NBA Trade Rumors: Can It Affect Your Betting Strategy?

Now that the calendar has flipped to 2023, we should start to hear a lot more trade talk around the NBA with the trade deadline on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, at 3 p.m. ET. Can trade rumors affect your betting strategy? On a limited basis, yes. For example, if a star player is truly unhappy and wants out, that might be a team you want to fade for a given period. And then there are the teams that are sellers and ready to tank to get the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and a shot to take Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 unicorn who is widely considered the best since LeBron James in 2003. Let’s take a look at the following analysis for your NBA Bets.

NBA Rumors For The 2023 Season.

The Charlotte Hornets have disappointed in the Eastern Conference and figure to be sellers ahead of the deadline. However, one key piece might now be off the market as forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will be out 4-6 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand, which is also his shooting hand, Oubre suffered the injury during the first week of the regular season, but played through it up to this point. He was the second-leading scorer on the team, averaging a career-high 20.2 points a night.

“It’s a lot of production (lost),” coach Steve Clifford said. “He’s played really consistently. He steals the ball a lot. I think he was fourth in the NBA in deflections at the time he got hurt. He was having a terrific year so it’s not ideal.”

With Charlotte more destined for the draft lottery than the playoffs — or play-in — Oubre’s scoring could help any number of contending teams looking to add depth off the bench or fill a hole in the starting lineup. He’s on an expiring $12.6 million deal, which makes him even more enticing as a trade target.

The Phoenix Suns might not be title contenders as currently constructed and would like to add a piece, but outgoing owner Robert Sarver will still likely have the final say on certain Suns roster moves before he surrenders control of the club. He’s also in the process of selling the team to billionaire Mat Ishbia but that purchase is unlikely to receive official approval prior to the trade deadline.

Until Ishbia formally takes over, the guidelines regarding Sarver’s involvement with the team call for the longtime Suns owner to sign off on any deals involving a player whose salary is worth more than the NBA’s average player salary. Acting governor Sam Garvin still has the ability to approve smaller deals without Sarver’s involvement.

Could the Chicago Bulls ship out All-Star DeMar DeRozan? It may be time to reboot for disappointing Chicago. He averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game in 2021-22 while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from 3-point range and was in the MVP conversation. This season, he has been nearly as good. Even at the age of 33, DeRozan is one of the best isolation and pick-and-roll scorers in the NBA. He isn’t going to fetch a similar return as what the Jazz received for Rudy Gobert, but he’s good enough to warrant the return of at least one fully unprotected future first-round pick.

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly still holding out hope that they can make a trade for a third All-Star to pair with incumbents Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The dream target is Washington guard Bradley Beal. The 6-foot-4 Wizards shooting guard, a three-time All-Star, would certainly help LA score in bunches and is an above-average distributor for his position. Were the Wizards actually interested in moving on from Beal, his $43.3 million salary this season could be flipped for reserve Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook’s expiring $47.1 million deal. LA would be able to send back three draft picks: a 2023 first-rounder (the worst selection between LA’s pick and the New Orleans Pelicans‘ pick), a 2027 first-rounder, and a 2029 first-rounder.

Utah has been a huge surprise but could flip veteran point guard Mike Conley. After a surprisingly hot start to the season, the Jazz have begun to fall back to reality over the last month or so to fall outside the top 8 in the Western Conference. Conley isn’t much of a scorer these days but averages 7.4 assists per game with a 4.7 assist to turnover ratio, which is third in the NBA.