Star trades
Luka Doncic. Anthony Davis. De'Aaron Fox. Zach LaVine. Khris Middleton. Jimmy Butler. Andrew Wiggins.
The number of stars traded this season is unsurpassed in NBA history.*
Using the league's definition of star (for the Player Participation Policy) – someone who made an All-NBA or All-Star team in the previous three seasons or, after the All-Star game, the current season's All-Star game – seven stars have been traded during the 2024-25 regular season.
The only other season that happened was 2010-11:
- Carmelo Anthony: DEN → NYK
- Chauncey Billups: DEN → NYK
- Deron Williams: UTA → NJN
- Devin Harris: NJN → UTA
- Gerald Wallace: CHA → POR
- Mo Williams: CLE → LAC
- Rashard Lewis: ORL → WAS
*Unless I missed a star getting traded in-season but playing for only one team that season.
This year's list doesn't even include Brandon Ingram, who was last an All-Star in 2020 but is still just 27. The list also doesn't include D'Angelo Russell.
And there are still several hours until the trade deadline!
I don't expect another star trade by the deadline. But when Luka Doncic can get traded, nobody is off limits.
Jimmy Butler extension
Jimmy Butler's two-year extension with the Warriors will be worth $121 million, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. On the pod, Danny called that number "agent bullshit."
To flesh out the salary-cap machinations…
Generally, in an extend-and-trade, players earning more than the estimated average player salary are limited to a starting salary 120% of their ending salary in their current deal. For Butler, whose base salary is $48,798,677 this season, that'd mean a $58,558,412 starting salary in his extension.
However, starting salaries in extensions are also limited to the player's individual max based on years of service, which will be set this summer. For Butler, that projects to be $54,126,380. Conveniently, that projection is based on 10% salary-cap growth, which is also the most allowed.
Whatever Butler's starting salary, he can get a 5% raise into the second season of his extension. So, either $61,486,333 for a total of $120,044,745 over two years or $56,832,699 for a total of $110,959,079 over two years.
The reality: It'll be $110,959,079 (give or take rounding). That is literally the most it can be, because the CBA limits salary-cap increases to 10%.
I'm not even sure where $121 million comes from. The farcical calculation comes out to just $120,044,745.
Maybe Butler can sign an extension that calls for him to earn $120,044,745. When that exceeds his max, it'll get amended down to the max this summer. That's how it worked under the previous CBA, because no matter what was projected, nobody could know how much the salary cap would increase.
Now… I'm unsure. Again, with the new limit on salary-cap increases, Butler cannot get more than $110,959,079 (give or take rounding). Will the league allow him to proceed with the irrelevant 120% raise just to amend it down this summer? It's just semantics, but I am curious about that.
Less curious about the value of Butler's extension. It'll be about $111 million, not $121 million.
Miami Heat
Surreal video of Kevin Love, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. turning around on the Heat bench as a fan told them details of the Jimmy Butler trade during last night's game. I love how many follow-up questions Love asked.
Trade grades
So many great pieces of analysis and observation from Kevin Pelton in his grades of the Jimmy Butler deal and every other trade yesterday. My favorite, from the Mark Williams-Dalton Knecht swap:
"It's amusing to note that though Knecht is a rookie, he's actually the older of the two primary players in this trade. Williams, who was drafted after two years at Duke, is eight months younger."
Dalton Knecht
The No. 17 pick last June, Dalton Knecht is the highest-drafted player to get traded during his rookie season since Buddy Hield, the No. 6 pick in 2016.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
For someone who took a historically long time (given his scoring volume) to post his first 50-point game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now dropping 50 with stunning regularity.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 50 in the Thunder's win over the Suns last night – his third straight Wednesday with a 50-point game.
Going just a week from his first career 50-point game to his second was third-quickest ever. Going just two weeks from his first career 50-point game to his third was the quickest ever.
The previous record: Gilbert Arenas notched his third 50-point game 29 days after his first in 2006-07. Gilgeous-Alexander got there in less than half the time.
The record for quickest from first to fourth career 50-point game is 101 days later, by Wilt Chamberlain. So, if Gilgeous-Alexander gets another 50-point game this season, he'll break that record.
The way he's playing, Gilgeous-Alexander could do it any night. But worth noting: Oklahoma City hosts the Heat next Wednesday.
Schedule
A few teams that planned to be in the air during the trade deadline have rescheduled their flights to avoid sky-high awkwardness, according to Chris Haynes.
Presumably, teams initially planned these flights based on what looked optimal for travelling to and from games. But clearly, the games are not the only factor.
Remember, the trade deadline used to be during the All-Star break. After DeMarcus Cousins had to endure an awkward press conference at All-Star (the horror!), the league moved the trade deadline to during the season so players could enjoy their break.
Now, teams will upend their rosters in the midst of playing games and be left shorthanded as players move.
Sometimes, the NBA talks about wanting games – not transactions – to matter most.
But the league's placement of the trade deadline gives a different impression.
Darius Garland
If you missed it while focused on trades, Darius Garland hit one heck of a game-winner from the Pistons' logo last night.
Dennis Schroder
Dennis Schroder told Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area that NBA players getting traded is "modern slavery."
Dennis Schroder in the same article:
“At the end of the day, your salary is still the same,” Schröder said to NBC Sports Bay Area in an exclusive interview after the Warriors’ 104-99 win against the Orlando Magic on Monday night. “You go to a different city, of course, but at the end of the day, that’s not a real problem. That’s a luxury problem. '
Besides his most-incendiary quote, Schroder – who got dealt from Golden State to Utah after this interview – actually raises some interesting points about the complexities of trades: "It is kind of crazy that the organization can tell you, ‘We want you to be team-first, but you’re going over there.’ It’s a lot."
Schroder even advocated for changing the Collective Bargaining Agreement to limit which players can be traded: "It can’t be someone bringing somebody to the NBA Finals." Schroder was referring to Luka Doncic, but he also noted then-Warriors teammates Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney as players who helped a team win a championship and then went on the trade block.
If players agreed to low enough salaries, owners would gladly give every player a no-trade clause. Of course, players would never actually want those terms.
The CBA is a series of compromises. Owners are paying players millions of dollars, in part, for the right to trade those players. Take away that ability from owners, and they will require concessions in exchange.
Ultimately, it's about what each side values. If enough players share Schroder's stated convictions, maybe that'll lead to a completely new system.
But I suspect, if actually pressed, he'd rather stick with his luxury problems.
Dwyane Wade
Jazz minority owner Dwyane Wade predicted Luka Doncic will shoot to No. 1 in jersey sales with the Lakers, described how the NBA will be able to connect with international markets with Doncic in Los Angeles then said:
"I’m looking at the business, and I'm like, hold up. This was an amazing business decision by billionaires to say, 'This is what I want for now, and this is what we need as a league.'"
There's a fine line between acknowledging Doncic on the Lakers will benefit the league and suggesting the NBA somehow orchestrated it. One is a happy coincidence. The other is a massive scandal.
Plenty of people speculate about the league favoring big markets. But it's something else coming from an owner. I wonder how Adam Silver will react. (I wonder how David Stern would have reacted!)
I also wonder whether Wade just forgot he owned a share of the Jazz while doing his show. He also said, "The last 12 to 15 years, the players have decided what we want to do. This was the owners, the governors, the billionaires deciding what they want to do." Dwyane, you are the "they" now!
-Dan Feldman