2025 NBA trade deadline tracker: All the latest news, rumors, deals in one place

This NBA Trade Deadline has been mind-bending — we have already seen a Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade that stunned everybody, including Doncic and Davis. We’ve seen De’Aaron Fox push his way to San Antonio to team up with Victor Wembanyama. We’ve seen Jimmy Butler traded to Golden State to team up with Stephen Curry.

There are less than 24 hours until the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 3 p.m. Eastern. What follows is all the latest news, notes and rumors heading into that deadline. It will be updated as news and rumors break between now and then, so check back often for the latest.

Knicks trading Jericho Sims to Bucks

Trades that have already been announced are still evolving.

That includes the Kyle Kuzma for Khris Middleton trade between Washington and Milwaukee — now the Knicks are trading center Jericho Sims to the Bucks as part of that deal, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. In return, the Bucks are sending Delon Wright and cash to the Knicks.

Expect a lot more of these kinds of add-ons to trades in the run up to the deadline (especially the Jimmy Butler trade, which has so many moving parts).

Heat learned about Butler trade from fan

In Golden State, the Warriors closed their locker room early before the game (at a time it is supposed to be open to the media) and called in the players warming up so Steve Kerr could gather the troups and tell them about the Jimmy Butler trade.

In Miami, the players learned from a fan behind the bench.

Phoenix Suns standing pat at deadline

Phoenix tried, but making a bold move at the deadline always meant finding a new home for Bradley Beal. Management thought about trading Kevin Durant, but this post from Chris Haynes is pretty much the Suns saying, “We’ll ride with our guys this season,” — which is not all bad. The team has gone 9-6 in its last 15 and plays well with Durant and Devin both on the court.

Hawks, Raptors reportedly “neck-and-neck” for Ingram

It looks like Brandon Ingram will have a new home by 3 p.m. Eastern Thursday. The question is where.

The Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors are reportedly “neck-and-neck” in their final push to land Ingram, reports Sam Amick at The Athletic. Ingram, the former All-Star averaging 22.2 points a game this season, would be a logical short-term replacement in Atlanta for Jalen Johnson, the wing now out for the season following shoulder surgery. In Toronto, team decision-maker Masai Ujiri is looking for players he can pair with Scottie Barnes, who are good fit with the young star, and Ingram intrigues him. Look for one of these two teams to get a deal done.

Lonzo Ball, Bulls agree to two-year, $20 million extension

This is a great story.

After missing more than 1,000 days and having three surgeries on the same knee, not only did Lonzo Ball return to the Bulls this season but he’s been a rock-solid backup point guard for Chicago. So much so that the Bulls and Ball have agreed to a two-year, $20 million contract extension. ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news.

Teams had called Chicago about a possible trade for Ball, but it’s the smart play by Chicago to keep him around on a good contract. Ball is averaging 7.2 points a game, shooting 34% from 3, dishing out 3.5 assists, and grabbing 3.4 rebounds in 21 minutes a night. He’s proven to be a steady hand at the point, something Chicago has consistently lacked in recent years.

TRADE: Jimmy Butler traded to Warriors in massive four-team deal

The mind-blowing NBA blockbuster trades just keep on coming!

The Golden State Warriors, looking to make one more title push in the Stephen Curry era, have landed Jimmy Butler in a massive four-team trade that gives the Warriors a puncher’s chance in a deep conference where every team is chasing the Oklahoma City Thunder. Shams Charania of ESPN was first.

Here’s how this trade shakes out as of right now (it’s evolving):

• Jimmy Butler goes to the Golden State Warriors, where he will opt out of his player option of $52.4 million for next season to sign a two-year, $121 million extension that keeps him with the Warriors through 2027.

• Miami gets Andrew Wiggins and P.J. Tucker, and Golden State’s 2025 first-round pick (top-10 protected in 2025, 2026, then, if it hasn’t conveyed, is unprotected in 2027; however, most likely the Heat get the Warriors pick in June).

• Utah lands veteran point guard Dennis Schroder and a second round pick.

• Kyle Anderson was rumored to be headed to Toronto but will stay with Miami for now, although that part is in flux according to multiple reports.

• The Detroit Pistons help facilitate the trade by taking on Lindy Waters and Josh Richardson. They will get draft pick compensation as well.

This is a win for the Warriors. It may not be enough to win ring No. 5 of this era — in fact, it very likely is not enough — but they now have three dangerous veterans in Curry, Green and Butler that no team is going to want to see in the first round.

This trade is a win for Miami, which moves on from Butler and can focus on rebuilding now around Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.

Warriors back in hunt for Jimmy Butler

Golden State is back in the Jimmy Butler game. For some reason.

The Warriors had their sights set on Kevin Durant, but Durant wanted no part of a reunion so now the Warriors have turned their focus to Jimmy Butler. Again. So reports , Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

The thing is, Butler wanted no part of the Warriors and told them he would not re-sign there, which killed off the last Golden State effort to find a trade that works. What changed? Nothing we’re aware of. The duo at The Athletic questioned how serious the Warriors are in this chase, but Marc Stein says it is real. The question for Golden State is, why? Is this the shake-up they need? To get Butler would require trading away Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder and a couple of young players and picks, a lot of depth to surrender for a 35-year-old who can walk at the end of the season. It makes one wonder if these Butler rumors are coming from his camp, trying to keep a spark alive even as it looks like there is no trade for him out there.

Still, it’s the Warriors, so keep an eye on it. Golden State wants to make a move.

TRADE: Kings trade for Jonas Valanciunas, send picks to Wizards

Jonas Valanciunas was one of the most talked about names in free agency, he was going somewhere, likely primarily for picks. The question was where?

The answer? Sacramento.

The Kings have traded for the veteran, floor-spacing big man, sending two second-round back to Washington, a story broken by Marc Stein and since confirmed by multiple reports. The deal is Washington will get sending just-acquired wing Sidy Cissoko and a pair of second-round picks to Washington in the deal.

Sacramento now has a front line of Domantas Sabonis and Valanciunas, who is averaging 11.5 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. That’s a lot of offensive firepower up front for the Kings.

Kevin Durant likely to stay with Suns?

For all the buzz around the league in the last 24 hours, it looks more and more like Kevin Durant will be with the Phoenix Suns for the remainder of the season.

ESPN loves a good rumor (a little too much) and even their Brian Windhorst said on NBA Today it looks like Durant stays in Phoenix or heads to Miami before the deadline. Of course Miami likes the idea of landing Durant, but what would that look like? Phoenix would get Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic, one first-round pick and two second-round picks, plus pick swaps, suggests Barry Jackson out of Miami.

That makes no sense for Phoenix, the plan was to pair KD and Butler, now swap them out. This deal would be the Suns throwing in the towel on this season and this iteration of the team — Butler is a big step down from Durant at this point in their careers — and betting on a nice young player and Jovic and the pick to start a rebuild around Devin Booker. Does Phoenix owner Mat Ishbia strike anyone as a guy ready to slow down and start a rebuild?

Never say never in this league, but it feels like KD will stay put past the deadline. That said, he is out on Wednesday night against the Thunder, officially due to a sore ankle, which is what teams do with players who might be traded.

Do Heat welcome back Jimmy Butler?

Miami is working the phones hard during the final day before the NBA Trade Deadline hits, but nothing has changed from weeks ago — there isn’t much of a market for 35-year-old Jimmy Butler, and the one team that does want him (Phoenix) can’t get him without finding a third team to take on Bradley Beal and his massive contract. More and more, it looks like Butler will be with the Heat beyond the trade deadline.

Would Miami’s players welcome back Butler if he can’t be traded before the deadline? Ira Winderman of the Miami Sun-Sentinel asked and wrote this: “One teammate privately said that the roster would embrace a Butler who would return at the top of his game.” It’s the sense he would be disruptive and not in peak form that has led to Butler being suspended three times, including indefinitely right now. Could Butler put everything behind him, walk into the Heat building on Friday and have a focus to help this team in the postseason? Or, has he fully checked out? Your guess is as good as mine.

Warriors, Hawks, Raptors eyeing Brandon Ingram

Brandon Ingram has been available via trade for a year now, but it appears a deal is close as the deadline nears.

The Warriors, realizing they will not land Kevin Durant, are eyeing Ingram as a secondary scorer to take some of the load off Stephen Curry, reports Jake Fischer at The Stein Line. He adds that the Raptors and Hawks also are in the mix for the former All-Star, averaging 22.2 points a game. Ingram is an expiring $36 million contract and would love to ultimately re-sign wherever he is traded, but the teams involved may want to see how things play out before committing money going forward.

Kevin Durant doesn’t want to go to Warriors

You can’t go home again… or, at least Kevin Durant doesn’t want to.

While the league has been swept up in the momentum of Phoenix listening to Kevin Durant trades and the Warriors making a call, apparently nobody asked KD — and he doesn’t want to go to the Warriors again. Marc Stein has reported this already at his substack, and now Shams Charania is echoing this with his reporting.

Denver checking market for bench upgrades

Trades by the Lakers, Mavericks and the attempted moves by the Suns all speak to one thing: Other teams in the West do not think Oklahoma City is inevitable as the conference champion.

Add Denver to that list, they are talking teams, seeking a smaller move to bolster the Nuggets bench, reports Bennett Durando at the Denver Post.

…as the last 48 hours of trade season wind down, the Nuggets are canvassing the league for a rotational upgrade to their bench, multiple league sources told The Denver Post.

Denver has been fourth place in the Western Conference standings since Jan. 4, chasing Oklahoma City, Houston and Memphis. But the team’s trade-eligible contracts and draft assets are limited, especially if what coach Michael Malone said this week is true: “We’re not trading Michael Porter.”

Pelicans trade center Daniel Thies to OKC

Oklahoma City has had trouble keeping its two centers — Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein — healthy this season, the duo has yet to play one game together. So, the Thunder are adding depth, and in the process doing New Orleans a solid and adding another draft pick to their already enormous stash.

New Orleans is trading center Daniel Thies to the Thunder, along with a 2031 second-round pick, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. Why are the Pelicans including a pick? As a sweetener for the Thunder, which absorbs Theis’ expiring $2.1 million contract — getting off that money moves the Pelicans below the luxury tax line. New Orleans understandably didn’t want to pay the tax for a 12-38 team.

Kevin Durant out Wednesday night vs. OKC

Amid rumors he might be traded before Tuesday’s deadline, read into this what you will:

Kevin Durant is being held out of Wednesday night’s Phoenix game at Oklahoma City due to a sore ankle.

Suns still “aggressive” in trying to trade Beal

Phoenix’s dream of trading Bradley Beal — making room for it to acquire Jimmy Butler from Miami — is not dead. The Suns are being “aggressive” in trying to find Beal a new home, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the network’s “Get Up.”

“They have tried almost every team in the league from what I can understand. They went out and traded their one first-round pick into three to try to pay off three different teams to do deals. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve been through on calls listening to stuff, how they’ve tried. They are at the end here.”

The failure to trade Beal — who has a no-trade clause and can kill any deal — has opened the door to the Suns possibly trading Kevin Durant. He has a robust trade market. That’s the pivot the Suns are considering, but in an ideal world, the Suns would still find a new home for Beal and pair Butler and Durant. That just seems unlikely now.

Along these same lines, the Heat are still trying to find a Jimmy Butler trade as the deadline approaches, but there remains almost no market for the former All-Star.

Buzz growing around Durant trade; not to Mavericks

There are the words, then there are the actions.

The words are there is a growing belief around the league the Suns might actually trade Kevin Durant before the trade deadline, something reported by Marc Stein among others. The Golden State Warriors — a Durant reunion with Stephen Curry — is the most discussed of those ideas, although league sources told NBC Sports the asking price/matching salaries to make this work has given the Warriors pause (even with the Warriors desire to upgrade around Curry). Durant makes $51.2 million this season, so to match salaries means sending Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Dennis Schroder, and a couple of minimum-salary players, plus a couple of draft picks to make it work. That’s likely too steep a price for the Warriors as it leaves little around KD and Curry.

The actions: Kevin Durant was part of the Suns shootaround this morning and appears poised to play against the Thunder tonight. That’s not what you see with a player about to get traded.

Also, while Dallas dreams of landing Durant, after the Luka Doncic trade, that becomes just too difficult to pull off for the Mavericks. Don’t expect that deal to get anywhere near reality.

TRADE: Celtics send Jaden Springer to Rockets for picks

Jaden Springer has played well in a limited role for the Celtics, but welcome to the world of the new CBA.

In a salary dump move, the Celtics have traded Springer to the Houston Rockets. This move will save the Celtics millions in salary and potentially many millions more in luxury tax.

Springer will be a natural fit in the athletic, defensive system former Celtics coach Ime Udoka has installed in Houston.

Springer was the No. 28 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and has come off the bench for Boston in 26 games this season. With an already crowded rotation in Houston, it’s unclear where Springer fits in, but the cost of acquiring him is so low it’s worth it for the Rockets.

Warriors “internally” discussed trading Draymond Green

Would the Golden State Warriors seriously consider trading Draymond Green?

Not publicly, they will be as committed to him as ever. However, internally — amid the flurry of activity and ideas about reuniting with Kevin Durant — they have considered the idea if it brings KD back to the Bay, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic.

The reality is this is a long shot. The reports are to make this work the Suns would want pretty much every young player and pick the Warriors have, and even Stephen Curry (as well as Steve Kerr) has said the franchise should not mortgage the future in a trade to get better now. This is likely a step too far.

Internally, teams discuss a lot of things they would never actually do, and saying a team had internal conversations about something is like saying you thought of something but decided not to say it out loud. It almost doesn’t count.

But that the Warriors would even entertain such a question on any level shows just how far they are willing to go to chase one more ring with Stephen Curry.

TRADE: Kyle Kuzma headed to Bucks for Khris Middleton

This trade had been rumored for a couple of days and now it is getting done — the Milwaukee Bucks are sending Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson and a pick swap to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and second-round pick. Shams Charania of ESPN broke the story and it has since been confirmed by others.

The Bucks has been a step behind the top three teams in the East (Boston, Cleveland, and New York), going 0-8 against them, and felt it needed a shake-up to compete at that level. With that, the Bucks may not be done making deadline trades.

Milwaukee moves on from Middleton, who is a franchise legend and a key part of the team’s 2021 title run, but who has been down this season coming off surgery on both ankles during the offseason. What this trade does, besides bringing in a stretch four with more athleticism, is get the Bucks under the second apron of the luxury tax. Kuzma also has championship experience as part of the 2020 Lakers title team in the bubble, although his role in Washington has been down this season due to a rib injury and a focus by the Wizards on Jordan Poole and second-year player Bilal Coulibaly,

Kuzma is averaging 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds a game this season, both more than Middleton, who has played in just 23 games this season. However, Kuzma is shooting just 28.1% from 3 (compared to 40.7% for Middleton) and Kuzma’s 48.8 true shooting percentage is nearly 10 points below the league average. To use a catch-all stat as an example, for all his flaws, Middleton has an 18 PER compared to a well-below-average 10.2 for Kuzma. The point is Kuzma has to find a rhythm fast in Milwaukee or this trade is not much of an upgrade.

Would Suns really swap out Durant for Butler?

In what has been one of the wildest roller coasters of an NBA trade deadline we’ve ever seen, of course Kevin Durant getting traded out of Phoenix appears to be picking up momentum.

Phoenix — which continues to try to land Jimmy Butler but appears to realize the futility of that effort because there is no third team to take Bradley Beal — has started to listen to offers for Durant. It’s a complete 180-degree pivot from where they were days ago. But it’s not even the strangest part of all this, check out this post from the well-connected John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports radio:

Jake Fischer at The Stein Line is reporting the same thing — Durant chatter is up because it “appears to be the only way for Phoenix to acquire Miami’s Jimmy Butler before Thursday’s deadline.”

In what world does trading away Kevin Durant to bring in Jimmy Butler make any sense for Phoenix? At all.

Sending out Beal and filling that spot with Butler undeniably makes the Suns better (we can debate how much, but it’s an upgrade). If Phoenix trades Durant, the only logical move is to pivot to a rebuild around Devin Booker — and land enough picks and young players in that trade to jumpstart the rebuild process.

But this has been a wild trade deadline, so we’re not ruling anything out completely.

Nikola Vucevic may be with Bulls past deadline

Just 72 hours ago, it seemed a lock that Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic would be out of Chicago before the deadline. That is true for LaVine, who is now in Sacramento with his old Bulls’ teammate DeMar DeRozan trying to lift the Kings into the playoffs.

Vucevic, however, may be a Bull past the Feb. 6 deadline after two deals for the big man fell through on Tuesday, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. He adds that the Bulls are now preparing to have him around past the deadline.

Things change fast in the 36 hours before the deadline, but it may not be fast enough for Vucevic.

Wizards reportedly nearing trades with Bucks, Suns

Khris Middleton is out, and Kyle Kuzma is in for Milwaukee? Jusuf Nurkic is out, and Jonas Valanciunas is in for Phoenix?

Those deals are getting close, reports long-time NBA scribe Steve Bulpett at Heavy.com. The rebuilding Wizards will pull the trigger if the draft compensation coming back makes it worth their while.

Milwaukee wanted to be aggressive heading into the trade deadline, looking for an upgrade and moving on from Middleton — who had surgery on both ankles this offseason and has looked a step slower to the naked eye — but is Kuzma that guy? The Bucks would be banking on the guy who picked up a ring in the bubble with the Lakers to return closer to that form than the guy shooting 28% from 3 this season, scoring seven fewer points a game than he did a season ago.

Phoenix wants to get Nurkic out the door — he was moved to the bench last month because Nick Richards is the starting five now — and this trade brings Valanciunas in as a solid reserve big. The Wizards have had a lot of interest in Valanciunas in recent weeks.

Expect Bradley Beal to be with Suns past deadline

This isn’t a surprise, but we should make it all-but official:

Bradly Beal is going to be with the Phoenix Suns after the trade deadline. That was obvious for a few reasons, starting with Beal has a no-trade clause, so he completely controls the process (also, there is no market for him). But if you wanted confirmation, there is this from The Athletic.

A league source close to Beal reiterated on Tuesday that there are currently no talks about him waiving the clause, and that he expects to remain in Phoenix through the deadline.

Philadelphia’s KJ Martin on verge of being traded

KJ Martin, who has been out since Dec. 23 due to a foot injury, is being held out Tuesday night 76ers game because he is on the verge of being traded, something reported by several people around the Sixers including Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports.

The 76ers are reportedly looking at multiple trade options for Martin, but all of them largely a salary dump move that does not bring a player back to the Sixers, a league source told NBC Sports. Martin is a 6’6″ wing who has averaged 6.4 points a game coming off the bench in the 24 games before his injury. He can help multiple teams and is making just under $8 million this season and is under contract for basically the same amount next season.

KJ will be the second Martin Philly has traded, they also moved Cody Martin to Dallas for Quentin Grimes.

Mavericks, Warriors, Rockets all interested in Kevin Durant

And the Kevin Durant chatter just gets louder and louder… and now Jimmy Butler is even getting dragged into it.

Golden State’s interest in re-uniting with Durant is well known — the Warriors are desperately looking for a star shot creator to pair with Stephen Curry, and dancing again with Durant is on the table — but Dallas and Houston also are showing levels of interest, reports The Athletic’s Sam Amick, David Aldridge and Anthony Slater.

Dallas getting in the mix after trading away Luka Doncic — for 50 cents on the dollar — is an unexpected twist, and would be difficult for them to pull off because they don’t have a lot of tradable players and picks left. Durant makes $51.2 million, and since Dallas can’t or won’t trade Kyrie Irving, just-acquired Anthony Davis, or P.J. Washington, it becomes a difficult-to-construct five-for-one or worse trade that likely has to drag a third team into the mix.

Houston’s GM Rafael Stone has said in the run-up to the deadline that he wants to see what this roster — with its young players — can do in the playoffs before making a move, but Durant could change that dynamic. The Rockets have the players to make the trade with a package based around the expiring Fred VanVleet and a bunch of picks, but that only works if Phoenix wants to totally rebuild. Which it seems like they do not.

That same Athletic reports suggest a possible three-team arrangement where Jimmy Butler gets his wish to go to Phoenix, Durant heads to Golden State, and an Andrew Wiggins-based trade package heads to Miami. The question for Phoenix is, why? Swapping out Durant for Butler to play with Bradley Beal and Devin Booker does not make the Suns better, why would they do that? Better to blow the whole thing up and rebuild.

It’s all still a long shot, but momentum toward a Durant trade continues to build.

Bulls getting Lonzo Ball interest, likely keep him

Lonzo Ball is more than just one of the best stories of the season, he has returned to being the kind of player every team needs — a solid backup point guard. He’s averaging 7.2 points and 3.5 assists a night, playing 20-25 minutes a night off the bench (although he isn’t playing back-to-backs).

That has led to a number of teams calling about him, reports Marc Stein. Ball is on an expiring $21.4 million contract, but the Bulls are likely to keep him on the roster past the deadline and try to re-sign him this summer, according to the report. Of course, if you’re trying to get teams to offer more for a player, that’s exactly what you would leak.

Just know that after more than 1,000 days away from the game and three knee surgeries, Lonzo is back and will get another contract this summer.

Kevin Durant trade chatter growing louder

Phoenix went into this trade season looking to land Jimmy Butler and put him alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but that appears less likely with each passing minute (more on the Heat below; keep reading), so the Suns may pivot.

Talk about the Suns trading Kevin Durant, likely to the Golden State Warriors, is getting a lot louder, with league sources confirming to NBC Sports that there are ongoing talks. I’m not the only person reporting this chatter is getting louder.

That’s not to say it will happen — would Durant be okay with this? — but the Warriors have called everyone and anyone looking to find a star to put next to Curry, and the Suns didn’t hang up on the call.

It’s still highly unlikely the Suns will trade Durant. Phoenix’s preference would remain to find a new home for Bradley Beal, which would allow them to complete a Butler trade. However, that seems less and less realistic. If so, would Phoenix consider a serious pivot? Just keep an eye on the situation.

Lakers GM confirms team looking for big

The Lakers were looking for depth at center before they traded their best defender and only quality rim protector to Dallas for Luka Doncic. That has only upped the pressure on Lakers GM Rob Pelinka to find a new center, but he said riding the long-term fit next to Doncic (and LeBron James) could come this summer.

“We know we have a need for a big,” Pelinka said Tuesday at Doncic’s press conference. “The market for bigs right now, leading into the last two or three days of the trade deadline, is very dry. There’s just not a lot available. So maybe we’ll be able to do some stuff around the margins. I would say, in terms of a big move for that position, it’s probably more realistic that that would be something that comes in the off-season.”

Kyle Kuzma for Khris Middleton trade has been discussed

Interesting note from David Aldridge and Josh Robbins at The Athletic: The Wizards and Bucks have at least talked about a Kyle Kuzma trade sending Khris Middleton to Washington.

Two league sources said the Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks have explored a potential deal in which Milwaukee would send Khris Middleton and draft capital to Washington for Kuzma. This matches what was reported elsewhere on Monday. Exchanging Middleton’s salary for Kuzma’s would help the Bucks move under the second apron, a significant goal for the Bucks.

Take that with a grain of salt, but Washington wants out of the Kuzma business and the Bucks might bet he can be an upgrade over the current version of Middleton.

Nuggets coach Malone: “We’re not trading Michael Porter”

Rumors of the Nuggets trying to upgrade by moving on from Michael Porter Jr. have been going around, but Nuggets coach Michael Malone shot that down Monday night. Here’s his response, via ESPN, when asked if he talked to MPJ about his name being trade rumors.

“No because we’re not trading Michael Porter,” Malone said. “So I’m not touching base with anybody on that. … And if there’s something coming, obviously [Nuggets GM Calvin Booth] will talk with me and I’m sure we’ll communicate with whatever players. But Michael is a really important piece, he helped us win a championship.”

Limited interest in Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler isn’t Kevin Durant. On a lot of levels. But particularly in regards to this trade deadline, where if the Suns choose to pivot away from trying to land Butler they can quickly have teams lined up to talk about Durant. Along those same lines, Jimmy Butler isn’t like Luka Doncic, where there would have been an overwhelming level of interest in a trade for the 25-year-old if Mavericks GM Nico Harrison had opened up bidding.

Outside of Phoenix, there is not much interest in trading for Butler, Tim Bontemps notes at ESPN. That’s not for a lack of effort by Miami to find trade partner — and both the Suns and Heat have looked at four- and five-team trades — but there is not a pent-up Butler market waiting to break out. A big part of that is Butler can opt out of the $52.4 million he is owed next season and become a free agent next summer, and he has made it clear he wants to get to Phoenix (where he believes owner Mat Ishbia will pay him). Plus, Butler is 35, has seen his game take a step back this season, has a long injury history, and wants to get paid with at least two new years at a high number on this contract.

The question the Suns may need to ask themselves: What do we do with Butler if we can’t trade him before the deadline?