As the NBA trade deadline looms a month away, the market is slow to develop and slower to anticipate the volume of activity. Buyers and sellers are separating themselves in the standings, and contenders ask internally: At what price do we sacrifice tomorrow for today?
As one general manager, consistent with ESPN's conversations with his peers, said: "It is pretty slow so far. Nobody seems desperate to get into the playoffs. The tankers are sellers, but asking prices are too high."
Nevertheless, most teams will have front-office executives in Toronto for the G League Showcase this week, including numerous general managers, and those face-to-face conversations could start to spur movement.