Terry Rozier Being Investigated As Part Of Illegal Betting Probe
Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Heat guard Terry Rozier as part of a “sprawling” probe into illegal sports betting, report Jared Diamond, Louise Radnofsky and Robert O’Connell of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
According to The Wall Street Journal, Rozier is being investigated for his performance in a game on March 23, 2023, when he was playing for the Hornets.
In the hours leading up to the game, there were unusual prop bets made that Rozier would fail to reach certain statistical benchmarks, raising alarms about potential suspicious activity. Sportsbooks and the NBA were alerted, and some books stopped taking bets related to Rozier’s performance that day.
After recording five points, four rebounds and two assists in 9:34 of action in the first quarter, Rozier exited the game during a timeout and did not return, citing a foot issue. He did not play the final eight games of the 2022/23 season due to the injury.
Rozier has not yet been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing, and the expectation is that he’ll continue to suit up for the Heat as the investigation unfolds, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“In March 2023, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity related to Terry Rozier’s performance in a game between Charlotte and New Orleans,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. “The league conducted an investigation and did not find a violation of NBA rules. We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation.”
“We are aware of the NBA’s 2023 investigation which determined there was absolutely no wrongdoing by Mr. Rozier and we are confident that the on-going government investigation will arrive at the exact same conclusion,” Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty told ESPN.com.
The investigation into Rozier is part of the same government probe which saw former Raptors big man Jontay Porter plead guilty to a federal felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Following an investigation, Porter was banned from the NBA for violating league rules “by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”
“Authorities believe some of the people who arranged for Porter to fix his performance in two games last season had inside information that prompted them to bet large sums of money against Rozier a year earlier,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Several gamblers have been charged in the Porter scandal, with at least two pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Hawks Reportedly Open To Trading Bogdan Bogdanovic
The Hawks are “actively exploring the trade market” for veteran guard/forward Bogdan Bogdanovic and there are “credible whispers” that he could be dealt prior to the February 6 trade deadline, league sources tell Marc Stein (Substack link).
Bogdanovic, 32, has been hampered by injuries this season, only appearing in 24 of Atlanta’s 47 games. He will also miss Thursday’s contest in Cleveland, as he’s away from the team for personal reasons.
A skilled scorer and play-maker, Bogdanovic has struggled with inefficiency when he has been active in 2024/25 — his 30.1% mark from three-point range would represent a career low by a significant margin. However, he has converted 38.0% of his career attempts from long distance and “still has fans around the league,” Stein writes.
Bogdanovic is in the second season of a four-year, $68MM extension he signed in March 2023. He’s earning $17.26MM in ’24/25, followed by $16.02MM in ’25/26, with a $16.02MM team option for ’26/27.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic reported this morning that the Suns have talked to the Hawks about a potential trade involving Jusuf Nurkic, later suggesting that Bogdanovic could make sense in such a deal given the size of their respective contracts. Nurkic is making $18.13MM this season, plus $19.38MM in ’25/26.
According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, Phoenix is indeed interested in Bogdanovic and has discussed the Serbian swingman with Atlanta. To make a deal work, the Suns would have to include draft compensation with Nurkic, who is out of the rotation and likely wouldn’t be of much interest to the Hawks.
Bogdanovic, who finished fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting in ’23/24, helped Serbia win a bronze medal at the Olympics in Paris last summer.
Echoing previous reporting, both Stein and Begley state that Hawks center Clint Capela is known to be on the trade block as well. The veteran big man will also miss Thursday’s game due to back spasms, per the NBA’s official injury report.
Community Shootaround: Eastern All-Star Reserves
The NBA revealed the 10 All-Star starters for the 2024/25 season last Thursday, featuring the typical five players from each conference. This coming Thursday, the All-Star reserves will be announced on TNT.
Today, we’ll be focusing on the Eastern Conference reserves, which are voted on by coaches from around the league. Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Karl-Anthony Towns comprise the East’s starting lineup, leaving seven open spots off the bench.
While the East’s talent pool is generally not as well-regarded as the West’s, there are plenty of players having All-Star caliber seasons in ’24/25. His vote obviously doesn’t count, but Zach Harper of The Athletic says his picks would be Damian Lillard, Trae Young (two backcourt spots), Evan Mobley, Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam (three frontcourt spots), Cade Cunningham and Darius Garland (two wild card spots).
Had they been healthier, Harper writes, Magic forwards Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero would have been in the conversation for Siakam’s spot, but they both missed extended time with torn obliques. Nikola Vucevic, Jarrett Allen and LaMelo Ball are the other players who received consideration from Harper but didn’t make his final cut.
They aren’t mentioned in Harper’s story, but Tyler Herro, Zach LaVine, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Johnson and Scottie Barnes are among the other candidates in the East who could be voted in by coaches. I’d be pretty shocked if Josh Hart or Derrick White get selected, but they’re both having solid seasons too.
I think Herro probably has the most compelling case of the players that Harper omitted. He has been Miami’s best and most consistent player, has only missed one game, and has been highly efficient offensively.
But I don’t think he deserves to be selected over Lillard, Cunningham or Garland, and Young leads the NBA in assists per game by a significant margin. The Heat and Hawks have almost identical records and neither player is a great defender, so there isn’t much of a differentiator there. Tough call between those two.
Allen is a very good player, but his stats aren’t gaudy, and I don’t expect to see four Cavaliers in the All-Star game. Ball’s stats are gaudy, but his efficiency isn’t great, he doesn’t guard, he has missed several games due to injuries, and Charlotte has the fourth-worst record in the NBA.
Haliburton, Maxey and Barnes made the cut in ’23/24, but their numbers have largely declined in ’24/25. Team record and missed games could work against Maxey and Barnes as well.
LaVine and Vucevic are having great offensive seasons. Neither is known for their defense, and the Bulls are just 19-27. Johnson has missed nine games.
Hart has arguably been more impactful to winning for the Knicks than Siakam has been for the Pacers. But he’s fifth on the team in points per game (Siakam leads Indiana in that category) and including him would mean three Knicks (30-16, No. 3 seed) would make the All-Star game vs. zero Pacers (25-20, No. 5 seed). It’s hard to envision that happening.
We want to know what you think. Which players should be selected as All-Star reserves in the Eastern Conference? Did we miss anyone who deserves consideration? Head to the comment section to weigh in.
Warriors’ Kuminga Out At Least Two More Weeks; Green Day-To-Day
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who sustained a right ankle sprain on January 4 and has missed the past 11 games, will be out for at least two more weeks, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).
According to the Warriors, Kuminga was recently reevaluated. He’s making good progress in his recovery and will start light on-court individual workouts in the next week, but he won’t return to action until after the February 6 trade deadline.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported a few days ago that Kuminga was still weeks away from returning, so Golden State’s announcement is more of a confirmation than anything new.
“He’s not close to coming back,” head coach Steve Kerr said of Kuminga on Saturday, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “He’s on a bike just now. He’s not been on the court in any other capacity other than just shooting stationary shots. So it’s going to be some time.”
It’s unfortunate news for the 22-year-old, who was playing his best basketball of the season prior to the injury, averaging 24.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal in the six games leading up to Jan. 4. Kuminga will be a restricted free agent in the offseason.
On a more positive note on the injury front, Draymond Green is now considered day-to-day following his own reevaluation. The former Defensive Player of the Year has missed the past four contests with a left calf strain, but he has been doing some light on-court work recently and will soon begin practicing.
Heat Suspend Jimmy Butler Indefinitely
3:51pm: Butler’s indefinite suspension is now official, according to the Heat (Twitter links).
“The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services,” the team said in a statement. “This includes walking out of practice earlier today.”
As Marks points out (via Twitter), the “withholding services” line means Butler will lose 1/91.6th of his salary per game, which works out to $2,663,685 over the next five contests.
3:03pm: The Heat plan to suspend six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler indefinitely, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
According to Charania, Butler walked out of shootaround on Monday morning after he was informed that the team planned to start Haywood Highsmith over him going forward.
While Butler’s latest suspension is considered indefinite, he will miss a minimum of five more games, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. As Will Guillory of The Athletic observes, that five-game timeline isn’t a coincidence — it means he won’t suit up for the team again prior to the February 6 trade deadline (Twitter link).
Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald hears Butler wasn’t pleased with the news and angrily left mid-shootaround. That gave the Heat cause to suspend him without pay while also ensuring he won’t get injured in a game before the deadline (Twitter link).
The language the Heat use in their press release will be key to determining how much money Butler could miss out on, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links). Butler will be docked $532,737 per game if Miami calls it failure to render services, while conduct detrimental to the team would cost Butler $336,543 per contest.
As Jackson and Anthony Chiang write for The Miami Herald, the original plan had been for Butler to play on Monday following a two-game suspension, though his role going forward was a major question mark. Overall, Butler has been suspended nine games to this point; that figure will now rise to at least 14.
The first suspension, covering seven games, was referred to as conduct detrimental to the team; the second, covering two games, was for a “continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team, including missing… a team flight to Milwaukee.” The National Basketball Players Association plans to file a grievance to dispute the suspension, and Butler could get some of his salary back in the future.
It has been exactly eight years since Butler came off the bench, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Obviously, the 35-year-old wasn’t interested in that scenario after butting heads with management for the past several weeks.
“It kind of feels normal now at this point,” Tyler Herro said of having Butler back from a suspension again Monday morning, prior to the breaking news. “Kind of is what it is, but nothing’s guaranteed. We’ve just got to be ready to roll with whatever cards we’re dealt tonight. We’ve just got to be ready to go.”
Butler has been at odds with Miami over his contract, which pays him $48.8MM in 2024/25, with a $52.4MM player option in ’25/26. Last offseason, he was hoping to decline that option and add an additional year (and more money) onto his maximum-salary deal, but the Heat had no interest in that scenario; in fact, president Pat Riley publicly criticized Butler for his lack of availability, which reportedly caught Butler off guard.
Charania first reported that the Heat were open to listening for trade offers for Butler, who has repeatedly let it be known that he intends to decline his player option to hit free agency in the offseason. About a week after that reporting, the team announced that it wouldn’t trade Butler, but then he privately asked to be traded and Miami then said it did plan to deal him.
The Suns have reportedly been the most aggressive team in pursuit of Butler, but this news doesn’t mean there’s any progress between the two teams in trade talks, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). The major hold-up in a potential deal is that Miami has no interest in taking on Bradley Beal‘s maximum-salary contract, which covers two more seasons beyond ’24/25 and features a full no-trade clause.
Jaren Jackson Jr., Scottie Barnes Named Players Of The Week
Grizzlies forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. has been named the Western Conference’s Player of the Week, while Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has won the award in the East, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
It’s the first time either player has won the weekly award, according to their respective teams.
Jackson, who was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, had a stellar week for Memphis, which went 4-0 to extended its overall winning streak to six games. He averaged 25.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in his four appearances, posting an excellent shooting line of .576/.381/.826. He also averaged a staggering plus-17.5 per game over that stretch (the team’s average margin of victory was 12.3 points).
The 25-year-old big man is a strong candidate to be named to his second All-Star team later this week, as he leads the Grizzlies in scoring and is their best — and most important — defender. Memphis is currently 31-15, the No. 3 seed in the West (mere percentage points behind No. 2 Houston, which is 30-14).
Barnes, meanwhile, helped guide Toronto to a somewhat surprising 3-0 week, with two victories over Atlanta and one vs. Orlando. He filled the stat sheet by averaging 22.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.7 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .468/.364/.857 shooting. Impressively, his average plus/minus was even better than Jackson’s (+19.3).
After starting the season with an atrocious 8-31 record, the Raptors have won five of their past six games and are now 13-32. While he has played at an All-Star caliber level when healthy, Barnes has missed 13 games due to injuries and the team’s record will likely be weighed against him. The fourth-year forward earned his first All-Star nod in 2023/24.
According to the NBA, the other nominees were Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers teammates James Harden and Norman Powell, Anfernee Simons and Amen Thompson. Bucks teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Jayson Tatum were nominated in the East (Twitter link).
Lakers Eyeing Lonzo Ball?
Multiple teams have checked in on the Bulls‘ asking price for Lonzo Ball, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). While it’s unclear if the Lakers are one of those teams, Jovan Buha of The Athletic believes they could make a run at the 27-year-old, whom the Lakers drafted No. 2 overall back in 2017.
“I think Lonzo is someone that’s going to be on their radar, and I think depending on the price if you could get him for a second or two seconds, I think that’s an interesting swing, and also someone with that 6’6” frame that could potentially I think be similar to Bruce Brown, check a couple boxes,” Buha told Jason Timpf on the Hoops Tonight podcast (YouTube video link).
Ball is currently on a $21.4MM expiring deal. Across 24 healthy contests this season, the 6’6″ guard is averaging 6.5 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds a night in 20.5 minutes per.
” … He’s bulked up a little bit throughout his career, so he can guard twos and even some smaller threes and potentially be part of a one-through-three switching scheme,” Buha continued (hat tip to Paul Kasabian of Bleacher Report). “And then offensively I think especially coming off the bench as a secondary ball-handler, playmaker and also a spot-up shooter, I think he’s someone who’s an interesting gamble for them.”
Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN took stock of the Lakers’ projected deadline plans. Even though the fifth-seeded Lakers are currently just three games ahead of the No. 11 Warriors in the Western Conference’s playoff race, sources tell Bontemps and Windhorst that the Lakers front office hasn’t shown any signs of aggression as of late.
L.A. has been reluctant in recent years to include any future first-round draft selections in a deal and it doesn’t appear that stance has changed, per ESPN’s duo. When the team moved D’Angelo Russell last month, it surrendered its lone big expiring contract, which will make it more difficult to complete additional trades.
Bontemps and Windhorst opine that if the Lakers make another move before this season’s February 6 deadline, it could be a relatively modest deal, in line with the team’s acquisition for Dorian Finney-Smith. That lines up with recent reporting from Buha.
Alex Kirschenbaum contributed to this report.
Bucks “Active” In Trade Talks, Seeking “Impact Player”
The Bucks have been one of the most aggressive teams in looking for roster upgrades over the past several years, pulling off blockbuster deals for Jrue Holiday in 2020 and Damian Lillard in 2023. Milwaukee has also been active in trade discussions leading up to the February 6 deadline, report Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link).
According to ESPN’s duo, Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton are all expected to be on the trading block as the Bucks seek an “impact player” to improve their chances at winning another championship with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Three-time All-Star Middleton is the most prominent name of the group. An essential part of Milwaukee’s title in 2021, the 33-year-old forward has dealt with a litany of major injuries over the past few seasons, appearing in just 106 games regular season games since the start of the 2022/23 campaign. He missed Thursday’s victory over Miami with an ankle injury and is considered day-to-day.
As Windhorst and Bontemps observe, the Bucks are currently over the second tax apron and would need shed about $6.5MM from their payroll in order to aggregate salaries. Connaughton, who earns $9.42MM in ’24/25, with an identical player option for ’25/26, has been viewed as the player most likely to be moved, but due to injuries and declining play, Milwaukee would have to attach sweeteners to trade him.
Middleton, meanwhile earns $31.67MM this season, with a $34MM player option for ’25/26. Portis makes $12.6MM in ’24/25, with a $13.45MM player option for next season.
All three played important roles during Milwaukee’s title run a handful of years ago, but so did Holiday, and that didn’t prevent the Bucks from trading him. Milwaukee has one future first-round pick (2031) it can dangle in trade talks, per Windhorst and Bontemps.
After starting the season with an abysmal 2-8 record, the Bucks have been surging up the standings, winning five straight and eight of their past nine. They’re currently 25-17, making them the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
However, the Bucks have yet to beat Cleveland, Boston or New York this season, going 0-8 thus far against the three teams directly ahead of them in the East’s standings, as Windhorst and Bontemps point out.
Fischer: Zach LaVine Hopes To Stay With Bulls Past Deadline
Bulls wing Zach LaVine has been a prominent name in the NBA rumor mill for multiple seasons. While he and the team reportedly had a mutual desire to see LaVine traded out of Chicago in 2023/24, evidently the two-time All-Star has had a change of heart.
Sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) that LaVine now prefers to remain a Bull past the February 6 deadline. Still, while LaVine may not be pushing to be dealt, he doesn’t have control over his future.
As Fischer writes, the Bulls are incentivized to tank down the stretch so they can keep their 2025 first-round pick, which is top-10 protected. If that selection lands outside of the top 10 — Chicago currently has the ninth-worst record in the league at 19-25 — it would convey to San Antonio.
If they’re unable to land Jimmy Butler, the Suns could have interest in trying to trade Bradley Beal for LaVine, sources tell Fischer. I’m pretty skeptical that the Bulls would go for that even if Phoenix attaches multiple first-round picks to Beal and his no trade-clause, but it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Of course, Beal would have to approve the deal too, which is far from a given.
LaVine has also been floated as a possibility to be included in a multi-team mega-trade involving both Beal and Butler, though that scenario is extremely complex.
LaVine, 29, has had a strong bounce-back season in ’24/25 after missing most of last season with a foot injury that required surgery. Through 40 games (34.0 minutes), he’s averaging 24.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest, with an excellent shooting slash line of .513/.451/.812.
Head coach Billy Donovan has praised LaVine multiple times this season for his positive attitude, willingness to accept change, his on-court play, and his off-court leadership.
Although they have yet to make an in-season trade, the Bulls have displayed a willingness to discuss just about everyone on their roster, according to Fischer. Rival executives have described Chicago’s front office as “seeking change,” per Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link), though it’s unclear what that means beyond some sort of roster shake-up.
Grizzlies Have Talked To Heat About Jimmy Butler
The Grizzlies are “lurking” as a potential suitor for Heat star Jimmy Butler, according to Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link), who report that Memphis has talked to Miami about Butler.
Multiple reporters have indicated that Butler’s camp has warned Memphis not to pursue him, though there hasn’t been an explicit reason given as to why. The 35-year-old makes $48.8MM in 2024/25 and could hit free agency in the summer if he declines his $52.4MM player option for ’25/26.
League executives have speculated that the Grizzlies might be interested in Butler for multiple reasons, per Windhorst and Bontemps.
For starters, they would like to consolidate some of their talent for an on-court upgrade ahead of the playoffs. Secondly, if they’re able to move off multiple multiyear contracts (Marcus Smart, among others) in a potential Butler deal and the six-time All-Star walks in free agency, they would have enough cap room to renegotiate and extend Jaren Jackson Jr. in the offseason.
Due to the declining structure of Jackson’s contract and his relatively team-friendly cap hit, a veteran extension may not be possible unless he becomes eligible for a super-max by making an All-NBA team or winning Defensive Player of the Year for a second time.
If Memphis doesn’t want to extend Butler, that could certainly explain why his representatives have warned the team against trading for him. His rift with Miami has largely centered around his desire to receive a maximum-salary extension.
Sources tell ESPN that both the Heat and Butler are motivated to get a trade done before the February 6 deadline, but there’s still a legitimate chance the stalemate extends into the summer, when more suitors and options could emerge.
Referring to the Suns‘ level of desperation as “extremely high,” Windhorst and Bontemps confirm that trading for Butler remains Phoenix’s top priority. However, it’s unclear if Phoenix’s recent draft-pick trade with Utah will increase the odds of landing Butler, since the Suns still have to find a taker for Bradley Beal and his no-trade clause.