2025 NBA Trade Deadline: Rumors, news, analysis and FAQ

The NBA seemed set for a quiet trade deadline in 2025 as a new Collective Bargaining Agreement tormented teams with multiple luxury tax aprons and more punitive restrictions for increasing payroll.

So much for that.

Brandon Ingram has been on the trade block since the summer as he entered the final year of his contract this season. The New Orleans Pelicans finally found him a new home less than 24 hours before the NBA trade deadline.

The Toronto Raptors acquired Ingram in a deal that brings back Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk, a 2026 first-round pick originally belonging to the Indiana Pacers, and one second-round pick, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania.

There is a new trend at the 2025 NBA trade deadline, and it’s kind of hilarious: Players finding out from fans with camera phones about the latest big deal that just went down. This happened to both the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers in the aftermath of Saturday’s shocking Luka Doncic trade, and on Wednesday, we got to see three members of the Miami Heat find out about a deal involving their own team, and that they would no longer be playing with Jimmy Butler.

After NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN broke the news that Butler had been traded to the Golden State Warriors, an enterprising fan at Sixers-Heat got to feel like Shams Charania, and break the news to Kevin Love, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro that their indefinitely suspended teammate was now officially exiled, and their reactions were priceless:

Normally, NBA locker rooms are open to reporters for a 45-minute window pregame, but on Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors raised alarm bells that they might have a deal imminent on the eve of the NBA trade deadline when they kicked all the reporters out so that Steve Kerr could address the team privately ahead of their matchup with the Utah Jazz.

Ringing further conspiracy bells was the fact they called players who were working out — including Stephen Curry — back from the floor to the locker room to participate in the team-wide meeting, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

The long Jimmy Butler trade saga has finally reached a conclusion.

The Golden State Warriors acquired Butler from the Miami Heat for Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, Lindy Waters II, and a top-10 protected first-round pick, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. Schröder is going to the Utah Jazz, Josh Richardson and Waters II are going to the Detroit Pistons, and Anderson is going to the Heat, per insider Chris Haynes.

Kevin Durant is the hottest name on the NBA trade market as the league’s trade deadline approaches on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. ET. The latest rumors are connecting Durant to the Golden State Warriors, the team he helped win two NBA championships for in the late 2010s. Durant trade speculation is peaking just as the Suns are running out of time to complete a trade for Jimmy Butler. Putting it all together is going to be a monumental task, but NBA fans are already one step ahead of the game.

This has already been one of the greatest trade deadlines in league history thanks to the shocking Luka Doncic-for-Anthony Davis swap and a spicy three-team deal that sent De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs and Zach LaVine to the Chicago Bulls. The possibility of Durant getting traded adds another future Hall of Famer to trade season.

The Dallas Mavericks made another surprising trade just days after shocking the world by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.

The Mavericks traded Quentin Grimes and a 2025 second round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caleb Martin, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. The second-round pick in the trade originally belonged to Philadelphia, and would currently be the No. 37 overall pick at the time of this trade.

The last time Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry teamed up in the NBA, the result was three NBA Finals appearances and two titles in three years. And then, a few years after separating, they got together as part of the USA Basketball Avengers with LeBron James to lead the United States to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer.

So even if it seems impossible, one could be forgiven if thinking an NBA team featuring those three could still be pretty good for an NBA Expendables-style, one-last-job-type title run, even if all of them are going a bit gray in the beard (in LeBron’s case, literally). But it’s also the type of midseason transaction tornado that would get thrown out by NBA 2K’s machine logic for being too unrealistic and a set of moves that are nearly impossible to work under the league’s new, more restrictive collective bargaining agreement.

The tectonic shift of the Luka Doncic trade was enough to quiet all transaction whispers elsewhere for almost 24 hours, but on Sunday evening, word began to percolate that Doncic would not be the only NBA star moved over the weekend, and that De’Aaron Fox was on the verge of having his trade request granted.

And then it happened, with Fox heading to his preferred destination of the San Antonio Spurs, Zach LaVine ending up on the Kings, and the Bulls... well, mostly getting off the LaVine contract but also getting their own first-round pick back from Sacramento so they can tank safely this season.

In a move our Mavericks experts at Mavs Moneyball are calling “the worst moment in the history of DFW sports,” Dallas made a trade sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, a first-round pick, and Max Christie in a blockbuster deal late Saturday night.

In the aftermath of the deal, the prevailing cries from NBA fans, Mavericks supporters and basketball punditry alike were united in asking “why didn’t the Mavericks make Luka available to more teams?” and “was this really the best package they could get?”

The most mind-blowing trade in NBA history caught literally everyone involved off-guard, and still has the wider basketball world picking up the pieces at what just went down.

Luka Doncic is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis has joined the Dallas Mavericks next to Kyrie Irving. The Utah Jazz got involved as a third team to help facilitate the deal. When ESPN insider Shams Charania first reported the trade, everyone assumed he was hacked.

Bradley Beal’s name has been in NBA trade rumors for almost the entire season as the Phoenix Suns have slipped down the Western Conference standings. There’s a catch: Beal is one of two players in the league with a no-trade clause, which he negotiated as part of his max contract with the Washington Wizards back in 2022. LeBron James is the other.

It’s no secret that the Suns want disgruntled Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler. Beal would need to be sent out in that trade, but the Heat reportedly don’t want him. That means a potential Butler trade to Phoenix has to be a multi-team deal where Beal goes to an approved location. Beal has already lost his starting spot with the Suns this season, and still has two years, $110 million remaining on his contract after this season. He isn’t going to have many suitors at that price point, and he’s already ruled out one franchise that was reportedly considering him.