For teams searching to upgrade ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline — which, to be clear, still stands as the overwhelming majority of the league’s 30 clubs — forecasting potential additions for any playoff hopeful is really an exercise of process of elimination.
You can start with the burgeoning Kyrie Irving sweepstakes, as the All-Star point guard requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Friday afternoon. The Lakers, Mavericks and Suns are particularly expected to pursue Irving, league sources told Yahoo Sports. And yet the Nets could very well decide to keep Irving beyond the deadline, compete for a championship with Irving and Kevin Durant at the center of their roster, and leave Los Angeles, Dallas and Phoenix, plus others, looking elsewhere.