NBA Rumors: De'Aaron Fox trade likely, Cam Johnson asking price, Nets D'Angelo Russell plan

The 2024-25 NBA season might only be a couple of months old, but we're a little over one month away from the trade deadline. The deadline's proximity means that the rumor mill is starting to buzz, and will only continue to heat up as the weeks go by.

The landscape around the league has never felt more wide open. The Eastern Conference features some dominant teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks, but just four games separate the No. 5-seeded Atlanta Hawks and the No. 11-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. Out West, the Oklahoma City Thunder are in complete control, but the six games separate the No. 2-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and the No. 11-seeded Phoenix Suns.

It's anyone's game for the most part in both conferences, making February's trade deadline that much more intriguing. With that in mind, here's the latest on the NBA rumor mill on this fine Monday evening.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like it, share it with an enemy!

NBA Rumors: Nets reveal plan for D'Angelo Russell

The most active team on the NBA trade market so far has been the Brooklyn Nets, who have already made two important trades. The team kicked off its activity by shipping Dennis Schroder off to the Golden State Warriors and then, soon after, traded Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Brooklyn's goal with these two trades couldn't be clearer - they're trying to add to their already substantial stockpile of draft capital while also trying to lose as many games as possible to improve their own pick for the 2025 NBA Draft.

While the Nets didn't get much back in terms of player value in the Schroder trade, they did in the Finney-Smith deal, landing D'Angelo Russell and Maxwell Lewis along with three second-round picks. Given the fact that Russell was an All-Star back in the day in his first stint with Brooklyn and is a useful rotation player now, there was reason to believe that the rebuilding Nets were planning on either flipping or buying Russell out to avoid having him help them win too many games. According to Mike Scotto of Hoops Hype, that isn't the plan.

Scotto notes that the Nets and Russell do not plan on considering a buyout - at least not now. Russell is expected to play in his second stint with Brooklyn.

For Nets fans wanting the team to tank, this is frustrating news. Russell, while he can be maddeningly inconsistent, will provide the Nets some ball handling, facilitating and shot creation that they had lost since trading Schroder away. The Nets went from being one of the most surprisingly solid offensive teams in the league to one that has averaged just 98.6 points per game since the Schroder trade. Finney-Smith will be missed, but it can be argued that Russell's skillset is more important for this Nets team that had Ben Simmons as its only true point guard.

The plan now, presumably, is to hope Russell rebuilds his value to be flipped again closer to the NBA trade deadline.

NBA Rumors: Cam Johnson Nets asking price revealed

With Schroder and Finney-Smith gone, most of the attention has now turned to Brooklyn's most attractive trade piece, Cam Johnson. With the Nets rebuilding, it feels as if it's a matter of when, not if, he'll be dealt, and what Brooklyn will receive in return while Johnson continues what has been a career year.

NBA insider Marc Stein revealed that Brooklyn is seeking multiple first-round picks in exchange for the 28-year-old while also questioning whether Brooklyn can realistically expect that kind of return after failing to secure a single first-rounder for Schroder or Finney-Smith.

While that's a question worth asking, Johnson should have much more of a market than Schroder and Finney-Smith did for several reasons.

Johnson is under contract for two more full seasons after this one. He's making $22.5 million this season, $20.5 million in 2025-26, and $22.5 million in 2026-27. His contract went from looking like a bit of a questionable one when it was signed to a team-friendly pact.

Despite little to no talent surrounding him, Johnson has shattered his previous career-high of 15.5 points per game by averaging 19.1 points per contest. He has done this on strong 48.8/42.9/88.9 splits while also averaging 4.3 rebounds and a career-high 3.1 assists in 32.6 minutes per game.

Johnson has always been a high-end shooter but is shooting more efficiently than ever on more attempts than ever on a team with less talent than he's ever been with. His game has seen a truly remarkable ascension, and his play is a huge reason why the Nets are just 2.0 games back of a Play-In spot.

Whether Brooklyn can land two first-round picks remains to be seen, but they should be able to land at least one and an intriguing prospect for a team in need of some additional wing scoring.

NBA Rumors: 'Grumblings' suggests De'Aaron Fox will request a trade

The 2024-25 NBA season has been an unmitigated disaster so far for the Sacramento Kings. They enter Monday's game with a six-game losing streak, a 13-19 record overall, and with a brand new head coach. The Kings made the decision to fire Mike Brown just days ago amid the team's struggles, hoping his departure would help them turn things around.

With how this season has gone, it was reported that De'Aaron Fox's agent, Rich Paul, met with the team to discuss its future. It's safe to say that this wouldn't be happening if the star point guard was thrilled with the circumstances of playing in Sacramento right now.

Given that the meeting took place, NBA fans have been wondering whether Fox was eventually going to ask out of Sacramento. Based on the latest from Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, a trade request might be coming sooner rather than later.

"Grumblings in NBA circles suggest Fox will push for a trade before the February 6 deadline and that the Kings will likely entertain all options," Pincus wrote.

If true, Fox would almost certainly be the biggest name available for teams to acquire at the trade deadline and would have several teams lining up to acquire him. Fox is one of the best guards in the NBA and is locked in through the end of the 2025-26 season. He's a player Sacramento would prefer to hold onto, but if he asks out, they might not have much of a choice but to oblige.

All Kings fans can do now is hope their team turns things around as soon as possible to increase their chances of Fox, arguably their best player, staying with the organization long-term.