The 2021 NBA offseason officially got underway during the 2021 NBA Draft. That was the first opportunity that teams had to upgrade their rosters in preparation for the 2021-22 season.
Next up on the offseason calendar is free agency. If the draft was any indication of things to come, free agency is going to be a roller coaster ride as well. This isn’t considered a very deep free-agent class, so the teams with money will be looking to spend early and aggressively to lock down players to help their team win some games next season.
With so many teams operating over the salary cap, we can expect to see trades completed as another avenue to upgrade. Whether it is swaps of players already under contract or sign-and-trades, there will be plenty of moves completed in the coming weeks.
The biggest trade made thus far came on draft night, when the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards. Los Angeles now has a Big 3 of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook that is drawing the attention of plenty of veteran players.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: 5 stars next to move following Lakers’ Russell Westbrook trade
There is a chance that Westbrook is the biggest name traded this offseason, as Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal seemingly want to remain with their respective teams, the Portland Trail Blazers and Wizards. The Philadelphia 76ers worked hard to trade Ben Simmons, but with such a high asking price, nothing came to fruition.
While there may not be big named players moved, expect plenty of deals to be consummated this offseason. Here are five NBA teams most likely to make a trade moving forward.
