We have reached the point in the season where we know who is a legit title contender and who’s not. Some of these teams are so bad that even acquiring LeBron James wouldn’t help their playoff chances.

This isn’t NCAA March Madness, where on any given day ending in ‘Y’ a 16-seed can upset the best team in the country. In the NBA, parity is drowned out by high-volume, fast-paced possessions and in the playoffs, series are decided by a best-of-seven, making it nearly impossible for ‘upsets’ to occur.

As a result of knowing the probable outcomes: we can identify what teams are going to be ‘buyers’ and ‘sellers’ headed into this season’s trade deadline.

This year’s ‘buyers’ have been separated into two categories:

Current NBA Finals contenders

Finals contenders if they make a move

In bucket one are the following teams:

Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Clippers

Milwaukee Bucks

Philadelphia 76ers

Bucket two consists of:

Boston Celtics

Houston Rockets

Utah Jazz

Denver Nuggets

Miami Heat

Dallas Mavericks

Not every team excluded from this list is automatically considered a ‘seller’. Take the Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, and Detroit Pistons for example. Those three franchises appear to find tantric pleasure from drowning in mediocrity by overpaying fringe all-star free agents instead of focusing on a full-scale rebuild.

For the sake of this exercise, only teams who are committed to liquidating veteran ‘win now’ +EV players on the roster with the intention of accumulating future assets will be considered (and any outliers).

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OPTIONS (Contract Status):

Marcus Morris, F, New York Knicks (1 year/$15M)

Andre Iguodala, F, Memphis Grizzlies (1 year/$17.185M)

Jrue Holiday, PG, New Orleans Pelicans (3 years/$79.282M, 3rd year player option)

Bogdan Bogdanovic, SG, Sacramento Kings (1 year/$8.529 + QO + RFA)

Julius Randle, F, New York Knicks (3 years/$63M)

Bobby Portis, F, New York Knicks (2 years/$30.75M, 2nd year non-guaranteed)

Taj Gibson, F, New York Knicks (2 years/$18.45M, 2nd year non-guaranteed)

Elfrid Payton, G, New York Knicks (2 years/$16M, 2nd year non-guaranteed)

Wayne Ellington, G, New York Knicks (2 years/$16M, 2nd year non-guaranteed)

Derrick Favors, PF, New Orleans Pelicans (1 year/$16.9M)

JJ Redick, SG, New Orleans Pelicans (2 years/$26.5M)

D’Angelo Russell, G, Golden State Warriors (4 years/$117M)

Evan Turner, F, Atlanta Hawks (1 year/$18.6M)

Allen Crabbe, F, Atlanta Hawks (1 year/$18.5M)

DeMar DeRozan, SG, San Antonio Spurs (2 years/$55.5M, 2nd year player option)

Rudy Gay, F, San Antonio Spurs (2 years, $29M)

LaMarcus Aldridge, C, San Antonio Spurs (2 years, $50M)

Kevin Love, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers (4 years, $120.4M)

Tristan Thompson, C, Cleveland Cavaliers (1 years, $18.5M)

Jae Crowder, F, Memphis Grizzlies. (1 year/$7.815M)

Davis Bertans, F, Washington Wizards (1 year/$7M)

CJ Miles, G, Washington Wizards (1 year/$8.7M)

Isaiah Thomas, PG, Washington Wizards (1 year/$1.6M)

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

STRENGTHS: Star power

NEEDS: 3 & D Wing

DRAFT PICK STATUS:

2020 second round draft pick to Orlando

2021 first round draft pick to New Orleans

2021 second round draft pick to Detroit

2022 second round draft pick to Washington or Chicago

2023 first round draft pick to New Orleans

2024 first round draft pick to New Orleans

PROPOSAL

LAKERS RECEIVE: Marcus Morris

Marcus Morris KNICKS RECEIVE: Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

EXPLANATION: Someone needs to tell Kyle Kuzma he is the ‘third scoring option’ on this team. The Lakers desperately need him not only for depth/load management, but if/when LeBron have to sit for injury or foul trouble reasons — someone else is going to have to be able to create their own shot and get a bucket. Who exactly is that on this roster if Kuzma isn’t healthy enough to carry the burden? Exactly. Morris is as tough as nails, and has already proved several times this season closing out games that he can be just what they need — a scoring security blanket who primarily serves as the perfect 3 & D veteran needed for playoff intensity.

As for the Knicks, Kuz can hop right into the youth movement and be a part of the team’s long term plans as he’s still under rookie contract team control. This makes too much sense.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS