Bucks Operating As Buyers Heading Into Trade Deadline
Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s windmill dunk that ended Saturday’s win at Chicago delivered the message he intended, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. Antetokounmpo nearly sparked a massive fight as he broke an unwritten rule by scoring with the game already out of reach, but he saw a chance to make a statement — to his teammates and the rest of the league — that the Bucks aren’t going to go away quietly.
“I’ve been 13 years in the league,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the game. “If we keep on losing, brother, probably half of the team is not going to be here. At the end of the day, I just want to be available, be healthy and help my team win. And if (a windmill dunk) is what has to happen for everybody to wake up and understand we’re fighting for our lives and we got to get our hands dirty, so be it.”
The dunk sparked a show of support, as Antetokounmpo’s teammates backed up his actions amid angry exchanges that continued while the teams made their way toward the locker room area. Whether it leads to a prolonged turnaround will depend on a number of factors, including Antetokounmpo’s health for the rest of the season and his continued desire to stay in Milwaukee.
At 13-19, the Bucks are 11th in the East, one-and-a-half games out of a play-in spot. Team sources tell Collier they continue to believe they can upgrade the roster before the February 5 trade deadline and be more competitive in the second half of the season. Collier hears that when the league’s unofficial trade season began two weeks ago, the Bucks’ front office approached it as buyers rather than exploring potential deals to part with Antetokounmpo.
The two-time MVP has been the subject of frequent trade speculation, even as he remains one of the NBA’s elite talents. He has often stated his desire to compete for another title, which may not happen with a Milwaukee team that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2022. Antetokounmpo has tried to quell trade talks, recently stating that he’s “locked in” with the team, and he reiterated that sentiment on Saturday.
“I’m here. I’m here. I’m here,” he said. “Don’t ask me that question. I’m here. It’s disrespectful towards myself and my teammates. I wear that jersey every single day. It’s disrespectful towards the organization, my coaching staff, myself and all the people that work hard for me to come out here and say, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ I’m here. I’m putting on the jersey. And as long as I’m here, I’m going to give everything I have, even in the last second of the game.”
Sources tell Collier that the Bucks have engaged in internal conversations about pursuing Kings guards Zach LaVine and Malik Monk as well as Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant. However, Collier notes that general manager Jon Horst has limited assets to offer on the trade market.
[RELATED: Bucks Keeping Eye On Zach LaVine]
[RELATED: Jerami Grant Among Potential Targets On Bucks’ Radar]
Milwaukee currently has only one tradable first-round pick, either in 2031 or 2032, but Collier states that Horst hasn’t been willing to part with that pick in any trade talks during the past year. League sources don’t expect him to consider moving it at this point unless it means getting a star-level player in return, Collier adds.
Collier notes that the rest of the roster outside of Antetokounmpo doesn’t offer much trade value. Other than Myles Turner, who signed as a free agent during the summer, the largest salaries belong to Kyle Kuzma ($22.4MM) and Bobby Portis ($13.5MM), making it challenging to match money in a significant trade. According to Collier, rival executives may be putting other moves on hold until they have some clarity about how long Antetokounmpo will be staying in Milwaukee.
Collier adds that the Bucks’ assets will improve during the offseason, when they project to have tradable picks available in 2026, 2031 and 2033. But waiting until summer to improve the roster could mean wasting another prime season for Antetokounmpo and testing his desire to remain with a franchise that could miss the postseason.
“Right now, our character (as a team) is being tested,” Antetokounmpo said. “Me personally, I don’t want to be the guy worrying about (reports). My legacy is on the line. This is how I feel every single day when I walk in here.”
Keon Ellis Gets Rare Start; Russell Westbrook Moves Up Career Assists List
- Kings guard Keon Ellis credited a strong defensive effort for Saturday’s victory over Dallas as he made his third start of the season, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscription required). Coach Doug Christie used a revamped starting lineup to help his team win for the second time in three games. “Just the effort on the defensive end, helping for one another,” Ellis said. “I always go back to that energy again because there’s been times when teams are going on runs, and we’ve let go of the rope a little bit, so tonight I think we did a good job of not doing that.”
- Russell Westbrook reached another milestone in the victory, passing Magic Johnson to move into seventh place on the career assists list. At age 37, the Kings guard gave no indication that he’s thinking about retirement, telling reporters, “I’ll keep going until I’ve had enough” (Twitter video link from James Ham of The Kings Beat).
Keegan Murray To Miss At Least One Week With Calf Strain
Kings forward Keegan Murray has been diagnosed with a mild right calf strain after undergoing an MRI, a source tells Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento (Twitter link).
Murray, who sustained the injury in Tuesday’s loss to Detroit, will be reevaluated in one week, according to Cunningham. He will likely miss at least the next four contests before being checked out again.
The Kings officially confirmed the news in a press release (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee).
Murray, 25, missed the first 15 games of the season after undergoing thumb surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb in mid-October.
Murray, who would rank second in the league in minutes per game (37.1) if he had made enough appearances to qualify, was averaging 14.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.7 blocks in 15 outings. His shooting slash line was .438/.263/.765.
Pacific Rumors: Warriors, Kuminga, Kings, Monk, McCollum, Clippers
The Warriors have been one of the NBA’s most aggressive teams in scouring the trade market to get a better sense of which players are and aren’t available, multiple sources tell Brett Siegel of Clutch Points.
Golden State is known to be in the market for an “athletic” forward as well as frontcourt help, according to Siegel, who reports that the Warriors would ideally like to add a big man who can rebound and defend the rim, since those aren’t among the strengths of current bigs like Al Horford and Quinten Post.
Although Nets center Nic Claxton has been connected to the Warriors by multiple reporters this month, Siegel says the club would probably prefer to target a player whose contract doesn’t exceed approximately $15MM annually. Siegel adds that Golden State has engaged in trade talks with the Nets, Pelicans, and Bulls, though he doesn’t specify which players those teams have discussed.
Here are a few more rumors from around the Pacific:
- According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), some rival executives at the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando over the weekend wondered how much more playing time Jonathan Kuminga will see before he becomes trade-eligible on January 15. Kuminga has fallen out of the rotation as of late, and it’s probably in the Warriors‘ best interest to make sure he’s healthy ahead of the trade deadline. For what it’s worth, none of the executives polled by Fischer said their opinions of Kuminga would change based on how he plays (or doesn’t) in the next few weeks.
- Unless a third team gets involved, a deal sending Kuminga to the Kings looks like a long shot, per Siegel, who says the Warriors still aren’t enamored of the assets Sacramento would offer for the fifth-year forward. That includes guard Malik Monk, who has generated very little interest around the NBA due to his contract, says Siegel. Monk, who is said to be available, is still owed nearly $42MM over two years after this season.
- CJ McCollum has been mentioned as a possible trade target for the Clippers, Siegel reports, noting that people around the league believe the Wizards guard could be had for second-round picks. McCollum’s $30.7MM cap hit could complicate a potential trade, but it’s an expiring contract and the Clippers wouldn’t have a problem matching the incoming money if their package starts with John Collins‘ $26.6MM expiring deal. They could also get there by stacking three or more contracts, including Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s, worth $16.2MM this season.
- Sources tell Fischer that the Clippers continue to dismiss the idea that veteran stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden will land on the trade block this season. Rival teams have reportedly expressed confidence that Harden, at least, will be made available.
Kings’ Malik Monk On Trade Block
The Kings have made guard Malik Monk available via trade, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter video link).
Sacramento recently removed Monk from its regular rotation and is said to be open to inquiries on practically anyone on its roster outside of fourth-year forward Keegan Murray and rookie guard Nique Clifford, so Haynes’ report comes as no real surprise. However, it’s confirmation that Monk is among the Kings players who are strong candidates to be on the move ahead of this season’s trade deadline.
Monk, who will turn 28 in February, has been in Sacramento since 2022 and has been a reliable source of scoring and play-making for the team, averaging 15.0 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game across 238 total outings as a King. He has posted a .443/.350/.859 shooting line during that time and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2024.
However, with the Kings off to a 7-22 start this season, head coach Doug Christie has made some changes in a crowded backcourt rotation, resulting in Monk receiving two DNP-CDs and playing just five total minutes in the team’s past three games.
Guards Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schröder, Keon Ellis, and Clifford have been playing regular minutes for the Kings as of late, with DeMar DeRozan also functioning as a two guard in a bigger starting lineup that features big men Maxime Raynaud and Precious Achiuwa up front.
[RELATED: Malik Monk ‘One Thousand Percent’ Confused About Benching]
Monk, who is earning roughly $18.8MM this season, has two more years left on his contract after this one. He’s owed a guaranteed $20.2MM salary in 2026/27 and holds a $21.6MM player option for ’27/28.
While Haynes doesn’t specify exactly what sort of return the Kings would be seeking in a trade for Monk, he says the club is looking to get younger and more athletic. DeRozan and Zach LaVine are also viewed as prime trade candidates in Sacramento, though LaVine’s maximum-salary contract is considered difficult to move.
Kings Reportedly Among Teams Monitoring Darius Garland
The Cavaliers have reportedly shut down trade inquiries on Darius Garland to this point, but that doesn’t mean rival teams aren’t monitoring his situation in case that stance changes. League sources tell Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com that the Kings are among the teams that have been keeping tabs on the two-time All-Star.
It has been reported for months that Sacramento has been looking for a long-term solution at point guard, and Afseth has heard the same. The Timberwolves are another team known to be in the market for a lead ball-handler, Afseth states.
However, it would be difficult for either club to put together a package that would entice Cleveland to part with Garland, per Afseth. It would be particularly tricky for Minnesota and Cleveland to make a deal since both teams are restricted in terms of the moves they can make due to the tax aprons.
According to Afseth, some rival teams have gotten the impression that Garland may prefer to take on a larger role rather than being a secondary or even tertiary offensive option playing alongside Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Afseth hears opposing teams view Garland as the least risky of the high-profile point guards (Ja Morant, LaMelo Ball, Trae Young) who have popped up in trade rumors in 2025/26.
“Darius is the safest option on the trade market for a team seeking a point guard upgrade,” a source told Afseth. “There are teams who think he can handle more being put on his plate.”
The 25-year-old missed the first seven games of the season following offseason toe surgery and aggravated the turf toe injury shortly after he returned to action, causing him to miss another five contests. He didn’t play anything close to his normal level over his first 12 appearances and seemed to be visibly bothered by the toe issue eight days ago.
Although the Cavs dropped their third straight game on Saturday, Garland had his best performance of the season, erupting for 35 points (on 14-of-27 shooting) and eight assists with Mitchell out due to an illness, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link). Garland has been frustrated by the nagging injury, but he thinks he may have turned a corner.
“I’m getting healthy,” Garland said. “Trying to find my groove. … It’s trying to switch my mind to letting me actually do the things I’m used to doing. It felt good for the first time a couple games ago and tonight see the result.”
Garland had another big game on Monday and was more efficient with Mitchell back in action. In the win over Charlotte, Garland finished with 27 points (on 9-of-15 shooting), 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes.
On the Wine and Gold Talk podcast following Saturday’s loss (YouTube link), Fedor expressed skepticism about the Cavaliers potentially trading Garland ahead of the February 5 deadline for multiple reasons. Not only does Cleveland appear to value Garland more than other teams, Fedor explained, but the Cavs would likely receive underwhelming offers for him because of his injury and down season to this point.
Malik Monk ‘One Thousand Percent’ Confused About Benching
Malik Monk made a brief appearance in the second half of Sunday night’s win over Houston, but the Kings guard told Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee that he’s still not sure why he was pulled from the rotation.
Monk, who was kept on the bench for the previous two games, was inserted for a nearly five-minute stretch. He made his only shot from the field, but missed a pair of free throws and finished with two points and a minus-3 rating.
Monk, who wasn’t expecting to play at all, talked to Anderson before the game began and admitted being confused by the demotion.
“One thousand percent,” he said. “But it’s not my job to try to figure out why I’m not playing because I deem myself more than the whole, so I’ll just be ready when my name is called.”
Monk added that he had a private conversation with head coach Doug Christie and listened to Christie’s public explanation about the move, but he still doesn’t fully understand it.
“He just told me he’s trying something new,” Monk said. “That’s basically it, and I said, ‘Yeah, OK, I’ll be ready whenever my name is called.’”
Monk has been a valuable part of the Kings’ offense since signing with Sacramento in the summer of 2022. He was a high-scoring reserve for his first two seasons, finishing sixth and second in the Sixth Man of the Year balloting, before being used mostly as a starter last year.
Christie decided to switch Monk back to a bench role this season, and his numbers have fallen across the board as his playing time has decreased. Through 24 games, he’s averaging 12.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23.1 minutes per night while shooting 43.7% from the field and a career-best 41.1% from three-point range.
Monk’s reduced status comes as Christie has been sorting through his options in a crowded backcourt. He was criticized earlier in the season for not playing defensive specialist Keon Ellis, who was given 32 minutes against Portland on Thursday, which was the first game that Monk received a DNP-CD. However, Ellis has been experiencing soreness in his right wrist and was listed as questionable for Sunday. He wound up playing nine minutes, but he fouled Reed Sheppard on a three-point attempt just before the halftime buzzer and wasn’t used in the second half.
Christie, who has called Monk the “odd man out” in a “numbers game,” received numerous questions about his guard rotation in his pregame meeting with reporters, Anderson adds.
“There’s a lot of challenges,” Christie said. “You can’t play everybody. It’s just the nature of what it is. This isn’t participation. It’s professional sports, and right now we have a logjam, but everyone is in play. If someone isn’t playing great, there’s a really good chance someone else is going to play. If someone isn’t playing to our standard of competitiveness, of all the different things that we value, then obviously there’s a strong possibility that they’re going to come out of the game.”
Monk, who’s making $18.8MM, is under contract for $20.2MM next season and holds a $21.6MM player option for 2027/28, so his situation may not be resolved soon unless he gets traded. He told Anderson that he doesn’t let “this stuff get to me,” but he added, “Everybody knows I want to be out there, especially playing in front of this crowd in Sac, but there ain’t s–t I can do about it.”
Stein’s Latest: Atkinson, Harden, Sabonis, White
There have been “rumbles in coaching circles” that Kenny Atkinson’s job is becoming less safe amid the Cavaliers‘ recent stumbles and their disappointing 15-14 record, Marc Stein of The Stein Line states in his latest Substack column (subscription required). Atkinson led the Cavs to the best record in the East a year ago in his first season with the team, but a second-round playoff ouster and this season’s shaky start have built up frustrations in Cleveland.
A report that owner Dan Gilbert is “very unhappy” with the team’s recent play provides another reason to be concerned about Atkinson’s job security. The Cavaliers headed into the season expecting to challenge New York for the top spot in the East, but they’re currently in play-in territory after dropping eight of their last 11 games, with several losses coming against teams near the bottom of the standings.
However, a source tells Stein that Gilbert’s anger is unlikely to result in a quick coaching change. He points out that Gilbert was one of Atkinson’s strongest supporters during the hiring process, preferring him over James Borrego, who’s now the interim head coach in New Orleans.
Stein shares more inside information from around the league:
- After speculating in a recent column that the struggling Clippers might listen to offers for James Harden before the deadline, Stein heard from a rival front office member who’s expecting Harden to be made available in trade talks. Stein points out that as a one-year Bird Rights signee who remained with his team, Harden has the ability to veto any trade he doesn’t like. Harden’s new contract technically covers two seasons, but it contains a player option with a partial guarantee.
- With Domantas Sabonis projected to miss at least four-to-five more weeks while recovering from a partially torn meniscus in his left knee, Stein points out that there’s a chance he might not return to the court by the February 5 trade deadline, which is roughly six-and-a-half weeks away. Stein states that it’s unclear if the Kings are willing to listen to trade offers for the former All-Star center, as they prefer to part with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. However, there’s sure to be league-wide interest in Sabonis if the front office commits to a full rebuilding project.
- Stein hears that rival teams are getting the impression that the Bulls are more willing to consider trading Coby White than they’ve been in the past. White has an expiring $12.9MM contract this season and is headed for unrestricted free agency next summer. Stein notes that White’s modest salary complicates Chicago’s effort to get back equivalent value in a deal, since he’s unlikely to sign an extension before reaching unrestricted free agency next summer.
Maxime Raynaud Will Get Long Run As Kings' Starting Center
- Rookie center Maxime Raynaud will be the Kings‘ starting center “for the foreseeable future” after Friday’s announcement that Domantas Sabonis will miss at least four-to-five more weeks, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscription required). The French big man, who was taken with the 42nd pick in this year’s draft, has been productive since moving into the starting lineup, averaging 15.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists over the past five games while shooting 53.4% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. Coach Doug Christie juggled his starting lineup on Thursday, Anderson adds, moving Keegan Murray from power forward to small forward, which the organization views as his “future” position.
Western Notes: Monk, Ellis, Brooks, Nuggets, Jokic, Mitchell
Kings guard Malik Monk was a DNP-CD for the first time since the 2022/23 season on Thursday, not getting off the bench at all during the team’s 134-133 overtime loss in Portland. Explaining the decision after the game, head coach Doug Christie described Monk as the “odd man out” in the backcourt rotation as he sought to give Keon Ellis a larger role for defensive purposes.
“We were going with defense, but it’s a logjam,” Christie said, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “We’ve got a lot of guards, so whenever it was Keon being the odd man out, then it was Keon being out. Tonight, we were playing Keon, so Malik was out.”
With the Kings off to a 6-21 start this season, Christie acknowledged that he’s still searching for answers and is willing to experiment with the rotation in the hopes of turning things around. He also made it clear that “nothing is permanent,” though he added that he liked what he saw from Ellis, who played a season-high 32 minutes vs. Portland.
“We’ll give Keon a run and allow him to continue to develop with those guys,” Christie said. “He came in off the bench, I thought, and played fantastic with that bench unit. They did a really good job in the third quarter. It just kind of got away from us. We got stalled out a little bit, but they came back with the starters and Keon was a part of that group. … I thought those guys did a great job.”
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- The NBA has rescinded the technical foul assessed to Suns forward Dillon Brooks in the second quarter of Thursday’s game vs. Golden State, the league announced (Twitter link). Brooks appeared to get the technical for something he said after making a layup and stumbling to the floor (video link via NBA.com). He’s still the league leader with eight technicals this season.
- The Nuggets aren’t especially well positioned to be aggressive at this season’s trade deadline, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required). Denver is hovering right around the luxury tax line, has few tradable draft picks, and lacks an obvious salary-matching candidate making mid-level money or more. Zeke Nnaji ($8.2MM) is the most expendable of the Nuggets’ players earning more than $5MM, but his contract – which has two more years left on it after this season – would have negative value.
- Nuggets star Nikola Jokic passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday for the most career assists by an NBA center, Durando writes in another Denver Post story. Abdul-Jabbar compiled 5,660 assists across 20 NBA seasons; Jokic surpassed him in his 11th season, at age 30. “This is a time that I can be able to look back and appreciate all the years I’ve had to play this game with him,” teammate Jamal Murray said of Jokic. “It’s special. Passing Kareem in anything is pretty cool. So I think it just speaks to his greatness and how unselfish he is.”
- Thunder wing Ajay Mitchell spoke to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints about the experience of winning a championship as an NBA rookie, whether he has thought about vying for the Most Improved Player award, and why he views the toe injury that cost him three months last season as a positive. “I know it sounds crazy, but this was my first major injury ever, and looking back on everything we went through, it made me realize how special being a part of this organization truly is,” Mitchell said, explaining that general manager Sam Presti was with him “every step of the way before and after surgery.”