Though the ubiquity of NBA trade speculation might have you thinking otherwise, only a handful of teams will actually swing deals before the Feb. 10 deadline.

If that reality check is too much of a buzzkill, take heart. There's no doubt that every organization in the league is at least looking for opportunities to improve, streamline or otherwise transact in pursuit of their respective goals.

Contenders and tankers alike are always hunting for the move that will push them closer to the top or bottom of the standings, depending on the circumstances. Whether zeroing in on a positional weakness, cleaning up the books, selling distressed assets or scrounging for draft picks, every franchise will be very much open for business over the next month.

These are the issues and guiding principles each squad should focus on ahead of the upcoming deadline.

Atlanta Hawks: Three-Point Shooting

Trae Young's career-worst 31.1 percent shooting from deep is only part of a team-wide slump that has the Atlanta Hawks among the bottom five in three-point attempt rate and accuracy. The departures of Kevin Huerter (38.9 percent in 2021-22), Danilo Gallinari (38.1 percent), Delon Wright (37.9 percent) and even Cam Reddish (37.9 percent in 34 games prior to the trade that sent him to the New York Knicks) have also left the Hawks woefully short on shotmakers.

Those players, plus a version of Young who hit 38.2 percent of his 8.0 long-range tries per game, helped the Hawks finish third in accuracy from distance last season.

Young won't stay cold forever, but John Collins' stroke has all but disappeared, Dejounte Murray isn't known for his range and normal starting center Clint Capela has never offered any spacing. Atlanta can't realistically replace all the shooting it lost from last year's roster at the deadline, but it needs to find at least one knockdown option.

Either that, or reserves like Bogdan Bogdanović and rookie AJ Griffin will need to see more time ahead of Murray and Hunter—not exactly ideal considering the picks it cost to get the former and the $90 million contract the latter signed in October.

Boston Celtics: Frontcourt Depth

No team is tougher to shop for than the Boston Celtics, whose only real need is a measure of consistency. The best defense on planet earth last year gave way to a historically dominant offense to start the 2022-23 season, only to then see the scoring disappear amid massive three-point accuracy regression after Dec. 1.

That swoon coincided with a substantial defensive improvement, thanks partly to the return of Robert Williams III.

Boston is one of a handful of teams with top-10 rankings in both offensive and defensive efficiency and has shown the capacity to be the very best in both categories, even if ups and downs have defined its season to date.

The Celtics could use an extra wing (who couldn't?), but the more pressing need may be upfront. Robert Williams III comes with injury concerns. He's missed significant time in every year of his career and offseason surgery kept him off the floor for the first two months of 2022-23.

Boston also needs to consider Grant Williams' restricted free agency this summer. It could consider moving him if it doesn't believe he'll be worth upwards of $18 million per season. Then again, Boston is a legit contender and might conclude keeping Grant Williams and potentially losing him in free agency will be worth it if he contributes to a championship run this spring.

The Celtics also have trade exceptions ($5.9 million and $6.9 million) they could attach to draft picks for lower-end rotation help.

Brooklyn Nets: Interior Heft

The Brooklyn Nets' December surge owed mostly to superstars playing like superstars. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving shredded defenses every night, inspiring more "what are we even supposed to do with these two?" looks on opposing benches than any duo in the league over the last month or so.

Brooklyn's one-two punch has done the loud work. But quietly, improving performance on the boards from horrendous to middling has been another key to this turnaround. Through the end of November, the Nets ranked dead last in both offensive and defensive rebound percentage. In December, they were 27th and 13th, respectively.

That's still not good enough, and it's a symptom of Brooklyn's lack of depth at center behind Nic Claxton. Durant is averaging the second-most boards per game on the team, and Day'Ron Sharpe, the only other center-sized player on the roster, averages 3.2 rebounds in occasional mop-up duty.

Bigs and the boards they bring should come cheap. Even if the Nets are one of the few teams that can shoot their way out of most problems, they still need to add someone who can beef up their performance on the boards.

Charlotte Hornets: Finishing

The Charlotte Hornets shoot 63.5 percent at the rim. While that isn't the lowest figure in the league, it's in the bottom five and helps point to one of the biggest issues suppressing the team's offensive output.

Nobody on the roster can consistently get to the bucket and finish at close range.

Charlotte is last in the NBA in field-goal percentage on drives. Though they pierce the paint more often than most, ranking third in drives per game, the Hornets simply don't turn enough of those attacks into points.

LaMelo Ball has missed so much time that it's difficult to pin the team's struggles on him, but it's still true that the Hornets' best player is in the 15th percentile in field-goal percentage at the rim among point guards. Considering Ball, who's 6'8", has a size few at the position can match, it's even more damning that he's such a poor finisher.

The Hornets should target penetrators who can make something happen at close range.

Chicago Bulls: Demolition Plans

Zach LaVine has come into form of late, posting a 52.1/42.9/82.8 December shooting split after struggling to score efficiently in October and November. While that improvement could be spun to suggest the Chicago Bulls have reason for optimism over the second half, the shrewder conclusion to draw is that the time to move LaVine as part of a larger teardown is now.

Even with his shot falling, LaVine doesn't provide the defense or intuitive ball movement to warrant a salary slot that says he's in the "best player on a contender" tier. The Bulls need to find the trade partner that sees things differently, or at least a scoring-starved outfit willing to slot LaVine into a No. 2 role.

Even if the Bulls get DeMar DeRozan and LaVine on the same page, the upside for the current roster isn't high enough to justify keeping the gang together. With Nikola Vučević ticketed for free agency, Patrick Williams continuing to disappear for long stretches of most games and Lonzo Ball's return nowhere in sight, the Bulls should be aggressive sellers.

At the very least, they should try to secure a quality first-round pick for Alex Caruso, who'd fit anywhere and improve every team's point-of-attack defense.

The alternative, chasing a Play-In spot with an aging roster and a top-four protected 2023 first-rounder headed out to the Orlando Magic, is just too bleak.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Small Forward

There's no such thing as having too many three-and-D wings on an NBA roster, and we could suggest every front office should target that type of player at the deadline.

The Cleveland Cavaliers still need one more than most.

Part of that has to do with how good the Cavs are without a quality two-way option at the 3. Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell have the shot-creation, late-game scoring and offensive dynamism handled. Jarrett Allen and Even Mobley control the paint and glass with their length and mobility. As a result, Cleveland is firmly in the mix for the East's top seed. But imagine how much more dangerous the Cavs' starting and closing lineups would be if they upgraded the position in between those four cornerstones.

Lamar Stevens brings the defense and energy, but he's a career 29.8 percent shooter from deep whose attempts to dribble or pass (85 assists and 79 turnovers in his career) are exciting for all the wrong reasons. Caris LeVert is a capable penetrator and individual scorer, but he also doesn't strike fear into defenders as a shooter and comes up short defensively. Dean Wade made the most sense at the 3, but he's been out with a shoulder injury since Dec. 2.

Cleveland is four-fifths of the way to a devastating, Finals-worthy lineup. If it can lock down that last spot, look out.

Dallas Mavericks: Secondary Playmaking

You could point to the lack of a shutdown defensive guard who can score enough to play actual minutes (sorry, Frank Ntilikina) or a rim-protector with length and mobility as needs for the Dallas Mavericks. But you're still overthinking it if you stray from the team's much-discussed failure to fill the role vacated by Jalen Brunson.

Luka Dončić is making history once a week with production that simply seems unreal. He followed his 60-point triple-double on Dec. 27 with a comparatively pedestrian 35-13-12 line two nights later. Then, he erupted for 51 points on 18-of-29 shooting, giving Dallas six straight wins to close 2022. Scan Dončić's numbers, and it might seem like the need for someone else to make a play on offense is overblown.

At the same time, the gap between Dončić's 38.4 percent usage rate and ostensible second distributor Spencer Dinwiddie's (20.6 percent) is just incomprehensibly vast. We know Dončić tends to wear down over the course of individual games. His accuracy from the field, from deep and at the line is lowest in fourth quarters. Even if he seems indestructible lately, we've also seen him fade across seasons and within playoff series. If anything, Dončić's brilliance to this point offers all the more reason for the Mavs to support him with someone who can replicate what Brunson brought last year.

Because flaws and all, Dallas may already be a legit contender in a crowded West. It won't take much of an upgrade to nudge the Mavs into another level.

Denver Nuggets: Defensive Length

The Denver Nuggets will go as far as their defense allows them to, which is both a compliment to everything else that's so great about the roster and a warning that the team's one obvious weak point could make all those positives meaningless.

Nikola Jokić is playing at and sometimes above the level he set in winning the last two MVPs. Denver is essentially unstoppable on offense when he's in the game, ranking second in scoring efficiency with a clear line to a top-four playoff seed, despite a defense that ranks 24th. The Nuggets added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope via trade and signed Bruce Brown Jr. to boost their stopping power, but those two are guards, and head coach Michael Malone is convinced more size matters.

Per Harrison Wind of DNVR: "When we play longer, length, tall, there's a correlation between that and our defense," Malone said. "Size definitely helps us on the defensive end of the floor."

It makes sense. Denver most often plays Jokić up at the level of the screen against pick-and-roll sets because he lacks the vertical burst and lateral quickness to defend in a drop or switch setup. That leaves the entire paint open if the opposing offense cracks the coverage beyond the three-point line, and guard-sized help defenders aren't long enough to cover so much ground. There's a reason opponents shoot 71.0 percent at the rim, the second-highest hit rate in the league: Denver's helpers either don't arrive in time to contest or lack the size to scare anyone when they rotate into position.

You'd think Aaron Gordon and a healthy Michael Porter Jr. would be rangy enough to make a difference. But the former tends to be stuck on the the other team's most dangerous scoring threat, and the latter hasn't been healthy enough to consistently swoop in for swats from the weak side. The Nuggets need another long-armed option to fly around and put out fires at the basket.

Detroit Pistons: Lottery Tickets

Marvin Bagley III fit the bill when the Detroit Pistons acquired him in a four-team deal at last year's deadline—a former high lottery pick who'd mostly disappointed with his first team but was a worthwhile gamble as a "second draft" candidate.

It turned out Bagley's poor performance in three-and-a-half years with the Sacramento Kings had more to do with him than his situation, and the Pistons made a mistake in signing him to a three-year, $37.5 million deal this past summer. That's well above the going rate for defensively damaging bigs that can't stretch the floor and turn the ball over more often than they register assists.

Still, the theory was sound.

Detroit should be on the lookout for another second-draft option this February. Perhaps Patrick Williams of the Chicago Bulls or Isaac Okoro of the Cleveland Cavaliers—two players who've underwhelmed and might benefit from a change of scenery. If the Pistons would prefer to avoid getting guys who will already be due new contracts this summer, they could target a distressed asset from the 2021 class like the Charlotte Hornets' James Bouknight.

Rebuilders like Detroit need as many shots at a transformational player as possible. High-risk fliers on young players who haven't worked out with their first team are great ways to collect some lottery tickets.

Golden State Warriors: Otto Porter Jr. 2.0

Donte DiVincenzo is sitting at 37.1 percent from long range on the year and spent the month of December validating the hype about his disruptive defensive ability. The Golden State Warriors outscored opponents by 6.1 points per 100 possessions with the 25-year-old guard on the floor for the month—remarkable considering how little time DiVincenzo and the rest of the Dubs got to spend with plus-minus-booster Stephen Curry, who's been out since Dec. 14 with a shoulder injury.

DiVincenzo has mostly filled in for the departed Gary Payton II, but the Warriors' other key free agent loss, Otto Porter Jr., still looms large. Even though Porter has barely played for the Toronto Raptors since signing over the summer, the Warriors are feeling his absence. JaMychal Green is shooting 26.5 percent from deep, turning the ball over an alarming amount for a low-usage reserve and committing away-from-the-ball fouls you'd expect from a rookie—not a seasoned vet.

Though second-year uber-athlete Jonathan Kuminga has shown signs of rotation-staple play, especially on defense, Golden State still lacks the high-IQ ball-mover, rebounder and bailout jump-shooter it lost when Porter left.

The Warriors were lucky their offseason gamble on Porter, an oft-injured but clearly talented player, worked out. It's much harder to hit on someone like him via in-season trade, but the Dubs should still try.

Houston Rockets: Passing

Nobody turns the ball over more often than the Houston Rockets, and the damage done by those giveaways is only compounded by the team's last-place ranking in assists per game.

Granted, raw assist numbers aren't everything. The San Antonio Spurs are fourth in the league in assists per game, and they're on the way to a sure bottom-five finish in scoring efficiency. Then again, the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns are also in the top five in assists, so there's at least some connection between dimes and functional offense.

Kevin Porter Jr. may someday become a point guard, but he isn't one now, and the Rockets have started him at that position all season. Jalen Green has a long way to go as a floor-reader and may never be a two-steps-ahead ball-mover. Alperen Şengün can sling the rock around more creatively than just about any big man this side of Nikola Jokić, but he's wildly mistake-prone and can't be expected to keep an entire offense in line as a second-year center.

It almost doesn't matter which position the Rockets target. If they want to trim the turnovers and create more easy buckets via the pass, they have to find players who know what to do with the ball besides dribble the air out of it or throw it into the fourth row.

Indiana Pacers: Closure

A directive for the Indiana Pacers: Trade Myles Turner, or don't. Just put an end to the speculation that has attached itself to the shot-blocking, floor-stretching center for the better part of two years.

The Pacers can comply with this demand in one of two ways. In light of Turner's career-best production this season, the preferable tack would be following through on chatter that a renegotiate-and-extend agreement could be in the offing. If the Pacers use their cap space to hand Turner an extra $19.1 million in salary this season and add up to four years to his deal, it'd shut down trade talk and bring some stability to an up-and-coming team.

The other option, a trade for draft equity and younger pieces (Turner, by the way, is still only 26) would also put an end to one of the longer-running "will they, won't they?" plot lines of the last few seasons. Based on Turner's play and Indiana's intriguingly strong performance in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season, keeping Turner as part of the core has real appeal.

Either way, the Pacers have to ensure we never wonder about Turner's fate again. This is a young group trying to build a culture, and it only makes buy-in harder to secure when the team's most productive veteran spends years on the trade block.

Los Angeles Clippers: Point Guard Depth

John Wall's return to action has been among this season's most satisfying feel-good stories. The five-time All-Star is still showing flashes of his trademark open-floor burst and has had no trouble slinging cross-court rockets to corner shooters—impressive considering he'd logged just 40 games across the three seasons prior to this one.

That said, the Los Angeles Clippers need more help at Wall's position.

One could argue that between Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, two of the league's top facilitators at the wing spots, the Clips can manage just fine. But those two already have too many responsibilities as scorers, spacers and shutdown defenders. Leonard, in particular, shouldn't be counted on in such a jack-of-all-trades role—not with his persistent unavailability.

Reggie Jackson was once regarded as a point guard, but he's slid into more of a scoring role. He starts at the 1 most nights, but he's only fourth on the team in assists per game and turns the ball over at a rate that ranks in the ninth percentile at his position.

This is a minor issue for a team whose versatility and depth can yield unorthodox solutions, but L.A. could still benefit by bringing in a steady distributor to play behind (or, in the event of injury, in place of) Wall.

Los Angeles Lakers: Reality

That the Los Angeles Lakers haven't made a win-now trade yet suggests they're already doing a good job accepting the reality that they aren't one move (or three moves) away from contention. As the deadline draws nearer and LeBron James' requests for help continue to decline in subtlety, they have to hold the line.

Could the Lakers find a taker for Russell Westbrook and a pair of future first-rounders? Absolutely. But the return almost certainly wouldn't lift Los Angeles above the Play-In tournament, and perhaps even that level of improvement is fanciful if Anthony Davis were to miss more time than expected. James, now 38, also isn't a good bet to avoid a week on the shelf here or there before April.

What's more, any move sending Westbrook out would likely bring back salary that'd stay on the books beyond this season. L.A.'s best chance to upgrade is in 2023 free agency, after Russ' money comes off the ledger. Compromising that flexibility would be a huge mistake.

Smaller moves, like trading Kendrick Nunn or Patrick Beverley, wouldn't move the needle.

The Lakers should stand pat at the deadline unless they can make a future-focused move. That'll be hard for James, Davis and fans that expected more from this team to swallow, but it's the best way to assure next season isn't as dead in the water as this one.

Memphis Grizzlies: Bucket-Getters

Messing with success is dangerous, and the Memphis Grizzlies have a good thing going with a defense-focused group that excels at the grit (and grind) and grunt work required of teams hoping to make deep playoff runs.

It's just that the effort Memphis expends crashing the glass and locking down on D would go so much further if it were supported by an extra one or two dangerous scoring threats on the other end.

This is not a shot at Ja Morant. That man can fill it up and does so with more flair than just about anyone in the league. But elsewhere on the roster, the Grizzlies feature players for whom scoring so often seems like a challenge.

Dillon Brooks is a monstrously effective stopper, but he still shoots Memphis out of games and is on pace to post his fourth field-goal percentage below 42.0 percent in the last five seasons. Desmond Bane is only scratching the surface of self-created offense. Everyone else on the roster is a dependent scorer, and the lack of born bucket-getters shows up in the Grizzlies' shooting profile: bottom-10 in accuracy at the rim, on long mid-rangers and on non-corner threes.

Defense, rebounding, attitude, chemistry—all contention-worthy. Memphis just needs to find someone besides Morant with the ability to create and convert shots.

Miami Heat: Forward Depth

Though he's averaging under 4.0 points per game, almost never shoots and looks occasionally washed with his new team, P.J. Tucker has yet again left a void behind on his old one.

The Milwaukee Bucks won a title with Tucker in 2021 and fell short a year ago after he left for the Miami Heat in free agency. Cut to the Heat missing Tucker all season, and the trend persists.

Jimmy Butler can moonlight as a power forward without giving up strength to most matchups, but he loses some ability to play bully ball against wings when he slides up the positional scale. Caleb Martin is a hard-playing grinder who brings more scoring than Tucker did (few bring less), but he's overstretched against many frontcourt opponents.

The Heat, sans Tucker, have dug deep to compensate. They've relied on teenaged rookie Nikola Jović and undrafted journeyman Haywood Highsmith at forward this season, and it's common to see them trot out four-guard looks with Bam Adebayo at center in games Butler has missed. Predictably, pint-sized units featuring Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro and Max Strus on the floor together have had a hard time getting stops and allowing opponents to post a gaudy 59.2 effective field-goal percentage.

Jae Crowder is the obvious answer to Miami's lack of forward depth, but almost any other like-sized option would do. The Heat needs someone in the 6'6" to 6'9" range to bring some bulk and balance to a rotation that almost always skews too small.

Milwaukee Bucks: Another Closing Wing

The Milwaukee Bucks may reach the Finals for a second time in three years if they do nothing at all. But addressing their lack of wing depth would certainly make that outcome likelier.

Offseason signee Joe Ingles is recovered and in the rotation following last year's torn ACL, and he's providing the craft and pick-and-roll playmaking Milwaukee expected. It's a mistake to assume he'll hold up defensively against postseason teams hellbent on attacking him. Ingles is 34, coming off a major injury and was far from a stopper at peak health.

Grayson Allen will also be wearing a postseason bullseye as far as opposing offenses are concerned, while Wesley Matthews, 36, is little more than a standstill (32.2 percent) three-point shooter now. A healthy Khris Middleton, something Milwaukee lacked in the 2022 playoffs, will certainly help. And Pat Connaughton will be a steady reserve once he emerges from his season-long shooting slump.

Still, the Bucks' best five-man unit is likely to feature a player who is a defensive liability or a limited offensive weapon. With Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Middleton and Brook Lopez rounding things out, it may be possible to survive. But why chance it? The Bucks need a two-way wing or forward who can play the most meaningful minutes against the best teams.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Leadership

Can a team trade for commitment? How about grit or attitude? OK, cohesion! What's the market rate for that?

The Minnesota Timberwolves tried trading for defense when they added Rudy Gobert, but with that experiment having gone so poorly in its early stages, it seems like looking for outside help is a mistake.

Close observers of the team, like The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski, are convinced change needs to arise internally: "The biggest issue this team faces is that when they have to dig deep to find some reservoir of gumption, guts and heart in an effort to overcome an obstacle in front of them, they not only have trouble locating any of it, but they also seemingly don't want to do the digging in the first place."

If it's true Minnesota's path to improvement requires soul-searching, tough talk or someone to force the players to come to terms with one another, then leadership in the locker room feels like a logical target at the deadline. Maybe Patrick Beverley's influence on the team last year was more profound than anyone imagined.

New Orleans Pelicans: The Right Kind of Center

Mention Myles Turner, and New Orleans Pelicans fans roll their eyes because they already know what's coming.

By now, the Pels' need for a center who makes more sense alongside balletic wrecking ball Zion Williamson is so understood and so often discussed that belaboring it here feels like overkill.

But here's the thing: New Orleans still hasn't made a change in the middle. Until that happens, the eye-rolling and dead-horse beating have to continue. With the Pelicans playing large swathes of this season in a fashion that conjured the word "contention", the stakes are too high to quit. Williamson's hamstring injury, which could cost him a month, changes nothing. The Pelicans have shown enough so far to justify making changes with an eye on games in May and June.

It doesn't have to be Turner, whom the Pacers are rightly thinking about keeping on an extension. But the Pels should scour the trade market for Turner types—insofar as those exist. It's not easy to find rim-protectors who can stretch the floor with high-volume outside shooting, but finding what might be the last piece of a potential championship puzzle is supposed to be hard.

New York Knicks: Look Into Julius Randle Trades

There's no guarantee Julius Randle will ever rediscover the form he showed in 2020-21, his All-NBA outlier season in which he averaged career highs (24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists) across the board while canning 41.1 percent of his threes.

That said, Randle is playing above the level he reached in a highly disappointing 2021-22 campaign and should be on the block before his pumpkin-carriage-pumpkin-carriage career inevitably swings back the wrong way. It won't be easy to find a taker for a defensively damaging forward who needs the ball to be effective but can't reliably space the floor, particularly with three years and $82.6 million left on his deal. The New York Knicks still have to try as they may not get a better opportunity.

Such is the fickle nature of Randle's production.

We've been hard on the former All-Star here, maybe even unfairly critical. But it's still difficult to argue against the idea that a Knicks roster featuring more financial flexibility and touches to spread among capable guards and wings has a higher ceiling than one tethered to Randle's high usage and costly salary.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Shotmakers

There are plenty of trouble spots to choose from in the Oklahoma City Thunder's offense. Everyone knows Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a downhill menace who's carried OKC to its surprising start, and niche fans are aware that Isaiah Joe has basically never missed a shot in his limited playing time.

After that, though? Yikes.

The Thunder are 18th in three-point accuracy and 22nd from the mid-range—bad numbers to be sure, but nowhere near as damaging as their No. 30 ranking in hit rate at the rim. And that's with SGA getting to the cup at high volume and finishing there at a 62.0 percent clip.

Other than rookie Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC is loaded with unreliable finishers. Josh Giddey ranks in the 33rd percentile at his position on close-range shots; Luguentz Dort and Aleksej Pokusevski are in the 15th. It's just a pure brick-fest up and down the roster on what should be the easiest shots to convert.

Oklahoma City probably won't (and shouldn't) sacrifice future draft capital to juice its attack. But maybe there's a cheap, useful lob-catcher or cutter out there who'll actually make a few layups. That could go a long way toward getting the Thunder's offense out of the bottom five.

Orlando Magic: Backcourt Shooting

The following is a list of every Orlando Magic guard with a true shooting percentage above the league average of 57.7 percent this season:

Keen observers will note the list has no entries, while even casual fans of the Magic will nod knowingly, unsurprised by the emptiness. Anyone who's watched this team's backcourt fail to score efficiently from just about everywhere is already familiar with Orlando's biggest weakness.

Fortunately, Paolo Banchero looks like a genuine offensive hub at the forward spot. Franz Wagner's capability as a secondary creator helps, too. There's a plausible future in which the Magic play a strange sort of inverted offense, where 6'10" bigs set up 6'5" guards instead of the other way around.

Jalen Suggs deserves some leeway because he's battled injuries in each of his two pro seasons. But career hit rates of 37.3 percent from the field and 23.3 percent from long-range make it seem almost impossible he'll ever be a plus from an efficiency standpoint. Cole Anthony is also a volume shooter, and Markelle Fultz does just about everything you'd want from an on-ball guard except knockdown jumpers.

If the Magic go hunting for upgrades, they'd better focus on finding someone who'll make it onto the above list.

Philadelphia 76ers: The Luxury Tax

It's never popular to advocate for billionaire owners saving money, but suggesting the Philadelphia 76ers make a small move to slip under the luxury tax line this season, which would reset the clock on the dreaded repeater tax, could actually help the team set itself up to improve in coming years.

Perhaps ownership would be willing to go way over the tax in dealing for someone like Bradley Beal or Zach LaVine this summer (likely using Tobias Harris' salary) in that scenario.

Philly is $1.2 million into the tax at present and could swap Furkan Korkmaz ($5 million) or Matisse Thybulle ($4.4 million) for a player earning a little less to avoid the penalty, ideally leaving enough room to sign a buyout candidate should one become available. Thybulle and a second-rounder to the Cavaliers, who should take a flier on a defensive wing, would make a lot of sense. Cleveland could send back one of several players making less than $2 million—Robin Lopez, Raul Neto, Lamar Stevens—to complete the deal.

The Sixers will have options. The "most favorable" 2023 second-rounder they have coming from Charlotte, Atlanta or Brooklyn brings real upside. A pick that should fall in the 30-35 range should be a sufficient sweetener to move off a small, undesired contract.

Phoenix Suns: The Jae Crowder Situation

Jae Crowder hasn't played for the Phoenix Suns this year and probably never will again. The problem from Phoenix's perspective is that he also hasn't played for anybody else because no acceptable trade has materialized for the veteran forward.

To end one of the longest-running unresolved situations in the league, the Suns need to lower their demands and confront reality.

Trading Crowder was never going to be easy. The Suns are a win-now operation that should prioritize getting back a veteran piece who can help in that effort. But what team which would be willing to trade such a player would want to give one up for Crowder? It'd be a "six of one, half-dozen of the other" like-for-like exchange. Add to that the worries other teams might have about acquiring Crowder in the wake of his abandoning a contender, and the whole situation is prohibitively fraught.

Nonetheless, the Suns have to end this. They must move Crowder, even if it's for a downgrade in talent. A ninth man who might provide a handful of helpful minutes in a playoff series is better than continuing to roster someone who simply isn't going to play at all. Maybe that's underwhelming, but if that's what the market says Crowder is worth, well...then that's what he's worth.

Portland Trail Blazers: Pick Protections

The Portland Trail Blazers owe their 2023 first-round pick (protected 1-14) to the Chicago Bulls. As it stands now, that pick feels like a decent bet to convey. It might seem like a small thing, but swinging a deal that involves the Bulls agreeing to make that selection unprotected and guaranteed to convey could be hugely important to the Blazers.

There's precedent for this. The Heat and Thunder agreed to protection amendments in a trade last year.

If Portland is going to add talent, it'll be in a better position to do so if it can trade future picks without also making them conditional. With the 2023 selection tying things up (it could keep rolling over with top-14 protection until 2028), the Blazers are currently unable to deal any other firsts outright through 2028. One would imagine trade partners will view picks they'll definitely get as more valuable than ones that might convey...at some point...later...maybe.

It's niche stuff, but the Blazers have to handle first things first. Shaedon Sharpe (I'm holding onto him with both hands if I'm Portland), Keon Johnson and Jusuf Nurkić as salary ballast could get something done for a high-end wing or forward, but everything would be easier if the Blazers had more unencumbered future firsts to include in a deadline deal.

Sacramento Kings: Backup Center

Bad news: The Sacramento Kings need a second-unit center.

Good news: That's the easiest commodity to find on the trade market.

In addition to being a laudable example of grittiness, Domantas Sabonis' decision to play through an avulsion fracture in his right thumb could also go down as one of the more significant disaster aversions of the 2022-23 season. The Kings would be absolutely hosed without him performing hub duties on offense and, surprisingly, doing a solid job defending at the rim on the other end. Sabonis is having an All-Star season for one of the most exciting teams in the league, and his work has been all the more valuable due to the lack of reliable support behind him.

Trey Lyles and Chimezie Metu have been his primary backups, and neither's minutes have coincided with positive point differentials.

The Kings should try to get more dynamic in their pursuit of a reserve big. Oklahoma City's Mike Muscala would bring spacing, while Orlando's Mo Bamba could add length and shot-blocking (and more spacing) to the rotation. Sacramento has always prioritized winning in the short term, even when it shouldn't have. Riding high and in a playoff position, it should have no trouble sacrificing future picks to bring in present upgrades.

San Antonio Spurs: Playmaking Depth

Tre Jones had started a grand total of 12 career games coming into this season, and now he's carrying virtually the entire playmaking load for the San Antonio Spurs. You could argue Jones, the only true point guard to have logged any significant time for San Antonio, has seen the importance of his role increase year-over-year to the largest extent in the league.

He's done admirable work, even if his accuracy from the field and especially from long range (27.6 percent) leaves plenty to be desired. At 6.5 assists and just 1.9 turnovers per game, Jones is making the best of a difficult situation.

The Spurs don't need to make it so hard on him, though. There are plenty of ho-hum game-managers available for peanuts. The Warriors are getting great production from two-way point guard Ty Jerome, and undrafted second-year guard Jordan Goodwin is handing out 5.3 dimes per 36 minutes for the Washington Wizards. It's not hard to find these guys.

San Antonio may not care. One of the surest ways to sabotage an offense and pile up lottery-odds-improving losses is to ensure there will be stretches in every game where no true distributor is on the floor to organize the attack. At the same time, the lack of a second reliable point guard makes it harder for the Spurs' young players to find easy looks. It might only take a protected second-rounder to bring back a half-decent backup for Jones.

Toronto Raptors: Roster Imbalance

Kudos to the Toronto Raptors for trying. Innovation should never be dismissed, and the Raps really did attempt to blaze a new trail by building lineups that blurred and sometimes even erased the lines between positions.

Pascal Siakam at center with Scottie Barnes at point guard and Precious Achiuwa running around in some undefined capacity? Sure, why not? Let's even cross match and have OG Anunoby guard 5s while Gary Trent Jr. lurks in the passing lanes.

It's all fun in theory, but the Raptors have struggled in practice. They don't have enough shot creation from conventional point guards, they get maimed on the glass because they routinely don't play real centers and the bench has been particularly damaging of late—perhaps a downstream result of such unusual starting configurations that make normal rotations trickier than they'd otherwise be.

A lot of the chatter about Toronto's possible transactions this season has centered on whether it's time to trade vets and pivot toward a rebuild. And it may be worth it to consider dealing Fred VanVleet and Trent Jr., both of whom can hit free agency via player options this summer. The players that leave will matter, but the ones that come back will be of greater consequence.

The Raptors, attempted disruptors who've spent a couple of years thinking outside the box, need to prove they can think inside it by finding real point guards and centers.

Utah Jazz: Sort Out the Keepers

Though the Utah Jazz have fallen back to Earth after a start that had them sitting atop the Western Conference as late as Nov. 21, they're still ahead of the pace most expected them to set following trades that sent away virtually every core piece of the team not named Mike Conley.

The deals that sent Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and others elsewhere yielded loads of picks. But for our purposes, it's the players Utah got in return that are most relevant. The Jazz needs to decide which of them are worth keeping and which should be flipped for draft assets, and/or younger, cheaper options. This creates a paradox, as the players Utah should want to hang onto are the ones who'd have the most value on the market. Still, some of the decisions are fairly clear.

I'd sort likely All-Star Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and Jarred Vanderbilt into the keeper pile. Conley (not acquired via trade, but still...), Malik Beasley, Kelly Olynyk (good player; desirable to too many teams to keep), Jordan Clarkson and Talen Horton-Tucker should be on the block.

Collin Sexton, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Ochai Agbaji slip into a third "wait and see" category.

Of course, considering the Jazz have transacted with so much success over the last six months or so, they'd probably be better off trusting their internal evaluations over mine.

Washington Wizards: The "Middle Build" Fallacy

OK, so maybe the notion of getting really good without first being really bad isn't objectively ridiculous.

This year's Indiana Pacers look much better than expected after refusing to tank down the stretch last season or during the 2022-23 campaign. But they're the exception to the rule that says drafting a superstar or bottoming out to clear the space necessary to sign a couple of them are still the best ways to climb the standings. You can't always count on the Sacramento Kings fast-tracking your rebuild by gifting you Tyrese Haliburton on a rookie-scale deal.

So: The Washington Wizards need to address the inherent flaw in their team-building approach. Middle Build, isn't a viable strategy in a league that has seen tanks and teardowns work so well for so long that the NBA realigned its draft lottery structure to disincentivize the practice.

Addressing the Middle Build fallacy starts with trying to trade Bradley Beal, a very good player paid like an All-NBA shoo-in, but it extends to future-asset-focused exchanges involving Kristaps Porziņģis, Kyle Kuzma and literally every other halfway desirable piece on this cornerstone-free roster.

You have to hit bottom to reach the top. Washington needs to accept that and act accordingly.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Jan. 5. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.