While the NBA mourns the loss of former Los Angeles Lakers star shooting guard Kobe Bryant, both the on-court product and business of the league have to continue, even when players, coaches and officials are feeling the effects of the seismic passing.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, via Forbes Sports' Chris Grenham, the trade market is very quiet at the moment, especially when it comes to frontcourt players.
Per Woj, there are not many “front-line, significant players coming up in trade talks. Moreover, the discussions have been “very sluggish” with a “slow trade deadline market.”
The NBA's trade deadline is next Thursday on Feb. 6, so the final push by top contending teams to secure greater depth to their squads normally flare up during this time. However, that does not seem to be the case this time.
One star that had previously been mentioned in trade rumors was Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond. The two-time All-Star can be a free agent this summer, with many believing he'll exercise his player option and test out the waters of free agency in 2020.
The upcoming offseason has been classified as much less star-filled, unlike in 2019 when the NBA saw a flurry of movements. That is not to say that anything will not happen by the summer — or even in the last week up to the trade deadline in nine days — but that the perception inside the NBA is it is all quiet.
The trade deadline is also an opportunity for non-contending teams to get rid of expiring players for future assets or generally bulk up their asset portfolio with young players or draft picks.
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