The NBA Trade Deadline Avoidables: Five players teams should probably stay away from before Feb. 5

We're  one week out from the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline. Who will get moved, and where, is very much top of mind around the league right now. For all the understandable lusting over Giannis Antetokounmpo now that the Bucks are reportedly listening to offers for their superstar, there are several other potential trade candidates who can be considered less valuable and far riskier. Sometimes not acquiring a certain player ends up being the wiser move.

What follows is a group we'll call The Avoidables -- five players it would be smarter to steer clear of for various reasons. Buyer beware. 

1. Anthony Davis, Mavericks

Initial reports had Davis undergoing hand surgery that would have shut him down for the remainder of the season. That was eventually walked back after Davis pushed back and voiced his displeasure on social media. Instead, after the Mavericks star consulted with a second specialist, it was announced that the big man would be reevaluated after six weeks. 

It was another brutal setback to add to AD's long list of health concerns over the years. The man has suffered an outrageous number of injuries in his career, so many that his nicknames include "Street Clothes" and "Anthony Day-to-Day Davis." 

Tough but fair. He's played just 20 games this season. Last year he played 51 games combined between his time with the Lakers and Mavs. The NBA's new(ish) criteria requires players to appear in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for awards. Davis has cleared that bar just three times in the last decade. 

No one doubts his talent. Just two seasons ago he made second-team All-NBA and first-team All-Defense. But that kind of output and availability has become the exception rather than the rule. 

Davis will also turn 33 in March and has two more years left on his current deal. He'll make $58.4 million next season, and he has a player option on the back end for a whopping $62.7 million when he'll be 35 years old before the contract finally expires. If he doesn't play again this season, Davis will have cleared $2.7 million per game. That's good work if you can get it -- but who would want to cut those checks moving forward?

2. Ja Morant, Grizzlies

The Grizzlies finally arrived at the correct conclusion and are shopping Morant. What I suspect they have learned since putting him on the market is the cruel reality of supply-side economics when there's little demand. 

The Hawks traded Trae Young to the Wizards in exchange for CJ McCollum's expiring contract and Corey Kispert. That kind of low-yield return should have greatly worried the Grizzlies front office. The NBA is loaded with high-usage ball-dominant guards. There just aren't a lot of teams that have a big hole in that area that needs filling. Even if a team wanted to upgrade at that position, it's difficult to make the case for Morant being the guy. The Raptors were reportedly interested in Morant early on but have since cooled on the idea. Hard to blame them. 

Like Davis, Morant has only been intermittently available. Morant suffered a UCL sprain and is expected to miss at least three weeks. He's played just 20 games this season. The last two seasons he played a combined 59 games. In seven NBA seasons, he's never played more than 67 games. 

Just as concerning, he hasn't progressed on the floor. If anything, he's regressed. For much of his career Morant has relied on his outsized athleticism. He's produced some breathtaking highlights. But those only get you so far. He's a good passer, but in a league that greatly values shooting, Morant has never added an outside element to his skillset. He's a career 31.1% 3-point shooter, and his 44.4 eFG% this season is by far the worst mark in his seven years in the league. 

Morant has two more years left on his contract for more than $87 million. He'll be 28 in the final year of the deal. That's a lot of money to commit to someone who doesn't shoot well and won't be able to rely on athleticism alone forever. 

3. Zion Williamson, Pelicans

To be clear, the Pelicans have signaled that they aren't looking to move Williamson. That's been the consistent line of thinking for multiple front offices in New Orleans, though it's fair to wonder why. Considering who precedes him on this list, it's kind of remarkable that Williamson might be the least reliable guy of the bunch. Yes he's played 33 games this season, which is three more than he played all of last year, but we'll see how many more he can add on. In seven years in the NBA, Zion has had three seasons where he played 30 or fewer games. And in the 2021-22 season, he didn't play at all due to injury. 

Williamson has slimmed down, but he's still a big body that relies on strength and athleticism to make an impact. For someone who's so physical, he's a sneaky good passer (though his assist numbers this season are the lowest they've been since his second year in the league). But much like Morant, his game hasn't evolved during his time in the NBA. He's a 31.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc, on a total of 101 attempts for his entire career. That's not an element that he's worked on or even seems interested in adding. 

Almost as concerning, he gets to the line a ton. He's averaging just under eight attempts per game this season, but he's shooting 70 percent. That's not great and borders on a liability. Zion has two more years left on his contract and is owed more than $87 million. Eventually, the Pelicans should try to find someone to take Zion off their hands. In the meantime, nice of the New Orleans front office to save the rest of the league from making a mistake. 

4. LaMelo Ball, Hornets

At some point the suddenly surging Hornets are going to look around and realize that they have two quality young players to build around and Ball isn't one of them. The future belongs to Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller. Which doesn't mean that anyone should be rushing out to pry LaMelo away from Charlotte. 

Like everyone else listed so far, Ball has availability issues. He's played 38 games this season. But in four of his other five professional seasons he played 51 or fewer. He's averaging19 points on close to 16.5 shots, his worst production since his rookie year. He's also playing just over 27 minutes per game, the least he's played in his career. 

And check out what Hornets head coach Charles Lee said about him after a recent loss to the Cavs: "For the most part, he continued to try to play through it and not let his shot-making, or shot-missing, dictate the energy he was gonna give to the game." 

Talk about damning with faint praise. 

5. Zach LaVine, Kings

You could make a case to avoid so many of the potential Kings trade candidates, but LaVine is probably first among them. He's having his worst season in a while. LaVine has always been a volume scorer, but he's averaging fewer than 20 points and shooting under 50% -- a marked drop off from last season. 

Sure it's a wonky fit in Sacramento due to poor roster construction, but his usage rate is roughly the same this season as it was when the Kings traded for him last year. When he's not launching and scoring in bunches, he's hardly contributing. His rebounds and assists per game are the lowest they've been since his second season in the NBA when he was 20 years old, and on the defensive end he's far from useful. 

LaVine will be 31 in March. Like the rest of The Avoidables, he has a dodgy injury history. He played 74 games last season, but just 25 the season before. In six of his first 11 seasons, he played fewer than 65 games. And that contract that made it so tough for the Bulls to find a taker for him until the Kings came along and bailed them out last season still has one more year left. LaVine has a player option for next season at nearly $49 million. Hard to imagine many teams knocking down the Kings door for the chance to pay him that much.