Trade Rumors: Young, LaVine, Brooks, Deadline, AD, More
Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic have confirmed Shams Charania’s report that the Hawks are working with Trae Young and his representatives to find the 27-year-old point guard a new team.
As Amick reported last week, Atlanta has been increasingly willing to discuss Young trades for weeks or even months after the Hawks showed no interest in pursuing an extension, but the market for the four-time All-Star seems to be limited. According to Amick and Robbins, Young is searching for a new deal “commensurate with a star player.”
To illustrate the point about teams being wary of acquiring the diminutive point guard, Amick and Robbins cite a team source who says the Kings — long viewed as a potential landing spot for last season’s assists leader — have “no interest” in trading for Young. Zach LaVine, whose contract is very similar to Young’s, is “known” to have interest in joining the Hawks, the authors add.
Regarding Marc Stein’s report about the Hawks discussing a trade that would potentially send Young to Washington and CJ McCollum to Atlanta, Amick and Robbins note that Young doesn’t fit the archetype favored by the Wizards‘ top front office executives, and speculate that Washington might want either draft compensation or a young player to take on his contract, which includes a $49MM player option for next season.
Young missed his fifth straight game Monday due to a right quad contusion.
Here are a few more trade-related rumors and notes from around the NBA:
- Don’t expect Suns small forward Dillon Brooks to be on the move in the next month. Gerald Bourguet of Suns After Dark reported (via Twitter) on Monday that Phoenix isn’t interested in moving the veteran wing due to both his on- and off-court contributions. Suns owner Mat Ishbia essentially confirmed as much just a few minutes later. On FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show (Twitter video link), former NBA big man DeMarcus Cousins said he if were running the Lakers, he would trade Austin Reaves for Brooks “in a heartbeat.” Ishbia’s response? “Don’t bother calling… Suns aren’t interested. Dillon’s not going anywhere,” he wrote (Twitter link).
- Amick, Josh Robbins and John Hollinger of The Athletic discuss the biggest storylines and questions ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, noting that Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s situation with the Bucks is the one that holds the most intrigue around the league. All three think Antetokounmpo is more likely than not to stay put during the season, though that would depend on whether the two-time MVP requests a trade. Other topics include whether Anthony Davis will be traded by the Mavericks and role players who could appeal to contending teams. Hollinger lists Wizards forward Justin Champagnie as an example of a player on a team-friendly contract who could be a valuable in-season addition.
- Speaking of Davis, he and Kyrie Irving wanted to play together for years before it finally came to fruition last February, writes Christian Clark of The Athletic. However, the Mavericks duo only played two-and-a-half quarters together prior to Davis suffering a left adductor strain. Less than a month later, Irving tore his ACL, and there’s no timeline for his return. Whether they’ll be able to team up again before the season ends is an open question with Dallas expected to listen to offers for Davis, Clark adds.
Alperen Sengun Expected To Miss 10-14 Days With Ankle Sprain
Rockets center Alperen Sengun will be reevaluated at the end of this week and is expected to miss about 10-to-14 days, head coach Ime Udoka said on Monday (Twitter link via sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson).
The 23-year-old suffered a lateral right ankle sprain just over a minute into Saturday’s game at Dallas and was ruled out for the remainder of the eventual loss.
A former first-round pick (No. 16 overall in the 2021 draft), Sengun made his first All-Star appearance in 2024/25 and is having another strong season in ’25/26. In 27 healthy games (35.6 minutes per contest) heading into Saturday, he was averaging 22.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block, with a shooting line of .512/.317/.734.
Sengun leads Houston in rebounds and assists per game and ranks second in points, steals and blocks. The Rockets are currently 21-11, the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, though they’re only a half-game behind the No. 3 Lakers (22-11).
On a brighter note for the Rockets, veteran center Steven Adams will return to action on Monday against Phoenix after missing the previous two games with his own right ankle sprain. He and Clint Capela are among the primary candidates for more playing time with Sengun out.
Hawks, Wizards Discuss Trade Involving Trae Young, CJ McCollum
5:15 pm: In a full Substack story, sources tell Stein that the Hawks and Wizards discussed a trade centered around Young and McCollum on Monday. Washington has been actively looking at deals involving McCollum, according to Stein, who says the Hawks previously expressed interest in the former Most Improved Player winner in February 2022.
Young is looking increasingly likely to be moved before the February 5 deadline, Stein reports, and it’s also expected that the ex-Oklahoma star will pick up his player option for next season, which was hinted at by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype last month.
The Hawks are working with Young and his agents to find a trade for the 27-year-old point guard, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
4:01 pm: The Wizards have “legitimate” interest in trading for Hawks star Trae Young, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, who reports (via Twitter) that a potential deal would involve Washington sending out CJ McCollum‘s expiring contract.
Stein technically says the Wizards are a possible landing spot for Young, but they presumably wouldn’t want to take on his maximum-salary contract if they weren’t interested in having him on the team. The four-time All-Star earns $46MM this season and holds a $49MM player option for 2026/27.
Young has been pretty durable throughout his career, but has been limited to just 10 games so far this season due to a sprained MCL in his right knee and a right quad contusion.
Stein previously reported that Young’s presence on the Hawks could prevent the team from pursuing Anthony Davis due to ownership’s reluctance to pay for a roster that would be prohibitively expensive. A potential trade sending Young to Washington could be a precursor to a deal in which Davis lands with Atlanta.
The fifth overall pick of the 2018 draft, Young holds career averages of 25.2 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal on .432/.351/.873 shooting in 493 games (34.0 minutes per contest). He’s having a down season in ’25/26, averaging 19.3 PPG, 8.9 APG and 1.0 SPG on .415/.305/.863 shooting through 10 contests (28.0 MPG).
A Young/McCollum swap would essentially be a salary-dump deal for the Hawks, observes cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Veteran combo guard McCollum is earning $30.7MM this season and the Wizards would have to send out at least $6.2MM in additional salary to make a trade legal for matching purposes, Gozlan adds.
McCollum, 34, has been productive in his first season as a Wizard, averaging 18.6 PPG, 3.6 APG and 3.5 RPG on .449/.392/.800 shooting in 34 games (30.7 MPG).
Pacers Waive Tony Bradley
The Pacers have waived center Tony Bradley, the team announced in a press release. NBA insider Jake Fischer was first to report the news (via Twitter).
Bradley played a regular but modest role for Indiana this season, making 29 appearances while averaging 3.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game. The eight-year veteran’s minimum-salary contract was non-guaranteed and the Pacers had until Wednesday to decide whether or not to guarantee it for 2025/26.
Indiana will carry a $1,355,225 dead-money cap hit for Bradley, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). His full salary was worth $2,940,876.
Assuming he clears waivers, Bradley will become an unrestricted free agent in a couple days. As Tony East of Forbes and Circle City Spin notes (via Twitter), the Pacers could choose to re-sign Bradley on a 10-day contract. The news also increases the likelihood of Micah Potter having his contract guaranteed.
Bradley, who turns 28 years old later this week, suffered a fracture on the tip of his right thumb two-plus weeks ago. Head coach Rick Carlisle referred to Bradley’s thumb as “partially functional” and the 6’10” big man had been wearing a splint on it.
Potter just signed with Indiana on Dec. 26 but has made a positive impression on the team in a short period of time. He has started the past two games and made six appearances overall (20.7 MPG), averaging 8.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 2.2 APG on .500/.389/1.000 shooting.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/5/2026
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat this afternoon.
Deni Avdija, Tyrese Maxey Named Players Of Week
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija and Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the NBA (Twitter links).
Avdija averaged 26.8 points, 9.8 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game while leading to Portland to a 3-1 record during the week of December 29 to January 4. This is the first time Avdija has earned Player of the Week honors. He’s the first Portland player to get the nod since Damian Lillard on Feb. 6, 2023.
Maxey averaged 34.7 points and 8.7 assists per game while shooting 61.2% from the field as the Sixers went 3-0. It’s the third time Maxey has earned Player of the Week honors, including the second time this season — he joins Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Celtics wing Jaylen Brown as the Eastern Conference’s two-time winners so far in 2025/26.
Devin Booker (Suns), Stephen Curry (Warriors), Kevin Durant (Rockets), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) were the other nominees in the West.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Paolo Banchero and Anthony Black (Magic), Brown (Celtics) and Cade Cunningham (Pistons) were also nominated in the East.
Central Notes: Cavs, Jenkins, Brown, Bickerstaff, Potter
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson is mulling rotation changes after his second unit was gouged by the Pistons in a four-point loss on Sunday, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports. Detroit staged a second-quarter rally and led the rest of the way.
“We gotta look at it,” Atkinson said when asked about some of the lineups used in the second quarter. “Obviously, wasn’t the right combination. Obviously, the bench play hurt us (Sunday).”
The second unit provided a spark last season, led by Ty Jerome, who signed with Memphis during the offseason. The Cavs have the NBA’s fourth least-productive bench this season.
“Maybe we keep two of our stars out there at the same time,” Atkinson said. “We’ve gotta help them. We started Sam (Merrill) tonight and that obviously hurts the bench, so we just gotta figure it out. It’s definitely, definitely hurting us in those minutes.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Pistons two-way guard Daniss Jenkins fell one point short of the franchise record for points scored in a second quarter on Sunday. Jenkins racked up 21 points in those 12 minutes, making all seven of his field goal attempts, including six three-pointers. Jenkins also closed out the game with four free throws. Jenkins’ 21-point quarter was the highest scoring by a bench player in franchise history. “He was unbelievable,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Coty Davis of the Detroit News. “It’s the trust factor, we talk about it all the time. We have 18 guys on our roster that we believe in. We have 18 guys who we believe can help us win when we put them in the game. They know how to play Pistons’ basketball. They play unselfishly. They play with a high spirit. They have the confidence to go out and do what it takes to get it done.” Jenkins is a prime candidate to eventually receive a standard contract.
- Knicks head coach Mike Brown used to babysit Bickerstaff, James Edwards III of The Athletic reveals. They now coach the top two teams in the East. The Knicks and Pistons will square off for the first time since their playoff matchup last season on Monday. “He was strict,” Bickerstaff said. “He had a great way of making things fun but always organized and detailed. There weren’t going to be things that were missed, and he was scared to death of my dad (longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff). He wasn’t going to let anything happen to me.”
- Micah Potter, who signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Pacers late last month, was one of the 12 players named to the USA Select Team in June 2024 that scrimmaged against Team USA in Las Vegas prior to the Paris Olympics. He was also one of three players who stuck with the team as practice players through its July exhibition tour, an unforgettable experience for the big man. “That was the, hands down, coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Potter told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “I had no idea that was gonna happen until my agent called me out of the blue. Going into that kind of environment — Kevin Durant said it’s the greatest team he’s ever played on, and so with that, you could argue it’s the greatest team ever assembled which is incredible. You go down the list and look at the names and it’s incredible. So being in that kind of an environment, you see how those kinds of guys prepare, right? You see how they approach the game, mentally and physically. It’s one of those things where you go into that environment — and I ended up playing, which is nuts too, getting on the floor with all of them — you learn to gain confidence.”
Suns Notes: Booker, Goodwin, Allen, Green, Flight Delay, Bouyea
The Suns delivered their most thrilling win of the season on Sunday, knocking off the defending champion Thunder 108-105 on Devin Booker‘s 35-footer over Alex Caruso in the final second. It was their first win in their last nine matchups with Oklahoma City.
Booker didn’t downplay the moment. It marked his eighth game-winner in the final three seconds of a game.
“It’s a feeling you can’t replicate,” Booker told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “I’m not close to retirement, but whenever that day comes, you’ll look back on those moments that you dreamed of as a kid with the team trusting you with the ball in your hands no matter what the result is. (Sunday), I was on the good side of it.”
Jordan Goodwin also had a huge impact with a career-best 26 points, including eight three-pointers. He contributed on the other end of the court too, as the primary defender on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He was motivated by some texts from coach Jordan Ott.
“Never too many good things to say to me, but he does that to get me going,” said Goodwin, a free agent after this season. “He definitely texted me (Saturday night just to get me going for (Sunday).”
Goodwin’s minimum-salary contract for this season becomes guaranteed later this week.
We have more on the Suns:
- Grayson Allen missed his ninth straight game due to a right knee injury. However, there’s a good chance Allen will play against the Rockets on Monday night after he went through a 5-on-5 session on Saturday. “That’s what we were looking for. He wasn’t going to play the back-to-back anyways,” Ott said, per Rankin (Twitter link). “His play (Saturday) on the 5-on-5, everything seems to be good to go.”
- Ott also provided an update on Jalen Green, who is working his way back from a right hamstring strain. “Still steady progress,” Ott said. “It’s real close to now playing against bodies, live bodies. Still in that same, got to continue to make progress. Any type of one or two days, but he’s made great progress. You seem him out there pregame before. It has continued to pick up.”
- The Suns’ win over the Thunder was more seamless than their ability to reach Houston in the second game of a back-to-back. Their flight last night was canceled due to a mechanical issue, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweets. Management made the decision to delay their departure until late this morning before the players headed to the airport.
- On his “Suns After Dark” Film Session (for Patreon members), Gerald Bourguet discusses Jamaree Bouyea‘s surprise impact, noting that he’s in the top five in scoring among two-way players while making 41 percent of his three-point attempts. Bouyea is also in the 98th percentile among all guards in rim field goal percentage.
Heat Notes: Powell, Herro, Jaquez, Rebounding
Heat guard Norman Powell was forced out of Saturday’s game against Minnesota early in the first quarter with tightness in his right hamstring, but he was determined to keep playing, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes in a subscriber-only story. Powell not only returned to score a team-high 21 points, he was active on Sunday as well, pouring in 34 points in a victory over New Orleans.
“I like thugging things out is what I like to say,” Powell explained. “I’m not a person that’s going to sit out or pull myself out of the game with certain injuries. If I’m able to play and I feel that I’m able to go out there and produce and be helpful for my team, I’m going to go do that no matter what the injury is. … I’m just a player that’s going to play through all the bumps and bruises unless I physically can’t go out there and play. I don’t want to take the game for granted. We’ve only got a limited number of games and time in this league, so I want to take advantage of every second of it.”
Powell is proving to be a valuable addition for Miami after being acquired from the Clippers in an offseason trade. L.A. was reluctant to commit to an extension for Powell, who has a $20.5MM expiring contract, but he appears to have a much better shot at a long-term deal with the Heat as he’s leading the team in scoring at 24.4 PPG.
“We’re getting to know him, he trusts his body, he knows his body better than anybody,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He said he was good. He did pass the protocols once he came back to the locker room. … Norm was fine the rest of the way, except for when he was getting clubbed in the head those two possessions in the fourth.”
There’s more from Miami:
- Tyler Herro, who has only been available once in the last 13 games due to a right big toe contusion, was in uniform Sunday night even though there were no plans to use him, Chiang notes in the same piece. Herro will travel with the team on its four-game road trip and could be back on the court Tuesday at Minnesota.
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. sat out Sunday’s game with a sprained right ankle he suffered Saturday night, Chiang adds. It was just the second time this season that Jaquez hasn’t been able to play. “I just tried running, tried running, tried moving around on it, and it wasn’t really feeling right,” Jaquez said in explaining why he couldn’t return to the game on Saturday. “So that’s what caused that decision.”
- Powell says the Heat are “definitely not” where they want to be with a 20-16 record as they approach mid-season, Chiang states in a separate story. The team has been through hot and cold stretches, but has used a strong rebounding performance to win five of its last six games. “I think lately what really has become an identity is Bam (Adebayo), Kel’el (Ware), (Andrew Wiggins) putting pressure on the boards,” Pelle Larsson said. “And if we can do that, we can push the pace and do that, people are going to get really tired of us.”
Sixers Notes: Healthy Starters, Embiid, Maxey, Edgecombe
Improved health is turning the Sixers into a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic. During a three-game road winning streak that moved Philadelphia to within three games of second place, the biggest news surrounding the team is that Joel Embiid and Paul George were both in the starting lineup for all three contests. They’re pairing with the explosive backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe to make the Sixers a difficult challenge for opposing defenses.
“For three games, we have had the same players in our starting lineup,” coach Nick Nurse said. “For three games, we have started the same five people. I don’t think I’ve been able to say that very much, since I’ve been here. You guys (the reporters) would have to go and check your notes on that. It’s been good to finally have some continuity.”
The most significant development is the health of Embiid, who is showing flashes of his MVP form in recent games. He posted 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Saturday’s win at New York and is proving that he’s still among the NBA’s best centers. Jones notes that he’s also figuring out how to benefit from playing with the team’s high-scoring guards after that relationship looked “clunky” earlier in the season.
“I’m just super happy to see Joel and Tyrese and PG on the floor and healthy,” Edgecombe said. “I’m super happy, man. It’s like the little kid in me, playing alongside the superstars that I watched growing up. Yeah, man, this is great.”
There’s more from Philadelphia:
- Embiid’s performance on Saturday included his first dunk of the season, which is a sign that his troublesome right knee could be feeling better, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Embiid was nonchalant about the achievement, but his teammates were excited. “I was so happy,” Maxey said. “So now, it’s my fault because the play before, I dropped him off a pass, thinking he wasn’t going to dunk it. Now he’s telling me to throw him a lob. So I’m going to throw him a lob, and we’re going to see how that goes.”
- Maxey’s scoring numbers have made him a contender for first-team All-NBA honors, but Nurse is equally impressed by his improved defense, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). Maxey ranks fourth in the league in steals at 1.8 per game and has already blocked 28 shots, which is five away from his single-season career high. “He’s been much better this year, I think the whole way,” Nurse said. “I think you’d agree that he’s into the ball, he’s over screens, getting his share of pick-sixes, getting his share of turnovers. So he’s been really alert on that end of the floor, I think all season. He just keeps getting better.”
- There was some debate heading into the draft about who the Sixers should take with the No. 3 pick, but Edgecombe is showing they made the right choice, Pompey adds in the same piece. The rookie guard is proving there’s a lot more to his game than the highlights he displayed at Baylor. “He’s been awesome,” Nurse said. “I think just, again, the composure. I think that he has it just so steady out there. He plays like a 10-year vet with his composure. He just kind of keeps making plays. He does a little bit of everything, which is great.”