Following the earth-shattering news of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks swapping Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis, many around the Association wonder what is next. After all, blockbuster trades are nothing new, dawning all the way back to 1919 when the Boston Red Sox shipped Babe Ruth to the rival Yankees. However, in this week’s Roundtable, our group of writers will forecast what big trade they believe is on the horizon in all sports.
Jake Loomis
Campus Correspondent
Ja Morant
The next big superstar trade in sports will be the Grizzles moving on from Ja Morant. Morant is a star player who is just reaching his ceiling in the league. However, if Memphis wants to win a championship, they have a lot more work to do. They need to blow up their roster and start fresh. If they want to win a championship, they need to start by making a blockbuster to rebuild, and the perfect time to do it is when Morant’s ceiling is at its highest.
Thomas Buckley
Campus Correspondent
He/Him/His
Devin Booker
If there’s one thing that was proved with the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade, it’s that no superstar player is safe from getting traded. And looking at the current state of the NBA right now and all its star players, I believe that Devin Booker is likely the next big star to get traded. Drafted in 2015 at the age of 19, Booker has been the face of the Suns franchise for ten seasons and has consistently been viewed as one of the top guards in the league. He wouldn’t make the playoffs until the 2020-21 season, where they reached the finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, and after failing to get the title, it’s been a series of disappointing playoff losses for Phoenix. It’s not that the All-Star guard has been putting in a lack of effort. This is a player who scored 70 and 62 on two separate occasions in the regular season and still lost. This is a player who’s consistently been a scoring machine. But if the Suns fail to make a deep push in the playoffs like they have been the last few seasons, I wouldn’t be surprised if Booker asks for a trade to a contending team where he can live out the rest of his prime now that he’s hit 28 years of age.
Connor Sargeant
Sports Editor
He/Him/His
Trae Young
If I were Trae Young, why would I still want to be on the Atlanta Hawks? The Hawks have not had much recent success at all; they are currently fighting for their lives to stay in the Play-In Tournament, and Young has noted that he wants to “win now.” While teams typically take many years to do a complete rebuild, Atlanta traded away Dejonte Murray, who was an All-Star caliber player for this squad. Young recognizes this saying, “There’s times teams want to take their time, be slow with winning, their process. It’s just, I’m not there anymore, I want to win, and I’ve always been that way.” Considering that the Hawks have an outside chance of making a deep playoff push, let alone making it, I would not be surprised if the 26-year-old guard asks the team for a trade in the near future.