The Clippers, Jazz and Heat have reached an agreement on a three-team trade, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will send Norman Powell to Miami, John Collins to L.A. and Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson and a 2027 Clippers second-round pick to Utah.
Powell is coming off the best scoring season of his career and will bring more offensive punch to Miami’s backcourt. After finishing fourth in the Sixth Man of the Year balloting in consecutive seasons, Powell was moved into the starting lineup and responded by averaging 21.8 points per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and 41.8% from three-point range.
Powell, 32, will make $20.5MM next season before becoming a free agent in 2026. He’s eligible for a three-year extension worth $77.4MM. Those limits would increase to $128.5MM over four years in six months.
The Clippers were reluctant to give Powell a long-term extension, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). With Kawhi Leonard and James Harden both signed through 2026/27, the team is preserving cap space for 2027 free agency.
Miami will use the expanded traded player exception to acquire Powell, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link), hard-capping them at the first tax apron, and will be $1.3MM over the luxury tax line once the deal is complete.
Miami will be just $3.9MM away from that first-apron threshold once the trade is complete, so it won’t be able to use the full taxpayer mid-level exception of $5.7MM, according to cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link), who also speculates that acquiring Powell means the team is probably no longer a logical fit for Bradley Beal, who is believed to be nearing a buyout with Phoenix.
Collins, 27, will bring more frontcourt depth to a Clippers team that recently added Brook Lopez in free agency. Collins has been a starter in Utah since being acquired from Atlanta two years ago, but he was limited to 40 games last season. He has one year left on his contract at $26.6MM and can sign an extension worth up to $100.5MM over three years, per Marks. While a massive payday is unlikely for Collins, it’s worth noting those extension limits would increase six months after the trade to $166.7MM over four years.
L.A. is now $6.7MM below the first apron with $5.3MM of its mid-level exception remaining, according to Gozlan (Twitter link). With their top three-point shooter now gone, Gozlan expects the Clippers to be in the market for Beal.
Anderson, 31, has been a useful contributor on contending teams throughout his career, but it’s not clear how he fits in with the rebuilding Jazz. His contract covers two more seasons at $9.2MM and $9.7MM, but 2026/27 is non-guaranteed. Love, who’ll turn 37 in September, has a $4.15MM expiring deal and will likely become a buyout candidate.
Gozlan notes that Utah can create a $26.6MM trade exception by using the mid-level exception to take on Anderson and Love (Twitter link). Alternatively, the Jazz could create roughly $22MM in cap space by waiving the non-guaranteed contracts of KJ Martin ($8MM) and Jaden Springer ($2.4MM) and could be in position to make a play for one of the remaining free agents.
It sounds like Utah will continue operating over the cap, going the trade exception route, tweets Marks.
Heat cooked
Guess they don’t need the cap space next year anymore!
Itâs the last year of Norman Powellâs contract, do some research before just saying anything
For all those of you who thought Pat Riley was nodding off in his rocking chair – drool trickling down his chin – well, uhâŚ.heâs not! What a steal for the Heat!
Kevin Love buyout coming
Nah, Utah fans are gonna love him
Yes, Iâm sure the fans will love him and for the reason that youâre probably implying, but the team canât use him at all.
So.., buyout coming.
it’s all right.. he’s all white (sorry I had to lol)
What contender is going to want him?
Love is a good fit anywhere, very efficient per minute, high bball IQ, NBA champion, gold medal winner. Plays stretch 4, small ball 5, great outlet passer. Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets all good fits off top of my head.
Or Love can join CP3 and Bradley Beal on the ageless big 3 squad. Nets have the cap space and roster spots.
On paper this looks like a steal of a deal for heat. Powell is solid
After the injury, his production decreased. Hip, knee, hamstring, shoulder…how many injuries he’s gotten last season…?
woahh good deal for miami
Whoa indeed. Powel is a heart and soul kind of guy.
John Collins is equal in value to Love, Anderson and a 2nd round pick, which is equal in value to Norman Powell?
This is a weird one
Norman Powell wanting a lot of money with the new CBA decreased his value. Its going to still be awhile before these midlevel players realize that nobody is shelling out $30 mil/year anymore for non-all stars. Plus they need the frontcourt help more and have a better chance of re-signing Collins to a reasonable deal (and is younger) than Powell.
Thats the going rate for a starter. Even this offseason starters have gotten contracts similar. Its a bit high for a 6th man, but hey there Naz…
> John Collins is equal in value to Love, Anderson and a 2nd round pick,
> which is equal in value to Norman Powell?
Yes. From an accounting PoV, it looks like each of the three teams exchanged about $18M of assets. (Each team will value the players differently, but not as much as you’d think.)
Think of Collins’ value in the transaction this way:
Collins is a “negative asset”. At $28M/yr, he’s making, let’s say, $10M more than what he’d get on the open market as a free agent — let’s say $18M. That means Utah has to eat $10M of Collins’ value if it wants to move Collins (since no team will give Utah $28M in assets in return for Collins.)
Miami and Utah agreed that Love + Anderson + a 2nd round pick were worth $18M (Collins’ true value). Utah should be able to exchange those three assets now for about $14M in assets, if it wants to.
Nice! Now with Norm Powell, the Heat will have TWO Terry Roziers for the season!
I’m assuming Bradley Beal probably won’t come to the Heat after the Suns buyout his contract, so that’s probably why the Heat pivoted for Norman Powell.
Norman Powell out of LA and Kevin Love to Utah?? I don’t like the sound of that
> Norman Powell out of LA and Kevin Love to Utah?? I donât like the sound of that
Love is 37 years old this season. He played 23 games last season, 10 mins per game.
He’s paid $2M/yr more than Utah has budgeted for a deep bench player. I’d expect him to end up on a contending team looking for a stretch big.
Love just needs to call it a career already. He checked out a long time ago and hasn’t loved basketball since LeBron and Kyrie turned him into a tall Kyle Korver.
He shouldâve never been give that ring. And the Cavs only won because the league suspended Draymond for a pivotal finals game.
It’s weird how narratives work. The prior year Love missed the entire championship series and Kyrie I believe only played a couple of games. But claims that the Cavs would have won if they had played would rightfully be shut down.
But media and fans alike can push this false narrative that the Warriors lost 4 out of 7 games because Draymond missed the 5th game.
Draymond played in games 6&7. The Warriors lost both. I have never understood how people could believe they lost the last three games of the series because that idiot missed one of the games. It just never made sense.
First, to aircastle, Kevin Love absolutely deserves his ring. He was the third-best player on a championship team, who provided clutch shooting and rebounding, opening up the floor for LeBron and others to operate. Regarding 2015, the Cavs, with LeBron and a group of role players, after they lost two of their three best players, took two games off the vaunted Warriors. You donât think they couldâve won another or even two more with Irving and Love in the lineup? Iâm not saying itâs certain, but I wouldâve liked to have seen that series. And all the Warriors/Draymond shills conveniently overlook that not only did Draymondâs absence occur for only one game, he did it to himself and his team by his thuggish behavior, kicking an opponent in his groin when he was vulnerable. If he had been suspended for the rest of the series it wouldâve been justified, especially considering his previous transgressions. Itâs too bad that for as good and smart a player Green has been, the first thing fans will think of when his name is mentioned is what a dirty player he has been.
The Heat have a bunch of good players but no Batman.
Like that nuggets team where Iguadala was the best player…
Clippers making room in backcourt for Chris Paul?
Paul and Harden on defense lol.
John Collins is the definitive symbol for Danny Ainge’s bizarre “rebuild”. Two years ago to this day, July 7, 2023, Ainge Sr baffled the basketball world by using a draft pick (and retiring Rudy Gay) to acquire veteran cast-off John Collins and his (untradable) $28M/yr contract, with 3 years remaining. The Hawks praise God for their unexpected fortune.
Utah makes Collins as a starter for the next 2 seasons, taking minutes from their young players (like Walker Kessler), and contributing to victories, that worsen their draft position. This past season, Utah tried to trade Collins for youth or draft capital, but Collins’ massively “negative” contract thwarts their efforts.
On Collins’ 2 year anniversary in Utah, July 7 2025, Ainge Jr dumps Collins’ $28M contract for a 2nd round pick and some unwanted vets.
I guess his contract was able to be traded and they got a pick back
@RenoChris, the 3 year obligation became tradable after the first 2 years elapsed because Utah had effectively âeatenâ enough of its negative value.
Atlanta realized theyâd made a big mistake in giving Collins a 4 year deal at $28M/yr at the end of yr 1. Utah was the only team Atlanta could find to give Collinsâ contract to.
Utah had to wait until there was only 1 yr left on the contract before it could find a team that would take the contract off their hands.
Ainge said at the time that he thought picking up John Collins for a Second round pick was good value. The implication being that he could get more assists back down the line. I guess instead of a discount that proved to be Collinsâ market value in the end. Although I think Anderson could be re-traded for another 2nd rounder if they wanted. But yes, the team building via trade during this rebuild has left a lot to be desired.
@PeanutGallery , everything you say is true by my recollection.
But beyond misjudging Collinsâ value is the transgression of playing him so much for 2 years, just as with Sexton and Clarkson. The goals of a rebuild are to develop young players and get high draft picks. Ainge failed at failing.
It doesnât feel like the Collins contract was an albatross, and in the NBA you do have to have a payroll that exceeds a minimum amount even when rebuilding.
Iâm happy for Collins that he gets out of purgatory. He isnât a player who fits very well in todayâs NBA but he also isnât a bad player and it will be nice for him to get a chance to compete for a playoff spot.
Collins was getting paid a lot of money and everyone knew he wasnât part of the future. Thatâs the definition of an albatross.
The Jazz have been trying to trade Collins for a long time. The longer you wait, the less they would get in return. There were no takers so they got nothing. A second round pick for taking players nobody wants.
What the heck are the Clippers doing?! More moves to come?
Rebalancing the roster? They have a lot of guards and wings, but not a ton of front court players.
1) where does powell play? They Heat have Herro and Mitchell at the guard spots, assuming Wiggins isn’t traded he can’t be a swing SF, unless they find a taker for Terry Rozier, he’s already the 6th man too… they have to make a move for some SF with the Rozier and Wiggins contracts for this to make logical sense to me 2) Why include love in this? It’s like the Heat are trying to harpoon team chemistry… Love has been the Haslem of the team since he got here… he signed a minimum deal for love of the franchise.. this feels like a slap in a face to him… I don’t like that at all. They have 5-6 other minimum contracts they could have thrown in if it needed to be a money match.
Most likely another trade is coming.
Or it is past time for Pat Riley to retire.
> 1) where does powell play?
I don’t know Miami’s personel, but Powell thrives coming off the bench. Any contending team would love to have Norman Powell in its rotation.
> 2) Why include love in this?
Love is 37 years old next season, and played only 23 games, 10 mins per game the last one. At $4M/yr, that’s a lot more than the minimum when the team is trying to squeeze under the apron.
if he comes off the bench… Jamie Jacquez is an empty uniform now? Terry Rozier rides the pine all year out of the rotation? The Heat roll with no back up PG? I get it.. he’s Duncan Robinson’s replacement… but Bradley Beal made a billion times more sense than this did to me.
Utah is just cutting payroll. they will try to flip Anderson for more draft picks. Ainge is a legend in his own mind.
Teams are determined to help Lakers I see…
I don’t like it for the Clippers because of the Kahwi situation. Kahwi must miss at least 20 games for medically required load management, and is likely to miss significantly more. Powell fills in for Kahwi beautifully.
I assume that the Clippers will use Bogdanovich more in Powell’s absence. Bogdanovich is a great shooter, but the Clippers will lose a lot defensively without Powell. In the significant number of games Kahwi misses, the Clippers’ defense now looks weak.
Harden + Dunn + Bogdanovic + Zubac + Collins
Oh you forgot brook….đ
Very interesting trade. I think I like this for the clippers. Collins is a really solid player, all of a sudden the clippers are huge up front. Powell is a nice offensive player, but he seems redundant on the clips when theyâre healthy. They can live without him.
He also didnât really show up in the playoffs for them. (Although Powell was not the only player to have a lackluster post seasonâŚ.cough, cough, HardenâŚcough, cough.)
> Powell is a nice offensive player, but he seems
> redundant on the clips when theyâre healthy. They
> can live without him.
âWhen theyâre healthyâ is doing a lot of work there!
Clippers would be overjoyed if Kahwi plays 50 games this regular season.
Kahwi played 37 games last season. His contract stipulates ~20 games off for load management.
The Clippers escaped the play-in by 1 game last year. How do you think they do without Norman Powell playing like an All-Star in Kahwiâs absence.
Alrighty once again on 3. 1 2
Kevin Love to the Lakers.
MIA got Powell for 2 guys that were unlikely to be in their rotation. No money guaranteed beyond this year on any of the deals. Win for MIA, albeit on what figures to be a rental.
The Reason Collins was traded to UTah was to get to the Cap Threshold and he was the best player at the time to get. Now Utah has to pay Kessler. Anderson will be flipped for a second at the deadline or shortly. Ainge got 20 mill in cap space.
> The Reason Collins was traded to UTah was to get to
> the Cap Threshold and he was the best player at the time to get
Thatâs inaccurate.
No team would acquire a 3-year, $28M contract âto get to the Cap Thresholdâ for 1 year. That would unnecessarily put the team $28M in the hole for years 2 and 3.
Nor would a team spend a draft pick in acquiring a contract for the purpose of reaching the cap threshold. There are plenty of bad contracts that can be acquired on more favorable terms, and then discarded after 1 yr.
The fact is that Ainge acquired Collins to play him, which is what he did for the next 2 seasons.
Kevin Love gets the unique opportunity to come home AND go ring chasing. Portland just needs this one last piece for more depth. Go Blazers!
Miami fell out of LOVE with Kevin??
Beal, love, and cp3 to the clippers. Vet power house.
Why not bring back doc rivers and deandre jordan while you’re at it… it’s clearly 2009 in your head lol
Sucks to lose Kyle, and his playmaking and defense, and versatility, especially his interchangeability with Jaime, and his fit next to Jovic and Jaime, Fontecchio, and even Herro, and probably also the kid they drafted (Kaz)…
Losing Kevin Love’s spacing and playmkaing, and rebounding, at smallball 5, and his fit next to Bam is tough, but he missed most of last year, which was a big loss for the Heat, and they have some options spacing at the 5, with Jovic, though I think they lose a lot in certain matchups…I was hoping Lowry, Jimmy, Bam, and Love would play the rest of their careers here, but it is what it is. Those guys just fit so well together. Kevin Love was integral to this organization/team the last 3.5 years and I hope he has a little more left in him b/c he is a great person to have on the roster. He would fit amazingly in GS as a depth big, although they have Post, and obviously Horford would be an insane fit; I could see Philly making some sense off the top of my head…
Meanwhile, thankfully the Heat finally open up a roster spot, and they add help at the 2/3 next to Herro, and Wiggins or in smaller lineups, you can put him at the 3, Wiggins at the 4, and depending on if Dru Smith or Pelle Larsson starts, etc…I would assume this means the end for Alec Burks potentially coming back, though he played amazingly well for the Heat last year when he wasnt in the shadow realm for whatever reason. I would expect Spo to play Powell more often, but Burks is probably a better defender. Maybe they would still bring back Burks or try to sign Cody Martin though, which would probably still be helpful, especially with both Dru Smith and Powell’s injury history. I would assume they have a role planned for Keshad Johnson at the 4 behind Highsmith/Wiggins/Jovic/Jaime, which alleviates some of the loss of Kyle Anderson’s defense at the 4, though we dont know if Keshad is ready at that level yet, or if he’ll knock down enough shots, so maybe another option at the 3/4, 4/5, or 4/3 defensively, is what they should go after, and there are still FAs available on my list for the Heat
Heat hardcap themselves at the 1st apron, but they also retained flexibility going forward, which was an area they needed help with, especially opening the roster spot. Not sure how much room they have to add that last guy on the roster though, as they’ve left that open the last few years, even in situations that cost them championships. Also, besides potentially adding a last player, how much does hardcapping themselves at that 1st apron potentially impact them if someone becomes available during the season, with the contracts/assets they’re capable of trading now
Also, they still have Rozier’s expiring, Ware, Jovic/Jaime, 3 1sts, Fontecchio’s expiring they can potentially still play with and move this offseason, which I’m still hoping for, especially if they could open up a 2nd roster spot doing so
More white space please
Good for clippers.
Utah had the core of a championship team with Mitchell and Gobert, and plenty of assets to go get a third star a few seasons ago.
Now they’re trading one of their best players for two guys that should be retired and a 2nd round pick in 2 years. The Ainges are so overrated.
Good trade for all 3 teams. Everyone gets what they want.
Utah is tanking when they claimed they weren’t going to. A full commitment to clearing space for their young guys to play. They are going to figure out this year who has a future being a building block for them. Remains to be seen if Markenen can be had or if he is their anchor to this team.