NBA trade deadline – Luka, Butler, Suns, Warriors and everything we are seeing

With two days to the commercial deadline of the NBA (Thursday, 3 pm et), which once seemed to be a quiet week has become one of the louder in the history of the league.

With Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis they change each other in a historical and unprecedented exchange, De’aaron Fox becomes the first star to look for the opportunity to play with Victor Wembanyama, and the situation of Jimmy Butler remains Without resolving in Miami, there could be a lot of remaining fireworks.

Now that the dust has begun to settle in the box office success of the Lakers-Mavericks and the deadline is approaching, here is a look at what we have heard about the completed exchanges, which stars could move next and what we will see how This wild. Week is shaken.

Jump to a section:
Latest consequences of the Luka-AD agreement
How will the Jimmy Butler saga end?
More drama, more megadeals this week?
New stars are directed to warriors, Suns?

Has the Luka Doncic trade shock league recovered this weekend?

Windhorst: The League is rarely surprised by a transaction, but here we are, even after two days to digest the agreement. The two conclusions that I have heard most: the relationship of the MAVs with Doncic was more fractured than anyone understood, and the return of the Lakers was less than anyone expected.

Bontemps: From the moment of the exchange on Saturday night, the comment has been: “Why now?” And “why in this way?” And no one has had a good answer for any of the questions.

Windhorst: Doncic’s immense talent is unquestionable, but that its franchise seemed to move so fast and obtain relatively little in return has left the league considering both the possibility of a future infamy for the main office of the MAVs or if the decision makers have knowledge that saved the team from a possible window of $ 350 million extended it this summer.

Bontemps: After the general manager of the Mavericks, Nico Harrison, said he is looking at a three to four years window to compete with Davis and Kyrie Irving, unlike a longer timeline, it would be a significant surprise if Dallas does not do More movements to increase your list before the deadline. The mavericks need help on the back track, where they are unfortunately thin with only a high -level ball handling in Irving, which is dealing with a bulky disc.

It has been speculated that the collective bargaining agreement played a role in this trade. That’s true?

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Stephen A. explains why Mavs ‘had enough’ by Luka Doncic

Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith believe that the relationship between Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks must have tensioned to stimulate this trade.

Bontemps: The new rules of the CBA apron have impacted the construction of the list throughout the league, and that will continue. But this trade was a matter of the Mavericks, specifically Harrison, deciding that they would prefer to have Davis than Doncic and make that happen.

Windhorst: Definitely. An executive for a long time told me recently: “With the new rules, we have to understand that there are probably only about 10 true salary players in the League.” Whether you accept that premise, Doncic would certainly have been on any short list. Except that it seems, the Mavericks’.

Bontemps: The CBA has undoubtedly impacted the way the teams are operating. We have spent the whole season discussing the group of players, from Brandon Ingram to Julius Randle to Zach Lavine (although it was finally changed) to others, which are caught in a little land of anyone when it comes to the new rules.

I have had similar conversations in recent days about the long -term perspective for Fox’s mass extension in San Antonio.

Windhorst: The salary limit has grown very scarcely in recent years after the effects of COVID-19, and the new rules crush the flexibility of high-expenditure teams have led to excessive correction of the equipment that fear a bad contract. With the new television money, the limit will increase significantly in the coming years and a new balance will be found.

But now, many decision makers of the league are afraid of an error that could give a tip of their franchise and cost them their work. On the other hand, changing a possible member of the Hall of Fame of the First Mallal before his best moment in a team in his conference is also difficult for job security.

Where are things with Jimmy Butler?

Windhorst: Butler’s obsession with reaching the Phoenix Suns is strangely admirable. He has set fire to heat and has hurt the team season. It has also blocked the commercial options that would be good adjustments, where I could have paid and state in a contender. But he is the rare manufacturer that can tip the result of a playoff series and that comes with a lot of power. Butler is trying to use it.

Bontemps: For all Butler’s bravuces and his camp, this is not a situation in which heat is not willing to find a suitor for him. There is not much interest in acquiring Butler. To your point, they have been told to the few options he had outside of Phoenix who is not interested in being there.

The reason why a butler trade has not happened is the same that has existed since the search for Phoenix began: there has not been an adequate home for Bradley Beal, its salary of $ 50.2 million and its non -trade clause. Until that changes, Butler’s conversation to Phoenix is ​​academic.

Windhorst: That has not prevented the Suns from trying everything they can to achieve a triple miracle of finding a house for Beal and its difficult contract to drive, make Beal accept to go to that place with its clause without trade and get assets in exchange for that . You can attract heat to send Butler. They have and are testing three/four/five teams to make that sea separate. Butler is doing its part to buy them time.

With a couple of remaining days to the deadline, the Suns dream is alive, but will require a complex alliance. The heat is very motivated to move Butler and could leave Suns’s option and send it to another place. (Golden State is still a possibility if the heat runs out of time and then lets the new team take care of the consequences).

Bontemps: Heat’s position has not changed: they would like to go from Butler, but they are not doing a bad business. If they cannot make one that satisfies them, they will deal with this again in the summer, when Butler will certainly collect their player option of $ 52 million, a gigantic contract that expires.

It has been a wild week, and it is only on Tuesday. What follows?

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Luka Doncic arrives at Los Angeles

Luka Doncic arrives at Los Angeles and takes a photo with Rob Pelinka after the huge exchange of the Lakers that involves Anthony Davis.

Windhorst: Unprecedented ingenuity. I used to say that an exchange of three teams is an exchange without equipment because I got tired of listening to ridiculous commercial constructions that only need “a third team” to make everyone happy. Making three sides happily is 50% more difficult than making two happy. But with all the rules of the apron that hinder operations, there is the possibility that multiple frames will exceed the outdated operations of two equipment.

Bontemps: Multiteam operations will not only exceed those of fashion, practically all operations will become agreements of three or more teams as the franchises try to avoid aprons. That brings many more possibilities for offers, but also creates more obstacles.

Windhorst: When the trades involve more teams, they also involve more concepts and more brainstorm. This leads to constructions that teams would never have invented in the past. So, I think there will be some giant offers in which many players/selections/swaps/effective/considerations move. It will be more difficult to declare winners and losers, but there will be some furtive maneuvers to study.

Bontemps: Perhaps the least discussed part of Donc’s trade is that it opened an unexpected timeline of events on how it will take place this week. Dallas and Los Angeles, for example, have very unbalanced lists and almost certainly try more movements this week. That will cause conversations that would not have happened. We have not finished seeing the impact of the treatment.

What teams are you seeing the closest between now and 3 pm et on Thursday?

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Shams to McAfee: Warriors are calling all stars players

Shams Charania tells Pat Mcafee that Warriors are trying to acquire a star to combine with Stephen Curry.

Bontemps: The suns. Butler could end in Phoenix, and the search for him for a month by the owner Mat Ishbia, along with Butler’s approach to get there, will be worth it. If not, things could be more interesting.

Phoenix has already made a fairly controversial exchange, breaking his first round of 2031: Utah Jazz’s general manager, Justin Zanik, correctly described it as the most attractive commercial asset on the market, in three much less valuable to make more movements.

If Ishbia’s plans for Butler fail, would you be with this list? That seems very unlikely.

Windhorst: The warriors. They have hesitated between looking for a superstar to declare that they want to do anything for months. His game on the court has seen similar inconsistencies. But they simply can’t help it. They love making great offers and want to squeeze every fall of the glorious era of curry.

They are going to do something, and they want it to be big. Last year, they investigated LeBron James on the deadline. This year, the sources say, they have investigated whether they can recover Kevin Durant and have made conversations for Butler. Whatever happens, at least the Warriors are always entertaining.

Bontemps: It will be interesting to how the best teams such as Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets complement their lists for the race.

With the NBA in its longest section of parity, and the defending champion Celtics in a period of two months of the average game, it will be fascinating to see if any of these contestants feels an opportunity to attack before the deadline on Thursday.