The NBA’s trade deadline is only 15 days away. Teams are scampering to find deals to improve their rosters, sparking rumours of potentially blockbuster deals. Hall of Famer Magic Johnson shared his list of franchises that need to make moves ahead of the deadline on X, formerly called Twitter.
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The three-time NBA MVP claimed the Boston Celtics are the only team in the East that should not make any changes to their roster. Johnson’s opinion makes sense. The Celtics are 34-10 and own the best record in the NBA, looking like the team to beat in the East.
However, unlike Johnson, Boston’s top brass isn’t satisfied with the roster. Last month, NBA insider Shams Charania noted that the Celtics will aggressively pursue moves that could improve their bench strength. The franchise will stop at nothing to end their 16-year wait for an NBA title.
Given the Celtics’ unquenching desire to improve the roster, Johnson suggested that the chasing pack in the East needs to pull up its sock and get to work. He advised the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Atlanta Hawks to make moves before the trade deadline on February 8th.
The Bucks haven’t made a notable roster move since the season commenced. However, on Tuesday, they made a massive change to their coaching staff. The team fired head coach Adrian Griffin, who will be replaced by former Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, and Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers as per the reports. It was a shocking move, considering the Bucks have the joint-second-best record in the NBA. The four other teams Johnson named aren’t involved in any potentially significant trade talks, but things could change quickly.
Over in the West, the Lakers icon named four teams that shouldn’t tinker with their roster. The quartet Johnson named are the top four teams in the Western Conference standings.
The Hall of Famer warned the chasing pack that they needed to make moves to compete with the top four teams in the West. He called out the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, and Sacramento Kings.
The Suns and Warriors are reportedly engaged in talks to improve their roster. Recent reports suggest Phoenix is close to acquiring Hornets forward Miles Bridges. Golden State is reportedly shopping Andrew Wiggins around the league, hoping to land a quality player in return. The Mavericks, Kings, and Pelicans aren’t rumoured to be involved in a landscape-altering move.
Magic Johnson’s Lakers eyeing massive moves
The Lakers are rumored to be making massive moves to improve their roster. On the Run It Back podcast, NBA insider Sham Charania reported that the team is interested in landing Hawks star Dejounte Murray and is willing to part ways with guard D’Angelo Russell to facilitate the move. He said:
“They had some pretty extensive conversations about a Dejounte Murray trade a couple of weeks ago. It centered around D’Angelo Russell, a 2029 first-round draft pick, and a pick swap I’m told.”
Russell has been in terrific form recently. He has averaged 27.4 points, 7.6 assists, and 3.2 rebounds in his last five games. However, it’s unlikely that he’ll be on the roster beyond the trade deadline. Any move the Lakers make will see the point guard traded.
LeBron James has been coy about the future of his teammates. When asked about potential trades after the Lakers’ win over the Mavericks, he said,
“I don’t play fantasy basketball. What I do is focus on the guys here in uniform and focus on work every day. It’s too disrespectful to be thinking about what we need or what we don’t have. I don’t do that to my teammates. We’ve been putting in the work and that’s what we got to continue to do.”
James is publicly backing his teammates, but privately, he’s likely pushing Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka to make moves and improve the roster. One year ago, the Lakers were reeling, like they are now, and Pelinka made multiple moves to build a team that reached the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers need a repeat of that in the next two weeks.
