Warriors Shift Focus Back To Jimmy Butler
After getting word that Kevin Durant was opposed to the idea of reuniting with Golden State, the Warriors have opted to move on to other trade targets, ending their pursuit of the Suns forward, Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic confirm, echoing earlier reports.
According to Amick and Slater, the Warriors were willing to make a substantial offer for Durant and might have been in position to land him if he’d been even lukewarm on the possibility of coming back to the Bay Area, but they didn’t want to risk having to deal with a disgruntled KD.
On the subject of disgruntled stars, Amick and Slater say it’s still up in the air whether the Warriors will get back in the mix for Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who has also made it clear he’s not enthusiastic about the idea of being traded to Golden State.
However, NBA insider Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that the Warriors have indeed shifted their focus back to trying to acquire Butler.
Golden State’s pursuit of Butler has seemingly been on and off again for the better part of a month. Shortly after the 35-year-old formally requested a trade, reports indicated that the Warriors didn’t plan to seek out a deal for him, but they exhibited renewed interest last week when the Heat’s asking price reportedly dropped.
Although ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said over the weekend that the Warriors were once again backing off Butler after he communicated that he wasn’t interested in signing an extension with the team, reports this week have suggested that Golden State was never fully out of the hunt. With Durant seemingly off the table, it makes sense that the Warriors would once again circle back to the Heat star.
As has been the case for weeks, the Suns and Warriors appear to be the frontrunners for Butler. Phoenix has been unable to work out a deal structured around Bradley Beal due to his no-trade clause and pricey contract, but if the Suns are willing to consider the idea of trading Durant to Miami for Butler, the Heat would certainly be interested, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
A swap along those lines would likely require Miami to attach a handful of sweeteners (draft picks, young players, etc.) to entice Phoenix — a third team may also still be necessary due to the Suns’ and Heat’s apron-related restrictions.
A Warriors offer for Butler would likely be centered around Andrew Wiggins, expiring contracts, and draft assets. Dennis Schröder‘s expiring deal (worth $13MM) would probably be part of Golden State’s package, according to Stein (Twitter link).
A team source tells The Athletic that the Warriors remain “determined” to get something done before Thursday’s deadline, so if they miss out on Butler, they could end up pivoting to a secondary target such as Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram or Bulls center Nikola Vucevic.
Regarding Ingram, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link) says the Pelicans have gained some traction on potential deals involving the star forward. Fischer and Stein have reported that the Raptors and Hawks are among the teams talking to New Orleans about Ingram.
As for Vucevic, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter links) has heard that the Warriors aren’t sure about pursuing the big man at Chicago’s asking price, but suggests a deal remains possible if Golden State can’t land a bigger-name target and/or the Bulls’ price comes down.
Pelicans Trade Daniel Theis, Second-Round Pick To Thunder
3:21 pm: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Thunder, who sent out cash considerations in exchange for Theis and either New Orleans’ or Orlando’s 2031 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
1:01 pm: The Pelicans are trading center Daniel Theis to the Thunder along with draft compensation, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Oklahoma City will receive a 2031 second-round pick in the deal, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). New Orleans previously traded swap rights on that pick to Orlando, so the Thunder will receive the least favorable of the Pelicans’ and Magic’s second-rounders in ’31.
It’s a salary dump for New Orleans, which had been operating about $1.4MM above the luxury tax line. The Pelicans are one of two NBA teams to have never paid the tax and weren’t about to start this season for a team that currently holds a 12-38 record.
Moving Theis’ $2.1MM minimum-salary contract, which expires at season’s end, allows the Pelicans to duck out of tax territory.
If New Orleans doesn’t make any additional trades today or tomorrow, this deal will leave the team with just 13 players on standard contracts. By NBA rule, the Pelicans would need to re-add a 14th man within two weeks of trading Theis. A prorated minimum-salary signing at that point would still allow them to narrowly remain below the tax threshold.
Despite their NBA-best 39-9 record, the Thunder aren’t constricted by the tax aprons like many of the league’s other contenders. Prior to this trade, Oklahoma City’s team salary had been hovering right around $160MM, giving the club plenty of room below the $170.8MM tax line to take on additional money.
The Thunder also have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so they won’t need to waive anyone to make room for Theis, who can be acquired using the minimum salary exception.
It’s unclear if the Thunder plan to hang onto Theis after acquiring him or if they’re just making the deal for the draft compensation. The veteran center could provide some frontcourt depth in OKC after averaging 4.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 16.3 minutes per game across 38 outings (nine starts) for the Pelicans.
A rookie big man, Branden Carlson, has occupied the Thunder’s 15th roster spot for much of the season to date, first on a non-guaranteed contract and then on a pair of 10-day deals. If the team hangs onto Theis and doesn’t make any additional moves to open spots on its 15-man roster, a two-way deal would be the only path for Carlson to rejoin the squad.
Knicks Expected To Trade Jericho Sims
The Knicks are expected to trade Jericho Sims at some point before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline, sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).
A landing spot for Sims is not yet known, according to Bontemps, who says that several teams have expressed interest in the big man. A Tuesday report indicated the Lakers, Clippers, and Bucks are among Sims’ potential suitors, while a separate report stated that the Nuggets are also in the market for a backup center.
Bontemps’ report is in line with what local reporters have been saying leading up to the February 6 deadline. James L. Edwards III of The Athletic wrote last week that Sims was the best best among Knicks players to be moved in an in-season deal, while Ian Begley of SNY.tv said today that he views a Sims deal as “likely” (Twitter video link).
A report in January suggested that the Knicks were seeking a second-round pick in return for Sims.
The 26-year-old has been with the Knicks for the past four seasons but has been used sparingly by head coach Tom Thibodeau, even with Precious Achiuwa missing time this past fall and Mitchell Robinson having yet to make his season debut. Across 39 outings (five starts) this season, Sims is averaging 1.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game.
Sending out Sims’ $2.09MM expiring contract would allow the Knicks to take back another minimum-salary player, though it’s possible the team will just look to trade the big man without taking back anyone in return. In that scenario, New York – which has been unable to sign a 15th man all season due to its proximity to a second-apron hard cap – would have two open roster spots and would be able to fill them immediately with rest-of-season free agent signings.
Trading Sims without taking a player back would also create slightly more financial flexibility in the event of a second trade, though Begley (Twitter video link) said today that there don’t seem to be any active talks involving Robinson, who has been considered one of the Knicks’ top trade candidates.
Kevin Durant ‘Highly Unlikely’ To Be Traded To Warriors
2:08 pm: ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed during an appearance on NBA Today that Durant has no desire to rejoin the Warriors (Twitter video link).
According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), it’s now “highly unlikely” that Durant will be traded to Golden State. Confirming that Durant wants to stay in Phoenix, Gambadoro says there was momentum toward a Durant/Warriors deal in the last 24 hours, but that momentum is gone.
There still may be a path to a Heat/Suns trade centered around Durant and Butler, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), but it’s unclear if Miami could sufficiently sweeten the pot with enough additional assets to get Phoenix to make that move.
2:00 pm: With Kevin Durant at the center of trade speculation leading up to Thursday’s deadline, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) report that there’s a “distinct sense percolating” that the Suns forward would prefer not to be traded this week.
Unlike his teammate Bradley Beal, Durant doesn’t hold a no-trade clause and doesn’t have the ability to veto a deal if the Suns decide they want to move him.
Beal’s no-trade clause and unfavorable contract have prevented Phoenix from finding a way to swap him out for Heat forward Jimmy Butler, which is a key reason why the Durant rumors have picked up in recent days. As we relayed this morning, a multi-team trade that sends Durant to Golden State and Butler to Phoenix is reportedly considered a possibility.
While Golden State has frequently been cited as the team pursuing Durant most aggressively, there’s a belief that the former Warriors star would have “serious reservations” about reuniting with his former team, according to Stein and Fischer.
As The Stein Line’s duo writes, Durant left the Warriors in 2019 due to his desire for a change of scenery, and there was a sense at that time that he no longer wanted to play with Draymond Green.
Of course, it’s not out of the question that Green could be part of a trade package for Durant in a multi-team scenario, Stein and Fischer write. That echoes reporting from Sam Amick of The Athletic (YouTube link) and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (YouTube link), both of whom suggested that the Warriors’ longtime defensive stalwart isn’t untouchable in trade talks.
The Warriors would realistically need to send out at least one of Green ($24.1MM) or Andrew Wiggins ($26.3MM) for matching purposes in a deal for any maximum-salary player like Durant, but Wiggins has been viewed as the more likely outgoing piece.
While a Tuesday report indicated that Phoenix has interest in Green, the Suns wouldn’t have a viable path to acquiring him and Butler as part of a return for Durant due to their second-apron limitations.
One source briefed on the trade talks told Stein and Fischer that the Warriors may still be inclined to try to trade for Durant even if they don’t believe he’d enthusiastically welcome a second go-round in the Bay Area.
Here are a few more items of interest from Stein and Fischer:
- The Stein Line’s duo confirms a prior report which stated that the Wizards will probably to hang onto Khris Middleton through the trade deadline after agreeing to acquire him from Milwaukee. Washington is expected to try to trade Middleton at some point, Stein and Fischer say, but it’s more likely to happen during the offseason.
- The Pelicans continue to talk to the Raptors and Hawks about possible Brandon Ingram trades, and there are still multi-team scenarios in play in which Ingram could be involved in a Butler deal, according to Stein and Fischer.
- After ducking below the tax line in the Daniel Theis deal with Oklahoma City, New Orleans will be careful not to cross back over that threshold in any Ingram deal. The Pelicans also aren’t inclined to take on multi-year money, and if they were offered a player on a longer-team contract like Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic as part of a package for Ingram, they’d likely ask for additional draft compensation on top of their “high valuation” for the star forward, Stein and Fischer report.
Eastern Notes: Middleton, Wizards, Cavs, Walker, Johnson, Buzelis
The Wizards don’t have a second deal lined up for Khris Middleton, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link), who says Washington’s plan for the time being will be to hang onto the veteran forward after acquiring him from Milwaukee.
As Mannix and Varun Shankar of The Washington Post outline, the Wizards were willing to trade Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin, and a first-round pick swap for Middleton, AJ Johnson, and a second-round pick because they like Johnson, wanted to open up more playing time for young wings like Kyshawn George and Justin Champagnie, and will create some additional financial flexibility in 2026 (Kuzma was signed through ’26/27).
I wouldn’t expect Middleton to have a long-term future in D.C., but if he can use the second half of this season to get closer to full health, he could have a little trade value in the offseason — he holds a player option for 2025/26 and would be on an expiring contract if he opts in, which seems likely.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter), Middleton’s 2024/25 cap hit for the Wizards will adjust from $31.7MM to $31MM because his bonus for making the playoffs is no longer considered “likely” (because Milwaukee made the playoffs last year, whereas Washington didn’t). That will also cause the cap hit for next season’s player option to dip from about $34MM to $33.3MM.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference with the trade deadline just over 24 hours away:
- Jason Lloyd of The Athletic advocates for the Cavaliers to make an effort to duck below the luxury tax line at this season’s trade deadline, pointing out that delaying the repeater taxpayer clock for another season could pay off for the franchise in the long run. Shedding the minimum-salary contracts of Tristan Thompson and Sam Merrill would do the trick, Lloyd notes, though Merrill has been a part of the regular rotation.
- Jarace Walker has been in and out of the Pacers‘ rotation as of late, getting his first DNP-CD of the season on Saturday. The second-year forward acknowledges that his inconsistent role hasn’t been easy to deal with, but head coach Rick Carlisle lauded Walker for the effort he has shown during workouts and practices, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I wish all top 10 picks in the NBA could learn about being the pro the way that he is learning about it and the way he’s adapting and the way he’s managing everything in his life to stay ready,” Carlisle said. “His teammates trust him. The coaching staff trusts him. Trust is earned and not given. I got a lot of respect for that kid. For where he came from his first year to the early parts of this year to now, he’s a man.”
- Cameron Johnson, who had missed six straight games due to an ankle sprain, is no longer on the Nets‘ injury report, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Barring a last-minute development, that suggests Johnson should be available for Wednesday’s game vs. Washington. In case you missed it, multiple reports this week have indicated that the Brooklyn forward appears increasingly unlikely to be traded.
- On the heels of trading two-time All-Star Zach LaVine, the Bulls had to be encouraged by what they saw from rookie forward Matas Buzelis on Tuesday, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. One of the club’s long-term building blocks, Buzelis enjoyed the best game of his NBA career in a win over Miami, scoring 24 points on 10-of-10 shooting (4-of-4 three-pointers). “My confidence right now is high, but you’ve got to stay humble,” Buzelis said after the game. “My dad always tells me the sun comes up tomorrow, so you’ve got to go back to work. You guys can call it [a breakout game], it doesn’t matter to me. Breakout, I’m going to play the same way every night.”
Injury Updates: Randle, Embiid, Sexton, Barrett
Timberwolves forward Julius Randle, who has missed the past two games after injuring his groin last Thursday vs. the Jazz, underwent an MRI and has been diagnosed with a right adductor strain, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll be reevaluated in two weeks, according to the Wolves.
A multi-week absence had been anticipated for Randle after head coach Chris Finch told reporters over the weekend that he expected to be without the forward “for the near future.”
Randle, who was sent from New York to Minnesota in the Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster right before training camp, has had a solid first season in Minnesota, averaging 18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 32.6 minutes per game across 48 contests, with a .470/.321/.811 shooting line.
There has been some speculation that Randle, who holds a $30.9MM player option for 2025/26, could emerge as a trade candidate prior to the February 6 deadline, but it has always seemed more likely that Minnesota would postpone a decision on his future until the summer rather than shaking up the roster again during the season.
During Randle’s absence, Naz Reid has stepped into the lineup as the Wolves’ starting power forward. The team has dropped both games Reid started, but he had a big night on Monday, putting up 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting in a two-point loss to Sacramento.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- After making his return from a month-long injury absence on Tuesday, Sixers center Joel Embiid will, predictably, be held out of the second end of the club’s back-to-back set on Wednesday vs. Miami, per head coach Nick Nurse (Twitter link via Tim Bontemps of ESPN). Embiid had a strong first game back in a two-point win over Dallas, racking up 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
- The Jazz announced on Tuesday (via Twitter) that Collin Sexton has been diagnosed with a left ankle sprain. While X-rays on the injury were negative, the veteran guard will miss some time — he’ll be reevaluated in one week, according to the club.
- Raptors forward RJ Barrett entered the NBA’s concussion protocol on Wednesday and missed a matchup with his former team, the Knicks, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Barrett stayed in Sunday’s game after hitting his head on the court. According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), he was evaluated by the team’s medical staff on court after hitting his head, after Sunday’s game, and again on Monday, but didn’t exhibit concussion symptoms until Monday night.
Trade Rumors: Johnson, Martin, Sixers, Lakers, Jazz
It seems increasingly likely that Cameron Johnson will remain in Brooklyn beyond the trade deadline, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who has consistently heard that the Nets are willing to field calls about the veteran forward but aren’t actively shopping him.
While the Nets moved quickly this season to trade Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith, both of whom can reach unrestricted free agency this summer, Johnson is under contract for two more years beyond this one, so there’s no urgency in Brooklyn to move off of him at this point — especially since the team still projects to have substantial cap room for next season even with Johnson’s $20.5MM salary on the books.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv also reported on Tuesday that a Johnson trade may not happen this week.
We have more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- There’s a chance that KJ Martin, whom the Pistons agreed to acquire from Philadelphia, could be rerouted to another team prior to Thursday’s trade deadline, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. If Detroit were to acquire Martin using cap space rather than the room exception, his salary could be aggregated with one or more other players in a subsequent deal.
- According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, and Guerschon Yabusele are among the veterans who continue to draw interest for the Sixers, who already traded Caleb Martin in addition to KJ Martin. However, Philadelphia is reluctant to move Yabusele, preferring to find a way to retain him beyond his current one-year, minimum-salary contract, Stein and Fischer say.
- Grant Afseth of RG.org takes a look at the Lakers‘ hunt for another center, suggesting that – despite Rob Pelinka‘s comments downplaying the urgency to find more than a stop-gap – the team is still considering a wide range of possible targets.
- Tony Jones of The Athletic checks in on the Jazz‘s plans ahead of the trade deadline, writing that John Collins and Jordan Clarkson are considered more available than Collin Sexton and especially Walker Kessler. Utah values Sexton and has set a “very high” asking price for Kessler, Jones explains.
Wizards To Trade Kyle Kuzma To Bucks For Khris Middleton, Pick Swap
The Wizards and Bucks have agreed to a trade that will send Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, and a pick swap to Washington in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and a second-round pick, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Josh Robbins and David Aldridge of The Athletic, who reported on the Kuzma/Middleton talks between the two teams on Tuesday, followed on up Wednesday to say (via Twitter) that Johnson, Baldwin, and draft assets were also involved in the structure being discussed.
Middleton, a Buck since the 2013 offseason, had a highly successful 12-season run with the franchise, earning three All-Star berths and playing a key role on the team that won a championship in 2021. However, he had been plagued by injuries in recent years, most recently undergoing surgeries on both ankles last offseason.
Middleton has been limited to 23 games so far this season and is averaging just 23.2 minutes per night, his lowest mark since his rookie year. While he has shot the ball efficiently (.512/.407/.848), the 33-year-old hasn’t looked like the same two-way impact player he was before his health issues.
By swapping out Middleton for Kuzma, the Bucks will acquire a forward who is four years younger (29), is on a more team-friendly contract, and hasn’t been afflicted as significantly by the injury bug.
However, Kuzma hasn’t had a great season either. His shooting percentages of 42.0% from the field and 28.1% on three-pointers are easily career lows, and he’s averaging just 15.2 points per game after putting up 21.7 PPG in his first two years in D.C.
Kuzma recently suggested in comments to reporters that he didn’t adjust well this season as the Wizards pivoted to prioritizing opportunities for their younger players. That shouldn’t be an issue in Milwaukee, where Kuzma is joining a potential contender led by superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), a vote of support for Kuzma from Antetokounmpo factored into the Bucks’ decision to move forward on this deal.
The Wizards nearly moved Kuzma at last season’s trade deadline, but were reportedly lukewarm on an offer from the Mavericks and decided not to accept it after speaking to him about it. A year later, he’s headed to the Bucks instead.
The financial aspect of this trade is an important motivator for Milwaukee as well. The combined salaries of Kuzma ($23.5MM) and Baldwin ($2.4MM) are well below that of Middleton ($31.7MM) and Johnson ($2.8MM), allowing the Bucks – who had been operating about $6.5MM above the second tax apron – to move below that threshold and generating substantial savings on their end-of-season tax bill.
Kuzma had a 15% trade kicker that would have increased his cap hit by roughly $2.5MM per season, but sources tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) that the forward agreed to reduce that bonus in order to allow the Bucks to get below the second apron, giving them more roster-building options in the present and future.
Moving below the second apron will allow Milwaukee to aggregate salaries in any subsequent deals this week. It will also ensure that their 2032 first-round pick doesn’t become “frozen” (ie. unable to be traded) beginning this offseason.
With Baldwin’s salary coming off the books at season’s end and Kuzma replacing Middleton and Johnson on next season’s cap, the Bucks are now in position to potentially get out of luxury tax territory altogether in 2025/26, notes cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link).
The Wizards, meanwhile, will take on some extra salary this season and likely next season as well, since Middleton has a $34MM player option for 2025/26 that he’s expected to exercise. In return, Washington will get the opportunity to take a flier on a 2024 first-round pick in Johnson, who appeared in just seven games with the Bucks.
The Wizards will also gain the ability to swap first-round picks in 2028 with Milwaukee, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Portland already has the right to swap its first-round pick for Milwaukee’s first-rounder in ’28, so Washington would subsequently have the opportunity to swap its own pick for whichever first-rounder the Bucks end up with.
Meanwhile, the Bucks will receive a 2025 second-round pick in the deal, Haynes adds. According to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link), it’ll be the second-most favorable of the three second-rounders controlled by Washington. The language around those picks is convoluted, but it’ll almost certainly end up being the second-most favorable of the Detroit, Golden State, and Phoenix second-rounders. Those three teams are all currently within a half-game of one another.
Cavaliers, Hawks Have Discussed Hunter, LeVert
The Cavaliers have expressed interest in Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, multiple sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link), confirming a report from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. According to Fedor, the Cavs’ talks with Atlanta have centered around swingman Caris LeVert.
Due to the difference between Hunter’s current cap hit ($21.7MM) and LeVert’s ($16.6MM), Cleveland would have to send out at least one more player in any deal involving the Hawks forward to avoid surpassing the first tax apron, according to Fedor, who suggests that rookie Jaylon Tyson ($3.3MM) would be one possibility. Atlanta may also seek draft assets — Cleveland controls its 2031 first-round pick, along with a few second-rounders.
According to Fedor, the Cavaliers have had Hunter on their radar for years, dating back to the 2019 draft when he went fourth overall to Atlanta, one pick ahead of Cleveland at No. 5. Sources tell Cleveland.com that the Cavs have done “extensive” homework on the 27-year-old, frequently inquiring over the years about his availability and what it would take to acquire him.
Hunter is having the best year of his career in 2024/25, averaging 18.9 points per game on .459/.386/.858 shooting through 36 outings (28.5 MPG). He’s also the sort of long, athletic wing that the Cavaliers have long been seeking and is close friends with guard Ty Jerome dating back to their days at the University of Virginia, Fedor notes, so Cleveland would be confident about his fit.
As Fedor reports, the Cavs have also checked in on several other possible trade candidates, such as Cameron Johnson (Nets), Jerami Grant (Trail Blazers), Javonte Green (Pelicans), Cody Martin (Hornets), Chris Boucher (Raptors), Julian Champagnie (Spurs), Obi Toppin (Pacers), and Royce O’Neale (Suns). However, the front office is wary about messing with the chemistry of a team that sits atop the Eastern Conference with a 40-10 record.
Cavs players and head coach Kenny Atkinson discussed that aspect of the trade deadline on Tuesday, per Fedor.
“You have to listen,” Atkinson said. “You’d be really not smart if you didn’t listen and talk about how you can get better. It’s the business we’re in. We’re really good, obviously, but it could always be something out there that gets us to the next level. My one thing to [president of basketball operations] Koby [Altman] is we have great chemistry right now and a great culture, great locker room culture. That’s super important to me. If it is a trade, if it is a buyout, it’s got to be the right fit.”
“If you take away somebody, especially somebody in the locker room, a locker room presence, it’s gonna disrupt it,” center Jarrett Allen said. “At the end of the day, we’re all close to each other. But as you know, that’s how things go.”
Both Allen and Donovan Mitchell said on Tuesday that they believe the Cavaliers have enough to be a title contender. Still, the front office is keeping an eye out for ways to make upgrades. Sources tell Fedor that Cleveland is also considering the idea of making a small trade or two around the margins, with another big man among the possibilities the club is weighing.
If the Cavs don’t make a move at the trade deadline, they’ll likely take a look at the buyout market, according to Fedor, who points to Lonzo Ball as a player to watch, though a Tuesday report suggested the Bulls won’t be eager to buy out Ball if they hang onto him through the deadline. Torrey Craig, who was waived by Chicago earlier this week, is another player to monitor, Fedor adds.
Latest On Kevin Durant
As Thursday’s trade deadline approaches, trade rumors involving Suns forward Kevin Durant continue to percolate. Reporting on Monday indicated that the Warriors were eyeing Durant, with a story on Tuesday suggesting that the Mavericks and Rockets may also be in the mix.
There had been no real indication prior to this week that Durant would be available at the trade deadline, but it sounds like the Suns could be wavering on that stance.
Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link), Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Twitter link), and John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) are among the reporters who have suggested in recent days that there’s a rising belief around the NBA that a Durant deal is a possibility.
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) echoed that sentiment late on Tuesday night, citing sources who say that the Suns have talked to teams besides Golden State about Durant and seem more open to discussing the star forward than they’ve ever been in the past.
Still, Stein and Fischer aren’t sure that Houston and Dallas should be considered serious suitors for Durant at this point. Stein suggests the Rockets still don’t appear particularly motivated to shake up their roster with a major in-season move before assessing how their young core performs in the postseason. The Rockets seem more inclined to use their flexibility below the luxury tax line to participate as a facilitator in multi-team trades, Stein writes.
As for the Mavs, they don’t look realistically positioned to make a move for another maximum-salary player like Durant this week after completing a Luka Doncic/Anthony Davis mega-deal over the weekend. According to Stein and Fischer, there was “no tangible expectation” in Dallas as of Tuesday night that the Mavs would be a major player in any Durant sweepstakes. The Stein Line duo believes the team will focus this season on integrating Davis and then potentially explore another major trade in the summer.
One reason there has been an increase in trade chatter surrounding Durant, sources tell Stein and Fischer, is that it’s believed to be the only way the Suns could realistically acquire Heat forward Jimmy Butler. A package headlined by Bradley Beal has been Phoenix’s preferred route to a Butler deal, but a number of factors – including Beal’s no-trade clause, his unwieldy contract, and the Suns’ lack of sweeteners – have made that path a non-starter.
The sources whom Stein and Fischer spoke to couldn’t offer a great answer when asked why the Suns would want to add Butler while giving up Durant, but that scenario does seem to be in play. Gambadoro (Twitter link) says he talked to one team that believes Durant will end up in Golden State, with Butler headed to Phoenix.
Presumably, if the Suns were to trade Durant in a Butler deal, they’d also be able to extract multiple other assets from the Warriors (or whichever team landed Durant), whereas a Beal-for-Butler trade would require Phoenix to be the team adding several extra assets to get it done. Those additional assets could help the Suns make upgrades elsewhere on the roster.
It’s worth noting that Durant ($51.2MM) doesn’t have a significantly higher cap hit than Butler ($48.8MM) and the Suns are a second-apron team unable to aggregate salaries or take back more than $51.2MM in non-minimum contracts for Durant. That means the Suns’ ability to take on additional contracts beyond Butler’s in that sort of multi-team deal would be limited unless they sent out another player or two.
Along those lines, Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com reported on Tuesday (via Twitter) that the Suns and Wizards had momentum on a trade that would involve Jusuf Nurkic and Jonas Valanciunas. Gambadoro (Twitter link) followed up to say that it’s not a done deal and would likely only happen if it’s attached to a bigger trade, adding that Phoenix isn’t really interested in Valanciunas.
This is purely my speculation, but if the Suns were to tie Nurkic to a Durant/Butler trade, bringing in more teams, it’d be a way for them to add more players using Nurkic’s $18.1MM outgoing contract without requiring aggregation.
For instance, Jonathan Kuminga‘s $7.6MM salary and Valanciunas’ $9.9MM salary would both fit within that $18.1MM limit. Valanciunas could even be flipped to Golden State in that scenario, with one of the Warriors’ other outgoing players sent to Phoenix. But again, that’s just a hypothetical for now.