As the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline approaches, the league has gone from a slow jog to a full sprint. Here are the latest rumors from around the Association.
All the latest on De’Aaron Fox trade
With all due respect to Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine and everyone else, De’Aaron Fox is unquestionably the best player available at the trade deadline, leading to a flurry of interest. There is so much going on, we’ll have to break this out into a few sections.
Let’s start here: The interest in Fox is high. The Kings have gotten “dozens of calls” about Fox, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. This is not a surprise, 27-year-old All-Star, two-way players like Fox do not become available very often and unless a team is locked in at the point long term — Oklahoma City, Indiana — then you make a call and at least kick the tires on a trade.
Heat, Rockets, Spurs among interested teams
As noted, there are a lot of teams interested in Fox, but a few specific destinations stand out.
• San Antonio Spurs: It’s no secret this is where Fox prefers to land (it’s been an open secret around the league), and talk to executives around the league and they think the Spurs ultimately win out. That’s partly because it’s not hard to construct a trade (Devin Vassell or Keldon Johnson plus Tre Jones and three first-round picks, including Atlanta’s 2025) that could work for both sides. The Kings are wise to check the market for the best offer, but the Spurs can put together a quality one, and you do a solid for a player who helped return your franchise to the playoffs and on-court respectability.
• Houston Rockets: We can’t even call the Rockets one of the best up-and-coming teams in the NBA — they have arrived. Houston has the steady hand of Fred VanVleet at the point, but he is not the long-term answer, he is not on the same timeline as Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun and other Rockets stars. Fox is. Houston also has plenty of assets to make a trade. Rockets GM Rafael Stone has said he doesn’t want to make a big trade at the deadline, he wants to see what this group can do in the postseason, but is Fox the exception to that rule? If this drags out into the summer, the Rockets may be in the middle of everything. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports says the Rockets are interested (same with the next team on the list).
• Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler and picks for Fox? It actually works if Sacramento throws Trey Lyles, and it’s easy to see why this is a great outcome for the Heat. Does Sacramento want to get into the Jimmy Butler business? Do they want to re-sign or extend him after this season? Could they, or would Butler walk? ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that Butler to Sacramento was not an option, and that’s probably the reality.
• Brooklyn Nets: The Brooklyn Nets have interest in Fox, reports Brian Lewis at the New York Post, and they have the picks and trade assets to get into the mix, but they are holding out for a bigger name and want to make sure he is completely off the table (keep reading, there is more on that below).
• This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Clippers have called, and no doubt the Lakers have as well (although Fox reportedly doesn’t want to go to Los Angeles). Portland has called. Pretty much every team has called, which gives Sacramento a lot of options.
What does Sacramento want in Fox trade?
The Kings don’t want to tear everything down to the studs and rebuild, but they also want to look to the future if they trade Fox.
Which is to say, they want win-now players to help balance the salaries but also lots of draft capital — this has to start at three first-round picks. The goal will be to retool on the fly with Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan plus the players who come in keeping Sacramento in the playoff mix (the Kings currently sit 10th in the West, holding down the final play-in slot).
Fox denies requesting trade
Let’s play a fun game of semantics.
Asked after the latest Sacramento loss if he had requested a trade, Fox denied it to the Sacramento Bee, saying it was the Kings’ choice to start listening to trades.
“No. You would know if I did.”
“That’s [the Kings] decision to make. I can’t tell them not to listen to offers or I can’t tell them to listen to offers.”
Cool. How this went down is much more like a scene out of The Godfather where Vito Corleone asks for a favor, one you refuse at your own risk. Fox’s agent, Rich Paul, hinted in some form (or directly told) Kings management that they might want to consider trading the star before the deadline, with the implication being he was not going to re-sign in Sacramento and he would leave with them getting nothing if they didn’t move him. Sacramento had no choice but to start listening to offers.
So, was there a trade demand? No, not technically. But in the real world, everyone knew where things stood.
Why is Fox pushing for trade before deadline?
Money.
Fox wants to sign an extension with a team this summer and he can get a lot more guaranteed money (and an additional year) re-signing with the team he is on than signing elsewhere as a free agent (or in a sign-and-trade). By the way, if Fox thought he has a legitimate chance at All-NBA this season and a supermax contract, this would likely be a very different conversation.
Friend of the site Keith Smith broke it down perfectly.
Some figures for De’Aaron Fox’s next contract:
Supermax (if eligible with SAC only): five years, $345M
Max via re-signing/extending: five years, $296M
Max if signing w/ another team as FA: four years, $219M
It’s that middle one why he wants to get traded now vs waiting for… https://t.co/j2lz4avDpd
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 29, 2025
What the Kings need to decide: If they hold on to Fox into the summer, can they get a better offer? Conventional wisdom says no – teams will pay more to have Fox for this year’s playoffs, not starting next year — but the NBA rarely follows convention.
Bucks interested in Zach LaVine
Milwaukee knows it has to do something if it wants to threaten Boston and Cleveland at the top of the East and is as “determined as any team on the NBA map” to make a trade, reports Marc Stein.
That could be for the Bulls’ Zach LaVine, reports K.C. Johnson at the Chicago Sports Network. Milwaukee wants more perimeter scoring threats and LaVine is having a standout season averaging 24 points a game and shooting 44.6% from 3.
The hard part is making the trade work. To match salaries, the Bucks would need to send out Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton (plus picks), but because Milwaukee is already over the second apron it cannot aggregate multiple players into a trade (isn’t the new CBA fun?). This would need to be a three- or four-team trade where Milwaukee moves below the second apron tax line, allowing them to aggregate players in a trade, but that gets complex and involves more picks out the door. It can happen, whether it is wis long-term is another debate.
Suns reject Booker, Durant trade calls
Did we really need to say this out loud?
Of course teams lobbed calls to the Suns about their two best players and of course they rejected them, but in a story about how Bradley Beal (with his no-trade clause) has control of the Suns’ trade efforts, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Bobby Marks say Phoenix rejected calls about Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Duh. If you needed confirmation, here you go.
Hawks listing to Bogdanovic offers, interested in Nurkic
Outside of South Beach, there may be no more awkward situation in the NBA than Jusuf Nurkic in Phoenix, who was a steady starter in the league for nearly a decade and is now racking up DNP/CDs.
The Atlanta Hawks have interest in him, reports Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic, but he details how finding a Nurkic trade is difficult because of his salary and the fact the Suns are a second-apron tax team.
“The 30-year-old is in the third year of a four-year, $70-million contract. He’s due $18.1 million this season and set to make $19.2 million in the final year of his contract.”
Atlanta’s Bogdan Bogdanović has been on the trade market for about a year and the Hawks are “exploring” their options with him, reports Marc Stein. The market might be thin for the 32-year-old who has fallen off to 10 points a game on 30% shooting from 3, and is under contract for next season at $16 million (with a team option at the same price for 2026-27.
Atlanta has been shopping their big man Clint Capela as well.
Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin being eyed by teams
It’s a little odd to think that Indiana would make a significant move considering their recent play (vaulting up to fifth in the East), but according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, there are teams eyeing guard Bennedict Mathurin.
Indiana wants a first-round pick for the 22-year-old averaging 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds a game while shooting 36.4% from 3. Mathurin has been a starter on the wing for Indiana, that’s difficult to replace. But the Pacers are listening.
Indiana is also listening to offers for center Myles Turner.
Nets still holding out hope for Antetokounmpo
Brooklyn has the picks and players to get involved in the De’Aaron Fox trade market. He’s the best player available in this trade cycle and he’s just 27, there is time to build something around him.
The Nets might get involved, but not if it interferes with team’s ultimate dream — their “white whale” — of landing Giannis Antetokounmpo, reports Brian Lewis at the New York Post.
“Brooklyn is still holding out for Giannis,” a source told The Post.
To be clear: Antetokounmpo is not available for a trade and he has not requested a trade. Milwaukee has been one of the hottest teams in the NBA for more than a month and the Bucks are active at the trade deadline trying to upgrade the roster (keep reading below), they are not looking to trade their superstar. However, around the league, Antetokounmpo is seen as the one superstar most likely to ask to switch teams in the next couple of years.
Brooklyn’s challenge with Fox is putting together a good enough offer to win that bidding war while holding on to enough picks and players to make a strong run at Antetokounmpo — if he becomes available — without gutting the roster of talent. It’s a hard line to walk.
Teams call 76ers about Yabusele, Gordon
You didn’t expect Daryl Morey to be quiet through the trade deadline, did you?
Morey is his usual active self, and that includes other teams calling him about big man Guerschon Yabusele and guard Eric Gordon, reports Marc Stein.
Yabusele stood out playing for France in the Paris Olympics and earned a return to the NBA. He’s averaging 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds playing 26 minutes a night on a minimum contract. He could help a lot of teams, as could the veteran guard Gordon.
The question 18-27 Philadelphia needs to ask is if it is wise to bet on Joel Embiid getting healthy, meshing with Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, and to go all-in for this season. There has been speculation Embiid would love Philly to make a Paul George for Jimmy Butler trade, but that is a long shot.
Celtics open to trading Jared Springer
It’s not a coincidence Celtics fans have seen a lot more of Jared Springer, the team is showcasing him for a trade reports Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor.
Springer plus picks could be packaged for a player to bring in another center or front court depth, which Boston is said to be seeking heading into the trade deadline.
New Orleans will make move at trade deadline
For all the focus on Brandon Ingram and his trade market (which is not strong), the Pelicans are going to make some kind of trade at the deadline.
That’s because the Pelicans are $2 million over the luxury tax line and, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks put it well: “They have not finished a season over the tax in franchise history and will not do so this year, especially in the lottery.”
If nothing more significant with Ingram materializes, expect a salary dump trade from New Orleans at the least, it’s the prudent fiscal move considering where they are in the standings.
