The February 6 trade deadline is racing down the tracks and it’s probably the last major inflection point in the season for fantasy managers to pick up significant gains without a ton of extra effort. We could save that warning for next week, when the trade deadline is even closer, but it pays off to be early on this kind of thing more often than not. The NBA is always full of surprises so you’re not going to be able to get ahead of all the trades that happen, but just about every transaction will have real fantasy impacts and anyone who is first to the beneficiaries stands to win big.

The Jimmy Butler situation looked to calm down but the heat is back up with another suspension handed down from Miami. It’s an ugly standoff and Butler’s contract really limits what can happen here, though it’s being leaked that he’s open to anything besides Miami (and apparently Memphis, for some reason). Pat Riley isn’t the “giving in” type so we’ll see how it shakes out. At this point it feels like he’d rather just intermittently suspend Butler and let him walk for nothing at the end of the season rather than take on bad future contracts in any trade.

Speaking of bad contracts, the Suns continue to be at the forefront of those rumors given that they’re Butler’s preferred destination and ownership clearly doesn’t mind chasing the short-term dragon. Phoenix added a couple first-round picks via a fun (and potentially ominous) trade with the Jazz, giving them more chips at the table. The big hurdle remains Bradley Beal’s contract and no-trade clause. Since a two-team trade would appear to be off the board, any Butler-to-Phoenix deal will rope in at least one more team, with the Raptors emerging in the latest cycle of rumors. The impact of this complete hypothetical is already far-reaching; Grayson Allen, Tyus Jones, Royce O’Neale and Ryan Dunn are up in the air for the Suns while Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Terry Rozier and Duncan Robinson could see swings in Miami, on top of whatever happens with the Raptors or whoever else gets involved to pick the carcass.

And that’s just one trade. You can’t predict everything that’s going to happen in the lead up to deadline day but taking some time to think about it will be hugely beneficial when the time comes. And if you’re comfortable enough in the standings to get proactive about it, you could end up being a big winner. We’ll talk about stashes for a minute later, but for now we’ll dip into the usual business.

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