Young NBA Players 25 and Under Who Already Need a Trade

Rebuilding teams drafting the best player available is the correct strategy for a few years, although some awkward fits will inevitably present themselves.

This is the case for the following five teams, who have one young star (or more) who now looks out of place due to positional overlap, financial constraints, or trying to fit his team's championship-or-bust timeline.

Although at 25 years or younger and just getting their careers started, it may be best for the following players to explore a change of scenery.

Anfernee Simons has been overlooked a bit during the turnover of the Portland Trail Blazers roster, as the team has added young pieces in Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson and Donovan Clingan in the draft while also acquiring Deni Avdija, Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III through free agency and trades.

At 25, Sharpe is the old head in the backcourt now with Henderson (20) and Sharpe (21) looking like the future in Portland.

Already heading into his seventh season, Simons would look better in a contender's starting lineup, one where he can function as a secondary ball-handler and get lots of spot-up three opportunities.

Simons averaged a career-high 22.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and made 38.6 percent of his three-pointers last season. He's a high-volume floor-spacer, ranking sixth in the NBA in made threes per game (3.4) and was lethal in catch-and-shoot opportunities (42.7 percent).

A team-friendly two-year, $53.6 million remaining contract will be easy to trade for, and Portland should be eager to offload both Simons and Jerami Grant to dive deeper down the standings and closer to the No. 1 overall pick in a rich 2025 draft class.

With their starting backcourt of the future already on the roster, the Blazers should be shopping Simons for a young wing or draft assets.

We're still waiting on a potential contract extension for Jonathan Kuminga, a player who could be a key trade piece in a deal for Lauri Markkanen or another star.

There should be a desire from the Golden State Warriors to keep Kuminga, a player with All-Star upside who is heading into his fourth season and is still just 21 years of age.

Kuminga isn't a perfect fit on this roster, however, and has yet to cement himself as a full-time starter. His athleticism and defensive versatility is much-needed for an aging Warriors core, yet Kuminga's lack of a reliable outside shot (29.5 percent from three in his 46 starts) can't be overlooked. This Warriors' frontcourt doesn't feature many floor-spacing options, and team three-point shooting should be a major concern with Klay Thompson leaving and Kyle Anderson (22.9 percent last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves) now in and likely playing big minutes as a rotation piece.

Finding the right extension number will be tricky, as Kuminga has max-player potential, but isn't particularly close to reaching it anytime soon. Stephen Curry, 36, and Draymond Green, 34, may be out of the league before Kuminga becomes a star, something the Warriors can't afford to wait on.

Sending Kuminga as part of a trade package to the Utah Jazz for Markkanen would be a win-win-win for the Warriors, Jazz and Kuminga, as he'd be free to take on a larger offensive role and pursue a max contract as a restricted free agent in 2025.

With the fit and timeline a little off here and the Warriors needing someone who can be a true No. 2 offensive option now, a Kuminga trade makes a lot of sense before Golden State makes a big financial commitment.

The ink is still drying on Nic Claxton's new four-year, $97 million contract he signed this summer, meaning the 25-year-old center can't be traded until December 15th.

His choosing to re-sign with the Nets shouldn't be viewed as a long-term partnership, however, not with Brooklyn now choosing to rebuild following the Mikal Bridges trade.

A new deal between Claxton and the Nets ensured that the defensive phenom got paid, as few center-needy teams could even spend above the mid-level exception in free agency. Brooklyn didn't want to lose one of its best trade assets either, especially going into a period where they'll need to collect as many draft picks as possible.

Claxton is a high-caliber starting center who averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 blocks and shot 62.9 percent overall in his 71 games while playing just 29.8 minutes a night. His numbers should only go up this season with Bridges now in New York with the Knicks.

Brooklyn did a great job of structuring Claxton's contract to make it as trade-friendly as possible, too.

With a contract that starts at $28.4 million this season (20.2 percent of the cap), Claxton's deal actually drops a couple million bucks a year, ending with a $21.6 million payday in 2027-28 (just 11.5 percent of the cap).

Claxton could be a trade deadline target by teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors or Memphis Grizzlies (if Zach Edey hasn't played like a starter), especially on his team-friendly contract.

We completely understand why a new deal made sense for Claxton and Brooklyn this summer. Given the new direction of the Nets, however, we expect to see a trade sometime before the February deadline.

It was a weird season for Jaden Ivey with the Detroit Pistons in 2023-24, one that saw him actually coming off the bench in favor of Killian Hayes to begin the year.

While new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff should be smarter about making Ivey an immediate starter coming out of training camp, there's far more talent at the shooting guard and small forward positions that could lead to a change in role for Ivey.

Ron Holland II was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the draft, the first under new President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon. There will likely be pressure from this new front office for Hollard to either start or play big minutes before too long.

Malik Beasley started 77 games at shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks last season and the Pistons need his three-point shooting (41.3 percent) after finishing tied for dead last in makes per game (11.0) and 26th in accuracy (34.8 percent).

Tim Hardaway Jr. was a salary dump but his floor-spacing could earn the veteran wing a spot in the rotation as well. Ausar Thompson is extremely versatile, yet should see even more time on the wing this season (76 percent of his minutes last year, via Cleaning the Glass) after the Pistons gave Tobias Harris $52 million over the next two years to be the team's new starting power forward.

It's fair to question whether or not Ivey can still get enough minutes and shots to develop into a star in Detroit, a franchise that just committed a max deal to Cade Cunningham.

The Pistons have a year to figure things out before Ivey becomes extension eligible next summer, and may be forced to start listening to trade offers already.

A lot of different Houston Rockets could make this list, as this franchise has more young talent than anyone in the NBA. There's going to be a lot of tough decisions made over the next few years as more and more players age out of their rookie contracts and the payroll starts to explode.

For now, Houston may have to make a choice between Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün, both of whom are eligible to sign extensions now.

Over the first few months of the 2023-24 season, this looked like an easy decision. Şengün was playing like an All-Star, averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 53.7 percent overall. Green struggled with his efficiency in the early going, putting up 17.7 points on just 40.6 percent shooting overall and 30.8 percent from three.

When Şengün was shut down for the season in mid-March with an ankle sprain, however, both Green and the Rockets actually got better.

Houston was 29-34 overall with Şengün in the lineup, yet finished 12-7 without its star center.

Green was far more effective playing in the extra space, as Houston used Jabari Smith Jr. more as an undersized, floor-spacing center. The 22-year-old averaged 24.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and shot 45.3 percent overall and 38.1 percent from deep after Şengün was sidelined.

The Rockets aren't going to be able to pay both these guys and still have money left over for future extensions for Smith, Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard and others.

Splitting up this duo now while both are still under rookie contracts would be the easiest path forward.