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NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

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Wolves Were Among Teams To Inquire On Kevin Durant

February 6th, 2025 at 5:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves made a “last-ditch effort” near Thursday’s trade deadline to engage the Suns in trade talks about Kevin Durant, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link), who says that effort didn’t go anywhere.

The Warriors pursued Durant earlier this week, but backed off when it became clear that he had no interest in returning to Golden State. Shams Charania of ESPN reported earlier on Thursday that teams continued to “aggressively” call Phoenix about Durant after the Warriors ended their pursuit, but the Suns were said to be seeking a massive return and opted to hang onto Durant for at least the rest of the season.

As Chris Hine of The Star Tribune notes (via Twitter), Durant and Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards established a close bond as members of Team USA at the Olympics last summer, so it makes sense that Minnesota would look into what it would take to acquire the former MVP.

However, any deal involving the Suns and Timberwolves would’ve been extremely complicated, since those two clubs have the highest and second-highest payrolls in the NBA, respectively, and faced tax apron restrictions.

No player on Minnesota’s roster earns as much as Durant’s $51.2MM salary, so the Wolves would’ve needed to aggregate several contracts in order to both match KD’s cap hit and get below the second apron in the process (they were over that threshold by more than $16MM). The Suns also weren’t permitted to take back more salary than they sent out, so at least one more team – and likely more than that – would’ve been necessarily as facilitators.

Although it was essentially a pipe dream to think that the Wolves might acquire Durant today, the fact that Minnesota even made the call is a reflection of just how widespread the interest in the 36-year-old was. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that half the league inquired.

Durant will be remaining in Phoenix for the next several months, but the Suns are expected to perform a “full evaluation” of their roster in the summer if they don’t have the sort of second half they’re hoping for. Durant will only have one year left on his contract at that point, so the Suns could revisit trade talks this offseason, especially if the veteran is reluctant to sign an extension.

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Suns To Revisit Kevin Durant Trade Talks In Summer?

February 6th, 2025 at 3:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Despite not having a no-trade clause, Suns star Kevin Durant essentially nixed a trade to the Warriors, but that didn’t prevent “several more teams” from inquiring about the 36-year-old ahead of today’s deadline, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on SportsCenter (Twitter video link).

Charania reiterates that Durant was caught off guard by seeing his name pop up in rumors and did not request to be traded. Durant will remain with the Suns for at least the rest of the 2024/25 season, but his future with the organization might be tenuous.

The Suns have the highest payroll in the NBA. However, they are currently just 25-25, clinging to the No. 10 seed in the West due to a tiebreaker with Golden State, which has an identical record (No. 9 Sacramento is also 25-25). If Phoenix is unable to turn its season around, Charania says the Suns will do a “full evaluation” of their roster.

Plugged-in local reporter John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 states (via Twitter) that Phoenix wouldn’t move Durant unless it receives a combination of draft assets and young players in return. Gambadoro expects the Suns to field more inquiries on the 11-time All-NBA forward this summer.

Appearing on NBA Today (Twitter video link), former Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers, who now works for ESPN, said the Grizzlies were among the teams pursuing Durant. However, the two-time NBA Finals MVP didn’t want to play in Memphis, according to Myers.

Durant is earning $51.2MM in 2024/25, followed by $54.7MM in ’25/26. He’ll be eligible for a veteran extension when the ’25/26 league year begins on July 1.

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Trade Rumors: Boucher, Nuggets, Vucevic, Pelicans, Suns

February 6th, 2025 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets are a suitor to watch for Raptors big man Chris Boucher, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links).

However, even though Denver “definitely” has interest in Boucher, the team is extremely limited in terms of both draft assets and appealing matching salary. Its two most expendable veterans, Zeke Nnaji ($8.9MM) and Dario Saric ($5.2MM), are both on multiyear contracts, making them negative trade assets.

The Nuggets are also operating above the first tax apron, so they can’t take back more money than they send out in a trade. They would likely “jump” at the chance to sign Boucher on the buyout market, Grange says, but it’s unclear if Toronto would consider a buyout for the big man if he’s not traded today.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

  • As of two hours before the trade deadline, there was no momentum toward a Nikola Vucevic deal between the Warriors and Bulls, says K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter links). If Vucevic ends up staying in Chicago through the deadline, the expectation is that he’d be on the trade block again in the offseason, Johnson notes.
  • Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and guard CJ McCollum aren’t going anywhere at the trade deadline, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, who said on ESPN’s NBA Today that both players are on track to remain in New Orleans after the team agreed to trade Brandon Ingram to Toronto.
  • The Suns‘ Jusuf Nurkic trade with Charlotte is expected to be the only deal Phoenix makes today, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). That means the team will move forward with its “big three” of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal despite many rumors involving Durant and Beal leading up to today’s deadline.
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Teams Still Calling Suns About Kevin Durant

February 6th, 2025 at 12:26pm CST by Luke Adams

After the Warriors’ gave up on their bid to acquire Kevin Durant and the Suns decided not to send the star forward to Miami in a deal for Jimmy Butler, there was a sense that Durant would likely remain in Phoenix through Thursday’s trade deadline.

While that still may be the case, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on NBA Today (Twitter video link) that some teams haven’t given up on the idea of prying Durant away from the Suns.

“From what I’m told, there are multiple teams making really aggressive calls to the Suns on Kevin Durant,” Charania said. “He had made it clear that he did not want a reunion with the Warriors. The Warriors made a very strong pursuit of him over the last week, and several calls (from other teams) are continuing to pour in.

“One thing I do want to clarify: Kevin Durant has not requested a trade. It’s my understanding that most of – all of – these conversations this week has been somewhat blindsiding, because going into this week and this season, I don’t think a trade was something he was thinking about. He has wanted to stay in Phoenix.”

Unlike teammate Bradley Beal, Durant doesn’t have a no-trade clause. Still, the Warriors reportedly backed off of their pursuit after getting word that he was opposed to the idea of returning to Golden State. If Durant were to convey a similar message to another suitor, it would likely have an impact on what that team is willing to give up, reducing the likelihood of a deal.

Durant, 36, is only under contract for one more year beyond this season, and the Suns had a “massive” asking price in their conversations with Golden State and Miami, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald).

A report on Tuesday suggested that the Mavericks and Rockets were among the other teams with interest in Durant, though a subsequent story downplayed the idea of either team making a serious push for him.

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Warriors Notes: Butler Trade, Curry, Kuminga, Wiggins, Green

February 6th, 2025 at 10:55am CST by Arthur Hill

The trade sending Jimmy Butler to the Warriors can be considered a backup plan for both parties, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The Suns were Butler’s first choice and Golden State was hoping to reacquire Kevin Durant, but Durant had no interest in returning to the Bay Area, dousing any hopes for a three-team deal.

The Warriors paid what they believe is a “modest” price for Butler, according to Slater, parting with Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schröder (who’s going to Utah), Lindy Waters (headed to Detroit), and a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2025. Sources tell Slater that Golden State’s front office doesn’t mind giving up the draft choice because it wasn’t excited about any of the prospects in the late lottery and beyond.

Slater considers the riskiest part of the deal for the Warriors to be the two-year, $111MM extension they gave Butler to make sure he’s happy in his new home. Because Butler declined his $52.4MM player option for next season, Golden State essentially added on one year at $58MM and gave him a contract that will expire at the same time as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

“Him signing an extension is big,” Curry said. “Knowing he’s committed for this next little run … I know there was a lot of drama down there (in Miami). Who really knows what the story is? We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy. I can put myself in his shoes. He’s been away from the game for a minute. He’s been frustrated for whatever reason. When you get into a situation that’s a fresh start, it establishes expectations that we’re all used to that we need to win. We all thrive off that energy.”

That financial commitment will likely result in at least two more years of high tax bills. Slater hears that the Warriors are willing to pay a “pricey figure” to re-sign Jonathan Kuminga, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.

There’s more on the Warriors:

  • News of the Butler trade broke shortly before the start of Wednesday’s game at Utah, which created an awkward situation. As Slater describes, coach Steve Kerr gathered his players in the locker room after warmups and informed them of the impending deal. He found it extremely difficult to break the news to Wiggins. “Wiggs is one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached,” Kerr said. “Just a beautiful soul. Just a wonderful human being. We don’t hang that banner in (2022) without him. Everything he brings every day, the laughter, the smile, the joy. I’m gonna miss him.”
  • Green’s name was floated in trade rumors as the Warriors explored the possibility of reacquiring Durant, but he tells Slater that he never checked with the front office to see if he might be dealt. “I always talk to (general manager Mike Dunleavy). But, no, what’s going to happen is going to happen,” Green said. “Ninety-five percent of the things you worry about never come true. If (I did get traded), then it just is what it is. My worries ain’t stopping it. So I wasn’t worried at all. I’ve been in a place of uncertainty overall. But what’s going to be is going to be. To sit and worry about it, this life is hard enough to worry about what you can’t control.”
  • Green stated that he has no concerns about playing alongside Butler despite their sharp personalities, Slater adds. Kevon Looney points out that Green has co-existed with other strong-willed players such as DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Paul, David West, Andre Iguodala and more. “Guys like that who are dogs, alpha males, they respect other people like that,” Looney said. “They kind of stay out of each other’s way. Draymond is a great connector. He’s a great leader. He makes things happen on the floor and off the court.”
  • An ESPN panel looks at how the trade will affect both the Warriors and the Heat, and is unanimous in believing that Golden State might not be Butler’s last NBA stop.
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Trade Rumors: Durant, Heat, Hunter, Hornets, Celtics

February 6th, 2025 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

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.
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Pacific Notes: LaVine, Monk, Booker, Mills, Eubanks, Lue

February 6th, 2025 at 9:18am CST by Dana Gauruder

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.”
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And-Ones: Fernandez, Kerr, NBA Europe, Rising Stars, Shumate

February 6th, 2025 at 8:42am CST by Dana Gauruder

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.
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Wizards Trade Jonas Valanciunas To Kings

February 5th, 2025 at 8:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

8:05 pm: The trade is now official, according to press releases sent out by the Wizards and Kings.

3:59 pm: The Kings are acquiring center Jonas Valanciunas in a trade with the Wizards, reports NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), Sacramento is sending newly acquired wing Sidy Cissoko and a pair of second-round picks to Washington in the deal.

According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), Sacramento will use its $12.8MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception to absorb Valanciunas’ $9.9MM salary. He reports that the picks being moved are the Kings’ own in 2029 and a Denver selection in 2028 that’s top-33 protected. That pick was acquired in the De’Aaron Fox deal earlier this week.

The trade with Washington leaves the Kings about $2.5MM below the tax line, states cap analyst Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link), who notes that the team had some flexibility after unloading Fox’s and Kevin Huerter‘s salaries.

Valanciunas, a 32-year-old center, will provide veteran frontcourt depth for Sacramento. He appeared in 49 games during his lone season in Washington, averaging 11.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per night while shooting 54.7% from the field. Valanciunas will join Domantas Sabonis, his longtime teammate on the Lithuanian national team, notes Marc Stein (Twitter link).

The Nuggets were also hoping to land Valanciunas, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), as were the Suns as they try to find a taker for Jusuf Nurkic.

The second-round picks heading to the Wizards bring their total to 19 over the next seven drafts, according to Gozlan (Twitter link). Cissoko is making just $1.89MM, so this deal helps them offset the extra salary they took on earlier today by agreeing to trade for Khris Middleton. Gozlan states that Washington will create a $9.9MM trade exception and is now $11.8MM below the tax line.

This is the second trade of the week for Cissoko, a 20-year-old small forward, who went from San Antonio to Sacramento in the Fox deal. He has seen minimal playing time at the NBA level since being selected with the 44th pick in the 2023 draft. Cissoko appeared in 17 games for the Spurs this season, averaging 1.3 PPG in 3.2 minutes per night.

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