Southeast Notes: Ball, Miller, Mann, Carter, Wizards, Vukcevic
There was both good and bad news on the injury front for the Hornets on Monday. Star point guard LaMelo Ball, who had been out since November 27, returned to action vs. Philadelphia after missing seven games, and while he made just 5-of-15 shots from the field, Ball posted his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 assists in just 26 minutes of action.
However, the return of one key Hornets starter coincided with an injury to another. As Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer writes, forward Brandon Miller – the team’s second-leading scorer behind Ball – sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter and missed the rest of the game. The severity of Miller’s injury isn’t yet known, so it’s unclear how much additional time (if any) he might miss.
“I think that he might have stepped on a foot in front of our bench — I’m not sure whose — then going down the other way, he drives on I believe it was (Paul) George and lays it in,” head coach Charles Lee said. “And then just as he came down, he tweaked it. We’ll evaluate him, and I know our performance staff will be on top of it.”
The Hornets also provided an update on another injured guard on Monday, announcing (via Twitter) that Tre Mann has begun light court work and weight-room activities. Mann, who has been out since Nov. 21 due to disc irritation in his back, will be reevaluated in two weeks, according to the club.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Since returning from a 12-game injury absence on November 27, Magic big man Wendell Carter Jr. has been starting alongside Goga Bitadze and spending more time as a power forward than a center. The adjustment, necessitated by injuries to forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, has been a challenging one for Carter, though he said he thinks he’s getting back to his “old self” after spending a few games feeling like he was “floating” around the court, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “It’s tough. I’m more used to crashing the glass, being around the rim a lot more, being in the pick-and-rolls a lot more,” Carter said. “But being at the four is a little different for me. Sometimes it’s tough because it feels like you’re not doing anything, but guys who watch basketball actually understand that the more you are spaced, the more you give driving lanes for your teammates.”
- The Wizards got a first-hand look on Sunday at the sort of offense they hope to build, according to Varun Shankar of The Washington Post, who says the front office wants to be able to field a lineup that features no offensive weak links and “multiple decision-makers and ball-handlers.” In their Sunday win over Washington, the defending champion Celtics had seven players score double-digit points and four players record at least four assists apiece, showing what that kind of offense looks like. The 3-21 Wizards, whose 103.7 offensive rating is easily the worst mark in the NBA, obviously have a long way to go.
- Within the same Washington Post story, Shankar notes that Wizards two-way player Tristan Vukcevic made his G League season debut on Sunday after recovering from a left knee injury. Discussing Vukcevic’s return, head coach Brian Keefe spoke about what he wants to see from the young center this season. “You want him to start impacting the game on the defensive end, being a defensive anchor,” Keefe said on Sunday. “And then continue to do what he does offensively, which is stretch the court. Decision-maker, play-maker — those are the things he’s really good at. Really happy for him that he’s back on the court today.”
Raptors Notes: Barnes, Poeltl, Boucher, Brown, Barrett, Knicks Dispute
After Scottie Barnes went down with an ankle sprain last Monday, a report from ESPN indicated that he was expected to miss several weeks. However, the Raptors forward appears on track to beat that projected timeline, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet, who says there’s optimism Barnes could return to action as soon as this week.
Within the same story, Grange explores which Raptors players are and aren’t likely to be in-season trade candidates ahead of the February 6 deadline. Notably, sources who have spoken to Grange believe that starting center Jakob Poeltl will probably stick with the team through the deadline rather than being dangled as a trade chip.
As Grange explains, Toronto would ideally like to just spend one season rebuilding and then begin pushing back toward contention next season in a relatively weak Eastern Conference. Poeltl is under contract for at least 2025/26 (with a player option for ’26/27), so he could be part of the Raptors’ next playoff team. And if the retooling process don’t progress as quickly as hoped, he’d still have trade value in a future transaction window.
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Grange identifies big man Chris Boucher and swingman Bruce Brown – both on expiring contracts – as logical trade candidates for Toronto, but notes that the club is unlikely to extract a significant return for either player due to their large cap hits ($10.8MM for Boucher, $23MM for Brown) relative to their production. “If there was big demand, he wouldn’t be on the Raptors,” one Eastern Conference executive said of Boucher.
- As for Brown, Grange hears from team sources that the veteran has bought into what the Raptors are trying to build and wouldn’t be opposed to sticking around, meaning it’s not entirely out of the question that he stays in Toronto and re-signs in the summer.
- In a separate story for Sportsnet.ca, Grange takes a look at the impressive strides that forward RJ Barrett has made this season as a play-maker and de facto point guard with Immanuel Quickley having missed most of the season due to injuries. The 24-year-old, who never averaged more than 3.0 assists per game with the Knicks, increased that number to 4.1 APG after being traded to the Raptors last season and has bumped it up again to 6.0 APG so far in 2024/25.
- After the Knicks and Raptors informed the U.S. District Court last week that the NBA hadn’t provided them with any updates on its investigation into the Knicks’ allegations of stolen files, the league reached out to both teams on Monday to begin the process, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). The Knicks, who initially filed a lawsuit against the Raptors and were referred back to the NBA’s arbitration process by the court, have maintained all along that commissioner Adam Silver isn’t an impartial judge and beat that drum again on Monday. “The NBA has admitted to sitting on this serious theft of proprietary and confidential files for several months,” the team told The New York Post in a statement. “The NBA has a clear conflict of interest and a lack of desire to see a fair outcome in this matter – which we’ve said all along.”
And-Ones: All-Trade Buzz Team, Cotton, Expansion, Oni
ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) has revealed his All-Trade Buzz team, made up of 10 players whom scouts and executives around the NBA are keeping a close eye on now that trade season has opened. According to Marks, Dennis Schröder would’ve been one of the headliners, but he was dealt just before the list was published. Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valanciunas, D’Angelo Russell, Bobby Portis, and Zach LaVine are among the players who made the cut.
LaVine, who was also viewed as a trade candidate last season, has been healthier and more productive in 2024/25 and is one year closer to the end of his maximum-salary contract. However, the market for the Bulls star is still expected to be very limited due to his substantial cap hit and the restrictions imposed by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, says Marks.
“If we were operating under the 2017 CBA and there were no apron rules, I could make a case to my owner on LaVine,” one team source told ESPN. “But his salary boxes you into a corner on how we can add to the roster.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Bryce Cotton hasn’t been on an NBA roster since 2016, but the 32-year-old guard has caught the attention of teams in the NBA, EuroLeague, and Asia with his recent play in Australia’s National Basketball League, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. As a member of the Perth Wildcats, Cotton is averaging a league-leading 27.8 points per game on .507/.464/.855 shooting. He has scored at least 40 points in each of his past four outings, including an NBL-record 59 on November 30 vs. the New Zealand Breakers. According to Urbonas, Perth has offered Cotton an extension that would make him the highest-paid player in NBL history, but he could test his options in free agency in February or March after the current season ends.
- With the NBA in Las Vegas this week for the semifinals and final of the NBA Cup, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes that the city already feels like part of the league and explains why it seems inevitable that Vegas will get an expansion team. Meanwhile, Joe Vardon of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at the possibility of expansion to Mexico City, examining the potential complications and outlining why it’s still probably “many years off” from becoming a potential reality, in the words of commissioner Adam Silver.
- Former NBA swingman Miye Oni has signed with Badalona for the rest of the 2024/25 season, the Spanish team announced in a press release. Oni appeared in 80 NBA regular season games for Utah from 2019-22 and was in camp this fall with the Grizzlies before being waived at the end of the preseason.
Nets Notes: Schröder, TPE, Beekman, Milton
Discussing the trade that sent Dennis Schröder to Golden State, Nets general manager Sean Marks acknowledged that the veteran point guard, who was having perhaps the best season of his 12-year NBA career on the court, will be missed and explained why he decided to move him, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“We’re going to miss Dennis the person, on and off the court. What he did for us in the locker room, his leadership, he exemplifies the Brooklyn grit we talk about,” Marks said on Sunday. “But these are decisions you have to make when your ultimate goal is long-term, sustainable success. We’re weighing a lot of factors … looking at the big picture, this is what’s best for our organization long term.”
Marks cited the draft assets the Nets acquired from the Warriors as a major reason why the team made the trade, but as Lewis writes, it’s more important to note that moving Schröder will help Brooklyn maximize the value of its own 2025 first-round pick, since losing him will hurt Brooklyn on the court.
The veteran point guard had been the driving force of an offense that was more effective than expected this fall — the Nets’ 113.1 offensive rating ranks 13th in the NBA, ahead of starrier teams like the Warriors and Lakers. It’s safe to assume that figure will drop with Schröder gone, which will make things harder on first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez. However, Fernandez made it clear on Sunday that he and the front office are aligned on the long-term vision for the franchise.
“Are we going to miss him here? Yes, because he’s a great guy and did great things for us. But we have assets, and moving forward that will be a good thing for our future,” Fernandez said. “So, I understand that’s how it works. It’s not my part of the job. My job is to work with these guys … and make them play hard. Our vision from ownership to the front office to the coaching staff is aligned, and we’re going to keep doing it this way.”
Here’s more on the Nets:
- According to Lewis (Twitter link), the Nets opted against using their mid-level exception or the $23MM trade exception from the Mikal Bridges deal to take on Melton’s $12,822,000 salary. Using either one of those exceptions to acquire Melton would’ve generated a $13MM-ish exception worth Schröder’s outgoing salary, but Brooklyn opted to keep the MLE and the large TPE intact, creating just a minuscule TPE worth the difference between Schröder’s and Melton’s salaries ($203,250).
- Kevin Pelton of ESPN (Insider link) gave the Nets a B-plus grade for the Schröder trade, though he wondered how much more value the club could’ve extracted if it had been willing to take back multiyear salary instead of expiring money.
- Two-way player Reece Beekman, sent from Golden State to Brooklyn along with De’Anthony Melton, wasn’t just a throw-in. He’ll give the Nets another option at point guard, and Marks said on Sunday the team is looking forward to taking a “good close-up look” at the rookie, who will get a chance to compete for rotation minutes, Lewis writes for The New York Post. “Yeah, excited to have him,” Fernandez added. “Defensive-minded player; I think he led his conference in steals (last season). A point guard that will help our ball pressure, our activity on defense, play-making, running the team. So, excited to have him. He’ll get here soon, so we’ll get to work with him soon.”
- Schröder’s exit also means that veteran guard Shake Milton figures to see more playing time at the point, which is a challenge he’s looking forward to taking on, according to Lewis. “Just continuing to do what we do: Get out, play fast, play with pace, pace and space. Get in the lane. Create for myself, create for others,” Milton said of his goals. “(Schröder’s) points for sure, something that we’re gonna miss. But he also (had) around seven assists a game. And then also he was the leader when it came to picking up full court. So those are important things you’ve got to pick up on, too.”
Players Traded After Monday Can’t Be Re-Aggregated By Feb. 6 Deadline
As we explain in our glossary entry on salary aggregation, when a team trades for a player by matching salaries or using a cap exception, that team is typically ineligible to aggregate the player’s salary in a second trade for the next two months.
However, the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement includes one exception to that rule. A player traded on or before December 16 can always be “re-aggregated” on the day before – or the day of – that season’s trade deadline.
The deal sending Thomas Bryant from Miami to Indiana on Sunday likely wasn’t made with that rule in mind — that was simply a case of the Pacers badly needing a backup center and going ahead with their acquisition of Bryant as soon as he became trade-eligible on December 15.
But the aggregation rule looks like one important reason why the Warriors and Nets moved quickly on their trade involving Dennis Schröder and De’Anthony Melton once Melton became trade-eligible on Sunday. Having completed that deal by December 16, Golden State will be eligible to aggregate Schröder’s $13MM expiring contract with other salaries on February 5 or 6, while Brooklyn will have the ability to do the same with Melton’s $12.8MM expiring contract.
Any player who is acquired in a trade via salary-matching or an exception after Monday will be ineligible to be aggregated at this season’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Now, there are two important points worth clarifying here. The first is what exactly it means to “aggregate” a contract.
Our glossary entry covers this rule in more depth, but aggregating a player’s salary with another salary means combining the two cap figures for matching purposes. For instance, a team operating over the cap and below the tax aprons can’t trade a $15MM player for a $35MM player, but that team could aggregate its $15MM player with a $20MM player in order to legally acquire the $35MM player.
Crucially, sending out multiple players in the same trade doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be aggregated. For example, if a team sends out a $15MM player and a $5MM player for a single player earning $15MM, there’s no need to aggregate the two outgoing salaries, since the $15MM player is enough to legally match the incoming $15MM salary on his own. So a player traded on Dec. 20 could still be flipped at the deadline in a multi-player trade — his salary simply couldn’t be combined with another player’s for matching purposes within that deal.
Only teams operating below the second tax apron are permitted to aggregate salaries, meaning this rule – and the Dec. 16 exception to it – won’t matter much for the four clubs currently above the second apron: Boston, Phoenix, Minnesota, and Milwaukee. Even if one of those teams were to trade for a player today, that player couldn’t be aggregated at the deadline unless his new team was able to shed enough salary to move below the second apron.
The second point worth clarifying is that this restriction doesn’t apply to players who are acquired using cap room. The Pistons are the only club currently operating under the cap, but they have about $14MM in space after waiving Paul Reed and signing Javante McCoy, meaning they’re in a great position to trade for one or more players without sending out any matching salary.
Let’s say the Pistons use their remaining cap room to acquire a player earning $14MM. Even if they make that trade on February 5, they could turn around and aggregate their new player’s salary with, say, Isaiah Stewart‘s $15MM cap hit the very next day in order to acquire a player earning $30MM. Because the $14MM player was acquired using cap room and not using an exception or by salary-matching, Detroit wouldn’t face the two-month aggregation restriction.
There has been no indication that any more trades will be made on Monday, but if they are, it’s worth keeping this rule in mind, since it will likely be a key reason for the timing of the move.
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Lineup, Christie, Davis, Reaves
Lakers forward LeBron James, who stated at the start of the 2024/25 season that he hoped to play all 82 games, had to be convinced to sit out contests last Sunday and Friday to address quad and foot injuries, he said in his post-game media session on Sunday after returning to action and helping Los Angeles defeat Memphis.
“If it was up to just me, I probably would’ve played,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It would’ve been hard to keep me away from it. I have a team and I got to listen to them as well. They look out for my best interest.”
Due to the unusual nature of the NBA’s schedule during the knockout round of the in-season tournament, James was able to get nine days off while only missing two games. He told reporters on Sunday that it made sense to take advantage of that unique opportunity for in-season rest in the hopes of coming back stronger than before.
“I mean it’s very rare, to be honest, if you can get a break in the schedule like that,” James said, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “So it was a very easy decision for myself and for the team and for my trainer to be able to take advantage of those days just for everything. So, it was great. … I had an opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be for tonight. And it worked out.”
As Buha relays, the nine-day layoff allowed a minor quad injury James sustained on December 6 to heal, though the four-time MVP expects to have to continue managing his sore left foot going forward.
“It’s not behind me,” James said of his foot issue. “It’s an everyday thing. It’s been lingering for the last few years, but I was able to do a lot of great things to reassure not only that, but I got kneed in the quad in the Atlanta game at the end of regulation by (Anthony Davis), that’s now back to 100 percent. Probably three days ago it was still pretty sore. But I’m able to get that back to 100 (percent), so that was great, so I was able to hit a lot of other elements as well.”
Here’s more on LeBron and the Lakers:
- Speaking to reporters, including Buha, head coach JJ Redick said on Sunday that he’ll consider different ways to manage James’ workload within games in order to keep him fresh and reduce the need for him to sit out entire contests. “Maybe it’s not necessarily less minutes, but shorter runs so that he’s not getting gassed and then quicker segments on the bench and then he’s back in,” Redick said. “You know what I mean? So there’s different ways to do it than just to say we’re going to rest you and you’re going to sit out the game.”
- With James, Davis, and Austin Reaves all available for the first time since November 29, Redick tried a new starting lineup on Sunday, with that trio joined by Max Christie and Rui Hachimura. The group played 20 minutes together and outscored Memphis by three points during its time on the court. After the game, Redick explained that it wasn’t an easy decision to start Christie over Gabe Vincent, but that he likes the way Christie’s size and athleticism fits into the starting five and views it as a good opportunity for the 21-year-old’s development (Twitter link via Buha).
- Christie didn’t do much offensively on Sunday, with seven points on 1-of-3 shooting in 29 minutes, but he played a key role in holding Grizzlies star Ja Morant to 6-of-21 shooting with seven turnovers, notes McMenamin. “My main assignment tonight was Ja Morant, so my mind was just focused on trying to make it as tough as I could for him,” Christie said. “And I thought I did a decent job of that tonight.”
- The Lakers survived a pair of injury scares on Sunday, as Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times writes. Davis headed to the locker room after hurting his left shoulder in the third quarter, while Reaves took a Zach Edey elbow to the face that drew blood in the fourth quarter. However, Davis was able to return and Reaves stayed in the game, with both players helping the club seal the victory.
2024/25 In-Season NBA Trades
As we did with 2024’s offseason trades and the in-season swaps from 2023/24, we’ll be keeping track of all the NBA trades completed this season, updating this article with each transaction. This post can be found anytime throughout the season on our desktop sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features,” or in our mobile menu under “Features.”
Trades are listed here in reverse chronological order, with the latest on top. So, if a player has been dealt multiple times, the first team listed as having acquired him is the one that ended up with him. Trades listed in italics have been agreed upon but are not yet official. For more details on each trade, click the date above it.
For more information on the specific conditions dictating if and when draft picks involved in these deals will actually change hands, be sure to check out RealGM.com’s breakdown of the details on traded picks.
Here’s the full list of the trades completed during the 2024/25 NBA season:
- Clippers acquire MarJon Beauchamp.
- Bucks acquire Kevin Porter Jr.
- Clippers acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Timberwolves’ 2025 second-round pick, the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-round pick (43-60 protected), and their own 2027 second-round pick.
- Hawks acquire Terance Mann and Bones Hyland.
- Cavaliers acquire De’Andre Hunter.
- Hawks acquire Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, the Cavaliers’ 2027 second-round pick, the Cavaliers’ 2029 second-round pick, the Cavaliers’ 2031 second-round pick, the right to swap first-round picks with the Cavaliers in 2026 and the right to swap their 2028 first-round pick for either the Cavaliers’ or Jazz’s 2028 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Note: The terms on the 2026 swap will be extremely convoluted because other teams have the right to swap first-round picks with both Atlanta and Cleveland. Essentially, the Hawks will have the ability to swap the least favorable of their own 2026 first-round pick and the Spurs’ pick for whichever pick the Cavaliers end up with (either their own pick, the Jazz’s pick, or the Timberwolves’ pick).
Lakers acquire Mark Williams.Hornets acquire Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, the Lakers’ 2031 first-round pick, and the right to swap their 2030 first-round pick for the Lakers’ 2030 first-round pick.
This traded was voided when Williams didn’t pass a physical with the Lakers.
- Rockets acquire Cody Zeller and their own 2028 second-round pick.
- Hawks acquire the draft rights to Alpha Kaba.
- Bucks acquire Kyle Kuzma, Jericho Sims, either the Pistons’, Suns’, or Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; from Wizards), and the Jazz’s 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protected; from Spurs).
- Wizards acquire Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, the draft rights to Mathias Lessort (from Knicks), the right to swap their own 2028 first-round pick for the Bucks’ 2028 first-round pick or the Trail Blazers’ 2028 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable), and cash ($1MM; from Bucks).
- Knicks acquire Delon Wright, the draft rights to Hugo Besson (from Bucks), and cash ($2MM; from Bucks).
- Spurs acquire Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash ($4.13MM; from Bucks).
- Note: If the Trail Blazers haven’t conveyed their lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick by 2027 and it lands outside the lottery in 2028, it would be ineligible to be swapped; in that scenario, the Wizards would simply have the right to swap their own 2028 first-round pick for the Bucks’ 2028 first-round pick.
- Hornets acquire Jusuf Nurkic and either the Suns’, Wizards’ (9-30 protected), Magic’s, or Grizzlies’ 2026 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Suns acquire Cody Martin, Vasilije Micic, and either the Nuggets’ or Warriors’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Raptors acquire James Wiseman and cash ($2MM).
- Pacers acquire the Raptors’ 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- Raptors acquire Brandon Ingram.
- Pelicans acquire Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, the Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected), and the Raptors’ 2031 second-round pick.
- Grizzlies acquire Marvin Bagley III, Johnny Davis, either the Pistons’, Suns’, or Warriors’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Wizards), and the Kings’ 2028 second-round pick.
- Wizards acquire Marcus Smart, Colby Jones, Alex Len, and the Grizzlies’ 2025 first-round pick (top-14 protected).
- Kings acquire Jake LaRavia.
- Warriors acquire Jimmy Butler and cash ($110K; from Pistons).
- Heat acquire Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell, and the Warriors’ 2025 first-round pick (top-10 protected).
- Pistons acquire Dennis Schröder, Lindy Waters, and either the Warriors’ or Timberwolves’ 2031 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Warriors).
- Jazz acquire KJ Martin, Josh Richardson, either the Pistons’ (56-60 protected), Knicks’, Hornets’, Clippers’, or Heat’s 2028 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Pistons), either the Heat’s or Pacers’ 2031 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Heat), and cash ($563,655; from Heat).
- Raptors acquire P.J. Tucker, the Lakers’ 2026 second-round pick (from Heat), and cash ($3.5MM; from Heat).
- Note: If the Mavericks’ first-round pick lands in the top two of the 2027 draft, the Heat’s 2028 second-round pick would be sent to Charlotte and would no longer be in play for the Jazz.
- Pistons acquire KJ Martin, the Bucks’ 2027 second-round pick, and the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick.
- Sixers acquire cash ($110K).
- Wizards acquire Reggie Jackson and either the Thunder’s, Rockets’ (top-four protected), or Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Sixers acquire Jared Butler (two-way), either the Warriors’ or Suns’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), the Warriors’ 2028 second-round pick, the Wizards’ 2030 second-round pick, and either the Suns’ or Trail Blazers’ 2030 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).
February 6 (+ additional story)
- Mavericks acquire Caleb Martin and the Sixers’ 2030 second-round pick.
- Sixers acquire Quentin Grimes and either the Sixers’ or Nuggets’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).
- Rockets acquire Jaden Springer, either the Trail Blazers’ or Pelicans’ pick (whichever is least favorable; top-55 protected), and the Celtics’ 2030 second-round pick.
- Celtics acquire the Rockets’ 2031 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
- Kings acquire Jonas Valanciunas.
- Wizards acquire Sidy Cissoko, the Nuggets’ 2028 second-round pick (top-33 protected), and the Kings’ 2029 second-round pick.
- Thunder acquire Daniel Theis and either the Pelicans’ or Magic’s 2031 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Pelicans acquire cash ($1MM).
- Hornets acquire the Suns’ 2029 second-round pick.
- Thunder acquire the Nuggets’ 2030 second-round pick.
- Spurs acquire De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin.
- Kings acquire Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, the Hornets’ 2025 first-round pick (top-14 protected; from Spurs), the Spurs’ 2027 first-round pick, the Timberwolves’ 2031 first-round pick, the Bulls’ 2025 second-round pick (from Spurs), the Nuggets’ 2028 second-round pick (top-33 protected; from Spurs), and their own 2028 second-round pick (from Bulls).
- Bulls acquire Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Tre Jones, and their own 2025 first-round pick (from Spurs).
- Note: The Bulls’ 2025 second-round pick had previously been controlled by the Spurs (if in the top 55) or Kings (if 56 or later). The Kings acquired it unconditionally as part of this trade.
- Lakers acquire Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris, and cash ($55K; from Jazz)
- Mavericks acquire Anthony Davis, Max Christie, the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick, and cash ($55K; from Jazz).
- Jazz acquire Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick (from Lakers), and the 2025 Mavericks’ second-round pick.
- Note: The 2025 Mavericks second-round pick going to Utah technically includes “least favorable” terms, but there’s essentially no chance it won’t be Dallas’ own pick.
- Clippers acquire Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills.
- Jazz acquire P.J. Tucker, Mohamed Bamba, either the Clippers’ or Jazz’s 2030 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable), and cash ($852K).
- Note: The Jazz had previously acquired the right to swap their own 2030 second-round pick for the Clippers’ 2030 second-rounder. They now control both picks.
- Jazz acquire the Suns’ 2031 first-round pick.
- Suns acquire either the Cavaliers’ or Timberwolves’ 2025 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable); either the Cavaliers’, Timberwolves’, or Jazz’s 2027 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable); and either the Cavaliers’, Timberwolves’, or Jazz’s 2029 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Suns acquire Nick Richards and either the Nuggets’ or Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
- Hornets acquire Josh Okogie, the Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick, the Suns’ 2031 second-round pick, and the Nuggets’ 2031 second-round pick.
- Lakers acquire Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.
- Nets acquire D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, the Lakers’ 2027 second-round pick, the Lakers’ 2030 second-round pick, and the Lakers’ 2031 second-round pick.
- Warriors acquire Dennis Schröder and the Heat’s 2025 second-round pick (top-37 protected).
- Nets acquire De’Anthony Melton, Reece Beekman (two-way), the Hawks’ 2026 second-round pick, the Hawks’ 2028 second-round pick, and the Warriors’ 2029 second-round pick.
- Pacers acquire Thomas Bryant.
- Heat acquire the right to swap their own 2031 second-round pick with the Pacers’ 2031 second-round pick.
85 NBA Players Newly Eligible To Be Traded
Today is December 15, which means that – by our count – 85 NBA players who signed as free agents this offseason have officially become eligible to be traded.
The list of newly trade-eligible players, which can be found right here, features a number of guys who almost certainly aren’t going anywhere this season, such as Pacers forward Pascal Siakam and Sixers forward Paul George.
However, it also includes some players whose names have already popped up in trade speculation in the months since they were signed, such as Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas.
Additionally, two of the players on the list are part of trades that have already been agreed to, with Thomas Bryant heading from Miami to Indiana and De’Anthony Melton on the move from Golden State to Brooklyn. Now that it’s December 15, those agreed-upon deals can be officially completed anytime.
LeBron James, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson, Tobias Harris, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Russell Westbrook are among the other biggest names who are newly trade-eligible as of Sunday.
Twelve of the players on the list, including LeBron and Harden, can’t be dealt without their consent, since they have the ability to veto trades this season. The Nuggets and Suns are each carrying multiple players who fit that bill.
Ten more newly trade-eligible players are still on non-guaranteed contracts, including a pair of Pacers. If one of those players is included in a trade prior to the league-wide salary guarantee date of January 10, only the non-guaranteed portion of his salary would count for matching purposes for the team trading him away (the team acquiring him would still have to account for the player’s full cap hit).
[RELATED: Trade Rules For Non-Guaranteed Salaries]
Finally, it’s worth noting that there are still a number of recently signed players around the NBA who remain ineligible to be dealt. Many will become trade-eligible on January 15, while others have specific dates to watch.
Typically, teams wait until closer to the trade deadline (February 6) to make their moves rather than striking deals as soon as trade season unofficially opens on December 15, but this season is an exception to the rule, with two agreements already ready to be finalized. Assuming at least one of them is officially completed today, it will be the first time since 2010 that a trade has been made on December 15.
While it’s possible more trade agreement will be reached in the coming days as talks begin to heat up, we should count on most of the in-season trade activity occurring in January and February.
The Teams Most Likely To Be Deadline Sellers (Part 2)
On Sunday, we published the first half of our breakdown of this season's presumed trade deadline sellers. In that article, we covered our first two groups of sellers -- teams likely to listen to inquiries on pretty much anyone, including the Nets and Bulls, and teams who should be open to discussing most, but not all, of their respective rosters, such as the Hornets and Trail Blazers.
In the second half of our two-part series, we'll dig into the potential sellers whose next steps ahead of the February 6 trade deadline are less obvious.
In the space below, we'll take a closer look at teams who should be willing to selectively trade away pieces without holding a fire sale or throwing in the towel on the season. We'll also examine several wild-card clubs whose results in the coming weeks and months will go a long way toward determining which direction they go at the deadline.
Let's dive in...
Selective sellers
New Orleans Pelicans
After winning 42 games in 2022/23 and 49 last season, the Pelicans swung a blockbuster trade for Dejounte Murray over the summer and entered this season hoping to take another step toward title contention. Instead, the club has opened the year by losing 21 of its first 26 games and sits dead last in the Western Conference.
Trade Rumors: Sixers, Pelicans, Nuggets, Early Movers, Simmons
The Sixers‘ slow start this fall hasn’t changed the expectation that Daryl Morey and the front office in Philadelphia will be active leading up to the February 6 trade deadline, sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link).
Shooting and frontcourt size are among the area the 76ers may look to address, with KJ Martin viewed as the team’s most logical trade chip due to his pseudo-expiring contract, which includes a cap hit of $7.98MM for this season. However, Martin won’t become trade-eligible until January 15, so Philadelphia will have another month to assess its needs before moving forward on potential trade scenarios.
Within that same ESPN story, Bontemps and Brian Windhorst address another injury-plagued team off to a disappointing start, citing sources who say that there has been an increase in opposing scouts at Pelicans games, with rivals looking to gather intel for possible deals. While New Orleans’ plans are unclear at this point, the club is expected to at least make a move to get out of the luxury tax — its team salary is currently $1.4MM above that threshold.
Brandon Ingram, of course, is considered a potential trade candidate, but his $36MM+ cap hit will complicate trade talks. According to Bontemps, several sources have recently told ESPN that they’re not sure whether anyone making more than $20-25MM will be dealt during the season.
Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- The Nuggets are interested in making a trade to upgrade their rotation and “know they need a shake-up move of some sort,” but will be hard-pressed to find an appealing deal due to their position relative to the tax aprons and their lack of movable contracts, NBA insider Marc Stein said during an appearance on DNVR Sports (Twitter video link). “It’s been painted to me as eager. They are eager to make a move,” Stein said. “(But) the reality is if they don’t involve (Michael) Porter (Jr.), the optionality there is extremely limited.”
- While most in-season deals are unlikely to be completed until much closer to the February 6 trade deadline, Jake Fischer (Bleacher Report video link) identifies the Lakers and Bucks as teams who could be motivated to act sooner rather than later on the trade market, adding that the Knicks are also “still sniffing around on what to do for their center depth.”
- In a separate video clip, Fischer explores whether the Nets could realistically trade Ben Simmons and his $40MM+ expiring contract, suggesting that a team seeking 2025 cap room might be able to incentivize Brooklyn to take on multiyear salary in exchange for Simmons by attaching an intriguing young player and/or draft assets.
- Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a closer look at several of the CBA and trade rules – new and old – that are expected to make it more challenging than ever for teams to pull off trades this season.