Warriors May Wait Until Summer To Pursue Major Trade
The Warriors may be active on the trade market before the deadline, but they’re not expected to pursue a major deal until the offseason, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Two Western Conference executives who talked to Youngmisuk believe Golden State will save its most valuable trade pieces for the summer in hopes of a making significant move.
For now, a more likely target is Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, who would provide a second reliable scorer to team with Stephen Curry. Vucevic is making $20MM, and the Warriors hope they might be able to land him in exchange for expiring deals. Both rival executives expect the team to continue exploring its options until closer to February 6, rather than making a deal right away.
Youngmusik points out that Golden State’s top trade pieces are Andrew Wiggins‘ $26MM contract, along with young players Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski. More likely to be moved now are the expiring contracts of Gary Payton II ($9.13MM) and Kevon Looney ($8MM), along with draft assets (the Warriors have three tradable first-round picks and two second-rounders.
Youngmisuk reveals that CEO Joe Lacob met with general manager Mike Dunleavy to discuss the team’s options after a January 7 loss to Miami. One rival executive described the team as “frustrated” as it has fallen down the standings after a 12-3 start.
The executives also told Youngmisuk that if the Warriors aren’t in a better position by the trade deadline, they might consider some cost-cutting deals to reduce the size of their tax bill. Youngmisuk adds that Golden State typically isn’t active around the deadline, with only two significant trades during the Curry era.
Curry, who has been playing through thumb and knee pain this season, said he can accept a quiet deadline as long as he knows the front office is making an effort to improve the roster.
“[We’re] trying to be a realistic threat in a playoffs series,” he said. “If Mike calls and says, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity to do X, Y, Z,’ I give my opinion. My hope is that [if there’s no action at the deadline], it’s not because of a lack of effort. If we don’t have a chance to get better, my whole thing is I want to win, and whatever that means, all efforts are pointed towards that, then I can kind of live with whatever happens.”
The Warriors tried to get involved in major deals last summer, making offers for Lauri Markkanen before he re-signed with Utah and Paul George before he opted out of his contract with the Clippers. In both cases, it would have meant parting with Kuminga and maybe Podziemski, which Golden State wasn’t ready to do.
They were one of the first teams to make a significant in-season deal, picking up Dennis Schröder from Brooklyn in mid-December, but the veteran guard has struggled badly with his shot and hasn’t been able to stop the team’s long decline. It’s possible that Schröder could be moved again before the deadline.
Curry, Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr have all made recent public statements cautioning against the dangers of a panic move. They seem content to wait until summer for a roster overhaul if necessary, and in the meantime they’re confident about their postseason chances no matter who they have to face.
“Hundred percent feel like we can beat anybody in a playoff series because we’ve done it,” Curry said. “We have the know-how, and we just want to be able to answer that question with how we’re playing and not imagine. … We’ve been there. We know how to do it. Just feel like we can do it again.”
Kyle Kuzma Says Wizards Haven’t Approached Him About A Trade
A year ago, the Wizards gave Kyle Kuzma the option to approve a trade, and he elected not to join a Mavericks team that wound up in the NBA Finals. Kuzma hasn’t decided what he’ll do if he’s in the same situation this year, but he told Varun Shankar of The Washington Post that the front office hasn’t brought up the subject yet.
“We’ll see how it goes. I don’t know,” Kuzma said. “I think last year was the right time [to stay] after signing the deal. That was kind of more of a last year thing. We haven’t had conversations, haven’t even talked about the deadline, haven’t talked about getting traded. This is really the first time I’m really talking about it.”
Sunday’s loss at Sacramento was the 10th in the row for Washington, which sits at 6-35 and has the league’s worst record by a comfortable margin. Kuzma still has two years left on his contract, and he could bring a valuable return for a franchise that’s clearly prioritizing future assets over any current success.
Shankar notes that Kuzma has been experiencing an up-and-down season and has been limited to 24 games due to groin and rib injuries. He’s averaging just 14.4 points per game, which is down from 22.2 PPG last season and is by far his lowest mark since coming to Washington four years ago. Kuzma’s shooting has been abysmal, as he’s connecting at career lows from the field (42.5%) and three-point range (25.7%).
Even so, Shankar points out that Kuzma has trade value as a 6’10” defender who can play either forward position. He’s only 29, has played on a championship team and has a contract that declines in value, going from $23.5MM this season to $21.5MM next year and $19.4MM in 2026/27.
Kuzma has been a major part of the offense since joining the Wizards, but Shankar suggests that he might be best suited for a complementary role like he had with the Lakers early in his career. He averaged the fourth-most minutes and third-most shot attempts per game during L.A.’s title run in 2020.
In a session with the media before Sunday’s game, coach Brian Keefe was supportive of Kuzma and said the injuries have played a significant role in his decreased production.
“He had gotten some good momentum early and then he got hurt in the [Nov. 30] Atlanta game. And then he was building some momentum and he got hurt again. And then he missed almost a whole month,” Keefe said. “… It’s just been choppy. But when he’s played, he’s been efficient, doing the things that we ask. I just think he’s just had some inconvenient things that happened to him injury-wise that has … ruined his rhythm.”
That choppiness was on display this weekend, Shankar adds. Kuzma had one of his best games of the season Saturday at Golden State, scoring 22 points while shooting 7-of-12 from the field. However, he couldn’t carry that over to Sunday, as the Kings limited him to 13 points while shooting 3-of-15 overall and 1-of-7 from three-point range.
“It’s the first time in my career I’ve been hurt like this,” Kuzma said. “I think it was frustrating at a certain point in time early on … but I’ve gotten over that. Kinda just here, playing game by game, trying to stay in the moment.”
Stein’s Latest: Butler, Beal, Okogie, C. Johnson, Mavericks
Jimmy Butler‘s return from his seven-game suspension hasn’t changed the Heat‘s desire to work out a trade before the February 6 deadline, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column (subscription required).
Butler was back in the starting lineup and played 33 and 28 minutes as Miami split a pair of weekend games, but concerns remain that the relationship will continue to deteriorate if he’s still on the roster past the deadline. Sources tell Stein that the Heat are “exploring every potential pathway” to assemble a multi-team trade to get Butler off their roster.
The Suns remain Butler’s preferred location, but it’s not clear that Phoenix is eager to pursue him or that it has enough assets left to make a competitive offer, Stein adds. Phoenix gave up three second-round picks and got one in return in last week’s trade for Nick Richards. That leaves the Suns with just their 2031 first-rounder and a 2025 second-rounder from Denver to offer in any deal.
The Raptors have been mentioned as a team that might be interested in helping to facilitate a Butler trade, and Stein says a well-placed source told him that “about half the league” has expressed similar sentiments to Miami. He cites the Timberwolves as another club that might be willing to help the Heat move Butler on to his next location in exchange for other assets.
Stein shares more inside information from around the NBA:
- League sources confirmed to Stein a report that Butler’s camp hasn’t told the Bucks not to pursue a deal. However, he believes Milwaukee might be more interested in reviving its previous interest in Suns guard Bradley Beal if it’s going to add a player in that salary range. Stein points out that the Bucks can’t trade for either player without dropping below the second apron, which would likely mean trading Pat Connaughton‘s $9.4MM contract without taking back any salary in return.
- Some rival teams are questioning why the Hornets were willing to take on extra salary in the Richards trade while only netting two second-round picks, Stein adds. Charlotte acquired Josh Okogie at $8.3MM while parting with Richards’ $5MM contract, a move that will save the Suns more than $20MM in luxury tax. Stein speculates that the Hornets may have another move planned involving Okogie before the deadline.
- Stein hears that the Nets don’t feel an urgency to trade Cameron Johnson because they’ve already weakened their team enough for tanking purposes by unloading Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith. Brooklyn is just 4-13 since sending Schröder to Golden State and has moved into sixth in the race for the best lottery odds.
- Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison is typically active at the deadline, but Stein doesn’t believe the team’s injury woes will force him into a move. “We look at everything,” Harrison said in a recent interview with Dalton Trigg for his Mavs Step Back Substack (subscription required), “but we’re not going to be reactionary to a short-term injury.”
- Discussing the Mavericks, Stein also writes that it would be a “misnomer” to suggest Dallas is shopping center Daniel Gafford. However, he didn’t outright dispute a previous report stating that the Mavs have been willing to discuss the big man.
LeBron James: “We Don’t Have Room For Error”
With the trade deadline 17 days away, LeBron James may be sending a message to the front office that something needs to be done. The Lakers star talked about the limits of the team’s current roster after a 116-102 loss to the cross-town Clippers on Sunday night, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.
James said the team has a razor-thin margin for error because of the way the roster has been put together. Asked if there is a way to improve that internally, James responded, “Nah. That’s how our team is constructed. We don’t have room for error — for much error.”
Presented with a follow-up question about whether the Lakers have to be nearly perfect to have a chance to win, James said, “We don’t have a choice. I mean… that’s the way our team is constructed. And we have to, we have to play close-to-perfect basketball.”
Woike points out that even though the Lakers are sixth in the West at 22-18, their underlying numbers haven’t been good. Despite the winning record, their net rating is minus-2.9, which ranks 12th in the conference.
They’re also failing to capitalize on a favorable part of the schedule, as Sunday was their 10th time playing in Los Angeles over a 12-game stretch. The Lakers are just 5-5 so far and are in danger of slipping out of a guaranteed playoff spot and maybe even the play-in tournament.
Adding to James’ point about roster construction, he probably didn’t expect to be playing such a major role at age 40. He’s logging 34.9 minutes per night, which is roughly in line with his playing time since he came to L.A. seven years ago, and is averaging 23.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.8 assists. He has only missed four games this season, and the Lakers usually need a huge effort from him to be competitive.
It’s also worth noting that part of the roster construction issue stems from taking James’ son, Bronny James, with a second-round pick and giving him a standard contract rather than a two-way deal. The 20-year-old guard has spent much of his rookie season in the G League and has averaged just 2.4 minutes in nine NBA games.
The Lakers have already made one significant deal, acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from Brooklyn last month in a four-player trade. That hasn’t been enough to spark the team in a tight Western Conference playoff race.
Making pointed remarks close to the trade deadline has been a pattern throughout James’ career, but he’s not the only one who believes the Lakers are in a difficult position. A longtime scout tells Woike that the Lakers appear “stuck,” and coach J.J. Redick expressed similar concerns Sunday night.
“We don’t have a huge margin for error. Nor can we create that margin organically,” Redick said. “It has to be emphasized daily to touch the paint, to play paint-to-great mentality, make the extra pass. We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to necessarily always draw two to the ball. We don’t have a guy on our team that’s going to be able to get past his guy one-on-one and get to the paint and spread it out to the perimeter. Like, that’s just not our team. So we have to do it through connectivity, through execution. And when we do that, we’re really good.”
Western Notes: Daigneault, Simons, Green, Curry, Beal
The Thunder‘s Mark Daigneault has been named a head coach for the All-Star Game with the team clinching the Western Conference’s best record through Feb. 2, the NBA announced on Sunday (via Twitter). Under the new format, the All-Stars will be split into four teams. One of Daigneault’s assistants will also serve as a head coach.
“An honor. A huge thank you to all the people that are behind the scenes in the organization that work with the players, not only this season, but in previous seasons,” the coach told sideline reporter Nick Gallo (Twitter link). “This has been a build, and a lot of people have their fingerprints on that.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons sat out Sunday’s game against Chicago due to a right elbow strain, the team’s PR department tweets. Simons, who had made just eight of 34 field goal attempts in his previous three outings, has now missed four games this season.
- Warriors forward Draymond Green has officially been ruled out of Monday’s game against Boston with a left calf strain, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Stephen Curry is listed as questionable due to an ankle sprain, though he told reporters on Saturday he plans to play.
- Suns wing Bradley Beal went through a workout on Sunday and is hopeful of playing against Cleveland on Monday. He’s listed as questionable after missing two games due to an ankle sprain. “It’s been good, it’s been smooth,” Beal told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “I haven’t had any setbacks or anything out of the ordinary. All the imaging came back fully expecting to be nothing crazy. Just a little sprain.”
Southwest Notes: Morant, Pelicans Bench, Spurs Slump, Lively
The Grizzlies could play again without their floor leader on Monday. Ja Morant is listed as questionable against Minnesota due to right foot soreness, the team’s PR department tweets.
Morant, who is averaging 21.4 points and 7.5 assists, has already missed 18 games this season and is ineligible for postseason honors. He was also unavailable for Friday’s 28-point win over San Antonio.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- The Pelicans reserves have made a major impact during the team’s three-game winning streak, Rod Walker of the New Orleans Times Picayune writes. “This bench is a team that wants to win every minute that we get,” guard Jose Alvarado said. “We know that it can be 10 minutes, five minutes, two minutes or 20 minutes. We’re going to attack it like it’s the (NBA) Finals.” Alvarado led the bench brigade on Friday with 19 points, including six 3-pointers.
- The Spurs, who are headed to Paris to face Indiana, will look at the trip as a chance to turn their fortunes around. They have lost three straight and six of their last seven after falling to Miami on Sunday. “This hasn’t been our best stretch of basketball and there are some things we need to shore up, and we’ve played some really good teams and they’ve exposed some things,” acting coach Mitch Johnson told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “We’re looking forward to Paris, but I don’t think we overlooked this team or in (losing twice to) Memphis.”
- The Mavericks list Dereck Lively as questionable to play against Charlotte on Monday due to a right ankle sprain, Grant Afseth tweets. Lively has missed the last two games after suffering the injury on Tuesday against Denver.
Western Notes: Murray, Moody, Powell, Williamson, Missi
Jamal Murray isn’t fazed by criticism. The Nuggets guard signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension in September and feels it comes with the territory, he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.
“I’m totally ready for it,” Murray said. “That’s why I literally signed up for it.”
Murray understands that with the big contract numbers comes increased scrutiny. He’s endured a roller coaster season thus far and admits he hasn’t played up to par.
“I think I deserve it, to a certain extent,” he said. “So I’m not gonna complain about it. And that’s what people do. They’re gonna talk about what they see. And if they don’t see me performing the way they want me to perform as a fan, they’re gonna let me hear it, or tweet about it or whatever they’re doing. … I mean, I admit I haven’t been playing well. So it’s not like it’s a surprise to me to hear it from everybody else if I’m saying it as well.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- In his fourth NBA season, the Warriors’ Moses Moody may have found his niche as an undersized power forward, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater writes. The 6’5″ Moody has played 54 minutes the past two games, mostly at power forward, and could see a lot more time there in the near future, as Draymond Green is expected to miss multiple games with a calf strain. “Moses seems to really thrive at the (power forward),” coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s his spot. He’s comfortable using his strength and the ability to stretch the floor.”
- Norman Powell is a candidate to make the All-Star reserves in his 10th season and the Clippers swingman is gratified how this season has played out thus far, he told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. He’s averaging a career-high 23.7 points per game. “It was always an individual goal,” Powell said. “It was, ‘I want to be an All-Star. I want to be on that stage. I want to be in the same position that I saw my favorite players being in growing up. And honestly it’s surreal. … It’s been 10 years and I kind of take it as a little shot or a little chip on my shoulder when everybody is talking about, ‘Oh, this is his 10th year in the league and this and that.’ It just adds to the beauty of being mentioned now as an All-Star, this being my 10th year.”
- The Pelicans could be without two frontcourt starters against Utah on Monday, both due to non-COVID illnesses. Rookie Yves Missi, who did not play Friday against the Jazz, and Zion Williamson are both listed as questionable, according to a team press release. Williamson has averaged 20.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in four games since returning from a hamstring strain.
Eastern Notes: Celtics, Sixers, Risacher, Mitchell
Could the defending champions be lacking in confidence? The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn believes so. The Celtics have become an unreliable team capable of crumbling in crucial moments of games, according to Washburn. They are losing games that would have won last season, though they still have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- The injury-riddled Sixers have lost five straight and they can’t form a coherent rotation until they get more key players back in action, coach Nick Nurse told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. “We gotta just get a little healthier around a lot of positions right now to get to where we can get a little decent clarity,” he said. Joel Embiid, Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and KJ Martin all missed Saturday’s loss to Indiana.
- The Hawks offered a clarification regarding Zaccharie Risacher‘s injury. Initially listed as left adductor irritation, it’s now called a strain, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. The Hawks are expected to provide an update on the 2024 top pick prior to Wednesday’s game. Risacher was injured last Tuesday.
- Donovan Mitchell bounced back in a big way from his eight-point outing against Oklahoma City, pouring in 36 points in a victory over Minnesota on Saturday, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com notes. That was the highest scoring output by the Cavaliers guard since a 37-point performance against Chicago in mid-November.
Community Shootaround: First-Time All-Stars
The 2024/25 NBA season has been full of surprising performances, from emerging young players and teams alike.
With 24 slots available, will any players make their All-Star debuts next month?
Both of the two best teams in the league, by record, sport young rising talents who could break through this year.
The loaded Cavaliers, currently an NBA-best 35-6 halfway through the year, boast three veteran All-Stars in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen. Mitchell and Garland seem all but assured to make the cut next month, but All-Defensive forward Evan Mobley, the No. 3 pick in 2021 out of USC, has taken a leap this season. If coaches want to reward Cleveland for its breakout campaign with a third All-Star, Mobley seems to have a better shot at the honor than Allen.
Third-year forward Jalen Williams is the second-best player on the 34-7 Thunder, behind perennial MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. An excellent defensive player who plays a lot bigger than his 6’5″ frame would suggest, Williams is still working to elevate his offense and become a true, championship-level secondary scoring option behind Gilgeous-Alexander. But he’s already done enough to prove his mettle as one of the league’s most exciting young players.
The 23-year-old is averaging a career-high 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.7 blocks a night.
Another 2021 draftee, former No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham, has helped propel his revitalized Pistons to a 21-21 record and the East’s No. 8 seed. Cunningham individually has made a pretty solid case for All-Star consideration, and to this writer feels like the safest bet among this crop of potential newbies — well, the second-best, actually. We’ll get to the best in a minute.
This season, Cunningham is averaging 24.3 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.5 rebounds per game. Those eye-popping numbers, combined with Detroit’s remarkable turnaround from a horrific 2023/24 season, should firmly establish him as an All-Star this year. The 6’6″ Oklahoma State alum is also posting an efficient shooting line of .450/.368/.805.
Magic forward Franz Wagner was making a convincing case to make his All-Star debut this year, before he was felled by an abdominal injury. He has now missed too much time to realistically have a shot, but All-Defensive Team guard Jalen Suggs — who has stepped up as a scorer — could be Orlando’s lone representative this season.
The Magic have performed ably while dealing with long-term absences to Wagner and Paolo Banchero, and Suggs’ stabilizing presence has been a huge part of that. With Banchero back and Wagner hopefully returning soon, Orlando could start vaulting up the Eastern Conference standings again soon enough.
Another All-Defensive Team guard, Celtics champ Derrick White, looked to be on the cusp of making his first All-Star team this year, at age 30, thanks to some strong two-way play early this season. The 2024 Olympic gold medalist has fallen back down to earth a bit across the last month, but his reputation and team success might still help him get there.
In one of the happiest surprises for the season, the young Rockets have looked like one of the best teams in the league. Their 28-13 record makes them the No. 2 seed in the West, behind only Oklahoma City. If anyone is to be named an All-Star among Houston’s cadre of talented young players, center Alperen Sengun would be the best fit as the club’s best two-way player. The 6’11” big man has been averaging 19.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists across 41 healthy games so far.
One player, to this writer, stands tall — literally — above the rest.
Spurs superstar-in-waiting Victor Wembanyama seems all but assured to make his first of many, many All-Star teams this year.
The 7’3″ big man has taken the league by storm in just his second season, pushing his club to a solid 19-21 record in the West. Already the odds-on favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year according to BetMGM’s Shane Jackson, the 7’3″ center has rounded out his offense, too. The additions of solid vets Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, plus impressive rookie guard Stephon Castle and the growth of some young incumbents, appear to have helped expedite the 21-year-old’s development.
The reigning Rookie of the Year is averaging 24.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.1 blocks, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game for San Antonio. A talent who can score from anywhere, the Frenchman boasts a shooting line of .474/.353/.868.
Amid some major Jimmy Butler-related turmoil, Heat guard Tyler Herro has become Miami’s most reliable regular season scorer, especially in the clutch. Although there are still questions about his defense, the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year could be the Heat’s lone All-Star representative in February thanks to his stellar output on the other end.
Bulls guard Coby White was playing like a fringe All-Star last season as the top performer on a play-in Chicago team. This season, on the No. 10-seeded Bulls, White’s numbers are pretty comparable to his 2023/24 run, but his play has been overshadowed by Chicago’s two veteran All-Stars, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. Either of those two pros seems to have a better chance of being named to his third All-Star squad than White does of making his first.
We want to hear from you. Who, if anyone, do you think should make the All-Star team for the first time this year? Are there any other names worthy of discussion?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Southeast Notes: Banchero, Magic, Salaun, Poole
Magic All-Star forward Paolo Banchero barely looked worse for wear upon returning to action after missing two-plus months with an oblique injury. He recently reflected on his time away in a “diary entry” for Andscape’s Marc J. Spears.
“The toughest part was just missing out on the competition, missing out on the games and being out there with your teammates,” Banchero said. “Obviously, they did a really good job of getting wins and playing at a high level. But as a competitor, you just want to be out there. For me, it was the longest injury I’ve had to deal with.”
In his four games back so far, the former Rookie of the Year has averaged 24.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals per night.
“So, just having to sit there and watch night after night, it allowed me to grow in some other areas, whether it was watching the game from the bench and helping teammates out, telling them what I see, [or] what I think they can do differently throughout the game,” Banchero added. “And also, just talking to the coaches’ staff too after every game on the road, different times, just picking their brains as well and seeing what they think.”
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- The Magic have been struggling all year with their shooting from beyond the arc, observes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. As of this writing, the Magic have the worst three-point conversion rate in the league at 30.4%. That’s 3.4% worse than the Wizards, who are the No. 29 club in that department. “Got to go back and look at them and see if we’re getting the right ones,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We’re getting downhill and teams are collapsing. We’re going to see more zone [defense], understood. But we’ve got to keep continuing to make the right play. I’m never discouraged when we’re getting the right looks.”
- The Hornets have assigned rookie lottery pick big man Tidjane Salaun to their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, for the first time this season, the team announced (Twitter link). The 19-year-old has appeared in 34 contests for Charlotte, averaging 4.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest off the bench.
- Wizards guard Jordan Poole had a big night on Saturday against his former team, the Warriors, scoring a game-high 38 points, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win, notes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post.“Made some really tough shots, big shots for us,” said head coach Brian Keefe of Poole’s impact. “I thought he was terrific tonight. They threw the kitchen sink at him down the stretch to make life difficult for him. He really pulled us forward tonight. Hell of a game.”