Bulls Notes: Conley, White, Smith, Collins, Terry
The three-team deal in which the Bulls landed Jaden Ivey from the Pistons is now official.
The Bulls also acquired another guard, Mike Conley, from the Timberwolves in that transaction, but don’t expect Conley to play at all for Chicago. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link), Conley and the Bulls will work on a “proper path to move forward.”
That means Conley could be re-routed in another trade before Thursday’s deadline or he’ll have his contract bought out so that he can try to hook on with a contender after clearing waivers.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- They also agreed to another big deal on Tuesday, forwarding Nikola Vucevic to Boston and acquiring guard Anfernee Simons with a pair of draft picks involved. The Bulls aren’t through wheeling and dealing, according to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. The front office is trying to move Coby White as a blue-chip trade asset to leverage contending teams in the Western Conference out of draft picks or young talent. White knows he could be the next player to go. “I think sometimes there’s a narrative — just in the NBA but in general — that it’s part of the business,” White said. “But we’re still human. … Vooch was a locker room leader. Seeing him go, it was kind of tough for probably a lot of guys. You’re gonna feel something, right? We’re all human. But we still got a game and we got a job to do, so we’re going to go out there and do it.”
- After getting blasted by the Heat, the undermanned Bulls were pounded on Tuesday by the Bucks, 131-115. Jalen Smith refused to offer off-court distractions as an excuse, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times writes. ‘‘[We lost] high-value players, players that played a lot of minutes for us, but it’s the NBA,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s the job we signed up for. We’ve got to be ready to play at any point and time. It’s a next-man-up mentality.’’
- Zach Collins could be done for the season, coach Billy Donovan told Cowley and other media members. Collins injured his toe on Dec. 27 and hasn’t played since. ‘‘That could happen,” Donovan said of shutting down the big man. “As they put him two more weeks into the boot, I think how he comes out of that is going to tell a lot. He’s going to need a ramp-up period in order to run. . . . . The whole thing right now has been trying to prevent surgery.’’ Prior to that injury, he missed the first six weeks of the season with a wrist injury.
- Dalen Terry has never carved out a major role since being drafted in the first round in 2022. He’s temporarily playing more due to all the roster upheaval. He had six points and two blocks against the Bucks. “The human in me would say it’s tough but you just have to understand that this is what you get called upon for, so I’m just doing my best to try to stay ready every time I get a chance to play, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that,” Terry told Cowley. ‘If you would have asked me this when I was a rookie, it would have been hard. But me being four years in, I know what it is. I don’t take anything personal, and my mindset is every time I get a chance to be on an NBA court, I’m going to show why.”
Jaden Ivey Traded To Bulls In Three-Team Trade
10:20pm: The Bulls have issued a press release confirming the three-team deal. The Pistons have also confirmed the trade (Twitter link).
3:36 pm: The Timberwolves will receive cash in the three-team deal, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
1:31 pm: The Pistons are trading fourth-year guard Jaden Ivey to the Bulls in a three-team trade that also involves the Timberwolves, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, Minnesota is sending veteran point guard Mike Conley to Chicago, while swingman Kevin Huerter and forward/center Dario Saric are headed from Chicago to Detroit. The Pistons will also acquire a protected 2026 first-round pick swap from the Timberwolves as part of the deal.
Ivey, who will turn 24 later this month, was the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft and started 164 of 181 games in his first three seasons in Detroit, averaging 16.1 points and 4.4 assists per contest. However, he missed the second half of the 2024/25 season due to a broken left leg and had his debut this past fall delayed due to a right knee issue.
Ivey was playing a modest role for the East-leading Pistons this season, averaging just 8.2 PPG in 16.8 MPG in 33 outings (two starts).
With potential restricted free agency around the corner for Ivey, the Pistons apparently decided he wasn’t in their long-term plans and had begun fielding calls on him in recent weeks, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Bulls will add the former Purdue standout to an increasingly crowded backcourt that also features Josh Giddey, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Tre Jones.
While Giddey is considered a building block in Chicago, the acquisition of Ivey could set up the Bulls to trade one or more of their other guards ahead of this Thursday’s deadline. Chicago will take control of Ivey’s Bird rights, positioning the team to sign him to a new contract as a free agent this July.
With Ivey playing a diminished role in Detroit, the Pistons decided to swap him for a sharpshooter in Huerter who will immediately fill a hole on the roster. As good as the 36-12 Pistons have been this season, three-point shooting remains an area of weakness for the club, which ranks just 27th in the NBA in three-point makes per game (11.1) and 21st in three-point percentage (34.8%).
Huerter has struggled from beyond the arc this season, making just 31.4% of his outside shots, but he entered the season as a career 37.5% shooter and finished strong after a similarly slow start in 2024/25.
It’s unclear whether the Pistons intend to hang onto Saric, who has made just 21 appearances since the start of the ’24/25 season. Even if they plan to eventually waive him, they’ll first need to open up a roster spot in order to accommodate the one-for-two trade.
The pick swap Detroit is acquiring from Minnesota should put the team in position to move up at least a handful of spots in the draft this June. If the season ended today, the Pistons’ pick would be able to swap the No. 29 pick for No. 23.
The Timberwolves are essentially making a salary-dump move by sending out Conley’s $10.8MM expiring contract. The team began the day operating more than $8MM over the first tax apron and with a projected tax bill of about $24MM, but they’ll move below the first apron by roughly $2.5MM and will reduce their projected tax bill to just $3.8MM, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
What Minnesota ends up doing with those savings remains to be seen. The extra flexibility could come in handy in a bigger move for a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo. The newly created $10.8MM trade exception (equivalent to Conley’s outgoing salary) could also be useful to acquire more backcourt help at the deadline if the Wolves aren’t able to land Giannis. Alternately, the club might just be a single move away from ducking the tax entirely.
It’s unclear based on the terms reported so far what the Wolves will be receiving in the three-team deal, but it will likely be a very minor asset like cash, a heavily protected second-round pick, or a draft-rights player.
The Pistons will use Ivey’s outgoing $10.1MM salary to match Huerter’s incoming $18MM expiring contract while employing a portion of their $14MM trade exception to absorb Saric’s expiring $5.4MM deal. The Bulls, meanwhile, could create a trade exception equivalent to Huerter’s $18MM outgoing salary by using Saric to match Conley and taking Ivey’s salary into their unused mid-level exception, observes cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Ott, Lee, No. 1 Pick, Graham, Dort
The Suns’ Jordan Ott and Hornets’ Charles Lee have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in January, according to the league (Twitter links). Phoenix went 11-5 last month, while Charlotte posted an 11-6 record.
David Adelman (Nuggets), Chris Finch (Timberwolves) and Tyronn Lue (Clippers) were the other Western Conference nominees. Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers), J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons) and Joe Mazzulla (Celtics) were also nominated from the Eastern Conference.
Here’s more from around the international basketball world:
- Kansas shooting guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa loom as the projected top two picks in the upcoming NBA draft, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. ESPN polled 20 NBA scouts and a dozen chose Peterson as the top pick, while Dybantsa garnered the other eight votes. With BYU visiting Kansas this past Saturday, those two stars put on a display to solidify their resumes. Dybantsa had 17 points and Peterson scored 18 in the Jayhawks’ victory. At least 17 NBA teams had reps at the contest. However, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman claims there’s another legitimate candidate for the top pick (Twitter link). He says multiple front office executives and scouts have Duke’s Cameron Boozer atop their draft boards.
- Former NBA guard Devonte’ Graham and Crvena Zvevda have severed ties. After several consecutive games without playing, Graham agreed to a termination of his contract, according to Eurohoops.net. Graham only played seven EuroLeague games, averaging 3.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 11.2 minutes per contest. Graham, who signed with the Serbian club in August, appeared in 336 regular season NBA games, making 171 starts and posting career averages of 11.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 4.3 APG.
- Thunder defensive ace Luguentz Dort has hired Klutch Sports as his representative, the agency tweets. Oklahoma City holds an $18.2MM club option on his contract for next season.
LeBron James Reportedly Won’t Be Dealt
Plenty of big names have already been moved prior to Thursday’s trade deadline. LeBron James won’t join the list. James is expected to finish out the season with the Lakers, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports.
James, 41, has a no-trade clause and would have to approve any deal.
Last month, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes detailed the strained relationship between James and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, which included a revelation that Buss wanted to trade the record-breaking All-Star at one point earlier in his Lakers tenure. However, that apparently won’t lead to an in-season breakup between James and the organization.
James’ plans beyond this season remain unknown. His contract expires after the season and he hasn’t indicated whether he intends to remain in L.A., join a new team, or retire.
As McMenamin notes, the Cavaliers, Knicks and Warriors are all considered possible destinations for James if he decides to play another year. Each of those teams has been pursuing big deals before the deadline, with Cleveland reportedly reaching an agreement on Tuesday to acquire James Harden.
James is still putting up solid numbers — 21.8 points, 6.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game.
Team Rosters For All-Star Game Revealed
The rosters for the three-team 2026 All-Star Game were revealed by the NBA on Tuesday night (Twitter link).
The USA Stars, coached by the Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff, will be made up of the following eight players:
Scottie Barnes- Devin Booker
- Cade Cunningham
- Jalen Duren
- Anthony Edwards
- Chet Holmgren
- Jalen Johnson
- Tyrese Maxey
The USA Stripes, coached by the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, will have the following roster:
- Jaylen Brown
- Jalen Brunson
- Stephen Curry
- Kevin Durant
- LeBron James
- Kawhi Leonard
- Donovan Mitchell
- Norman Powell
The World team, coached by the Raptors’ Darko Rajakovic, will feature these nine players:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Luka Doncic
- Deni Avdija
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Nikola Jokic
- Jamal Murray
- Pascal Siakam
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Victor Wembanyama
The U.S. All-Stars were assigned to teams based on age, with the younger group placed on USA Stars and the older group placed on USA Stripes. Team World is composed of international players.
The format for the Feb. 15 event consists of a round-robin mini-tournament with four 12-minute games. The matchups are as follows:
- Game 1: USA Stars vs. World
- Game 2: USA Stripes vs. winning team of Game 1
- Game 3: USA Stripes vs. losing team of Game 1
- Game 4: Championship (top two teams from round-robin play)
If all three teams finish 1-1 after the round-robin games, the first tiebreaker will be point differential across each team’s two games.
Grizzlies Trade Jaren Jackson Jr. To Jazz
6:06pm: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Jazz.
12:44pm: The Grizzlies and Jazz have agreed to a blockbuster trade, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. is heading to Utah along with wings John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr. and center Jock Landale.
In exchange, Memphis will acquire guard Walter Clayton, swingman Kyle Anderson, forwards Taylor Hendricks and Georges Niang, and three future first-round picks, sources tell Charania.
Those three first-rounders headed to the Grizzlies are the Lakers’ 2027 pick (top-four protected), either the Cavaliers’, Timberwolves’, or Jazz’s own 2027 pick (whichever is most favorable), and the Suns’ 2031 pick (unprotected), reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
It’s a shocking move for a couple reasons. For one, multiple reports ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline suggested that Memphis had no interest in moving Jackson and hoped to hang onto – and build around – the big man going forward.
Additionally, while there were multiple teams said to be inquiring on Jackson’s availability in the hopes that the Grizzlies changed their mind, there was no indication that the Jazz were among them or that they’d be looking to use their stash of future draft picks to make this sort of move this week. Entering Tuesday’s games, Utah holds a 15-35 record, which is the sixth-worst mark in the NBA.
However, the move for Jackson suggests first-year president of basketball operations Austin Ainge and the Jazz are preparing to take a step forward next season. League sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the team doesn’t plan to trade forward Lauri Markkanen and still wants to re-sign center Walker Kessler in restricted free agency this summer. Utah envisions a frontcourt made up of Markkanen, Jackson, and Kessler, Jones explains.
Third-year guard Keyonte George and 2025 lottery pick Ace Bailey are among the other long-term building blocks in Utah, where the Jazz still control at least one first-round pick in every future draft, starting in 2026. Notably, that 2026 first-rounder will be sent to Oklahoma City if it lands outside the top eight — the Jazz are still in a fairly strong position to hang onto it, since there’s a 4.5-game gap between them and the NBA’s seventh- and eighth-worst teams (the 18-29 Bucks and 19-30 Mavericks).
As for the Grizzlies, we’d heard for weeks that they were open to trading two-time All-Star Ja Morant, but it wasn’t clear whether they intended to retool around Jackson or fully rebuild around a younger core headlined by Cedric Coward, Zach Edey, and Jaylen Wells. Now we have our answer.
While Clayton and Hendricks are just 22 years old and could carve out places in the Grizzlies’ long-term plans, the return for Jackson is primarily about adding three more first-round picks to an ever-growing collection of draft assets and creating additional cap flexibility in the present and future. The Grizzlies now control 12 first-rounders in the next seven drafts, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link).
Jackson renegotiated and extended his contract with Memphis last offseason and will earn $205MM over the next four years after this one. He’s the only player of the eight involved in this trade who is owed guaranteed money beyond next season, and taking on his long-term deal will likely eliminate Utah’s cap room this summer.
In terms of 2025/26 money, Utah will be taking advantage of its significant breathing room below the luxury tax line by increasing its payroll by more than $18MM — the Jazz are sending out a combined $27.5MM in salary and taking back roughly $45.8MM.
As Gozlan tweets, the Jazz will use their four outgoing players to legally match Jackson’s $35MM cap hit, then take the other three incoming players into existing traded player exceptions (or a portion of their mid-level, if they prefer to preserve their bigger TPE).
Memphis, meanwhile, will create a record-setting trade exception worth nearly $28.9MM, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Kawhi Leonard Named To All-Star Game
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has been named by NBA commissioner Adam Silver as an addition to the U.S. player pool for the All-Star Game, the league announced (via Twitter).
The Feb. 15 All-Star Game will feature two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players, with each team consisting of at least eight players. After the selection of the initial 24 All-Stars, Leonard was added to bring the total number of U.S. All-Stars to 16, the minimum required under the format.
A 14-year NBA veteran, Leonard has earned his seventh All-Star selection. He was the All-Star Game MVP in 2020 and had been considered one of the biggest snubs after the All-Star reserves were revealed on Sunday.
Leonard is averaging a career-high 27.6 points (seventh in the NBA), 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a league-leading 2.1 steals in 36 games. He is shooting 49.7% from the field, 39.1% from 3-point range and 91.3% from the free throw line (fourth in the NBA).
Leonard has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 28 games, including a career-high 55-point performance against the Pistons on Dec. 28.
It’s now expected Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns – who has represented the Dominican Republic in international play – will play for the World team, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
Kristaps Porzingis’ Return Postponed Due To Illness
5:19 pm: Porzingis has been downgraded to out due to an illness and will miss his 13th consecutive game, tweets Rowland.
2:42 pm: After missing the past 12 games due to left Achilles tendinitis, Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis has been upgraded to available for Tuesday’s contest in Miami, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks.
Porzingis, 30, arrived in Atlanta in an offseason trade and opened the year as the team’s starting center. However, health issues have limited him to 17 total appearances as a Hawk, and he has played more than two games in a row just once so far this season. Besides his left Achilles issue, Porzingis has also battled illnesses and dealt with a minor right knee ailment.
When he has been available, Porzingis has been a welcome addition to the Hawks’ lineup. He has averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game, with a .457/.360/.840 shooting line, and Atlanta has a +5.8 net rating when he’s on the floor, compared to a -2.3 mark when he’s not.
Porzingis is on an expiring $30.7MM contract and was considered a prime trade candidate earlier in the season. He still could be on the move — Atlanta hasn’t entirely closed the door on the possibility of an Anthony Davis trade, per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, and Porzingis would need to be included in an AD package for salary-matching purposes.
However, Siegel suggests the Hawks would only be interested in Davis if the Mavericks are willing to accept a modest return, and Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) suggested late Monday night that Atlanta has “largely abandoned searching for aggressive moves” after making its major move with Trae Young last month.
Assuming Porzingis remains in Atlanta through the trade deadline and stays healthy, he’ll look to help the Hawks hold their tenuous grip on a play-in spot. The team currently ranks 10th in the East at 24-27, a half-game behind the No. 9 Bulls and one game ahead of the No. 11 Hornets.
Trade Rumors: Grizzlies, Bulls, Poeltl, Draymond, Giannis, More
After shedding significant salary and creating a $28.9MM trade exception in their blockbuster deal sending Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah, the Grizzlies are viewed as a potential landing spot for Raptors center Jakob Poeltl, reports Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter link).
The Raptors have been discussing a possible Domantas Sabonis trade with the Kings, who have no interest in Poeltl, so a third team would likely be required if Toronto and Sacramento hope to get those talks over the finish line. Poeltl’s contract, which runs through 2029/30 and has more than $100MM left on it, is widely viewed as a negative asset, so Memphis would need to be incentivized to take it on.
The Bulls are also considered a potential facilitator for Poeltl, according to Siegel (Twitter link), but as things stand, Chicago would have to send out salary to accommodate the veteran center’s incoming $19.5MM cap hit, whereas Memphis wouldn’t.
We have more trade rumors on a busy day around the NBA:
- While it was essentially a given, based on reports that the Warriors weren’t including Jimmy Butler in their offer for Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Slater of ESPN confirms that Golden State has included 14th-year veteran Draymond Green in active trade conversations with Milwaukee. Without Butler involved, the Warriors would need to use Green’s $25.9MM salary for matching purposes in order to have a shot at Giannis.
- The Heat have expressed “some level” of interest in Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant in recent weeks, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), but their focus remains squarely on Antetokounmpo. One source who spoke to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (subscription required) suggested Miami figures to remain involved in both fronts, since it wouldn’t be impossible for the team to land both players if Memphis’ asking price is low enough.
- The Timberwolves also remain in on Antetokounmpo, but they’re exploring other possible avenues on the trade market and have a lot of balls up in the air, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), who cautions that Minnesota’s cost-cutting deal involving Mike Conley doesn’t necessarily mean the team will be acquiring Giannis.
- After agreeing to acquire Jackson from Memphis, the Jazz may not be done, tweets Tony Jones of The Athletic. Siegel (Twitter link) hears that Utah remains “very active,” with Jusuf Nurkic and his $19.3MM expiring contract included in the team’s trade discussions.
- Mavericks forward Naji Marshall has been the subject of some trade speculation in recent weeks, but he doesn’t want to go anywhere. Marshall tells Ron Harrod Jr. of DLLS Sports (subscription required) that he’d like to spend the rest of his career playing alongside rising star Cooper Flagg, adding that he expects Flagg to “create history.”
Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel Once Again Named Rookies Of Month
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg and Hornets wing Kon Knueppel have once again been named the Western and Eastern Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played in January, according to the NBA (Twitter links).
Flagg and Knueppel, who were Duke teammates last season, have monopolized the award this season, gaining those monthly honors three consecutive times. No one else has won it this season, as the months of October and November were combined.
Flagg, the top overall pick, averaged 20.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game last month. He capped off the month with a 49-point eruption against Charlotte and 34 points against Houston.
Knueppel averaged 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per night in January. He scored a season-high 34 points in the same game Flagg scored 49.
Ace Bailey (Jazz), Cedric Coward (Grizzlies), Caleb Love (Trail Blazers) and Derik Queen (Pelicans) were the other Western Conference nominees. Egor Demin (Nets), VJ Edgecombe (Sixers), Tre Johnson (Wizards) and Collin Murray-Boyles (Raptors) were also nominated in the East.