The search for NBA sellers

With the list of established players who will be made available on this season's trade market slow to take shape, two familiar names keep coming up

LAS VEGAS — The Chicago Bulls.

The Washington Wizards.

The Charlotte Hornets.

Maybe even the Toronto Raptors.

There is a clutch of Eastern Conference teams, all losing more frequently than anticipated, that has the whole league curious about how they plan to approach their immediate futures.

As the question essentially went here at the NBA G League Winter Showcase at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center: When will some of these teams decide it's time to start busting up their rosters ahead of the NBA's Feb. 9 trade deadline?

These are the sort of sentiments inevitably expressed by rival teams when the trade deadline has begun to dribble into view and sellers are still scarce. Maybe a fire sale is coming for the Bulls or the Wizards or the Hornets ... but it hasn't happened yet.

When it comes to players who have unequivocally been made available as a new calendar year approaches, Atlanta's John Collins and Phoenix's Jae Crowder still top the list in terms of prominence.

League sources say Atlanta, while it is also managing recently revealed tension between star guard Trae Young and Coach Nate McMillan, has indeed widened the scope on its Collins trade discussions in recent weeks in hopes of finding him a new home.