NBA stars don't surface on the trade block by accident.

Something puts them there, whether that's a trade demand, an organizational shift to a new timeline, an increasingly untenable payroll or anything else that could make the player or the team (or both) question their relationship.

The arguments to move said trade-block residents aren't typically tough to make or hard to follow. There isn't enough said, however, about the arguments for keeping them around.

While the following five players have all generated some level of trade buzz, let's make the case for having them stay put.

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young

The Hawks are three years, two first-round exits and a play-in tournament loss removed from their eye-opening run to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. That's, admittedly, quite the case for making wholesale changes to this roster, a process that's already underway with this summer's subtraction of Dejounte Murray.

Trae Young's name was mentioned in trade talks well ahead of this shift. It continues rumbling around the rumor mill, though recent talks largely center around what, if any, market exists for his services.

He is a complicated player to build around. While he routinely stuffs the stat sheet with some of the league's best scoring and assist averages, he isn't as efficient on offense (career 43.6/35.5/87.3 shooting slash, 4.2 turnovers per outing) as you'd like for someone with his glaring defensive deficiencies and ball-dominance. As loud as his numbers can be, his actual impact on winning is debatable.

His max contract, which could be extended after this season, means teams pay a premium for that offensive production without getting any kind of discount for his shortcomings. It isn't shocking to hear crickets on his trade market, especially as Atlanta works to dismantle a roster that was tailored to give Young his best shot at success.

This apparent lack of interest should be all the Hawks need to hear, though, to know this isn't the time to move Young. They might be lucky to get 25 cents on the dollar in a deal, and then their inevitable sink down the standings wouldn't even include the normal lottery-odds perks, since the San Antonio Spurs control the Hawks' next three first-round picks.

Subtracting Young just for the sake of doing it wouldn't accomplish much for Atlanta. Meanwhile, keeping him around would allow coach Quin Snyder the chance to reshuffle the deck in hopes of finding a more beneficial backcourt mate than Murray proved to be. Plus, incoming No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher has plenty to gain from Young's playmaking and gravitational pull on opposing defenders.

If Atlanta keeps treading water, there will be a time when it makes sense to move Young. This is not it.

Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine

Last November, The Athletic's Shams Charania and Darnell Mayberry brought word of Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls showing an "increased openness" of separating.

This was hardly the first time LaVine's name had surfaced in trade talks, though Chicago's willingness to let him go prior to the report was always questionable. The Bulls were maddeningly committed to a "win-now" core that never did that much winning, and they had reportedly attached an "astronomical—and unrealistic—asking price" to LaVine, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

This newfound mutual interest in a trade has never amounted to anything, though. Shortly after The Athletic's report, LaVine encountered his latest bout with the injury bug. This time, a nagging foot ailment got the better of him and eventually sent him under the knife for season-ending surgery. His trade cost has plummeted since, yet the Bulls still can't sniff out any takers:

Given how long this has dragged on, there must be some level of interest in Chicago simply washing its hands of LaVine. His colossal contract bogs down the books, and the touches he'll receive this season would arguably be better spent as developmental opportunities for the club's young core.

Having said that, if the Bulls would need to give up a first-round pick (and apparently more?) just to unload LaVine, it's not worth it.

Yes, his injury history is scary, his salary is huge and team success is almost entirely absent from his resume. He is still, when healthy, one of the better offensive weapons in basketball. Prior to this past season, he was on a four-year run of averaging at least 24 points, four assists and 2.5 three-pointers. Only four other players—all perennial All-Stars—matched that feat.

The idea that every other team is completely out on him feels like an overreaction. Maybe teams just need to see him back in action to be reminded of what he can do on the court. If he gets off to a strong start and some win-now suitors encounter any offensive struggles, that could be all that's needed to—if not restore LaVine's trade value—at least pull it out of the red.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns just served as the second-leading scorer and rebounder on one of the best teams in Timberwolves history. The very concept of shipping him out should be laughable.

But have you seen Minnesota's payroll? Let's just say that the impending luxury-tax situation—for a franchise with an uncertain ownership situation, mind you—is ominous enough that the Wolves merely "hope to hang onto" Towns, per ESPN's Zach Lowe.

Minnesota has Towns under contract through at least the next three seasons—he holds a whopping $61 million player option for 2017-18—so it has full control of this situation. The fact there's still talk about his future shows he'd likely be the odd man out if the Wolves opted for any financially motivated moves.

Granted, this is easy to say when it isn't our money, but Towns trade talks should be silenced. He is way too important for a team with legitimate championship aspirations to consider to letting him go.

Rudy Gobert is a non-shooter, Jaden McDaniels doesn't shoot threes with great volume and Anthony Edwards is a capable shooter but certainly not a great one. This offense could get gummed up in a hurry if not for the fact Towns happens to be a 7'0" marksman. Teams who don't crowd him past the arc expose themselves to being torched by a nine-year veteran with career averages of 1.7 threes on 39.8 percent shooting.

Towns is much more than a jumbo-spacer, too. He's an ignitable scorer from anywhere on the floor, an active rebounder and a capable creator for himself and his teammates. He may have been surpassed by Edwards on the offensive pecking order, but the gap between them is significantly smaller than the one separating Towns from whoever the Wolves' third scoring option is supposed to be.

Towns has enough warts (mostly seen on the defensive end) that he's almost certainly overpaid, so in certain situations, he might find himself firmly in the chopping block. In the Gopher State, though, he is a vital part of this team's championship plan and should be accordingly off-limits.

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram

Brandon Ingram trade winds billowed out of the Big Easy before the offseason even started. Back in May, NBA insider Marc Stein relayed that the New Orleans Pelicans were expected to "aggressively explore" a trade involving Ingram.

Why would they be so motivated to move a 27-year-old who generally ranks among the more productive players at his position? Well, he needs a new deal by next offseason, and he might be looking for a huge chunk of change. His injury history makes that kind of investment risky. Plus, the Pelicans have younger, cheaper alternatives at the position in Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III.

Ingram's potential suitors know all about his injury history and future contract uncertainty, though. It's surely telling that this team has seemingly searched high and low in pursuit of an Ingram trade and come up empty. Ingram is a really good offensive player, but he doesn't take a lot of threes or earn a ton of trips to the foul line. He can function as a secondary playmaker, but he isn't a primary creator. His defense has never blossomed the way his length and fluidity says it should have.

He's far from a no-brainer max-contract candidate, in other words, and the market has recognized as much. If he isn't going to cost top-dollar, though, that could (and should) extend his stay in New Orleans.

"We've been really clear, we'd prefer Brandon stay with us," Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said in July. "And Brandon has been pretty clear, he prefers to stay with us. ... I think we're committed to each other and committed to seeing if this team can work in a way that makes sense."

Ingram might not be the perfect on-court complement to Zion Williamson, but that's still a super-talented twosome. This roster has plenty of talent, too (yes, even with that glaring hole at the center spot). Surrounding Ingram and Williamson with Jones, Murphy and Dejounte Murray would give New Orleans tons of firepower and plenty of flexibility. Should the Pelicans go with that as their starting group, C.J. McCollum might immediately become the Sixth Man of the Year favorite.

A healthy Ingram who finds his footing within a multi-creator offense is a really valuable piece. Given how quiet his market has been, it's hard to imagine New Orleans would trade for an upgrade.

New York Knicks: Julius Randle

The New York Knicks just authored one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. Julius Randle was absent from half of it.

That's not meant to minimize his contributions to the team, which included per-game tallies of 24 points, 9.2 rebounds and five assists. It is, rather, an objective observation, as he only suited up 46 times (not once in the postseason) due to a nagging shoulder injury that eventually necessitated season-ending surgery.

The Knicks, who won a playoff series for only the second time since 2013, were plenty successful without him. Their offense often felt like it had a better rhythm, too, as the worst version of Randle can be a ball-dominant, record-scratcher. It surely gave New York something to think about regarding his future, which feels up in the air with free agency potentially awaiting him next summer (he has a below-market $31 million player option for 2025-26).

Randle's name has generated a lot of trade talk, but ESPN's Brian Windhorst did label Randle as "extraordinarily tradable" if New York wanted to make another move.

The Knicks should avoid that temptation. For now, anyway.

For as good as New York looked at times without Randle last season, this offense fell apart in the playoffs. Jalen Brunson did what he could as a solo creator, but the lack of a second scoring option (or secondary playmaker) was problematically apparent. The Knicks drew even in his 517 minutes, but they lost the 112 he sat by a whopping 17.5 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.

New York's offseason acquisition of Mikal Bridges could help with that, but he has rarely approached (let alone sustained) the kind of production Randle routinely posts. Bridges and OG Anunoby look like great third and fourth options, which they would be with Randle back alongside Brunson. Bump the swingmen up to second and third options, and they might be over their skis.

The Knicks are clearly in win-right-now mode, so Randle's impact on this season's squad matters more than his future with the franchise beyond the 2024-25 campaign. New York can tackle that topic later. For now, it should be finding his ideal fit with this roster, because his best version could be hugely helpful in transforming this team from a championship-hopeful to an outright champion.