If there’s one thing the Luka Doncic trade has taught us, it’s that anything can happen in the NBA. Luka is one of the top players in the league. If somebody would have gone on ESPN a week ago and intimated that the Mavs would trade him under any circumstances, they would have been laughed out of the studio, but we’re living in a new reality now. Are there really any untouchable players in the NBA? DeMarcus Cousins joined the Run It Back podcast to tell them that there’s only one, and he plays for the Spurs.
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“There’s one guy that’s untouchable; the freak down in San Antonio…if you trade Wemby you’ll never be around the game of basketball again.” @boogiecousins says Victor Wembanyama is the only NBA player that can’t be traded.@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/AWMhy5oRgP
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 6, 2025
Michelle Beadle asked Cousins if there was anybody in the NBA that he would deem “untradable,” to which he held up a lone index finger toward the camera.
“One guy. That’s that freak down in San Antonio. That’s it.”
Victor Wembanyama is the most hyped prospect since LeBron James. Through his first year and change in the league, he’s lived up to his billing and then some. His ability to showcase the skills of a guard on the perimeter while completely changing every defensive possession with his ability to block and alter shots is something unlike the NBA has ever seen, and he’s only 21 years old. Cousins had an idea what would happen to anyone dumb enough to trade Wemby.
“You’d never be around the game of basketball again, at any level. Your local YMCA, you’re banned.”
Who is really untouchable in the NBA?
Obviously, Wemby could never be traded unless he demanded it for some reason, but he’s not the only one. Chandler Parsons suggested that the Nuggets might listen to an offer from the Thunder for Nikola Jokic if they packaged together Isaiah Hartenstein, Jalen Williams, and others, but that one seems extremely far-fetched. Jokic would never be traded under any circumstances.
In reality, there are a handful of players in that camp. In the East, Giannis Antetokounmpo is never going to be released by the Bucks unless he communicates to them that he wants out. Jayson Tatum is never leaving Boston, especially after delivering a championship last year. Jalen Brunson is so beloved by Knicks fans that they would tear Madison Square Garden to pieces if he was ever traded away.
Out West, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a guy the Thunder wouldn’t dream of letting go. The same goes for Anthony Edwards and the Wolves. Lastly, Steph Curry has meant so much to the Warriors that even as he begins to reach the later stages of his career, Golden State would never trade him either.
The Luka trade has made people around the NBA believe that everyone is for sale, but the unique circumstances around this trade, including Dallas’ concern about Luka’s conditioning and the relationship between GMs Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison, mean that this deal is still the exception, not the rule. Don’t expect to see a lot of superstars getting dealt just because one did.
