With the NBA Draft just a month away, trade rumors are gaining a lot of momentum around the league. Here are some of the latest.
Paul George expects Antetokounmpo to stay
The biggest question heading into free agency, the first domino that has to fall is this: Will Giannis Antetokounmpo ask for a trade out of Milwaukee?
Paul George doesn't think that happens, something both he and Carmelo Anthony said on George's podcast.
George: "I think he wants to stay in Milwaukee his whole career. You see that more so with the international guys. They stay where they arrived for the most part. They come from different worlds. When you come to America, you're treated like royalty. It's a legacy thing with Giannis and Milwaukee. I don't think he wants to leave there. I don't know the scenarios out there."
Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are reportedly set to meet soon, with the Bucks pitching their plan for retooling the roster around him, heading into a season where Damian Lillard is expected to be out for most, if not all, of it due to a torn Achilles. If winning in what matters most to Antetokounmpo he may need to move on, but he has been loyal to the Bucks and a lot of people around the league agree with George that he is not going to ask for a trade now.
Dallas seeks point guard
With 32-year-old Anthony Davis on the roster, the Mavericks cannot treat next season as a gap year while Kyrie Irving recovers from a torn ACL. That is why they are aggressively looking to add a point guard this offseason, to fill Irving's role.
The Mavericks will explore landing Jrue Holiday if the Celtics make him available as expected, reports Marc Stein, but the three years and $104 million remaining on his contract make that problematic. Free agent Lonzo Ball is on Dallas' radar, Stein adds, then he throws in another interesting name: 40-year-old free agent Chris Paul.
Could Nets move up in NBA Draft?
The Brooklyn Nets have four first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft: 8, 19, 26 and 27, plus a high second-round pick at 36.
That bounty has led to considerable speculation around the league about the Nets using those picks, and possibly a player, to move up in the draft, reports Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn reportedly is interested in Dylan Harper, who will be taken No. 2, and that something Dylan's father Ron — the five-time NBA champion with the Bulls and Lakers — seemed to encourage.
Don't bet on a Spurs and Nets trade. San Antonio is reportedly open to a trade, but they need to be blown away by the offer, and a Cameron Johnson-based deal isn't going to get it done. Harper likely ends up in San Antonio (unless a blockbuster trade emerges for the Spurs).
What about other offers? Philadelphia is open to trading the No. 3 pick. The Jazz might be open to moving the No. 5 pick (but is that enough of a jump from eight to be worth it for Brooklyn?). Lewis suggests that the most likely scenario is for the Nets to keep the No. 8 pick but use Johnson and some of their other picks to acquire another, later lottery pick in this draft.
Either way, expect the Nets to be active on draft night.
Linking Irving, Harden extensions
The Mavericks' Kyrie Irving and the Clippers' James Harden both are expected to opt out of the final year of their contracts and re-sign with their teams. The fact that Irving's ACL tear is expected to keep him out of most, if not all, of next season doesn't change that dynamic.
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line said, considering the injury, Dallas would like to sign Irving to something like three years, $120 million (the same as his previous deal), and while Irving may have wanted to ask for more his injury changes the dynamic. Fischer adds the Irving deal will be the barometer of what Harden gets.
One big difference is that the Clippers are working to have their cap sheet free in the summer of 2027, when Kawhi Leonard's contract expires, which means they only want to give Harden two guaranteed years. That could be a sticking point when the sides talk.
Clippers expected to seek trades
Once the Clippers resolve the Harden situation, expect them to be active in the trade market. Here is what Ficher wrote at The Stein Line, "some rival teams expect the Clippers to be a team to watch in the trade market this summer."
The Clippers have a number of solid players on tradable contracts: Bogdan Bogdanovic ($16 million), Derrick Jones Jr. ($10 million) and Kris Dunn ($5.4 million) among them. The Clippers could also trade a 2031 or 2032 pick after July 1, but would be extremely hesitant to do so.
Players pulling out of NBA Draft
It's the reality of the NBA Draft in the NIL era: For a player a lock to go in the top 20 it makes sense to jump to the NBA, but for a large class of younger players who are late first/early second — and second-round picks in the NBA do not automatically get guaranteed contracts — it likely makes sense to stay in college. The same is true of second-round guys.
In the wake of the NBA Draft Combine, we're seeing a number of key players choose to stay in college: Arkansas' Karter Knox, Houston's Milos Uzan, Mackenzie Mgbako (who is transferring to Texas A&M), Troy's Tayton Conerway, P.J. Haggerty (who is transferring to Kansas State), and AK Okereke, who will take his talents to Vanderbilt.
