Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[Winter]

Is it? What is there to be won in January that would have been be a team's priority driving a trade, that isn't there anymore? Can't live without a few extra regular-season wins in the doldrums of mid-season? Yeah, I see the theory, but not sure it really holds up to closer scrutiny.

Sure, AD being sidelined for a bit could motivate a team to perhaps wait a month, until the TDL, and a month closer to him being available. Of course, if another team decided they didn't need to wait, and came to pay the price and scooped him up in the meantime, then ... ???

We have seen before that it's less about the timing, and more about how a team values the prize. If you don't value him very much, then you hem and haw and wait for everything to be the perfect moment. But if you value him enough, you probably do not wait at all. 

If the line went away, it will come back.

I also think the fact that AD's recent injuries aren't so much basketball injuries as just terrible luck. If I'm a suitor for AD, this has to be considered. Maybe a team like Atlanta sees an opportunity for a discount more than a total dismissal.