Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards
Looking at how much the Washington Wizards have struggled so far this season, you can't help but feel for a player like Kyle Kuzma. At this point, the veteran wing desperately needs a fresh start in his career. He deserves a shot at playing meaningful basketball. While it would be understandable to blame him for some of his irrelevance considering he signed a long-term extension with Washington this past offseason, it would also make sense for both sides for the Wizards to move him ahead of the trade deadline.
That could end up being easier said than done but I'd imagine that Kuzma will be quite the popular player on the rumor mill in the final few weeks before the trade deadline. If the right opportunity does present itself, the Wizards shouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on a potential trade of Kuzma. Both sides deserve to move on from each other and, in the right deal, both would also certainly benefit. He's a name to keep a close eye on heading into the deadline.
Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Ah, and now we get to the player that has dominated most of the headlines over the last couple of weeks. At this point, it would be surprising if Jimmy Butler wasn't traded ahead of the deadline. Even though it's a move that the Miami Heat should do, I'm still not at the point where I believe it's a 100 percent foregone conclusion. Understanding that, I also believe that it's probably in the best interest of both sides. With where the supposed relationship between the two sides is, I can't envision Jimmy returning to the Heat and playing in another game. It's certainly a sad and unfortunate development.
The big question is whether the Heat is going to get the quality return that they believe they deserve in a potential deal of Jimmy. I don't think that is going to be the case and assuming it isn't, that's when the Heat will need to make a big decision. Are they going to pull the trigger to close the door on this chapter and just move on or are they going to be hard-headed and not trade Jimmy until they get a deal that they deem to be worthy? With the Heat, that's almost impossible to predict. But one thing is sure, Jimmy needs to be traded before the deadline.