NBA Intel: Lakers, Warriors, Nets, Thunder, Bulls, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Kings, Raptors, Clippers

With New Year’s upon us, there could be leftover fireworks in January and early February heading into the 2025 NBA trade deadline.

Thus, HoopsHype has gathered the latest intel on top trade candidates, including De’Aaron Fox, Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram, Zach LaVine, Cam Johnson, and D’Angelo Russell. Plus, reporting on what’s next for the Lakers, Warriors, Nets, Thunder, Grizzlies, Pistons, Pelicans, Raptors, Clippers, and more.

Why did the Nets choose a D’Angelo Russell reunion and trade Dorian Finney-Smith to the Lakers over the Grizzlies, and what’s next for all three teams?

Despite a recent pursuit by the Memphis Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Lakers won the Dorian Finney-Smith sweepstakes by trading D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.

While the Lakers hope to keep Finney-Smith long-term, the early expectation is he will decline his $15.38 million player option for the 2025-26 season and enter unrestricted free agency, HoopsHype has learned. Finney-Smith, a proven 3-and-D forward, is shooting a career-high 43.5 percent from 3-point range this season.

Milton has been an underrated backup guard this season with Brooklyn, averaging 7.4 points and shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range in 18.2 minutes per game. The remaining two years on Milton’s contract after this season are non-guaranteed, giving the Lakers low-risk flexibility as well.

Having acquired the wing defender they sought in Finney-Smith, the next item for the Lakers on their list is a backup center. The Lakers will continue to try and acquire Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas or another backup center on the trade market with their remaining future second-round draft capital, and Gabe Vincent is expected to be dangled in talks as well, league sources told HoopsHype.

Before the Lakers finalized the Finney-Smith acquisition, the Grizzlies attempted to acquire him by offering a protected 2025 first-round pick, Luke Kennard, and John Konchar to Brooklyn for Finney-Smith and a second-round pick.

The Nets preferred not to take back the $18.5 million remaining on Konchar’s contract through the 2026-27 season. In addition, with four first-round picks already in the 2025 draft, the Nets didn’t need another projected late first-round pick on paper, while Memphis was unwilling to offer a future first-round pick in 2026 or beyond.

After recently offering a protected first-round pick for Finney-Smith, the Grizzlies showed they value him. It’s conceivable Memphis will have interest in trying to sign Finney-Smith should he enter free agency armed with their full mid-level exception available for up to four years if they choose.

Besides the Lakers and Grizzlies, several other teams kept tabs on Finney-Smith, including the Mavericks, Nuggets, Warriors, Kings, Pacers, etc.

In acquiring Russell, the Nets will have the opportunity to flip him in another trade before the deadline or allow his $18.69 million expiring contract to come off the books and give them more cap space looking ahead. Despite speculation that Russell could be bought out before suiting up for Brooklyn, that’s not the case, league sources told HoopsHype.

Brooklyn will also get a close look at Lewis, a 22-year-old swingman. Entering the 2023 draft, Lewis had upside but fell to the second round and never got to play much with the Lakers.

The three second-round picks Brooklyn acquired can be used to acquire a veteran rotation player years down the line, as we saw with the Lakers acquiring Finney-Smith.

Cam Johnson’s trade market

Following the departures of Dennis Schroeder and Dorian Finney-Smith, the next potential trade candidate in Brooklyn that NBA executives are monitoring is forward Cam Johnson, who’s having his best season across the board while averaging 19.1 points on 48.8 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range.

Heading into the start of 2025, the growing belief around the league was Johnson would fetch more than one first-round pick due to his play and contract if he’s going to be traded. Johnson is signed through the 2026-27 season for a total of $65.54 million, allowing Brooklyn time to be picky and wait for the right offer. Should the Nets not get what they want, they can retain Johnson through the rest of the season.

During the G League Showcase, there were rumblings from NBA executives that the Oklahoma City Thunder had interest in pursuing Johnson on the trade market.

Should Oklahoma City ultimately pursue a Johnson trade with Brooklyn, keep an eye on January 15 when Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe are each eligible to be traded. The Thunder has a boatload of future first-round draft picks available to dangle along with tradeable salaries such as Kenrich Williams – our top trade candidate coming into the season – Ousmane Dieng, and Jaylin Williams.

With Dieng in his third season and Oklahoma City having three first-round picks currently in the 2025 draft, a decision could be coming on his future. After being drafted 11th overall in 2022, the 21-year-old forward began the season as a rotation piece on one of the league’s top teams before suffering a small fracture in his right ring finger and recently returning.

Sticking in the West, the Sacramento Kings have consistently expressed interest in trading for Johnson. Having fired coach Mike Brown, the DeMar DeRozan experiment not working as expected with the Kings underwhelming this season, and worrying about De’Aaron Fox’s happiness after he passed on a contract extension, the Kings are being monitored by teams around the league to see if they’ll make a panic trade to try and save the season.

With five weeks until the trade deadline, Johnson remains one of the top players on the market, with significant interest elsewhere around the league.

Zach LaVine trade talks

There’s been growing pessimism that Chicago Bulls two-time All-Star Zach LaVine would be traded to the Denver Nuggets in a package for Michael Porter Jr., league sources told HoopsHype.

Chicago doesn’t want to absorb Zeke Nnaji’s four-year, $32 million contract and would need to offload him to a third team, such as the Detroit Pistons, who have $14 million in cap space going into the trade deadline to be a third party facilitator in trades to acquire future draft capital. Chicago doesn’t want to waste any assets having to flip Nnaji to a third team, and Denver lacks the future draft capital likely needed to make it happen on their end.

On the basketball court, there are also internal questions about whether LaVine and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray would coexist effectively on both sides of the ball.

Instead, NBA scouts and executives who spoke with HoopsHype believe Denver should try and dangle Porter Jr. to make a run at Miami’s Jimmy Butler, despite Heat executive Pat Riley publicly denying that Butler will be traded before the deadline. Teams such as the Warriors, who’ve kept tabs on Butler since the summer, will continue to do so before the trade deadline.

Golden State Warriors trade market

“We’re just very average,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said following Golden State’s 113-95 loss on December 30 to the Cavaliers, which dropped the team’s record to 16-16 heading into 2025.

Ideally, the Warriors want to give Curry another shot to compete for a championship this season. Following the Dennis Schroeder acquisition, there remains more work to do for a team that started 12-3 but has since gone 4-13.

Golden State has done its due diligence on several notable players on the trade market, including but not limited to Jimmy Butler – whom Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. played with in Chicago – Brandon Ingram, Cam Johnson, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Kyle Kuzma, etc.

Butler is seemingly the top target, but Heat President Pat Riley has publicly denied he’ll be traded. Ingram’s ankle injury and impending free agency have complicated his trade value.

Johnson’s contract incentives are a factor the Warriors must take into account in any potential trade for him while navigating their luxury tax situation. Furthermore, talks between the Nets and Warriors regarding Johnson were always exploratory when they previously discussed a Schroder trade, league sources told HoopsHype. Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga wasn’t discussed in a trade package at that time for Johnson, sources said.

Golden State is expected to remain active leading up to the trade deadline, league sources said. The Warriors can flip Schroder in a trade if needed, have young assets in Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski, expiring contracts of Gary Payton II ($9.13 million) and Kevon Looney ($8 million), and they own all of their first-round picks except for 2030, which is protected 1-20 to Washington.

Pelicans: Brandon Ingram and Brandon Boston Jr notes

Before Brandon Ingram essentially shut down exploratory trade talks between the Jazz and Pelicans because of his unwillingness to re-sign in Utah long-term, the two teams kicked around the concept of John Collins heading to New Orleans as part of a trade package along with unspecified draft pick compensation, league sources told HoopsHype. However, talks ultimately fizzled before getting serious, with Ingram unwilling to commit long-term to Utah.

Currently, teams who’ve been monitoring Miami’s Jimmy Butler are also keeping tabs on Ingram with five weeks until the trade deadline.

While the Pelicans continue to gauge the trade market for Ingram, who remains out with an ankle injury, New Orleans is expected to try and duck the tax by moving one or two minimum players on the roster while trying to create a roster spot to also convert a two-way player, Brandon Boston Jr., league sources told HoopsHype.

In an underwhelming season full of injuries, Boston Jr. has been a developmental bright spot for the Pelicans and proven to be an NBA rotation player, averaging 11.5 points and 1.4 steals in 25.4 minutes.

Who could be a potential trade partner for New Orleans to duck the tax and create a roster spot to convert Boston Jr.? Perhaps former Pelicans general manager and current Pistons executive Trajan Langdon, who has $14 million in salary cap space to help facilitate trades for other teams around the league in exchange for future draft capital.

Kings: What’s next after firing Mike Brown and the future of De’Aaron Fox?

All eyes are on the Sacramento Kings right now across the league.

Sacramento has underwhelmed this season despite the offseason splash to land DeMar DeRozan as the team’s third star alongside Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, which led to the firing of coach Mike Brown and speculation about Fox’s long-term future.

Brown’s departure just six months after signing a new contract extension through the 2026-27 season sparked collective dismay among NBA coaches around the league, including Michael Malone, Jordi Fernandez, Rick Carlisle, etc., who came to Brown’s defense. All spoke well of the former 2023 Coach of the Year and criticized Sacramento for how Brown was fired via a phone call after finishing a practice and media availability shortly before the team’s flight, a move Malone called, “No class. No balls.”

Some around the league wondered if Sacramento’s coaching change was partially made because Brown had called out Fox in the media several times recently. With Fox wanting to play for a winner and not signing an extension earlier this summer, his happiness is a priority for the Kings, who ideally want to keep him long-term.

Sacramento has explored the trade market for potential upgrades, such as Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson and previously Dorian Finney-Smith before he was traded to the Lakers, league sources said. This summer, Sacramento had checked in on Brandon Ingram, sources said. ESPN also recently reported the Kings circled the wagon on Zach LaVine, Kyle Kuzma, and Cam Thomas. Of the group, Johnson has been a consistent trade target for the Kings, league sources told HoopsHype.

With five weeks ahead of the trade deadline, new interim coach Doug Christie must turn things around immediately. If Christie can’t, executives are monitoring whether Sacramento could make a panic trade to try and save the season with future first-round picks and the contracts of Kevin Huerter and Trey Lyles to dangle, as noted in our top trade candidates story.

The biggest question for rival executives is if Sacramento would consider gauging the trade market on Fox, whose long-term future is uncertain. Some around the league believe it would take a trade request for the Kings to consider moving Fox.

If Sacramento gauges the market on Fox, the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Miami Heat have been among the early candidates linked with possible interest.

Raptors: Jakob Poeltl’s future

During the G League Showcase in Orlando, one of many questions posed by NBA executives was, “What’s Toronto going to do with Jakob Poeltl?”

With the Raptors struggling as one of the league’s worst teams this season, NBA executives have wondered if Toronto would consider selling high on Poeltl amid the best season of his career at 29.

Poeltl, averaging career-highs in points (15.4) and rebounds (10.9), is under contract through the 2025-26 season. Then, he has a $19.5 million player option for the 2026-27 season.

For now, Toronto hasn’t made Poeltl available on the trade market, but it won’t keep executives from keeping tabs on the 7-foot center should that stance change closer to the trade deadline.

From Toronto’s perspective, Poeltl fits with the young core because he doesn’t need the ball to be effective, is a consummate pro who does whatever is asked of him by the coaching staff without any pushback, and his contract is valuable looking ahead.

Should Poeltl remain with Toronto beyond the trade deadline, keep an eye on potential contract extension talks in the summer. At that point, Toronto will know how much it’ll cost to retain Poeltl long-term and how to proceed.

Clippers: Potential back end roster moves

With the Clippers shopping the expiring $11.54 million contract of PJ Tucker and open to moving expendable young guard Bones Hyland, as noted in our HoopsHype top trade candidates story, one player has made a case to have his two-way contract converted should a roster spot become available.

Jordan Miller has been identified as a strong two-way conversion candidate to monitor for the Clippers, league sources told HoopsHype. Miller worked his way into a consistent rotation spot with the Clippers from mid-November to mid-December.

Doing so would also open up a two-way spot, which could go to internal candidates such as Tosan Evbuomwan or RayJ Dennis.

It’s also worth noting the Clippers are roughly $2.47 million above the luxury tax line and could duck it by the trade deadline.

You can follow Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: NBA Intel: Lakers, Warriors, Nets, Thunder, Bulls, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Kings, Raptors, Clippers