After shipping Anthony Davis to the Mavericks as part of the Luka Doncic trade, the Lakers acquired center Mark Williams from the Hornets, according to ESPN.
Charlotte will receive rookie guard Dalton Knecht, forward Cam Reddish, and an unprotected first-round draft pick in 2031. The Hornets also have the right to swap first-round picks with the Lakers in 2030.
Lakers are trading for a rising 7-foot-2 center, giving the franchise a starting center in Williams who fits the profile of athleticism and verticality that has flourished with Luka Doncic. Hornets land a rookie in Knecht they are excited about, and draft capital. https://t.co/BlzoawiLjR
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2025
Boston native Bruce Brown and former Celtic Kelly Olynyk of the Raptors are heading from Canada to the Gulf Coast as they were traded along with a protected first-round draft pick and a second-round pick to the Pelicans for Brandon Ingram, according to multiple reports.
ESPN reports the Warriors are acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Heat and signing him to a 2-year, $121 million contract extension through the 2026-27 season.
Golden State is sending Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, and a protected first-round pick to Miami.
In order to complete the deal, the Warriors’ Lindy Waters III and Heat’s Josh Richardson are headed to the Pistons. The Heat are also sending Schroder to the Jazz.
P.J. Tucker, who recently joined the Jazz following a trade with the Clippers, will be heading to Miami.
New Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler has agreed to a new two-year, $121 million extension with the franchise through 2026-27, sources tell me and @WindhorstESPN. Butler is declining his 2025-26 player option for this new $121M deal.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2025
The report initially said Anderson would be heading to the Raptors, but ESPN now says that he will remain with the Heat.
ESPN reports Jonas Valanciunas is headed to Sacramento for Sidy Cissoko and two second-round picks.
The Washington Wizards are trading Jonas Valanciunas to the Sacramento Kings for Sidy Cissoko and two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2025
Former Celtic Daniel Theis is on the move Wednesday, with the Pelicans reportedly dealing the German big man to the Thunder along with draft compensation.
The Pelicans were $1.4 million above the luxury tax threshold, and shifting Theis’s expiring $2.1 million deal gets New Orleans under the luxury tax.
Adam Himmelsbach
Springer is on an expiring contract that is paying him $4 million, and because of the Celtics’ position above the luxury-tax threshold and the resulting penalties, he is due to cost them about $15 million this season. He is just 22 years old.
Springer was out of coach Joe Mazzulla’s rotation for most of this season but has been used more frequently recently. He has had impactful moments, such as when he registered four steals in the Jan. 22 win over the Clippers. Springer has appeared in 26 games this season, averaging 1.7 points and 0.8 rebounds in 5.3 minutes.
A league source said that Springer’s uptick in playing time recently — he played 20 minutes apiece against the Clippers and Bulls in the last two weeks — was not a front office directive to essentially audition him for prospective suitors. The source said that Mazzulla has simply been using Springer in spots that he believes will give the Celtics a chance to win.
The Celtics made their first move of the deadline late Wednesday morning, reportedly dealing guard Jaden Springer and a future second-round pick to the Rockets.
The deal also sees the teams exchange heavily-protected second-rounders.
The Boston Celtics are trading Jaden Springer and their 2030 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets, sources tell ESPN. Both teams are also exchanging heavily protected second-rounders. pic.twitter.com/rhcmgvvJQo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2025
The trade looks like it’s largely a salary dump for Boston, which will shed Springer’s $4 million salary as the Celtics look to get under the second apron and avoid luxury tax penalties.
The Celtics picked up Springer from Philadelphia at last season’s trade deadline. The fourth-year guard is averaging just 1.7 points and 5.4 minutes per game, with his season highlight coming in a crucial cameo to help Boston beat the Clippers in January.
Another former All-Star is on the move as the Bucks are reportedly moving on from Khris Middleton, dealing Giannis Antetokounmpo’s longtime co-star to Washington.
Breaking: The Milwaukee Bucks are trading Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson and a pick swap to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and second-round draft compensation, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/hCOzqqqUXE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2025
A three-time All-Star, Middleton’s production has diminished over a couple of injury plagued seasons, and he’s averaging just 12.6 points per game for the Bucks this season after three straight years averaging 20-plus between 2019 and 2022. Middleton has played only 23 games this season, mostly coming off the bench.
Milwaukee’s return for Middleton centers around Kyle Kuzma, another scoring wing who has seen his role scaled back this season. Kuzma is averaging 15.2 points per game on a career-low 42 percent shooting.
It’s an afterthought in the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade, but the Mavericks made another deal Tuesday to acquire 76ers wing Caleb Martin.
Martin, in the first year of a four-year, $35 million deal, was averaging 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds for Philadelphia.
The 76ers received guard Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick in the deal.
By Adam Himmelsbach
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said he was having phone problems Saturday night, and as he was walking in the downtown area here a fan approached him with some news that was briefly unsettling.
“He was like, ‘You, you heard about the trade?’ ” Porzingis said. “I was like, ‘What happened? Did I get traded?’ And he was like, ‘No, Luka [Doncic] to the Lakers.’ And [I] was like, ‘Yo, no way.’ Then I got my phone back and read all about it. Honestly, I can’t believe it. I think this is the craziest trade in NBA history. Unbelievable.”
Doncic, the Mavericks superstar, was traded to the Lakers in a package centered on Lakers superstar Anthony Davis. This seismic deal stunned players, executives, and coaches around the league just as much as it rattled fans.
Celtics forward Sam Hauser said it was the talk of the team’s breakfast Sunday morning.
“It was pretty crazy,” Hauser said. “Shocking, obviously.”
Forward Al Horford called it one of the biggest transactions in NBA history, comparing it to when Cavaliers star LeBron James signed with the Heat as a free agent in 2010. Horford said he was asleep when the Doncic news broke just after midnight, but one of his brothers alerted him early this morning.
“We were all in disbelief,” Horford said. “We didn’t think it was real.”
By Gary Washburn
What has been evident during these past few days of NBA trades, including one of the more shocking deals of this generation (or perhaps of all time), is that teams are being proactive in their salary commitments and will move on from even the most popular players instead of guaranteeing them more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
NBA salaries skyrocketed in the past decade because of booming television deals, and players who entered the league in the mid-to-late 2010s are cashing in on the league’s international success.
Well, Luka Doncic was supposed to anyway. He was due $345 million over five years in Dallas — which would have been the largest deal in league history, topping the Jayson Tatum contract — for his next deal. The Mavericks, however, did not want to invest so much in Doncic and then be stuck trying to move that anvil of a contract in a few years.
So they dealt him to the Lakers for Anthony Davis in a Saturday night stunner that caused social media users to wonder whether some NBA insider accounts had been hacked by a clever jokester.
There were no jokes. The Mavericks weren’t fully committed to paying Doncic the max, despite being a generational talent with the ability to take over games at any moment, primarily because of his history of conditioning issues.
The Kings decided to part ways with De’Aaron Fox on Sunday evening when it was apparent he wouldn’t commit to a long-term deal. They had to be uncertain whether to offer the point guard so much money when they have never been past the first round in his tenure.
When he didn’t show desire to re-sign, it was time to start over with draft picks and solid veteran additions such as Zach LaVine.
Victor Wembanyama has a new point guard: De’Aaron Fox is on his way out of Sacramento and headed to San Antonio.
Fox is one of the centerpieces of a trade agreed to by three teams, one that sends two-time All-Star Zach LaVine from Chicago to Sacramento, Zach Collins from San Antonio to Chicago, and Kevin Huerter from the Kings to the Bulls.
Also in the trade: Jordan McLaughlin goes from Sacramento to the Spurs, Sidy Cissoko goes from the Spurs to the Kings, and Tre Jones leaves the Spurs for Chicago. There is also a slew of draft capital in the agreement, with Sacramento set to get at least three first-round picks.
Fox’s addition is huge for the Spurs. Wembanyama — the reigning rookie of the year — is continuing his climb toward superstardom. He’s set to make his All-Star Game debut later this month, is among the favorites to win defensive player of the year, and will probably get MVP votes.
It’s no surprise that Fox, who is extension-eligible this summer, wanted to come to the Spurs: Playing alongside one of the game’s best centers, a 7-foot-4 force that most defenses don’t have an answer for, would appeal to any point guard.
Fox is averaging 25 points, 6.1 assists, and 5 rebounds per game this season for the Kings. He’s been an All-Star and an All-NBA player, and now in his eighth season gets to start anew alongside Wembanyama.
The trade was put together in secret, with only a precious few people knowing what was happening. Luka Doncic didn’t know. Anthony Davis didn’t know. Their coaches didn’t know. Their teammates didn’t know.
And then it happened — an absolute blockbuster. Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, Davis won a championship with the Lakers in 2020, and now they’re switching teams in a move that stunned most everyone in the league.
Doncic was traded by the reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks to the Lakers for Davis as part of a three-team deal. The trade was announced Sunday morning after the teams got the required league approval.
The trade talks, which took place over about a month, were kept extremely tight-lipped by Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and Lakers GM Rob Pelinka.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd’s first reaction?
“Shock,” Kidd said, though he later added that he believes it’s the right move for his team going forward.
Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris also headed to the Lakers, while Max Christie went to Dallas. The Utah Jazz also were involved, getting Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 second-rounder from both the Mavs and Lakers.
Amin Touri can be reached at [email protected].
