Raptors Trading Davion Mitchell To Heat For P.J. Tucker, Second-Rounder, Cash
The Raptors appear to be getting involved in the multi-team Jimmy Butler blockbuster after all.
Initially thought to be involved in the deal as a facilitator to take on Kyle Anderson, Toronto is instead acquiring veteran forward P.J. Tucker, who was being sent from Utah to Miami as part of the Butler trade, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, the Raptors will also get a second-round pick and cash from the Heat in the swap, which will send guard Davion Mitchell to Miami. The second-rounder is the Lakers’ 2026 pick, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
While Charania doesn’t explicitly say so, this agreement will likely be folded in the larger framework of the Butler trade, with Tucker going directly from the Jazz to Toronto in the multi-team deal.
It’s a financially motivated maneuver for the Heat, who will take on Mitchell’s $6.45MM expiring contract instead of Tucker’s $11.54MM expiring deal. That will allow them to duck below the first tax apron by about $1.96MM, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who adds (via Twitter) that Miami remains above the luxury tax line by approximately $2.8MM.
It remains to be seen if the Heat will hang onto Mitchell or if they have additional moves to come. The former ninth overall pick is a talented point-of-attack defender who has a limited offensive game. In 44 games (22 starts) for the Raptors this season, he averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 assists in 24.5 minutes per night, with a .434/.359/.676 shooting line.
Mitchell will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, though he seems unlikely to receive a qualifying offer.
Tucker has some history in Toronto — he was drafted by the franchise in 2006 and spent his rookie season with the Raptors, then was traded back to the team in 2017. However, his third stint with the organization will likely be a brief one, as he’s a virtual lock to be bought out or released outright.
Toronto still had a fair amount of breathing room below the luxury tax line after agreeing to acquire Brandon Ingram from New Orleans, which is why the club is willing to accommodating a salary dump. The second-round pick and cash they’re getting in the deal incentivized the Raptors to swap out Mitchell for Tucker and his pricier contract.
The Raptors could use Mitchell’s salary for matching purposes to complete the trade or could utilize its untouched mid-level exception to absorb Tucker’s incoming salary. In the latter scenario, the team would create a new trade exception worth Mitchell’s outgoing $6.45MM salary.
Pistons Guard Jaden Ivey Progressing, Out At Least One More Month
Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham will have wait at least another month for his backcourt partner to return.
Jaden Ivey is making progress from the broken left fibula he suffered on New Year’s Day against Orlando but it’s still uncertain whether he’ll return this season. He has transitioned to a walking boot and has begun light weight-bearing activity, according to a team press release posted by the PR department (Twitter link).
His progress will be updated in another four weeks as weight-bearing and basketball activities continue to evolve during the rehabilitation process, the statement adds.
Ivey underwent surgery the day after the injury, which occurred when Ivey and Magic guard Cole Anthony were battling for a loose ball and Anthony fell on the Pistons guard’s leg.
The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Ivey had been enjoying his best season as a pro, establishing new career highs in points (17.6) and rebounds (4.1) per game, as well as field goal percentage (46.0%) and 3-point percentage (40.9%). He has started all 30 games he has played, averaging 29.9 minutes per night.
Detroit has already picked up its $10.1MM option on Ivey’s contract for next season. He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension during the offseason.
The Pistons have been using Tim Hardaway Jr. and Ausar Thompson at the wing positions since Ivey was sidelined. They have missed his ball-handling and creative skills with Cunningham taking even greater responsibility in his absence. However, the surprising Pistons have gone 10-8 in the games Ivey has already missed.
Trade Rumors: Durant, Heat, Hunter, Hornets, Celtics
Before the Heat agreed to trade Jimmy Butler to the Warriors, those two teams and the Suns had the framework in place for a potential deal that would have sent Butler to Phoenix and Kevin Durant to Golden State, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during a Thursday appearance on Get Up (YouTube link).
When it became clear that Durant wasn’t interested in reuniting with the Warriors, the three teams pivoted. The Heat and Warriors got together to finalize a Butler deal, while Durant now appears likely to remain in Phoenix through the deadline
According to Windhorst, there was a window after the Warriors’ talks for Durant fell through for the Heat to make a play for the Suns’ superstar forward, but Phoenix sought several additional assets that Miami didn’t want to give up.
“I do think there was some interest on both sides, but in the cursory discussions, from what I understand, Phoenix was looking for a massive return for Kevin Durant,” Windhorst said. “The Heat weren’t really into that game. They had gotten comfortable with acquiring Andrew Wiggins. That was a deal they had kind of agreed to the day before.”
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter is a name to watch ahead of the deadline, says Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). Previous reporting indicated that the Cavaliers are talking to Atlanta about Hunter, and Mannix confirms that Cleveland is considered the frontrunner, though he suggests other teams have also called about the 27-year-old.
- Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) has heard that the Hornets are “very open” to moving Miles Bridges, Cody Martin, and Vasilije Micic. Of those three players, Martin, who has an $8.12MM pseudo-expiring contract (next season’s salary is non-guaranteed) would likely be the easiest to move. Bridges has a pricey contract that runs through 2026/27, while Martin has more on-court value than Micic, who is on a $7.7MM de facto expiring deal.
- Having agreed to trade away Jaden Springer, the Celtics are on the lookout for a reserve wing player whom head coach Joe Mazzulla could trust more, sources tell Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Boston will likely target that sort of player on the buyout market if no trade options emerge today.
Pacific Notes: LaVine, Monk, Booker, Mills, Eubanks, Lue
Zach LaVine expressed excitement about playing in Sacramento after the Bulls dealt him to the Kings, Antonio Ray Harvey of The Associated Press writes. LaVine nearly played in Sacramento earlier in his career — he signed a four-year, $78MM offer sheet with the Kings in 2018, but Chicago matched it.
“I’ve been a fan of (the Kings) for a long time,” LaVine said. “I thought I was going to sign here six years ago. I’ve had a good relationship with a lot of guys who played here and I understand the culture here from me being from the West Coast.”
LaVine was held to 13 points in 31 minutes during a loss to Orlando in his Sacramento debut on Wednesday.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Former sixth man Malik Monk has moved into the role of starting point guard for the Kings in the aftermath of the De’Aaron Fox trade. Monk has struggled in his first two starts with almost as many turnovers (seven) as assists (eight). “Oh, yeah, it’s definitely a new opportunity and stage,” Monk told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “Starting at point guard is a big opportunity, and it’s a big thing to feel in this league for sure, especially what Fox did for the organization, for the city of Sac, so I’m just trying to pick up where he left off.”
- Devin Booker was humbled when he became the Suns’ all-time leading scorer. He surpassed Walter Davis on Monday. “It means everything,” Booker told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “Just being drafted to a franchise that believed in me, taking a chance on me as an 18-year-old kid and going through a rebuild phase and just sticking with it. Keeping my head down. The love and support has always been there. I don’t take it from granted. I take it seriously putting Phoenix across my chest.”
- New Clippers Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks, acquired in a weekend trade with Utah, are looking forward to contributing to their playoff push, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. Eubanks, in particular, could play a key role as the backup center. “There’s a lot of familiar faces around this team and locker room and staff that I think will give me the confidence to be the veteran leader that I am and be vocal in that standpoint as well,” Mills said. “But as I said, once I get a feel for how things work and how I can make an impact, that will be it.”
- The Lakers blew out the Clippers by 25 points on Tuesday, infuriating head coach Tyronn Lue, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Clippers lost to Toronto and narrowly earned a win against the woeful Hornets in their previous two contests. “We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and think about do we want to win or not,” Lue said. “That’s got to be our mentality. And so three games in a row we come out with not a great defensive performance and it’s just not putting enough into the game. Even on the offensive end, not putting a lot into the game. And so when that happens you get blown out like we did.”
Wizards Waive Sidy Cissoko
The Wizards have requested waivers on forward Sidy Cissoko, the team announced today (via Twitter).
It has been an eventful week for Cissoko, who was traded from the Spurs to the Kings in the De’Aaron Fox/Zach LaVine multi-team blockbuster, then was flipped to Washington in Wednesday’s Jonas Valanciunas deal. Now, assuming he clears waivers on Saturday without being claimed, he’ll be seeking a new home.
Cissoko, 20, was the 44th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Although he signed a three-year contract that included two guaranteed seasons, the French forward played an extremely limited role during his season-and-a-half with the Spurs, appearing in just 29 NBA games, averaging 2.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.7 minutes per night.
Cissoko saw more action in the G League with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s affiliate. He made 34 total appearances for the club last season and 11 more in 2024/25. In those 11 games this season, he averaged 16.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per contest, with a shooting line of .489/.264/.595.
It’s unclear if Cissoko will catch on with a new NBA team or if a return to Europe, where he began his professional career, could be in the cards. He’s still just 20 years old (21 in April) and is eligible to sign a two-way contract, so I’d expect some NBA clubs to have some level of interest in him.’
Because the Kings were the last team to trade Cissoko before he was cut, Sacramento won’t be eligible to re-sign him, but San Antonio would be.
The Wizards, meanwhile, will open up a spot on their 15-man roster as a result of the move, which could come in handy if they have any additional pre-deadline moves on tap. They still need to officially finalize their Kyle Kuzma/Khris Middleton deal with Milwaukee today.
And-Ones: Fernandez, Kerr, NBA Europe, Rising Stars, Shumate
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez is stepping down from his post as head coach of the Canadian senior men’s national basketball team, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reports.
Fernandez replaced Sixers coach Nick Nurse as Canada’s head coach in 2023 and led the team to a bronze medal in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Canada was knocked out of the Paris Olympic tournament in the quarterfinals.
Fernandez had indicated as recently as last month that he planned to remain Canada’s head coach. When asked about his status, Fernandez replied, “In fairness to Canada Basketball, I want them to make the announcement. And then once they do, I’ll be able to answer all your questions.”
Canada Basketball confirmed the news on Thursday morning, announcing that Fernandez is stepping away to focus on his job with the Nets and to spend more time with his family.
We have more from the around the international basketball world:
- With the Warriors finalizing a trade for Jimmy Butler on Wednesday, they had to deal with the consequences as they prepared to face Utah. Coach Steve Kerr had to scrap his gameplan, since Andrew Wiggins and Dennis Schröder are part of the multi-team trade. Kerr suggested that the trade deadline should be pushed to the All-Star break, so that type of uneasy situation might not occur. “I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break just so you don’t have to face these games where guys are getting traded half an hour before a game and you’re trying to process the emotions and trying to win a game,” Kerr said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “I don’t know if it’s possible.” It should be noted the trade deadline used to occur during the All-Star break and sometimes overshadowed the All-Star festivities, plus trades can happen any time before the deadline.
- The NBA plans to create a new league in Europe would have to overcome major obstacles and The Athletic’s Joe Vardon details one of them. Paris, one of the prime spots for an NBA Europe team, might be off-limits because Paris Basketball has exclusive rights for play in both of the major arenas in the city.
- Tim Hardaway Sr., Jeremy Lin, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond were named the honorary coaches for the All-Star Rising Stars event, the NBA announced (Twitter link). The quartet all played for the host Warriors. Hardaway, Mullin, and Richmond drafted their seven-player teams for the competition, while Lin will coach a group of G League standouts. The rosters can be found here. The winner of the Rising Stars event on Feb. 14 will compete in a four-team tournament against the NBA All-Star teams two days later.
- Former Suns player John Shumate passed away this week at the age of 72, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Phoenix tweets. He was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1974 draft by Phoenix and worked for the Suns organization for 25 years.
Thunder’s Chet Holmgren Set To Return On Friday
Even if the Thunder don’t complete any more trades before Thursday’s deadline, they’re set to make a major addition to their lineup this week.
Big man Chet Holmgren, who has been sidelined for nearly three months due to a right iliac wing fracture, is no longer on the team’s injury report and is expected to make his return on Friday vs. Toronto, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Holmgren suffered the injury, a form of pelvic fracture, on November 10 when he fell awkwardly on his side after trying to contest an Andrew Wiggins shot at the rim. Oklahoma City announced the following day that he would be reevaluated in eight-to-10 weeks.
The Thunder followed up in mid-January to say Holmgren’s next exam would come in approximately three-to-five weeks. Exactly three weeks after the team made that announcement, the 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up will reportedly be back on the court on Friday.
Holmgren averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 29.4 minutes per game across 82 starts in his first full NBA season in 2023/24 after he missed his entire ’22/23 rookie year due to a foot injury.
He had gotten off to an even better start this fall, averaging 18.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 2.9 BPG in 28.9 MPG across nine healthy outings, with a .519/.400/.776 shooting line.
Although the Thunder, who hold a league-best 40-9 record, hardly needed additional reinforcements, Holmgren’s return is an exciting development for the club, which still hasn’t gotten a chance to see the 22-year-old play alongside fellow big man Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC’s big free agent addition of the 2024 offseason. Hartenstein was recovering from an injury of his own at the start of the season when Holmgren was healthy.
Begley’s Latest: Magic, White, Vucevic, Smart, Knicks
The Magic are among the teams that were talking to the Bulls about guard Coby White earlier this week, sources familiar with the situation tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. It’s unclear if the two sides remain engaged in conversations.
White, who turns 25 later this month, has developed into a reliable backcourt scorer over the last couple seasons and is averaging 18.5 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game for Chicago in 2024/25. He’s also a solid three-point shooter, having made at least 37.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc in each of the past four seasons. That would appeal to an Orlando team that ranks last in the NBA in three-point makes and three-point percentage.
As K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets, the Bulls have a crowded backcourt and may be looking to trade one or more of their guards either before Thursday’s deadline or during the offseason. None of them are on long-term deals, but White, Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry, and newly extended Lonzo Ball are all under contract for next season, while Jevon Carter will likely pick up his player option and Josh Giddey will be controllable as a restricted free agent.
Here’s more from Begley ahead of today’s deadline:
- As of Wednesday, the Bulls maintained a high asking price for Nikola Vucevic. Begley reports that Chicago wants a first-round pick that isn’t too heavily protected and wouldn’t turn into second-rounders if it doesn’t convey.
- Several teams have spoken to the Grizzlies about possible Marcus Smart trades, according to Begley, who notes that moving off of Smart’s $21.6MM guaranteed salary for 2025/26 would put Memphis in better position to re-sign restricted free agent Santi Aldama and potentially to extend star big man Jaren Jackson Jr.
- The Knicks still hadn’t engaged in substantial Mitchell Robinson trade talks as of Wednesday night, Begley writes. If they don’t make any additional details beyond their Jericho Sims/Delon Wright swap, the Knicks would remain on track to add a 15th man under the hard cap as of March 1. In that scenario, Begley expects G League standouts T.J. Warren and Chuma Okeke to receive consideration.
Hoops Rumors’ 2025 NBA Trade Deadline Primer
Deadline day is finally here. NBA teams will have until today at 2:00 pm Central time to finalize trade agreements. Anyone not traded by that time will be ineligible to be moved until after his team’s season comes to an end this spring.
It has already been a hugely eventful trade season. The Lakers and Mavericks kicked off the week in earnest by making one of the most shocking deals in league history on Sunday, swapping a pair of All-NBA stars in Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis. Nothing will top that move, but teams have done their best in the days since then to provide worthy follow-ups.
De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine were included in the same three-team deal on Monday, and trades involving Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Khris Middleton, and Mark Williams are pending completion.
[RELATED: 2024/25 In-Season NBA Trades]
Those deals took many of this season’s most noteworthy trade candidates off the market, but there are still plenty of storylines to keep an eye on as Thursday’s deadline nears.
Nikola Vucevic headlines several trade candidates still available for the Bulls. The Jazz (Jordan Clarkson, John Collins), Hawks (Clint Capela, De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic), Nets (Cameron Johnson, Day’Ron Sharpe), and Trail Blazers (Robert Williams, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons) are among the other teams with multiple trade chips still in play.
The Suns, having struck out on Butler, may be looking to use one or more of their three tradable first-round picks to upgrade their roster around Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. The Grizzlies and Nuggets are among the other potential contenders in the West who have been quiet so far and still could have something up their sleeves.
Detroit, the NBA’s only team with cap room remaining, is also worth keeping an eye on. While they’ve agreed to trade for KJ Martin, Josh Richardson, and Lindy Waters, the Pistons could still theoretically use their $14MM in room to make one or more additional deals, then acquire Richardson and Waters using the minimum salary exception and Martin with the room exception.
As the Doncic/Davis mega-deal over the weekend showed, you also never know when two teams will decide to make a move that none of us saw coming.
We’ll be keeping tabs on all the latest news and rumors all day long on Hoops Rumors, leading up to 2:00 pm CT.
In the meantime, here are some of our features and trackers to help you prepare for today’s action:
- Trades completed so far during the 2024/25 season.
- Players with the ability to veto trades.
- Players with trade kickers.
- Players who are ineligible to be traded.
- Minimum salary players who can’t be acquired using the minimum salary exception.
- Teams with traded player exceptions available.
- Hoops Rumors Glossary:
- Explaining salary-matching rules.
- Explaining salary aggregation.
- Explaining the Ted Stepien rule.
- Explaining tax aprons and the restrictions that apply to teams above those aprons.
- Traded 2025 first-round picks.
- Traded 2025 second-round picks.
- Cash sent and received in NBA trades in 2024/25.
- Teams with hard caps for 2024/25.
- NBA roster counts.
Trade Deadline Rumors: Warriors, Post, Bulls, Jazz, Schröder, Lakers, More
The Warriors may not be done after agreeing to acquire Jimmy Butler in a four-team blockbuster, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Golden State would still like to add a shooting big man, with Bulls center Nikola Vucevic among the club’s potential targets.
Slater notes that the Warriors can still offer the expiring contracts of Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney, which total more than $17MM. However, if they want to acquire Vucevic, they’d need to offer at least one more player besides those two, due to the center’s $20MM cap hit and Golden State’s proximity to the first-apron hard cap.
As they look to navigate that hard cap, one anticipated move for the Warriors is converting center Quinten Post from his two-way deal to a standard contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Because he was a second-round pick in the 2024 draft, Post can be signed for the prorated rookie minimum, which only counts for about half as much for cap and apron purposes as a prorated veteran’s minimum deal would.
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- The Jazz and Bulls were engaged in trade talks as of Wednesday, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), though he doesn’t have any details on which players they were discussing. Neither team is considered a deadline buyer, so if the two clubs end up making a deal, it could be centered more around contracts and finances than win-now players.
- The Jazz aren’t expected to retain guard Dennis Schröder after acquiring him as part of the four-team Butler trade, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Utah’s plan is to flip Schröder to another team or simply to buy him out. If he’s bought out, the veteran point guard would be ineligible to sign with any teams operating above either tax apron, since his salary ($13MM) exceeds the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12.8MM).
- Having agreed to trade for Mark Williams, the Lakers have an open roster spot and could prioritize play-making and/or three-point shooting with that opening, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
- Based on conversations with sources around the NBA, as well as the fact that many of the Nets‘ top trade candidates were active for Wednesday’s game, Brian Lewis of The New York Post wouldn’t be shocked if it’s a relatively quiet deadline in Brooklyn. After previously reporting that a Cameron Johnson deal appears increasingly unlikely, Lewis says there have been no indications that anything “seismic” is imminent for the Nets.
- Before making their Luka Doncic/Anthony Davis mega-deal, the Mavericks showed “strong” interest in center Jericho Sims, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). The Knicks are reportedly sending Sims to the Bucks as part of a larger deal.