NBA buzz from Orlando: Trade intel, 2025 draft, Bronny James
With seven weeks until the NBA trade deadline, what are league insiders saying about the futures of players such as New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram and Miami’s Jimmy Butler? And, how is rookie Bronny James faring so far with the G League’s South Bay Lakers?
These are just a couple of the questions NBA executives were answering as they gathered in Orlando, Florida, last week for the G League Showcase, the league’s annual winter summit. Though this year’s on-court part of the event wasn’t quite star-studded — teams were primarily searching for candidates to fill the back ends of their rosters — it doubled as a gathering point for front office personnel and an early jump-off for trade talks and behind-the-scenes league business.
ESPN NBA insiders Bobby Marks and Jeremy Woo were in Orlando gathering intel, watching players and taking the pulse of the league from executives who are making calls ahead of the deadline. Here’s what they learned:
Jump to a section:
Trade buzz from the Showcase
What Bronny James showed scouts
Health of the post-Ignite G League
Execs on Cooper Flagg’s best fit
Which players and teams are you hearing about most as the trade deadline nears?
Marks: I asked team executives from both conferences to give me one team that controls the Feb. 6 deadline. The answer might surprise you: the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons are the team to watch not because it is in the market for Ingram, Butler or Chicago Bulls’ wing Zach LaVine, but because of its $14 million in salary cap space. With nearly a third of the league not allowed to take back additional salary in a trade because of apron restrictions, Detroit is in an ideal position to act as a third team, taking back contracts but with the caveat that draft picks are attached.
Executives pointed to the Denver Nuggets and the future of forward Michael Porter Jr. when considering teams that are looking to find players at the deadline.
The Nuggets are in a precarious position of maximizing Nikola Jokic’s championship-contending window and improving their roster but with limited resources available to trade. Denver can swap first-round picks only in 2031 and the lone sizable contract is Porter’s $35.9 million.
As for Butler’s future, there is a growing consensus among the teams I talked to that unless the six-time All-Star becomes a distraction, or the Heat receive a trade offer they cannot turn down, Butler will be on the Heat’s roster once the deadline passes.
As ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Dec. 10, Butler likely will decline his $52 million player option for next season, making him a free agent unless an extension is reached by June 30. The Heat are eligible to sign Butler to a two-year, $112.6 million extension. (His $52.4 million player option would be replaced by a $54.1 million salary in Year 1 of the extension.)
“Miami has to do what is best for them, not what is in the best interest for Butler,” a Western Conference executive told ESPN in Orlando.
Woo: It feels like some dust still needs to settle. It’s somewhat clear which teams could be active, including the Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors (after their move for Dennis Schroder last week). With several teams still in the mix for play-in slots, I’ve heard much of the same as Bobby regarding Detroit, which is well-positioned to facilitate trades.
What’s next for the Butler, LaVine and Ingram trio will be fascinating to watch. There are only so many viable landing spots for wings with their hefty contracts. Butler and Ingram are on expiring deals, and LaVine’s contract is problematic for a lot of teams, so the shifting dynamics around them will be a key storyline to follow, league insiders insist.
Though most executives I spoke with expect activity — especially smaller moves — as the next month unfolds, it’s still early in the trade process, and incentives for a number of teams could look quite different in a few weeks.
“The names we’re all hearing now might not be the ones we’re talking about in a month,” one Western Conference executive said.
Has the level of play at the G League Showcase made league expansion more of a pressing need?
Marks: If we are judging the need for expansion based on the on-court play in Orlando, the answer is no. The rosters consisted primarily of training camp casualties and two-way players. But, if you take a big-picture approach and examine the impact of the NBA draft, then the answer is yes.
Overlooked each year is the growing number of players who finish the season on an NBA roster but then are replaced with that team’s drafted player. The numbers’ crunch this season had 46 out of the 58 players drafted sign standard contracts. Because teams can have no more than 15 players on their rosters, veteran players such as Devonte’ Graham, Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker IV, Nassir Little, Markelle Fultz and Robert Covington are not on an NBA roster yet this season. Those players had more than three years of service and were ineligible to sign two-way contracts.
Woo: The notion of creating more roster spots wasn’t supported by the level of play in the G League this week. However, to Bobby’s point, league expansion could mean fewer veterans on the sidelines. As one executive pointed out to me, another byproduct could be an influx of veteran talent from overseas, with a number of NBA-level players currently on high-level European clubs, such as Walker and Kendrick Nunn.
The NBA has often used the G League as a means of development and for experimentation. Given the G League Ignite shuttered, how is the league doing?
Woo: The Ignite situation doesn’t necessarily reflect the health of the G League as a whole, but the addition of extra two-way slots has diminished some of the importance of the Showcase as an on-court platform. The most notable item on that front was a breakout game from Mexico City‘s Dink Pate, who spent last season with Ignite and clearly helped his draft stock with 26 points Friday, with a host of NBA decision-makers watching. The 18-year-old Pate and Rip City’s Thierry Darlan, another Ignite holdover, were the only two draft-eligible players at the event.
Most of the G League’s top players are under contract and can’t readily be signed away. I’ve heard some grumblings from agents about the lack of opportunities for lesser-known prospects to play their way into better jobs, with most teams understandably prioritizing minutes and development of their assignment players. Still, none of those are necessarily new issues — we’re just in an era where the G League is more of a platform for the upper crust of fringe players.
Marks: With or without the Ignite, the G League has tremendous value to NBA teams, but the value comes with developing their own players. There is also the benefit of using their G League team to rehab players coming back from injury.
The Westchester Knicks are a good example. In its semifinal game at the Showcase, New York had draft picks Pacome Dadiet, Ariel Hukporti and two-way player Boo Buie on the court. Veteran Landry Shamet was set to make the Knicks roster before he dislocated his shoulder in training camp. Although he was eventually waived, Shamet rehabbed under the Knicks’ guidance and played for Westchester. Now healthy, New York is signing Shamet for the remainder of the season.
The issue is the lack of jobs available to players not on NBA rosters. For example, Westchester had former NBA players Chuma Okeke, TJ Warren and Moses Brown all playing. There are only 11 roster spots available and none of the three players is allowed to sign a two-way contract.
There should be more jobs available when the 10-day window opens Jan. 7, contracts are guaranteed two days later and the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches.
Six months after he was drafted by the Lakers, where is Bronny James in his development?
Marks: You could tell in the two G League games in Orlando that James is more comfortable than what we saw last season at USC and in the summer. The Lakers made it a priority to play James more at point guard and less off the ball, and the results were mixed. The good from James includes the 12 assists in the two games, including five during a three-minute stretch. The bad? How about 12 turnovers. Because he is playing more point, James tired in the fourth quarter of the first game. Besides not scoring, James committed three fouls and two turnovers.
Because South Bay does not play again until Dec. 27, James and Maxwell Lewis were recalled for the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Pistons on Monday.
“The best thing for Bronny James moving forward is getting repetitions in game settings with South Bay, not traveling with the Lakers on the road,” an Eastern Conference scout told ESPN.
Woo: Scouts I’ve spoken with view James much the same way they did during the predraft process: He’s an unselfish player capable of making a positive impact at the G League level, but also not one with tremendous developmental upside. It looks like James has added strength, but he hasn’t been particularly efficient this season and has struggled to control his turnovers.
The scouting report remains the same — opposing scouts know what to expect from James but largely aren’t enamored by his long-term outlook. Nobody I spoke with at the Showcase changed their tune. There’s plenty of time for James to improve, but at this point, he remains more valuable to the Lakers than to any of the other 29 teams.
What’s your take on Duke phenom Cooper Flagg and his outlook as the No. 1 pick in June’s draft? Which team would fit his style?
Woo: Several league execs have made the point to me that Flagg’s development outcomes might hinge on which team he goes to, and even more so than your typical top prospect. A lottery team in need of a long-term No. 1 scorer — such as the Washington Wizards or the Utah Jazz — might lean heavily on him to shoulder their offenses. But in a situation such as in New Orleans, Charlotte or Toronto, Flagg might not be relied upon that way early on, and would be allowed to maximize his impact defensively.
Part of the appeal of Flagg is the malleability he might supply — his versatility allows him to fit almost anywhere. I’m among many, including the execs I heard from in Orlando, who are bullish on him having an excellent career at the next level. “I fully trust in him to maximize every tool he’s got,” one Eastern Conference scout told me.
Marks: A year ago, I saw Flagg play in the City of Palms Classic for Montverde Academy (Florida). He was only 16 years old and reminded me of a young Kevin Garnett because of his length and ability to defend. My thinking has not changed.
As for where he fits, the teams positioned as of now for the top pick — Washington, Utah and New Orleans — rank in the bottom three of defensive efficiency.
Which draft prospects are league insiders watching beyond the 2025 class?
Woo: Though there’s certainly excitement around Flagg and Rutgers freshman and projected No. 2 pick Dylan Harper, the 2025 class as a whole is widely viewed by teams as a big step up from 2024.
NBA execs I spoke with this week also have expressed enthusiasm for the 2026 draft. AJ Dybantsa is just one of several high-level prospects that NBA teams are following. Duke-bound Cameron Boozer and Kansas commit Darryn Peterson are going to figure prominently into the conversation alongside Dybantsa, and league insiders argue that the 2026 class might be stronger than what we’re looking at in 2025.
Marks: As one scout told me at the Showcase, the U.S. is playing catch-up to the success of the international players who are in the NBA, and the league’s past six MVP winners (Jokic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo have won a combined five), prior drafts (back-to-back French players drafted with the No. 1 pick) and ESPN’s most recent MVP straw poll (Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’ Luka Doncic were listed among the top four) confirm that.
But, as Jeremy pointed out, a strong wave of American college and high school players is headed to the NBA.
Source: espn.com