Well that was unexpected! The NBA Trade Deadline isn't until February 8th, but the Raptors and Knicks kicked off trade season early to prompt the start of my usual transaction tracker. This will be a one stop shop for every in-season NBA trade, when it went down, who first reported it (as far as I know), and the contracts/picks involved to look back on like last season's. The format will be like the offseason tracker where I add each new deal to the top to make it easy to see any updates, and the color code as usual is player option, team option, and not fully guaranteed along with estimates. Otherwise, these cap numbers are courtesy of Keith Smith at Spotrac.com.
2/9 update: Now that yesterday's deadline is firmly in the rearview, I went back and added more details that have emerged for each deal. It probably makes the most sense to start with trades at the bottom and work up chronologically, but as always, Command + F is a friend to find specific players. To make things easier, here is a summary of what each team did over the past six weeks, listed in order of championship odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Celtics +265
Traded for: Xavier Tillman, Jaden Springer, and one "2nd round pick" (top-55 protected)
Traded away: Lamar Stevens, Dalano Banton, three 2nd round picks, and cash considerations
Nuggets +425
Traded for: Cash considerations
Traded away: Draft rights to Ismael Kamagate (#56 pick in 2022)
Clippers +550
Traded for: Draft rights to Ismael Kamagate (#56 pick in 2022)
Traded away: Cash considerations
Bucks +600
Traded for: Patrick Beverley and the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (#59 pick in 2015)
Traded away: Cam Payne, Robin Lopez, a 2nd round pick, and cash considerations
Suns +1,200
Traded for: Royce O'Neale and David Roddy
Traded away: Keita Bates-Diop, Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu, Jordan Goodwin, three 2nd round picks, and one 1st round draft swap that was already Horcruxed.
76ers +1,800
Traded for: Buddy Hield, Cam Payne, and three 2nd round picks (though one is likely top-55 protected)
Traded away: Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz, Danuel House, Patrick Beverley, Jaden Springer, four 2nd round picks, and cash considerations
Knicks +2,000
Traded for: OG Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, and Precious Achiuwa
Traded away: RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono, three 2nd round picks, and cash considerations
Waived: DaQuan Jeffries
Timberwolves +2,000
Traded for:
Traded away:
Thunder +2,200
Traded for: Monte Morris
Traded away: Shake Milton, Troy Brown, and a 2nd round pick
Lakers +2,800
Traded for: N/A
Traded away: N/A
Cavaliers +3,500
Traded for: N/A
Traded away: N/A
Heat +3,500
Traded for: Terry Rozier
Traded away: Kyle Lowry and a 1st round pick
Mavericks +4,000
Traded for: PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, and two 2nd round picks
Traded away: Grant Williams, Richaun Holmes, Seth Curry, one 1st round pick, and one 1st round pick swap
Kings +5,000
Traded for: Robin Lopez and cash considerations
Traded away: Draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (#59 pick in 2015)
Waived: Robin Lopez
Pelicans +6,000
Traded for: Cash considerations
Traded away: Kira Lewis and one 2nd round pick
Warriors +7,000
Traded for: one 2nd round pick
Traded away: Cory Joseph, one 2nd round pick (top-55 protected), and cash consideration
Pacers +11,000
Traded for: Pascal Siakam, Doug McDermott, Furkan Korkmaz, Cory Joseph, four 2nd round picks (though one is top-55 protected), and cash considerations
Traded away: Bruce Brown, Buddy Hield, Jordan Nwora, three 1st round picks, and one 2nd round pick
Waived: James Johnson, Furkan Korkmaz, and Cory Joseph
Magic +25,000
Traded for: N/A
Traded away: N/A
Hawks +40,000
Traded for: N/A
Traded away: N/A
Jazz +60,000
Traded for: Otto Porter Jr, Kira Lewis, Kevin Knox, one 1st round pick, one 2nd round pick, and the draft rights to Gabriele Procida (#36 pick in 2022)
Traded away: Simone Fontecchio, Kelly Olynyk, and Ochai Agbaji
Waived: Kevin Knox
Bulls +60,000
Traded for: N/A
Traded away: N/A
Rockets +60,000
Traded for: Steven Adams
Traded away: Victor Oladipo and three 2nd round picks
Nets +100,000
Traded for: Dennis Sschroder, Keita Bates-Diop, Jordan Goodwin, Thaddeus Young, and three 2nd round picks
Traded away: Royce O'Neale and Spencer Dinwiddie
Waived: Harry Giles, Jordan Goodwin, and Thaddeus Young
Raptors +100,000
Traded for: RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji, Jordan Nwora, Spencer Dinwiddie, two 1st round picks, and one 2nd round pick
Traded away: Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Dennis Schroder, Precious Achiuwa, Otto Porter Jr, Thaddeus Young, and Malachi Flynn
Waived: Spencer Dinwiddie and Christian Koloko
Grizzlies +100,000
Traded for: Yuta Watanabe, Lamar Stevens, Chimezie Metu, Victor Oladipo, one 1st round pick swap (that was already Horcruxed), and five 2nd round picks
Traded away: Xavier Tillman, David Roddy, Steven Adams
Waived: Chimezie Metu and Victor Oladipo
Trail Blazers +100,000
Traded for: Dalano Banton and cash considerations
Traded away: one "2nd round pick" (top-55 protected)
Spurs +100,000
Traded for: Marcus Morris (likely to be waived), one 2nd round pick, and cash considerations
Traded away: Doug McDermott
Wizards +100,000
Traded for: Marvin Bagley III, Richaun Holmes, Isaiah Livers, one 1st round pick, and two 2nd round picks
Traded away: Daniel Gafford, Danilo Gallinari, and Mike Muscala
Hornets +100,000
Traded for: Grant Williams, Kyle Lowry (likely buyout), Tre Mann, Seth Curry, Vasilije Micic, Davis Bertans, two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks
Traded away: Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, Gordon Hayward, and two 2nd round picks
Waived: James Bouknight, Ish Smith, and Frank Ntilikina
Pistons +100,000
Traded for: Simone Fontecchio, Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Shake Milton, Troy Brown, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono, Danuel House, four 2nd round picks, and cash considerations
Traded away: Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Monte Morris, Mavin Bagley III, Isaiah Livers, Kevin Knox, four 2nd round picks (though one is likely top-55 protected), and the draft rights to Gabriele Procida (#36 pick in 2022)
Waived: Joe Harris, Killian Hayes, Danilo Gallinari, Danuel House, and Ryan Arcidiacono
Golden State buys a pick and trims their tax bill (Shams with the news, Tony East the details 2/8)
Warriors receive:
2024 2nd round pick: Worst of Bucks, Cavaliers, or Pelicans
Pacers receive:
Since Second Apron teams like the Warriors won't be able to just buy 2nd round picks anymore going forward (or send cash in deals in general as mentioned below), this is a sneaky good move to spend now now to get the worst of the Pacers' four 2nd rounders while also trimming their luxury tax bill by about $13.5 million due to the repeater penalty. Now they have an open roster spot to convert my guy Lester Quinones to a regular contract by the end of the season, ideally on a multi-year deal, which will eat into those savings but not significantly. Indy had an open roster spot and received more than what's left on Joseph's salary (reportedly $5.8 million) for one of their extra picks, and now they're promptly waiving the veteran guard along with Korkmaz from their earlier trade.
Clippers buy draft rights while they can (Law Murray, 2/8)
Clippers receive:
Draft rights to Ismael Kamagate (#56 pick in 2022)
Nuggets receive:
Cash considerations
Not exactly a blockbuster, but as a Second Apron team, the Clips are about to be unable to send out cash in trades. It was a use or lose it scenario, so they are taking a flier on a 23 year old French big man in Kamagate, who is currently playing in Italy.
Boston adds Springer and sheds Banton (Woj, 2/8)
Celtics receive:
Trail Blazers receive:
76ers receive:
2024 2nd round pick: More favorable of Bulls or Pelicans
These are two separate trades, but I'm just lumping them together here since they're related for Boston (and the Celtics PR release did the same). Springer is likely going into the Grant Williams Trade Exception that they wouldn't be able to use in the offseason as a Second Apron team, and he takes Banton's roster spot as a young wing with some upside who likely won't play much. Keith Pompey provided the details above for the real 2nd that they sent to Philly for Springer (compared to the fake one from Portland for Banton), so they have at least some hope that the #28 pick in 2021 can tap into his upside. He's recently gotten a showcase of minutes with all of the 76ers' injuries, and while he hasn't shot it well, there have been flashes of defensive tenacity for the 21 year old.
This leaves Philadelphia with only Joel Embiid and Paul Reed under contract for next season, with the latter's not even guaranteed unless they win a playoff series. Tyrese Maxey's relatively small cap hold will of course still be on the books along with possibly De'Anthony Melton's, but they will have enough room to sign a max contract and more.
Milwaukee trims their tax bill (Woj 2/8)
Kings receive:
Bucks receive:
Draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (#59 pick in 2015)
Sacramento is likely receiving more than enough to cover the rest of Lopez's salary while Milwaukee will save more on their tax bill than what they're giving up (about $8.6 million per Marks). Good business. This is why you keep the draft rights to random 29 year old former prospects who are most likely not in your plans to bring over.
2/9 update: The Kings are now using their open roster spot to convert second-year wing Keon Ellis' two-way contract. It sounds like they are using the little bit they have left from the Room MLE to give him a three-year deal at the minimum with a team option on the last season. Nice work by him to earn it and by them to secure a cost-controlled deal that could make him a restricted free agent if they decline that option or unrestricted if they prefer to have another cheap year.
McDermott goes back to Indiana (Woj first, Shams with details 2/8)
Pacers receive:
Spurs receive:
2029 Clippers 2nd round pick
Cash considerations
Shams already reports that Morris is likely to be bought out, and it's kind of funny that this is almost a reunion both ways since he once backed out of a verbal agreement to go to San Antonio in 2019. Indy picked up two extra 2029 2nd rounders along with Morris from Philly this morning from that deal, so I'd guess the one that Fischer reported San Antonio is receiving is one of those.
Update: This ended up roped into a three-way deal as part of that Philadelphia trade in the official announcement, and the LA pick is the one going to San Antonio. This small detail means that the Pacers don't create a TE for the difference in salary here, and Morris can't return to the 76ers after a buyout since they are his previous team rather than the Pacers (for five minutes).
Milwaukee and Philly swap backup PGs (Beverley himself with the news, Shams the return, 2/8)
Bucks receive:
76ers receive:
Milwaukee was desperately trying to move on from Payne and improve their perimeter defense, so now new coach Doc Rivers is reunited with Beverley from their Clippers days.
With Philadelphia native Kyle Lowry heavily rumored to come home after a likely buyout with the Hornets, that made Beverley expendable. Now they pick up a 2nd after dealing out the ones they had in other moves today.
Phoenix finally get their defensive wing (Shams, 2/8)
Suns receive:
Nets receive:
2026 2nd round pick: Worst of Bucks, Magic, or Pistons
2028 Grizzlies 2nd round pick
2029 Grizzlies 2nd round pick
Grizzlies receive:
Right to swap 2026 1st round picks with the Suns
After weeks of rumors, Phoenix finally reunited O'Neale with Kevin Durant from last season's Brooklyn team and used one of their Trade Exceptions (likely the Dario Saric TE that's about to expire) to add to another forward option with Big Body Roddy. Shams hasn't said what salary is going out, but it's most likely to be Nassir Little and at least one of their minimum contract guys. Based on what he's said so far, it sounds like Memphis is giving up the three picks and Roddy in order to shed salary and gain another pick swap with Phoenix like the two they got last summer.
O'Neale is the pickup that I've felt is the best fit for Phoenix for a while as a 3+D wing who is also a connector, and based on this initial reporting, he didn't cost all of their limited draft capital as some other options might have. He's curiously listed as 6'6", 226 lbs on NBA.com but 6'4" on Basketball Reference, but in any case, he can guard multiple positions, is a career 38.1% three-point shooter, provides much needed help to them on the boards with a 16.7% career defensive rebounding percentage, and is a sneaky good passer for this archetype with an average of 4.2 assists per-36 minutes as a Net. An interesting note is that last season he made 41.1% from deep in his 37 games, but after KD got hurt and was subsequently traded, that dropped to 36.8% the rest of the way and 36.6% so far this season. However, if you look just at O'Neale's threes listed as "catch and shoot" on NBA.com's tracking page, he's at 38.86% this season and 38.99% for his career. He's going to live on a heavy diet of those type of shots with the type open looks created by their Big 3, who have now had their longest uninterrupted stretch together and are on a 11-3 stretch currently.
Update: I thought Watanabe would be going back to the Nets as the salary filler, but instead he's going back to one of his other former teams, the Grizzlies. It sounds like Metu is also going there while Bates-Diop and Goodwin are going to Brooklyn to balance things out, with Harry Giles being waived to open a roster spot, and I'm guessing the Nets didn't want to take on the remaining years of Little's contract, as moderate as it is. Going this route does open two roster spots to pursue ring-chasers who were bought out, though Phoenix is limited to players who were making under the $12,405,000 MLE on their previous contracts since they are a Second Apron team.
And I misinterpreted Shams' small thread on how the draft compensation was going around. When he said "Suns retain assets after this three-team deal for O'Neale and Roddy -- including a second-rounder and pick swaps," it meant that they have only one 2nd left because they are indeed the ones sending picks to Brooklyn, with Scotto providing the details above. Phoenix further splitting swap rights to the 2026 1st that Washington and Orlando already have access to (or as Zach Lowe coined it, "Horcruxing" swap rights, which I love as a die-hard HP fan) wasn't for more picks from Memphis like last summer after all. The Grizz only got this third degree of Horcruxing in order to absorb the contracts that the Nets didn't want in exchange for Roddy. Metu is already being waived as they clear a roster spot to convert GG Jackson's two-way, and his future salary basically replaces Roddy's as they dance around the tax line next season.
Brooklyn is also waiving Goodwin immediately, so in the end they're swapping out O'Neale (on an expiring contract) for Bates-Diop, who has a player option for next year at the minimum, and three 2nd rounders from Phoenix (though two of them were originally Memphis' from last summer, which can be confusing). This is a pretty solid return without affecting their 2025 cap sheet like Little's contract would have, even if his youth and upside might've been more appealing on the court in the short-term. It is a bit funny that they're helping out a Suns team whose 1st round picks they control in 2025, 2027, 2028 (swap), and 2029, but who knows if O'Neale will re-sign let alone affect the quality of the picks in those years.
Dallas lands their PF upgrade (Shams, 2/8)
Mavericks receive:
Hornets receive:
Dallas has been looking for an upgrade on their big offseason acquisition of Williams after he's faded from a hot-shooting start, and now they beat out the Clippers for Washington. He brings some lower level but similar defensive versatility while bringing more scoring punch and rebounding. Williams was only grabbing 11.1% of the defensive rebounds this season and 12.6% for his career while Washington is at 16.6% and 15.8% for his career. This was the only 1st rounder that the Mavs had to trade until after this upcoming draft, so it's pretty big investment to make up for the Williams sign-and-trade that already cost them a 2030 pick swap with the Spurs. At least they got a couple of 2nd rounders back to help restock the coffers.
It's unclear yet which picks exactly that Charlotte is sending back since they have two 2nd rounders in each of the reported years (with one just arriving today from the Hayward trade), but between their three moves this past month, they've improved their treasure chest of draft picks. For a while last year it wasn't clear if they would even be retaining Washington in restricted free agency, so this is good work to get him on this solid contract that led to getting a 1st out of this along with Williams, who could possibly help their league-worst defense or even be flipped to a contender down the line.
2/9 update: Marks reports that if the 2027 pick lands in the top-2 and therefore does not convey, it only becomes a Heat 2028 2nd rounder. That would be a pretty huge swing based on the lottery, as unlikely as it will likely be.
Brooklyn and Toronto swap veterans (Woj, 2/8)
Nets receive:
Raptors receive:
Toronto clears even more cap room for this summer while Brooklyn trades some flexibility with stability. Since the Nets want to re-sign Nic Claxton, they weren't likely to be a cap space team this offseason anyway, and this gives them a locked in point guard for next season without harming their big plans for the summer of 2025. As Gozlan notes on Twitter, they could take Schroder into the big Kevin Durant Trade Exception that expires tomorrow and Young into the Joe Harris TE in order to create a new one worth Dinwiddie's salary.
Update: Shams adds that Dinwiddie will be waived to avoid a $1.5 million bonus coming up for hitting a games played threshold, and Scotto reports that Young will also be waived, likely due to the roster crunch from Brooklyn's other trade. Surprising, but there are going to be a lot of interesting free agent additions over the next week or two.
2/19 update: Catching up on Hollinger's column from last week, it turns out that I overlooked a better way for the Nets to maneuver their Trade Exceptions: officially executing the O'Neale trade first to generate a new TE and immediately using it here. The final structure of their Suns trade involved taking in Bates-Diop via the Minimum Exception and Goodwin via one of their small TE's (I'm guessing the T.J. Warren one last year's deadline that was about to expire and barely matched salary), so they were technically trading O'Neale for no returning salary, which created a TE equal to his $9,500,000 salary. Then they used that to absorb Young's salary along with Schroder's salary going into the Durant TE before it expired. Thus, they now have more flexibility with a new TE worth Dinwiddie's $20,357,143 until next year's deadline while preserving the $19,928,571 Harris one that expires in July.
New York and Detroit continue to do work together (Woj, 2/8)
Knicks receive:
Pistons receive:
Wow, Woj (and Shams) really buried the lede with only reporting that the deal was for Burks at first. Also getting Bogdanovic makes way more sense if NY is giving up Grimes and two picks. They'd been holding onto Fournier's essentially expiring contract for exactly this sort of salary matching purpose, and now they are arguably the biggest threat to Boston in the East. They are 16-3 in 2024 aka since Anunoby debuted for them, and now they're adding two extra scorers while sending out just one rotation piece.
The Knicks signed Burks to his current contract back in 2020, saw him do well, and then had to include him in a deal with Nerlens Noel during the 2022 draft to clear cap space to sign Jalen Brunson. That obviously worked out better than anyone could hope, and now Burks is back to likely back up Brunson as the lead creator on the second unit to replace what they gave up with Quickley. And after the Pistons were posturing since basically last trade deadline that they wanted to keep Bogdanovic as a veteran leader for their young team, he now can help fill in for the injured Julius Randle to an extent with some front court scoring. A playoff rotation of what I expect to be Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Anunoby, Randle, Hartenstein, Burks, Josh Hart, Bogdanovic, and Achiuwa looks pretty potent, and there's even the chance that Robinson returns. This also opens up a couple of roster spots for buyout additions with them about $2.5 million below the tax line.
I'm sure Detroit was holding out hope of getting one of NY's extra 1st rounders, potentially even their own heavily protected pick, but deadline day forced their hand. Getting Grimes at least eases that pain since he's still on his rookie contract and provides a useful 3+D skillset, albeit with his scoring falling off a bit this season and with some overlap from yesterday's Fontecchio deal. Frustratingly, neither the Pistons' nor Knicks' press release provided details on which 2nd rounders are involved here to fully judge the return. Considering that Burks is set to be a free agent, though, this isn't a bad return even if it's a little light for both of their veterans in demand.
Dallas adds Gafford (Woj, 2/8)
Mavericks receive:
Wizards receive:
Thunder receive:
Right to swap 2028 1st round picks with the Mavs
There haven't been many details on this one aside from Woj saying a deal was close and Marc Stein adding that Oklahoma City is involved to grease the wheels for Washington with draft compensation. I'd guess that Dallas is giving up another pick swap to OKC for one of their extra picks like when they got involved in the Harden trade a few months ago.
Update: Stein followed up that the Thunder did indeed give up one of their extra 1st rounders in this underwhelming draft to get a pick swap from the Mavericks in 2028, which of course comes after Luka Doncic could potentially opt for free agency in the summer of 2026.
That is a heavy price to pay for a backup big man, but at least Dallas is getting off of the Holmes money that they took on last year on draft night...which of course was replacing the Bertans contract...which was filler in the Kristaps Porzingis trade. It just feels like between this and their other trade today, they keep making moves that are good in a vacuum but are to make up for costly prior deals. That's resulting in this risky pick swap to provide a 1st for Washington, who are getting a nice return on a 2nd rounder they developed into a good player. With where they are in their rebuild, this makes a ton of sense.
Philly now gets out of the Tax (Woj, 2/8)
Pistons receive:
76ers receive:
2028 2nd round pick (likely a top-55 protected fake pick)
Well that didn't take long after the earlier trade below where I mentioned another move to get them all the way out of the luxury tax. After all of the hoopla that Darryl Morey went through with James Harden taking less money for them to sign House and PJ Tucker and reunite their old Rockets team, including losing a 2nd due to tampering, now all three were traded away this season.
Detroit has to have another move coming because it already needed to open a roster spot for the Minnesota trade below before adding another player here, but this is a nice move to continue to restore their supply of 2nd rounders.
Update: Shams reports that Joe Harris and Killian Hayes were waived, and House is also being waived immediately after the trade.
OKC gets their veteran help (Woj with the details, Shams had it close, 2/8)
Thunder receive:
Hornets receive:
So Charlotte was able to move Hayward's large expiring contract after all. They weren't able to get a pick with his injury history, but Mann is a former top-20 pick who only turned 23 last week. He was buried on OKC's depth chart of guards but could potentially replace some of what Rozier gave them before. Bertans could possibly have some value for them as a floor-spacing big man, as well, and his player option for next season is only $5,250,000 guaranteed, hence my listing it as purple.
I like this move for the Thunder to acquire an experienced forward option for some bench help in the playoffs without giving up a part of their rotation or future assets. They could still use a little more size and now have a roster spot to work with. Gozlan also noted on Twitter that Hayward's salary here will go up by $1.7 million as part of his trade bonus, which is the cherry on top of going from one of the worst teams in the league to one tied for 1st in the West.
Update: Shams adds now that Micic is also part of the deal and that Charlotte is actually getting some draft compensation as part of this deal, perhaps for taking on that future money. OKC must really not like this draft that everyone always talks down about because they've now traded two picks today (and one in October) that will end up in the 20-45 range.
Olynyk goes home to Canada (Woj, 2/8)
Raptors receive:
Jazz receive:
It's a bit odd to see the Raptors as buyers right now after their two moves to sell previously, but they were sitting on potentially three 1st rounders and an early 2nd in this weak draft class. Prying away Agbaji, who was a lottery pick in 2022, helps make up for it, along with one of the most sought after players of the deadline in Olynyk. The Toronto native can help any team with his shooting and passing as a big man, and assuming that they'll be able to re-sign him, that kind of spacing will provide a ton of value for the development of their young core.
Utah sending Agbaji on the way out after Fontecchio leaves them pretty light on the wing now, so I wonder if they're planning on going back to more jumbo lineups with Markkanen next to two bigs despite their success coming from going away from that (shocking, I know). Or perhaps Ainge has yet another move up his sleeve to alleviate their glut of guards for a little more perimeter size. The fascinating thing is that they are in the thick of the Play-In race at 26-26 but have now traded three of their rotation players for pretty much just draft equity and expiring contracts. I wonder if they might pivot the other way like last year after dealing Mike Conley Jr. at the deadline since their own 1st this year is top-10 protected, which is within striking distance right now. However, there's an argument that it's better to just get that obligation out of the way this year, especially if you don't like this group of prospects, and that seems to be how Toronto is operating with their top-6 protected pick.
Philly adds Hield (Woj with the details, Shams with initial news, 2/8)
76ers receive:
Pacers receive:
I was expecting Philadelphia to move Korkmaz to get out of the luxury tax, but I believe that this still has them slightly above it, which likely means at least one more move is coming. Hield being on another expiring contract allows them to add more shooting punch without affecting their big cap space plans for this offseason. Michael Scotto reports that it's the convoluted 2024 2nd round pick that the 76ers control that is the most favorable from either Toronto, Indiana, Cleveland, or Utah and the two extra 2029 picks that they owned.
Minnesota adds PG depth (Shams, 2/7)
Timberwolves receive:
I guess bringing Tyus Jones home was too expensive, so Tim Connelly instead reunites with Morris from their Denver days together. As the loss to Charlotte during Karl-Anthony Towns' 62 point game proved when Mike Conley Jr. sat out, they desperately needed a backup point guard, and Morris is one of the best backups out there. The contracts they gave Milton and Brown over the summer were almost designed to be traded with their structures, and now Detroit recoups a pick after sending out multiple in recent moves.
Boston picks up Tillman (Woj, 2/7)
Celtics receive:
Grizzlies receive:
2027 Hawks 2nd round pick
2030 Mavericks 2nd round pick
Boston's been rumored to be interested in adding a backup big for a while, and now they do at a fair cost of two picks way down the line. They don't have a 2027 2nd now, but the 2030 pick was an extra one from the Grant Williams sign-and-trade. Now Tillman replaces Williams to an extent, though in a pretty different way with more size and rebounding to play up and not as good of a 3-point threat.
This continues the reshaping of the front court in Memphis and makes sense with a pending free agent. I was a bit surprised last summer that they didn't decline their team option on Tillman to make him a restricted free agent then, and now that they didn't sign him to an extension, he will be unrestricted this offseason. They were pretty light on future 2nd rounders before these last two trades but now are only missing 2nds in 2028 and 2029 while having an extra in 2030.
Update: Jake Fischer adds that Boston is sending Stevens back in the deal, which helps their luxury tax bill and keeps a roster spot open.
Fontecchio lands in...Detroit (Woj, 2/7)
Pistons receive:
Jazz receive:
Draft rights to Gabriele Procida (#36 pick in 2022)
Coming into this week, I didn't think Utah would trade Fontecchio since they've developed him into a solid 3+D wing in his second season, but I'm not surprised he was in demand. Both Hollinger and Tony Jones mentioned him in pieces on The Athletic yesterday as someone to watch since he's cheap and only hitting restricted free agency this summer, with contenders like Boston and Phoenix making sense given their tax situation. Instead, he lands on the worst team in the league as the 6-43 Pistons hoping to avoid the all-time loss record of 73.
Replacing Knox with Fontecchio should help with that as the Italian can fill a valuable role next to Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey on the perimeter, and his cheap cap hold won't affect their cap space plans this summer. Detroit was already without their own 2nd rounder this year and now are giving up a nice pick that is likely to end up in the 30's with Washington sitting at 9-40 and Memphis at 18-33. Procida is a sneaky addition to the deal that wasn't in Woj's initial tweet, and he is another Italian wing with solid size and shooting potential. Drafted 36th overall in 2022, he's only turning 22 this summer and can fit into Utah's future plans with their mostly young core. I'm guessing the fact that Fontecchio already turned 28 this past December and has the aforementioned free agency coming up is why they pulled the trigger here, even with their matching rights and Play-In contention. They were trending towards not having a pick in this year's (admittedly weak) draft since their 1st is only top-10 protected, so this makes for a nice return on a quiet international free agent flier from 2023. The Jazz also create a small Trade Exception equal to Fontecchio's salary, but I'm guessing it will be renounced this summer so that they can dip into around $40 million in cap space, with a chunk of that likely used on a Lauri Markkanen renegotiation-and-extend like they did with Jordan Clarkson last summer.
Houston and Memphis exchange injured players (Woj, 2/1)
Rockets receive:
Grizzlies receive:
I guess Adams is the injured center that Houston settled on instead of a Robert Williams reunion with coach Ime Udoka. This is a curious use of Oladipo's expiring contract that they’ve been holding onto all season as a trade chip and kind of a lot to give up for purely a backup center behind rising star Alperen Sengun, but Adams is on a solid deal for next season at least.
For Memphis, this helps with their luxury tax crunch next season and provides some extra draft capital. They have traded away most of their future 2nd rounders in past trades, so this helps restock the coffers as John Hollinger reports that the 2024 picks are the best and worst of the Nets', Thunder's, and Warriors', which is protected 56-58 while the 2025 pick is the better of the Rockets' or Thunder's. As Keith Smith and Yossi Gozlan pointed out on Twitter, they can absorb Oladipo into the Ja Morant Disabled Player Exception that expires next month to create a new Trade Exception for Adams' salary that lasts until next.
Miami makes long-rumored move for Rozier (Woj, with Shams saying it was close, 1/23)
Heat receive:
Hornets receive:
Zach Lowe has been talking about Miami making a move for Scary Terry for a couple of weeks now, so the only surprise here is how simple of a transaction it turned out to be in the end. For a long time I thought that Rozier was overpaid in Charlotte, but he's put up good numbers there with a career-high 23.2 points and 6.6 assists this season. His salary, which oddly only has about $2 million that isn't guaranteed in the last year, also isn't that bad now under the ever rising cap. The Heat have been looking for an upgrade on Lowry since last summer, so trading a lottery-protected pick that's three years away for Rozier is reasonable, especially since keeping it a straight one for one swap provides about $15 million in tax savings (along with another mid-sized Trade Exception of the $6,477,319 difference in salary). Adding salary for next year will make it more expensive to potentially re-sign Caleb Martin, but they desperately needed to improve their 20th-best offensive rating.
This is a decent start for the Hornets to rebuild under new ownership. It's already been reported by Woj that they will try to flip Lowry before discussing a buyout for him to join a contender, and while that could be tough given his high salary (likewise with Gordon Hayward for them), that is the proper approach to take. I'd expect them to also try to move Miles Bridges and possibly PJ Washington in these next few weeks as they focus on young players and picks to go with LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams. Since Miami already owes a lottery-protected 2025 1st rounder that becomes unprotected the next year, the pick in this deal will come two years from whenever that conveys, so either 2027 or 2028, pending the lotto-protection again.
Toronto sends Siakam to Indiana at long last (Woj, 1/17; Shams with imminent details, 1/16)
Pacers receive:
Raptors receive:
Pelicans receive:
Cash considerations (per Andrew Lopez)
Finally the other shoe drops for the Raptors after extension talks with longtime franchise tentpole Siakam never got anywhere. Now the 29 year old joins Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, and the Pacers in quite the win now move. Technically this is two trades with Indy trading (likely the minimal amount of) cash considerations for Lewis and a 2nd just to be able to aggregate him in this deal to match salaries, which is allowed since they took in his contract with cap space, but I'm just going to list this as one big transaction.
To knock it out quickly: the New Orleans aspect of this has been anticipated basically since last summer when they ever so slightly went over the luxury tax line. Now they're safely under it to save the money it would cost them and also get paid out from the taxpayer distribution at the end of the season. An understandable move to give up their (likely late) 2nd rounder for, and now they have a $5,722,116 Trade Exception since they took nothing back.
The fascinating side is on Indiana's end since this is a lot to give up for a pending free agent. Now that Siakam's been traded, the most that he can add in an extension is two years, $81.6 million, so he's all but sure to test free agency to secure a longer deal. When the report came out last night about three 1st rounders being involved, my initial reaction was that the Pacers must have a certain level of confidence that they'll be able to re-sign him, as opposed to the Kings backing out of the bidding once Siakam made clear he wouldn't want to be there. Then I discovered that he shares the same agents as Indy's Andrew Nembhard, so there could be some pre-agency going on to give up this much draft capital and their big signing from the summer.
The two-time All-NBA forward should be worth it if he stays, though. Since becoming Toronto's go-to scorer after Kawhi Leonard left in 2019, Siakam has averaged 22.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1 steal, 0.6 blocks, and just 2.4 turnovers with 47.8%/33.1%/77.9% shooting and not much deviation from year to year. Aside from maybe some streaky shooting, that kind of consistent option can provide a ton of value next to Haliburton on offense and with Turner on defense. Aaron Nesmith figures to stay in the starting lineup next to them as a shooter with some defensive versatility, and I'll be interested to see if Nembhard stays in the starting lineup in Brown's spot again once Haliburton returns from injury.
The outlay of 1st rounders here is interesting to consider in value. While giving up three is a lot, the protected pick is basically guaranteed to be late in the round given the nature of its conditions (currently set to be OKC's pick at #27 on Tankathon.com), and the Indy pick will also likely end up in the 20's now that they have Siakam (currently tied for #17). As long as Haliburton is on the team and healthy, the 2026 1st will likely be in the back-half of the round, as well. Getting three bites at the apple to hit on a prospect is better than losing a star for nothing like with Fred VanVleet, though, and Siakam himself developing as the 27th pick shows that it's possible. That's not to mention what they could likely get in return for Brown if they choose to flip him as a reliable veteran on what's essentially a large expiring contract and getting a look at Lewis and Nwora. The former is still only 22 after he was intriguing enough to be drafted 13th overall due in part to being only 19 despite playing two seasons at Alabama, and the latter is a 25 year old who had flashes after being traded to Indiana last year.
One last subplot is that between this and the Anunoby trade, the Raptors have finally chosen a direction and now could put themselves in the best position possible to keep their top-6 protected pick that they traded in last year's confusing trade for Jakob Poeltl when they were expected to be sellers. They're currently tied for the 6th-worst record, and this move should keep them in that range. It could be hard to get into the top-5 given just how bad the bottom teams are, but if they do move "up" from the #6 spot to #5 going into lottery night, they'd improve their chances of keeping their pick from 45.85% to 63.96%.
Update: Now that the deal has officially been completed tonight, it's been confirmed that Toronto used the Achiuwa Trade Exception below to take in Nwora's salary, so they now have a new $10,171,292 TE based on the difference in salary between Siakam and Brown + Lewis. They unfortunately had to waive intriguing big man Christian Koloko to open up a roster space after he was taken 33rd overall just 18 months ago, but he hasn't played this season due to a respiratory issue. Similarly, Indiana had to cut locker room vet James Johnson to add Lewis before trading him away, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him re-signed once he clears waivers just like last year at the deadline. Lastly, Bobby Marks confirms that they did send the minimum amount required, $110,000, to New Orleans as I suspected since they had to send something. He also added the protection details that I added above for the 2026 pick.
Shams adds on 1/18 that Koloko actually has a blood clot issue that unfortunately is threatening his basketball career.
Shams adds on 1/18 that Koloko actually has a blood clot issue that unfortunately is threatening his basketball career.
Wizards receive:
Pistons receive:
Well this is...something between two of the worst teams in the league who happen to be playing each other on Monday (makes travel for these players easy at least). It's pretty straight forward with Detroit giving up two more picks to undo their original mistake of trading two 2nd rounders for Bagley just to overpay him in free agency a few months later. Getting his $12.5 million off the books for this summer sets them up with well over enough room for a max contract to overpay someone else this time (I kid, I kid...).
Washington is so early in their rebuild that adding salary for next season isn't a big deal to add some more draft capital, and they pick up a nice young player in Livers to boot. He hasn't shot as well this season as his first two, but he's a 25 year old wing with solid size to throw in the mix.
Toronto finally deals Anunoby (Woj, 12/30)
Knicks receive:
Raptors receive:
After sooo much speculation around Anunoby's future due to his ability to hit free agency this summer, the Raptors cashed in on him at long last. Instead of focusing on draft capital (with three 1st round picks often rumored to be on the table), they got a combination of a locked in young veteran, an exciting player in the last year of his rookie-scale contract, and only one nice pick since Detroit is so bad that their 2nd is practically a 1st.
Barrett may never become the star he once looked like he would be as a prospect who went #3 overall, but he is a really solid, well-rounded player who is only 23 and gets to go home to the Toronto area he grew up in. Fresh off of finishing runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year, the 24-year-old Quickley is a really good get who should fit well next to 22-year-old franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes. Having that kind of point forward alleviates any concerns around Quickley not being a true lead guard, and the offensive threat he provides is much needed. He will only be hitting restricted free agency compared to Anunoby's unrestricted status (when he assuredly declines his player option), so this move is a little reminiscent of when the Raptors swapped Norman Powell for Gary Trent Jr. to get younger with more signability.
That possible flight risk is what made the elite wing defender such an interesting yet risky trade target for teams, but I really shouldn't be surprised that New York is where he ended up after he switched agencies to CAA over the summer. Everyone knows how intertwined the Knicks are with that agency given how their executives Leon Rose and William Wesley came from there, so I'm sure there's a general level of confidence that Anunoby will sign a large new deal to stay when the time comes. The timing of this deal also makes more sense than I realized because while the 4 year, $116,927,999 extension (the most he could get based on his current salary) is far below what he will likely take, it at least is still an option before free agency since the 6 month waiting period will lift just in time.
Assuming the 26-year-old stays as expected, this deal should be worth it even if this is a steep price for New York to pay. It's understandable that they dealt Quickley after they weren't able to reach a rookie-scale extension with him before the deadline at the start of the season. And they were primed for this kind of consolidation trade since exchanging him and Barrett for a singular upgrade opens up more minutes on the perimeter after some recent comments by guys like Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes about their roles. In a related move, Woj reported that Miles McBride just agreed to a 3 year, $13 million extension today to avoid restricted free agency as he will get more run as a backup point guard now.
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