NBA News and Rumor Roundup 1/29/2025
More Jimmy, more trade rumors, and an all-time WNBA trade
Aaaaaand we’re back!
As a week this close to the trade deadline goes, it’s been a pretty uneventful week for the NBA — but that doesn’t mean we don’t have things to talk about! The rumor mill continues to churn, even if it’s a bit more muted than usual outside of one Jimmy Butler, the MVP race continues to be of shocking quality, and teams are starting to fall into distinct bins, with the Wizards falling into their bin in a quite literal manner.
The past week has been eventful for the women’s side of the game, however. The upstart Unrivaled league has been entertaining, so much so that even WNBA haters seem to be coming around to it, while the WNBA itself was blessed with one of the more absurd trades in terms of star power that I’ve seen in any sport — more on that later.
First up, let’s dive right into our normal recurring segment; it’s time to take a look at your Kings of The Court!
This Week’s Kings of The Court
If you’re new here — welcome! — this is a segment where I take 3 players/teams from the past week of play and talk about them, deeming said players/teams Kings of The Court. Notably, this does not mean that they were the objectively best players of the past week (I’ve included Spurs’ fringe guard Blake Wesley before) but are instead the players that caught my eye based on both stats and the tape.
First up, because I can’t talk about the OKC Thunder again as a team, let’s talk about a non-SGA star…
👑Jalen Williams, Stuffing The Stat Sheet👑
Key Stats From the Past Week
27.3 points per game
46% shooting from three-point range
2.3 steals per game
Bonus Stat: In a win against the Mavs on Thursday, Jalen Williams became the 4th-youngest player in Thunder history to record 30+ points, 4+ steals, and 1+ block in a game. The 3 youngest players are Kevin Durant, Shawn Kemp, and Russell Westbrook.
As I just mentioned, I’ve talked about the Thunder a lot in recent days and mentioned them last week, so it’s worth isolating a singular player here for the sake of variety. Jalen Williams, though, is more than just a fill-in; on any other team, he looks like he could play the part of the #1 option at just 23 years old.
Despite being in the shadow of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams has shown off his swagger and game this season and turned it up to 11. In an era in which the mid-range is often ignored, Williams has turned it into a weapon while still being able to score efficiently at all three levels, stopping on a dime before rising up for a Kawhi-like jumper:
We know that Williams can score — he’s averaged over 20 points per game this season, after all — but his efficiency has lacked, with his three-point shot dipping below 35%. This past week he’s been far better in that department, knocking down shots from range at a 46% clip, so there’s a lot of hope for a true scoring machine here in just his third season in the league.
More underrated, I feel, has been his ability to create for his teammates. Because he does such a good job of scoring from everywhere, opponents feel the need to close out on him really quickly, allowing him to use some braggadocious ball fakes like the one below that catches Quentin Grimes off guard before dishing it out to SGA:
Defensively, you might think he’s just fine at 6’5”, but then you look at his metrics and find out his wingspan is, uh, 7’2.25’. He ranks above the 98th percentile in defensive EPM, is in the 90th percentile for steal percentage, and is making a name as one of the most versatile defenders in the league regardless of age. While the Thunder may not be Jalen Williams’ world due to SGA’s presence, he’s at least taking claim to his own continent.
👑Harrison Barnes, Somehow Still Valuable👑
Key Stats From the Past Week
22.5 points per game
75% shooting from the field
55% shooting from three-point range
Bonus Stat: This past week was the second time this season that Harrison Barnes has scored 20+ points in back-to-back games. It’s also just his 4th instance of doing so since 2023.
Somehow, prime Harrison Barnes returned.
Maybe I just haven’t watched enough Spurs games this season, but Barnes has largely been quietly good as opposed to very good, scoring just 11 points per game on 41% three-point shooting. This past week, though, he’s gotten quite a bit louder.
The efficiency is absolutely gaudy here. 75% shooting from the field and 55% shooting from three is a disgustingly good set of splits, while the 22+ points per game feels like something out of the Dallas-era Barnes as opposed to the 32-year-old one. I truly have no idea what is going on, but this man is on some shimmy-shimmy-yah-shimmy-shimmy-yah-shimmy-yay type stuff right now:
Dribble-drive Barnes is something that often scares me in his veteran age (I won’t go as far as to say old) but it’s been effective over the past 7 days. While he can’t beat defenders off the dribble anymore, he’s able to get past them via some fancy footwork and is thriving off of Wembanyama’s gravity in the lane. Wemby knows that he has the gravity of Jupiter, so he’s able to think a few steps ahead — all that chess is good for something! — and get the ball back to Barnes on the perimeter, who used his trip to Paris this past week as a way to find his scoring self again:
I don’t know how much juice Harrison Barnes has from the standpoint of doing this over the whole rest of the season, but the Spurs are in something of a strange spot with his play. The team is hovering around the 11-13 range in the West despite Wembanyama’s phenomenal play with CP3 and Barnes is only locked up with the team until 2026-27 with a $18.5 million yearly salary. Could the Spurs look to dangle him as a piece for a contender to utilize in return for some young capital and/or draft picks? I’m unsure, but there’s potential for such a situation come next week.
👑Chris Boucher, Upping His Trade Value👑
Key Stats From the Past Week
18 points per game (in 19 minutes)
52% shooting from three-point range
Player Impact Estimate of 19 (top 20 in the league)
Bonus Stat: Chris Boucher is just the 4th player this season to score 15+ points on 50% three-point shooting over a 3-game span this season while playing under 20 minutes per game. He’s also the only one to do so 3 separate times — hyper-specific, but it tells you something!
The Raptors should trade Chris Boucher, and he just gave them all the more leverage to do so.
This past week, the 32-year-old with the 7’4” wingspan dominated the court when you take into account his usage, nearly averaging as many points as he did minutes-played. If you’re not super familiar with Boucher’s game, he fits the modern mold of what you’d want in a forward; he’s tall, has great physical metrics (wingspan!), and can space the floor for you easily. He’s sneaky good off screens and handoffs, even though he could alternatively be used as the screener for a smaller guard in any situation:
Offensively, he’s got almost everything you want in a role player. I don’t think he’s a perfect finisher through contact — he finishes just 44% of his shots when defended “very tightly” according to the NBA’s tracking data, far below players like Brandon Clarke and Obi Toppin — but he does a good job of finding ways to get past the defense as a cutter and spot-up shooter.
Defensively, his wingspan doesn’t translate to crazy-good defense, which is why he’s best paired alongside a guy like Jakob Poetl, who he posts a +8 net rating with as a unit for the Raptors. However, despite his very good play, the best course of action for the Raps is to trade him while the value is there.
You see, the man is on an expiring $10 million deal, an absolute bargain in today’s NBA. With him being 32, however, Toronto isn’t exactly a great fit timeline-wise. My favorite places to send him to on paper are the Nuggets and Cavs. Denver needs another shooter on the perimeter to use alongside Jokic and create offense when he’s off the floor, while the Cavs could use some insurance due to Isaac Okoro’s continued absence and Georges Niang’s somewhat streaky play.
For the Nuggets, the rangy yet raw Peyton Watson could be an interesting guy to dangle, while the deal could help the team get off the dreaded Zeke Naji contract. The Raptors may want some draft compensation, which is difficult for the Nuggets to offer, but the player-based structure of the deal could look like this:
The Cavs, on the other hand, might have a more interesting combo to offer. In the deal below, they swap Niang for Boucher while throwing in the interesting yet mostly-out-of-rotation Craig Porter Jr., while also having the opportunity to dish out a second-rounder or two. The Raptors get a bit of draft capital and Craig Porter Jr., who I think is actually quite a solid player who’s gotten little opportunity this season:
Either way, getting Boucher off the Raptors feels like a mutually beneficial thing for both him and the team. His value is as high as ever right now, so the Raps need to take advantage of the opportunity as soon as possible.
Separate note about this week’s Kings of The Court: Because Amen Thompson played last night, I didn’t have time to fully include him and his full 7-day stats. Regardless, my H-Town guy is killing it — he scored 33 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block against the Celtics and capped it off with a clutch game-winner. That’s Houston’s finest, y’all.
Jimmy. That’s It. That’s The Tweet.
As if the Jimmy Butler situation couldn’t get any worse for the Heat from a leverage perspective, it’s gotten worse. On Monday, Jimmy was suspended indefinitely by the team for walking out of a shootaround, causing further havoc for the Heat in their quest to (supposedly) trade Jimmy. Since he’s made his trade request, he’s lost around $2.7 million in salary, though that doesn’t seem to be of concern for Jimmy at the moment.
Right now, the only path to Jimmy being traded seems to be the Suns. According to one report, the Bulls have looked to get in on a Jimmy trade that would send Bradley Beal to Chicago, which looks fine on paper before you remember that Beal has a no-trade clause in his contract; I don’t think he’d be too keen on going to Chicago, to be honest. However, the Suns could also just swap Beal straight up for Zach LaVine if Chicago were involved, meaning the Heat have less leverage than they probably wish they did.
A deal that sends Jimmy to Phoenix and Beal to Chicago, on paper, is simple, with all three players’ salaries being swappable straight-up:
This works mainly because the Heat aren’t looking to tank right now. Their first-rounder is protected 1-14 based on a previous deal via the Thunder, but if they end up in the top 14, next year’s pick becomes fully unprotected, which is not something that the Heat would be too keen on. Hence, grabbing LaVine, who has played much better this season than in the previous two, would be a good-ish play, even if his game heavily overlaps with Tyler Herro’s. And yet, once again, it’s Bradley Beal who seems to hold the cards with his no-trade clause.
Nobody has any idea who is going to blink first here, whether it’s Phoenix, Miami, or, though increasingly unlikely, Jimmy himself.
Note: More reports are trickling out that the Heat have lowered their asking price for Jimmy, potentially opening up the door for teams like the Warriors to scoop him up. Keep tabs on this one.
The WNBA Goes Nuclear On The Trade Market
If the NBA has been trying to make headlines via Jimmy Butler suspensions and would-of-should-of-could-have trade rumors, the WNBA stole its thunder this past week with what is arguably the biggest trade in league history.
On Sunday, it was announced that 2-time WNBA champion Kelsey Plum was being traded from the Las Vegas Aces to the Los Angeles Sparks, which is big in and of itself but pales in comparison to the entire trade’s structure. In the deal, another two-time champion, Jewell Loyd, who won the league’s scoring title in 2023, is being traded to the Aces, while lots of major draft picks are being sent around. The full trade can be seen below, per ESPN:
TO ACES
Jewell Loyd
No. 13 pick in '25 (from LA)
TO SPARKS
Kelsey Plum
No. 9 pick in '25 (from Sea)
'26 2nd-rounder (from Sea)
TO STORM
No. 2 pick in '25 (from LA)
Li Yueru
'26 1st-rounder (from LV)
If this trade happened in the NBA, it would be like sending Kevin Durant to the Lakers in return for Kawhi Leonard, while throwing in multiple lottery picks who could eventually become some of the best players in the league. This is a massive trade that not only gets the WNBA in the mainstream sports trade news headlines but changes the entire landscape of the league.
Loyd had a bit of a down year scoring-wise last season but was still an All-Star and scored nearly 20 points per game, while Plum is one of the all-time greats who is in her prime and is being sent to a team with Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby, who both could help Plum lead the Sparks to a chip.
As for the Storm’s involvement in this trade, it’s a little bit strange from a circumstances standpoint. Loyd was a franchise icon before reports came out that the team’s staff harassed and bullied her, only for the team to come back and claim they didn’t do anything, resulting in a trade request from Loyd. While the Storm get the #2 pick in return, next year’s 1st from Las Vegas, and a decently high-upside player in Yueru, it’s just a strange situation overall.
P.S. As I write this, another massive trade went down, with the Phoenix Mercury landing 5-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun in return for Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen, and the #12 pick — the WNBA is really trying to outdo the NBA in the trade department, and it seems to be working.
Jersey of The Week
If you haven’t read through one of my roundups before, this is a chance for me to flex my creative muscles a little bit. Each week, I put together a concept for a random NBA team’s jersey, varying from a classsic Toronto Raptors look to a Seattle Supersonics-era Thunder kit. This week, I wanted to take a look at the Bucks, who have embraced the blue look in recent years, which fans have been quite happy with as far as I can tell. With the concept below, I wanted to incorporate the logo in a big way while still maintaining the modern look, and I think it feels like one of my more realistic (AKA, practical and not too gaudy) looks so far. Let me know what you guys think!
Other News, Rumors, and Fun Facts
After last week’s reports that Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis and Bucks player Andre Jackson Jr. were joining the Dunk Contest field, we now have the report that gives Return of The King vibes. Yes, Mac McClung is so back. Per ESPN, McClung has entered the field once again, trying to become the first player in history to win the contest 3 times in a row. It seems like McClung’s contest to lose, but maybe Buzelis, Stephon Castle, or Jackson Jr. will have some surprises in store.
Believe it or not, there are other trade rumors outside of the Jimmy Butler fiasco. One of the more interesting ones (at least to me, as I quite like his game) surrounds Pacers big Myles Turner. Per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, the Pacers are unsure whether they want to re-sign Turner for $30+ million per year during his unrestricted free agency this summer, which could open up the opportunity to deal him before the deadline. Turner is an incredible floor-spacer and blocking machine, though he hasn’t been as good this year as in years past, mostly because (I think, so this is my opinion) his fit alongside Pascal Siakam is a little off-kilter. A team like the Suns could really use him well, but the most popular destination would of course be the Los Angeles Lakers — if only they had the assets.
In what is possibly the biggest trade news of the season, the Kings have reportedly made star guard De’Aaron Fox up for trade should any teams be willing to part with some prime assets. Specifically, reports say that he would prefer to go to the Spurs, which would be a sight to see, but I’d prefer to see him on the Magic. The Magic feel like they’re one star away from being a real dark horse, and this could be the chance for Orlando to consolidate some of its assets in an OKC Thunder-esque way.
Speaking of the Suns, current big Jusuf Nurkic, who was benched by the team in lieu of the newly-acquired Nick Richards, says that he has zero relationship with head coach Mike Budenholzer, potentially indicating an Atlantic Ocean full of salt. The Suns are reportedly trying to trade Nurkic, but it’s unknown as to whether any team with win-now assets would want him.
In Bulls trade news, Chicago is reportedly looking for a first-rounder in return for big man Nikola Vucevic, who is having an amazing season from three and fits the mold for many contending teams right now. And, for once, I agree with the Bulls, though I’m unsure if a fully unprotected first would come their way. Vucevic, as I just mentioned, has played very well and his $20 million per year deal isn’t that bad in today’s inflated NBA cap environment.
Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Pels are a team to watch at the deadline and are expected to “make a major trade” in the process. Now, it’s not specifically said who the Pelicans are willing to trade, even though it’s likely to be Brandon Ingram. The team could theoretically deal Zion Williamson as well, but the franchise seems loathe to give up on him this early even given his injury concerns. It’s a wide-open field for the team, however, as they look to reconstruct their theoretically competitive roster that has underperformed for various reasons.
Before I say this, this is undoubtedly a report to make other teams squirm a bit and may not be the actual truth, but the Nets are reportedly in no rush to trade forward Cam Johnson. The Nets are looking for at least 2 first-rounders in return, which few contending teams can afford to part with…except for OKC, who I’d like to see grab him regardless.
Another year, another Isaiah Thomas returning to the NBA report. According to ESPN, the short king of basketball is returning to the Jazz’s G League affiliate to make another run at an NBA stint. He seems to have the game still; last year’s stint with the Jazz’s G League team saw him average over 30 points over 4 games, but no team has been willing to give him even a rotation role at the next level. We just need a tanking team to bite the bullet for fun — think of the increased gate receipts, billionaire owners!
On this day in NBA history (in 1988!) the Detroit Pistons drew a then NBA regular season record crowd of 61,983 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome, and the fans went home happy after watching the Pistons down Boston 125-108. The Chicago Bulls, and the Atlanta Hawks broke that attendance record by drawing 62,046 fans to the Georgia Dome on March 27, 1998. That was also the last time that the Pistons would ever feel loved by their fans (sorry, Detroit fans).
My Favorite Reads This Week
- recently wrote about Malik Monk being Malik Monk, and it’s likely the best article I’ve read so far on Malik Monk being Malik Monk, because he is, indeed, Malik Monk. You can go read about the man going Monk Mode right here, and I highly suggest you do.
There’s been quite a few pieces over the past week in tribute to the late legend Kobe Bryant, whose fatal helicopter crash on January 26, 2020 completely upended the sports world for all kinds of different reasons.
penned a good piece reflecting on Kobe’s impact on and off the court, which you can go read here.- recently put together a re-grade of 2024’s biggest trades, pitting his old grades against the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Main takeaway for me: Terry Rozier’s fall from grace is one to behold. You can go read about that and more right here.
The recent resurgence of Scoot Henderson has been one to behold, turning a player who was (too quickly) deemed bust-worthy into one that looks the part of a potential star.
gives us a good look into what’s changed, along what it means for the future — go read that one here.- has done great work in studying the collegiate game from an analytics perspective for years, and he recently put out a piece that really puts how good this year’s freshman class — and, therefore, the 2025 NBA draft class — is. According to Miyakawa, this year’s class is the best since 2016-17, with Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel, and many more ranking inside the top 200 in Bayesian Performance Rating. Go read his piece about that right here.
That’s it for this week’s roundup! As always, more content is on the way for this weekend — specifically trade content! — but until then, go and read the pieces above! Also, if you want a say in the future of this publication, I’m running a survey that anybody can join in on. I highly suggest you complete it (it helps me figure out what all of you like!), and you can do so below: