There's no such thing as thinking too far ahead in the abbreviated and accelerated 2020-21 NBA season.

Ink is still drying on most free-agent and rookie contracts, but players are already in training camps. The campaign will tip off before you know it, and roster decisions will follow this same fast-forwarded format.

So even though the green flag hasn't dropped on the 72-game marathon, we can't help but think about the trade season to follow. It could be a wild ride, and we're peering into our crystal ball to help form five early predictions for the 2021 trade deadline.

Raptors Reunite with P.J. Tucker

After losing both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka in free agency, the Toronto Raptors could be at risk of regression following three consecutive seasons with a .700-plus winning percentage. But they shouldn't fall far. They still have one of the most skilled backcourts in basketball with Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, plus a pair of blossoming two-way forwards in Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.

If Toronto is sitting a half-step behind the East's elite ahead of the deadline, it might attempt to bolster its Gasol-less, Ibaka-less frontcourt. The Raptors could consider turning to a familiar face: P.J. Tucker, who spent the latter half of the 2016-17 campaign north of the border and left a massive imprint during his brief tenure.

"P.J.'s toughness in a short period of time rubbed off on us," then-Raptors coach Dwayne Casey said in 2018, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. "... There's a lot of respect and love for P.J. He left a toughness factor with us that should be everlasting."

A reunion with Tucker wouldn't spoil any of Toronto's long-term plans since his contract is set to expire after this season. He also could be readily available given the turmoil in Space City and the fact he's reportedly "irate" over his contract situation with the Rockets, per The Athletic's Kelly Iko, Sam Amick and Shams Charania.

If the Raptors get their claws on Tucker, he'd (once again) seamlessly fit into the fabric of the franchise. His no-maintenance offensive game meshes with anyone, and he'd give Toronto enviable flexibility on defense working alongside the shape-shifting tandem of Siakam and Anunoby.

Clippers Bring Back Eric Bledsoe

The Los Angeles Clippers have kept busy this offseason—re-signing Marcus Morris Sr., adding Serge Ibaka, replacing Doc Rivers with Tyronn Lue—but not quite as busy as they would've liked.

Notably absent from that activity list is the addition of a playmaker. Considering that L.A. finished last season ranked 28th in passes made, 22nd in assists and 20th in points off assists, it's surprising the club didn't address the position. It's especially astonishing since Kawhi Leonard reportedly requested an upgrade at that spot, per ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

The Clippers have too much at stake in 2020-21—Leonard and Paul George can both enter free agency next offseason—to hope this problem can be solved internally. Once it becomes clear the issue remains, L.A. should leave no stone unturned in its point guard search.

And no, the return of Reggie Jackson, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday, hardly addresses the void. If anything, the fact they're ticketing Jackson for a "prominent role," as Wojnarowski put it, underscores the need for a significant upgrade.

Names like Derrick Rose and Spencer Dinwiddie will inevitably come up. Even Russell Westbrook or John Wall could be mentioned in passing. But a sneaky smart solution could be teaming back up with Eric Bledsoe, who spent his first three seasons with the franchise.

The Clippers would lose nothing defensively moving from Patrick Beverley to Bledsoe, and they would upgrade their athleticism and off-the-dribble threat. While Bledsoe isn't the same caliber of shooter, L.A. could bypass late-game spacing concerns by rolling out a stretch 5 like Ibaka or even Morris.

If the Clippers feel they are a floor general short of a championship, this could be their best option to scratch that itch.

Hornets Get Kevin Love Out of Cleveland

The Charlotte Hornets appear ready to accelerate their post-Kemba Walker rebuild. But in terms of talent, that might be a different story, which general manager Mitch Kupchak admitted ahead of the draft.

"We're not good enough right now to win a bunch of games, to get into the playoffs and to advance," Kupchak said, per Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. "... We need to upgrade every position."

Kupchak has since engineered upgrades at multiple spots by taking LaMelo Ball with the No. 3 pick and luring Gordon Hayward to Buzz City by way of a four-year, $120 million deal in free agency. The gears are turning, and it isn't impossible to envision this club fighting for a ticket to the play-in tournament. Anything beyond that, though, is wishful thinking without another impact move.

Freeing Kevin Love from Northeast Ohio could be that transaction.

Stranded on the wrong side of LeBron James' latest departure, Love is a five-time All-Star who's struggling to make meaningful contributions to the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers. But move him to a team with some win-now aspirations (as modest as they might be), and his impact should immediately perk up.

He's an expert passer, an offensive release valve as a stretch big and a crafty post scorer who can punish smaller defenders on a switch. His outlet passes combined with Ball's hit-ahead looks could give the Hornets an exciting, uptempo approach. When Charlotte couldn't get out and run, Love could work pick-and-choose (pop, roll, slip) magic with Hayward, Ball, Devonte' Graham and (if he isn't needed in the trade) Terry Rozier.

Buzz City barely made a peep last season. Give this group a starting five of Graham, Ball, Hayward, Love and PJ Washington, and the Hornets will be humming.

Warriors Sniff Around Stephen Curry's Trade Market

The Golden State Warriors' charmed existence is almost a distant memory, but that isn't the biggest issue now. There are reasons to wonder if their championship window has already closed.

If it has, they should already be exploring avenues to whatever awaits them in the next chapter. It's unfair, but it's the light-years lifestyle.

Barring miracle seasons from several players—Andrew Wiggins and James Wiseman chief among them—the Warriors aren't competing for the crown this season. Not with Klay Thompson shelved for a second straight season, this time due to a torn Achilles. While they can try to hold down the fort without him, their future (and his) are blurry at best.

That could bring about the previously unimaginable: gauging Stephen Curry's value on the trade market.

That doesn't mean the Warriors have to deal him, but they should know the price point in case they have to wave the white flag. He'll be 33 in March and a free agent in 2022. If they're ever going to trade him, this might be the best time to maximize his value.

This might qualify as blasphemy in the Bay Area, but how realistic are the Warriors' title hopes for 2021-22?

Curry isn't getting younger, Thompson hasn't suited up since June 2019 and Draymond Green seemingly suffered a steep decline last season. Can those three 30-somethings still comprise a championship core? Is there any reason to think Wiggins, Wiseman or anyone else from the supporting cast will dramatically improve their odds? If not, how can they uncover upgrades with zero cap space for the foreseeable future?

There are too many question marks for the Warriors not to at least poke around and familiarize themselves with the nuclear option.

Rockets, Sixers Broker Harden-for-Simmons Blockbuster

It's hard to say when the Houston Rockets will end their relationship with James Harden, but it seems clear it's reached the final stretch. As ESPN's Tim MacMahon put it, "the organization is bracing for life after The Beard."

Pinning down the trade value of an annual All-Star with an MVP and three scoring titles on his resume is almost always impossible. Unless, of course, there happens to be a recent No. 1 pick who's a star in his own right, still in possession of boundless potential and perhaps obtainable in a blockbuster trade.

Ben Simmons is the perfect solution to Houston's predicament—even if everyone may not agree. Harden might be brilliant in his craft, but he's a 31-year-old who plays a hyper-specific style that demands a supporting cast be constructed with that skill set in mind. Simmons, meanwhile, is a 24-year-old who just needs athletes who are willing to run to make the most of his vision, distributing and 1-through-5 defending.

So, why would the Sixers give him up? Because he isn't a great fit with Joel Embiid, and there's little (if any) evidence the two can engineer a championship run together. Swap out Simmons for Harden, and suddenly many of those logistical issues are erased.

"They offer balance to the other's strengths, styles that can win different matchups, a more natural 1-2 punch that can actually run plays together," PhillyVoice's Kyle Neubeck wrote. "Embiid is the defensive spine and the fallback offensive option Harden needs rolled up into one player."

This would be an enormous, landscape-shifting transaction—the type of trade that rarely goes down in-season. But with the Rockets teetering on the edge of a full-scale demolition, and the Sixers anxious to go title-chasing with the 27-in-March Embiid, this makes enough sense to serve as the exception.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.

Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.