Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Cavaliers Rumors

Nets Buy Out Ben Simmons

February 8th, 2025 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Ben Simmons has reached an agreement on a contract buyout with the Nets, paving the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Nets have confirmed in a press release that they’ve officially requested waivers on Simmons. That means he’ll clear waivers and be free to sign with any NBA team as of Monday at 4:00 pm CT.

Charania first reported shortly after the trade deadline passed on Thursday that the Nets and Simmons were working toward a buyout, then co-reported on Friday along with ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst that the two sides were finalizing the terms of the agreement.

Various reports indicated that Simmons’ camp planned to meet with the Cavaliers, Clippers, and Rockets and that he wouldn’t complete a buyout with Brooklyn until he had his next destination lined up. However, agent Bernie Lee pushed back on that reporting on Friday in a statement to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).

“I just saw some of the other reporting,” Lee said. “(I) want to be really clear Ben hasn’t met with anyone nor is he. We are having conversations with the Nets and when there is something to be said we will let everyone know.”

The fact that Simmons has now been officially waived by the Nets and word still hasn’t leaked about a contract agreement with a new team backs up Lee’s comments. However, I suspect the former No. 1 overall pick wouldn’t have given up any portion of his salary to get out of his contract with Brooklyn unless he was confident about making back that money with another team, so it shouldn’t be long before we get another update.

[UPDATE: Clippers To Sign Ben Simmons]

Simmons, the 2018 Rookie of the Year, made three All-Star teams during his years in Philadelphia and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2021, but had a falling out with the team later that year. A lengthy holdout, a series of back issues, and a trade to the Nets changed the trajectory of his career — across the past three years in Brooklyn, he has appeared in just 90 total games, averaging 6.5 points, 6.3 assists, and 6.2 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per night.

While Simmons’ extremely limited shooting ability make him a tricky piece to incorporate into certain lineups, he’s still a talented play-maker, defender, and rebounder who should have more significantly value as a low-cost addition on the buyout market than he did on his previous maximum-salary contract.

Because he was earning far beyond the $12.8MM mid-level exception on his contract with the Nets, Simmons will be ineligible to sign with any teams operating over either tax apron once he clears waivers. That means the Suns, Timberwolves, Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, Bucks, and Nuggets won’t be options.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Announces Three-Point Contest, Skills Challenge Participants

February 7th, 2025 at 3:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced the participants for the All-Star Saturday festivities in San Francisco on February 15, revealing today (via Twitter) which players will compete in the three-point contest and the skills challenge. Here are the details:

Three-Point Contest:

Among this year’s participants, Powell (43.1%), Garland (42.9%), and Johnson (41.7%) have been the most accurate three-point shooters so far this season, while Herro (39.3% on 9.7 attempts per game) has been the most prolific.

Lillard won the event in both 2023 and 2024 and will be looking to become the first player since Craig Hodges in 1992 to claim the three-point title for a third consecutive year. Larry Bird was also a three-time winner, having achieved the feat in the first three years the NBA held the event (1986-88).

Hield is the only other player in this year’s field to have won the contest before, having done so in 2020. The Warriors wing will be the home team’s representative next Saturday.

Skills Challenge:

It appears the NBA will be tweaking the format of the skills challenge again in 2025, with the event set to feature four teams of two players apiece instead of three players per team.

Mobley was part of the Cavs team that won the event in 2022, along with Jarrett Allen and Garland. He’ll be teaming up with Mitchell this time around.

The NBA also officially confirmed the participants of the dunk contest earlier this week (Twitter link). Those four players, who had been previously reported, are Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis, Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, Bucks guard Andre Jackson, and Magic two-way guard Mac McClung.

Like Lillard in the three-point contest, McClung will be looking to three-peat in his event next Saturday night.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Nets Finalizing Buyout With Ben Simmons

February 7th, 2025 at 9:20am CST by Tristan Tucker

February 7: After being listed as away from the team as he progressed toward a buyout (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post), Charania and Windhorst report (via Twitter) that Simmons is finalizing a buyout with the Nets. He will meet with the Cavaliers and Clippers on Friday, per ESPN’s duo.

Sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes that Simmons will also meet with the Rockets (Twitter link). According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), Simmons will finalize his buyout once he has a new team lined up.

February 6: The Nets are working on a buyout agreement with forward/guard Ben Simmons, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The Cavaliers and the Clippers are among the teams to watch for the former All-Star, Charania reports. The Athletic’s Law Murray confirmed the Clippers’ interest on Thursday (Twitter link).

On Thursday’s trade deadline NBA Today show (YouTube link), Brian Windhorst of ESPN named the Rockets as a potential suitor as well.

Simmons is in the final year of a five-year maximum-salary contract he signed with Philadelphia that began in 2020. He’s owed $40.34MM this year, but it’s unclear at this juncture how much of that he’ll give up in his buyout with the team.

He was originally traded to the Nets at the 2022 deadline in the deal that landed James Harden with Philadelphia. However, after holding out for part of the season and dealing with a back injury, Simmons ultimately didn’t suit up for the Nets until the 2022/23 season.

He didn’t end up playing much for Brooklyn over the following three seasons, appearing in a total of 90 games (69 starts) and averaging 6.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists while only attempting 5.3 shots per game.

While Simmons isn’t the same level of defender as he was when he finished no lower than fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in consecutive seasons from 2019-21, he still provides some intrigue on that end. Both the Cavaliers and Clippers have at least one open roster spot, so they wouldn’t need to clear the way to sign him. The Rockets don’t have a roster spot open but could waive Cody Zeller once their series of trade deadline moves is completed.

Due to apron rules, the Celtics, Nuggets, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Knicks and Suns are the teams ineligible to sign Simmons once he hits free agency, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link). Those seven teams are either in the first or second apron and are thus not allowed to sign players who make more than the mid-level exception, which is $12.8MM.

As for the Nets, parting ways with Simmons allows the team to open a roster spot. They could see if any interesting young players worth taking fliers on hit waivers or they could opt to convert one of their two-way players to a standard deal if they so chose. Two-way players Tosan Evbuomwan and Tyrese Martin have both been contributors in Brooklyn.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Hawks Trade De’Andre Hunter To Cavaliers

February 6th, 2025 at 11:52pm CST by Rory Maher

11:52 pm: The Hawks have officially confirmed that their trade with the Cavaliers is official, issuing a press release to announce the deal. The two teams ended up not needing a third team to take salary because Atlanta worked out separate deals to cut costs and stay out of tax territory.

12:45 pm: The Hawks and Cavaliers have reached an agreement on a trade that will send forward De’Andre Hunter to Cleveland, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Atlanta will acquire Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second-round picks, and two pick swaps.

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com confirms Charania’s report (via Twitter), adding that the Hawks and Cavs are looking to include a third team in the deal as well.

According to Fedor (Twitter link), Cleveland will send Atlanta second-round picks in 2027, 2029 and 2031. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports (via Twitter) that the pick swaps will be first-rounders in 2026 and 2028.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, the Cavs will move out of the luxury tax as a result of the trade and will now be about $1.5MM below the tax line. They will have two open roster spots once the deal is official (they’ve only been carrying 14 players on their standard roster) and will eligible to sign any player on the buyout market.

The Hawks, meanwhile, will be approximately $2.1MM above the tax line if the current details of the trade remain in place, according to Gozlan (Twitter link). They also have 15 players on their standard roster, so they’ll have to release someone, expand the trade, or make a separate deal to dip below the tax.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), LeVert makes $16.6MM in 2024/25 and will be a free agent this summer. Niang makes $8.5MM this season and $8.2MM in ’25/26 before hitting free agency in 2026. Hunter earns $21.7MM in ’24/25, $23.3MM in ’25/26, and $24.7MM in ’26/27 before becoming eligible for free agency in 2027.

The Cavaliers have been linked to Hunter for years, with multiple reports indicating that the team was pursuing the former No. 4 overall pick ahead of today’s deadline. The 6’8″ forward is having the best season of his career, averaging 19.0 points and 3.9 rebounds on .461/.393/.858 shooting in 37 games (28.8 minutes per contest).

Hunter, 27, theoretically fills a need for a Cleveland team that has long been seeking a small forward with plus size and who can provide versatility on both ends of the court. He has come off the bench for most of ’24/25, but seems likely to start for the Cavaliers, considering what they’re trading away to acquire him.

LeVert, 30, and Niang, 31, have been rotation mainstays off the bench for Cleveland and have contributed to the team leading the league in three-point percentage — LeVert is at a career-best 40.5%, while Niang has converted 40.0% of his outside attempts. They were both reportedly positive presences in the locker room as well.

It’s unclear if the Hawks have interest in retaining either player long-term, as the draft assets seem to be the primary motivating factor for making the trade. Atlanta will also clear off a significant long-term salary in the coming years, giving the team more financial flexibility as it builds out the roster around Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu.

It’s interesting that the Cavaliers decided to potentially disrupt the chemistry that has led them to the second-best record in the NBA (41-10), but they upgraded at a position of relative weakness while also staying out of the luxury tax, so the deal accomplishes two goals at once. They figure to be a taxpayer for years to come by adding Hunter’s long-term deal, but that was always likely after giving lucrative long-term extensions to Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen last offseason.

Regarding the pick swaps in the deal, the language on those is quite convoluted because the Hawks already traded swap rights on their 2026 first-rounder to the Spurs, while the Cavs gave swap rights on their 2026 pick first to the Timberwolves, then to the Jazz. Utah also has the right to swap 2028 first-rounders with Cleveland.

Essentially, in 2026, the Hawks will have the opportunity to swap whichever first-round pick they end up with for whatever pick the Cavs end up with. In 2028, Atlanta will be able to swap its own first-rounder for the least favorable of the Cavs’ and Jazz’s picks.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Trade Deadline Winners, Losers

February 6th, 2025 at 10:07pm CST by Tristan Tucker

This year’s NBA trade deadline will go down in the history books as one of the wildest in North American sports history, if not the most chaotic.

This is, of course, mostly due to the shocking late Saturday transaction that saw Luka Doncic join the Lakers. Still, we saw an NBA record 63 players moved ahead of the deadline, with players like De’Aaron Fox, Jimmy Butler, Khris Middleton, Brandon Ingram, De’Andre Hunter, Kyle Kuzma and Andrew Wiggins among those changing hands.

Only the Magic, Trail Blazers, Timberwolves and Nuggets didn’t make an in-season trade. The Nets wound up staying out of the days leading up to the deadline after completing their major moves earlier in the season. Cameron Johnson is one notable player who was the subject of trade rumors for most of the season but ended up staying in place.

[RELATED: 2024/25 In-Season Trades]

Outside of that, the Celtics, Pacers and Rockets were among teams who made minor moves on the fringes of their roster.

The five-team deal that saw Butler join the Warriors and Wiggins go to the Heat was one of the biggest moves at the deadline. According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Butler’s teammates were sad to see him go, but were happy that he ultimately got what he wanted with a new destination and contract.

While Miami briefly explored trying to acquire Kevin Durant, they pivoted to Wiggins and are happy to have him. Bontemps writes that rival executives like the addition of Wiggins in Miami. Additionally, several of Bontemps’ sources were impressed not only by the return the Heat were able to extract, but also that they were able to stick together through a tumultuous season.

Butler was also a big winner in the eyes of execs after getting his two-year, maximum-salary extension, but Bontemps writes the Warriors have more work to do in terms of spacing the floor. However, at a relatively modest trade price, the Warriors get to bet on their stars meshing and making a deep playoff run as a lower seed, like the Heat have done in the past.

The Warriors winning the Butler sweepstakes ultimately meant that Phoenix missed out on him. For about a month, it was widely reported that there was strong mutual interest between the 35-year-old and the Suns, but Bradley Beal‘s no-trade clause meant a deal was impossible.

That led to the Suns actually taking calls on Durant, though they ultimately kept their three highest-paid players together. The Suns were able to offload Jusuf Nurkic and add two potential rotation guys in Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic, but executives were confused about where Phoenix will go next, according to Bontemps.

After acquiring Doncic ahead of the deadline, the Lakers went all in on adding a big man, sending a first-round pick, a pick swap, and Dalton Knecht to the Hornets for Mark Williams. Los Angeles is taking a massive bet on Williams staying healthy, as they now only have swaps in 2026 and 2028 to send out in trades.

On the other hand, in the wake of the Doncic deal, the Mavericks had a relatively quiet rest of the deadline, acquiring Caleb Martin and sending out Quentin Grimes. “I thought they had more up their sleeve,” a West executive said, per Bontemps.

Both Toronto and Cleveland took big swings in acquiring Ingram and Hunter, respectively. Although the two teams are in much different positions in the conference, those moves showed they both have faith in what they’re building.

The Raptors are likely to try to re-sign Ingram to a multi-year extension, which would add significantly to a payroll that already includes sizable deals for Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Jakob Poeltl. The Cavaliers have the second-best record in the league, so giving anything of value in their rotation is a risk to chemistry. But adding Hunter, who’s in the middle of a breakout season, is a bold move to push the team over the top.

For my money, I like how the Jazz and Pistons operated in the Butler trade. The Jazz were able to acquire two second-rounders and take back less expiring money than P.J. Tucker‘s $11.4MM contract, rerouting Dennis Schröder to Detroit, who bought him as an asset in the same Miami-Golden State five-team deal.

As for the Pistons, while they maybe could have gotten Schröder for a lower price if they’d negotiated with the Heat, they netted two second-round picks, added a viable contributor in Schröder and added a bench shooter in Lindy Waters III for simply having cap space as an asset.

Additionally, I think the Hornets did well to acquire Knecht and valuable picks by sending out Williams, Martin and Micic. The Wizards also intrigued me by adding several veterans in Middleton, Marcus Smart and Alex Len, and picking up two fliers in AJ Johnson and Colby Jones, if they stick. Washington essentially consolidated picks, added a 2024 first-rounder in Johnson and other assets in exchange for players who weren’t in their future.

We want to hear from you. Which teams do you think ended up as the biggest winners after deadline day? Were there any teams that should have done more, or did too much? Who lost the deadline? Which teams had the most underrated moves?

Head to the comments section below to let us know!

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Game Rosters

February 6th, 2025 at 6:33pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The 24 players selected for the 2025 All-Star Game were drafted on a Thursday pre-game TNT show by coaches Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, and later announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Trade Rumors: Cavs, Hunter, Boucher, Heat, Blazers, Pacers

February 6th, 2025 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers and Hawks continue to discuss a potential trade that would send forward De’Andre Hunter to Cleveland, as Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line tweet. Reporting earlier this week indicated that the two teams were talking about a deal centered around Hunter and Caris LeVert, with a subsequent report referring to the Cavs as the frontrunner to land Hunter.

According to Fischer and Stein, one complication in the talks is that both Cleveland and Atlanta would like to end up below the luxury tax line.

The Hawks are currently below that threshold by approximately $1.2MM, while the Cavs are above it by about $1.8MM, so a third team would likely need to be brought in as a facilitator to take on a contract and ensure both teams are able to remain out of tax territory.

The Pistons, who still have a good deal of cap flexibility, could be a third party to watch, observes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA with the 2025 deadline just a couple hours away:

  • After agreeing to acquire Brandon Ingram and accommodate a Miami salary dump, the Raptors are still exploring the possibility of making one more move, likely involving big man Chris Boucher, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
  • The Heat, who are about $2.8MM above the luxury tax line after reaching a deal with Toronto today, will likely continue trying to get below that threshold before this afternoon’s deadline, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
  • Although the Trail Blazers have a handful of veteran trade candidates on their roster, there hasn’t been a ton of trade chatter in Portland, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian, who suggests that big man Robert Williams is the only player consistently mentioned in the days leading up to the deadline. Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, and Deandre Ayton had also been considered available, but they’re on bigger contracts and have played crucial roles in the Blazers’ recent hot streak.
  • Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star explains why various moves and reports from around the league point to the Pacers having a relatively quiet trade deadline.
  • Arguing in favor of the Knicks keeping center Mitchell Robinson rather than trading him, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required) makes the case that a healthy Robinson is the most impactful player the team could realistically add this month.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Trade Rumors: Durant, Heat, Hunter, Hornets, Celtics

February 6th, 2025 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

Before the Heat agreed to trade Jimmy Butler to the Warriors, those two teams and the Suns had the framework in place for a potential deal that would have sent Butler to Phoenix and Kevin Durant to Golden State, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during a Thursday appearance on Get Up (YouTube link).

When it became clear that Durant wasn’t interested in reuniting with the Warriors, the three teams pivoted. The Heat and Warriors got together to finalize a Butler deal, while Durant now appears likely to remain in Phoenix through the deadline

According to Windhorst, there was a window after the Warriors’ talks for Durant fell through for the Heat to make a play for the Suns’ superstar forward, but Phoenix sought several additional assets that Miami didn’t want to give up.

“I do think there was some interest on both sides, but in the cursory discussions, from what I understand, Phoenix was looking for a massive return for Kevin Durant,” Windhorst said. “The Heat weren’t really into that game. They had gotten comfortable with acquiring Andrew Wiggins. That was a deal they had kind of agreed to the day before.”

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

  • Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter is a name to watch ahead of the deadline, says Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link). Previous reporting indicated that the Cavaliers are talking to Atlanta about Hunter, and Mannix confirms that Cleveland is considered the frontrunner, though he suggests other teams have also called about the 27-year-old.
  • Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) has heard that the Hornets are “very open” to moving Miles Bridges, Cody Martin, and Vasilije Micic. Of those three players, Martin, who has an $8.12MM pseudo-expiring contract (next season’s salary is non-guaranteed) would likely be the easiest to move. Bridges has a pricey contract that runs through 2026/27, while Martin has more on-court value than Micic, who is on a $7.7MM de facto expiring deal.
  • Having agreed to trade away Jaden Springer, the Celtics are on the lookout for a reserve wing player whom head coach Joe Mazzulla could trust more, sources tell Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Boston will likely target that sort of player on the buyout market if no trade options emerge today.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Eastern Notes: Middleton, Wizards, Cavs, Walker, Johnson, Buzelis

February 5th, 2025 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards don’t have a second deal lined up for Khris Middleton, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link), who says Washington’s plan for the time being will be to hang onto the veteran forward after acquiring him from Milwaukee.

As Mannix and Varun Shankar of The Washington Post outline, the Wizards were willing to trade Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin, and a first-round pick swap for Middleton, AJ Johnson, and a second-round pick because they like Johnson, wanted to open up more playing time for young wings like Kyshawn George and Justin Champagnie, and will create some additional financial flexibility in 2026 (Kuzma was signed through ’26/27).

I wouldn’t expect Middleton to have a long-term future in D.C., but if he can use the second half of this season to get closer to full health, he could have a little trade value in the offseason — he holds a player option for 2025/26 and would be on an expiring contract if he opts in, which seems likely.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter), Middleton’s 2024/25 cap hit for the Wizards will adjust from $31.7MM to $31MM because his bonus for making the playoffs is no longer considered “likely” (because Milwaukee made the playoffs last year, whereas Washington didn’t). That will also cause the cap hit for next season’s player option to dip from about $34MM to $33.3MM.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference with the trade deadline just over 24 hours away:

  • Jason Lloyd of The Athletic advocates for the Cavaliers to make an effort to duck below the luxury tax line at this season’s trade deadline, pointing out that delaying the repeater taxpayer clock for another season could pay off for the franchise in the long run. Shedding the minimum-salary contracts of Tristan Thompson and Sam Merrill would do the trick, Lloyd notes, though Merrill has been a part of the regular rotation.
  • Jarace Walker has been in and out of the Pacers‘ rotation as of late, getting his first DNP-CD of the season on Saturday. The second-year forward acknowledges that his inconsistent role hasn’t been easy to deal with, but head coach Rick Carlisle lauded Walker for the effort he has shown during workouts and practices, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I wish all top 10 picks in the NBA could learn about being the pro the way that he is learning about it and the way he’s adapting and the way he’s managing everything in his life to stay ready,” Carlisle said. “His teammates trust him. The coaching staff trusts him. Trust is earned and not given. I got a lot of respect for that kid. For where he came from his first year to the early parts of this year to now, he’s a man.”
  • Cameron Johnson, who had missed six straight games due to an ankle sprain, is no longer on the Nets‘ injury report, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Barring a last-minute development, that suggests Johnson should be available for Wednesday’s game vs. Washington. In case you missed it, multiple reports this week have indicated that the Brooklyn forward appears increasingly unlikely to be traded.
  • On the heels of trading two-time All-Star Zach LaVine, the Bulls had to be encouraged by what they saw from rookie forward Matas Buzelis on Tuesday, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times writes. One of the club’s long-term building blocks, Buzelis enjoyed the best game of his NBA career in a win over Miami, scoring 24 points on 10-of-10 shooting (4-of-4 three-pointers). “My confidence right now is high, but you’ve got to stay humble,” Buzelis said after the game. “My dad always tells me the sun comes up tomorrow, so you’ve got to go back to work. You guys can call it [a breakout game], it doesn’t matter to me. Breakout, I’m going to play the same way every night.”
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Cavaliers, Hawks Have Discussed Hunter, LeVert

February 5th, 2025 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers have expressed interest in Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, multiple sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link), confirming a report from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. According to Fedor, the Cavs’ talks with Atlanta have centered around swingman Caris LeVert.

Due to the difference between Hunter’s current cap hit ($21.7MM) and LeVert’s ($16.6MM), Cleveland would have to send out at least one more player in any deal involving the Hawks forward to avoid surpassing the first tax apron, according to Fedor, who suggests that rookie Jaylon Tyson ($3.3MM) would be one possibility. Atlanta may also seek draft assets — Cleveland controls its 2031 first-round pick, along with a few second-rounders.

According to Fedor, the Cavaliers have had Hunter on their radar for years, dating back to the 2019 draft when he went fourth overall to Atlanta, one pick ahead of Cleveland at No. 5. Sources tell Cleveland.com that the Cavs have done “extensive” homework on the 27-year-old, frequently inquiring over the years about his availability and what it would take to acquire him.

Hunter is having the best year of his career in 2024/25, averaging 18.9 points per game on .459/.386/.858 shooting through 36 outings (28.5 MPG). He’s also the sort of long, athletic wing that the Cavaliers have long been seeking and is close friends with guard Ty Jerome dating back to their days at the University of Virginia, Fedor notes, so Cleveland would be confident about his fit.

As Fedor reports, the Cavs have also checked in on several other possible trade candidates, such as Cameron Johnson (Nets), Jerami Grant (Trail Blazers), Javonte Green (Pelicans), Cody Martin (Hornets), Chris Boucher (Raptors), Julian Champagnie (Spurs), Obi Toppin (Pacers), and Royce O’Neale (Suns). However, the front office is wary about messing with the chemistry of a team that sits atop the Eastern Conference with a 40-10 record.

Cavs players and head coach Kenny Atkinson discussed that aspect of the trade deadline on Tuesday, per Fedor.

“You have to listen,” Atkinson said. “You’d be really not smart if you didn’t listen and talk about how you can get better. It’s the business we’re in. We’re really good, obviously, but it could always be something out there that gets us to the next level. My one thing to [president of basketball operations] Koby [Altman] is we have great chemistry right now and a great culture, great locker room culture. That’s super important to me. If it is a trade, if it is a buyout, it’s got to be the right fit.”

“If you take away somebody, especially somebody in the locker room, a locker room presence, it’s gonna disrupt it,” center Jarrett Allen said. “At the end of the day, we’re all close to each other. But as you know, that’s how things go.”

Both Allen and Donovan Mitchell said on Tuesday that they believe the Cavaliers have enough to be a title contender. Still, the front office is keeping an eye out for ways to make upgrades. Sources tell Fedor that Cleveland is also considering the idea of making a small trade or two around the margins, with another big man among the possibilities the club is weighing.

If the Cavs don’t make a move at the trade deadline, they’ll likely take a look at the buyout market, according to Fedor, who points to Lonzo Ball as a player to watch, though a Tuesday report suggested the Bulls won’t be eager to buy out Ball if they hang onto him through the deadline. Torrey Craig, who was waived by Chicago earlier this week, is another player to monitor, Fedor adds.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts