put him on the sidelines.
Much discussion was on potential young hotshots traded in a deal that included Davis, but now it seems he could even be traded away for expired contracts – just to get his money of the books. An ignominious end to a trade saga that will certifiably go down as one of the wildest in NBA history.
With the Mavericks looking to reshape the team around the emerging talents of impressive rookie Cooper Flagg, most other potential trade deals are looking at assets.