This year's NBA trade deadline boils down to two words: power forwards.
There are teams that need them to compete. There are teams that have players they're not sure they want, and others that won't give them up.
And then there are teams that have power forwards they can't give away.
As the deadline is now officially less than one week away, if you know what will happen with the power forwards, you know what will happen between now and Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
"These are the types of guys that a lot of us want right now," said a Western Conference general manager. "Last year when Jerami Grant got that big deal [three years, $60 million from the Detroit Pistons] people were surprised, but if he was put on the trade market right now they'd be flooded with offers for him."
The forward frenzy kicked off on Wednesday when two combo forwards who can guard and shoot 3-pointers were on the move: P.J. Tucker to the Milwaukee Bucks and Trevor Ariza to the Miami Heat. But the deadline will likely be defined by a handful of bigger names whose status on the market remains uncertain, with teams like the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks among those on the hunt.
