Shams Charania’s Inside Pass: Trade buzz on Butler, Ingram, rest of NBA
During the NBA season and into the summer, Shams Charania’s Inside Pass will tackle the news and transaction storylines that can shake up the league.
The NBA is entering an inflection point in the calendar. Teams have passed the 20-game mark, and team executives are conducting evaluations on their own rosters and players around the country as two critical dates approach.
On Sunday, Dec. 15, the majority of free agents who signed in the offseason are eligible to be traded. And then most general managers and team officials will descend upon the G League Winter Showcase in Orlando, Florida, from Dec. 19 to 22. Although most teams have already completed 20-game check-ins with their counterparts across the league, conversations typically heat up in January and closer to the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Every trade deadline period, there are players who emerge as key figures to watch — those who could shift the balance of power in the NBA. This season, all eyes will be on Miami Heat six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and New Orleans Pelicans one-time All-Star Brandon Ingram.
Butler, 35, is one of the NBA’s elite competitors and is a perennial postseason performer. His teams have made the playoffs in 12 of his first 13 seasons, including the five previous seasons in Miami, where he has led the Heat to two NBA Finals berths and one additional Eastern Conference finals appearance. Ingram is in his sixth year in New Orleans and has been the most consistent Pelican during that span, earning two postseason berths in the past three years.
Both Butler and Ingram are essentially in contract seasons. Ingram becomes an unrestricted free agent in July after his $36 million deal for this season expires. Butler has $49 million on his contract for this season — with a $52 million player option for 2025-26. The sides did not reach an extension last summer.
The Heat are open to listening to offers for Butler and making a deal if the proposal is right, league sources told ESPN, and Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, has indicated in league circles that Butler is open to destinations such as two of the Texas teams (Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks) and the Golden State Warriors. Butler is a native of Houston, Texas. Above all, though, he is believed to prefer a win-now title contender in any trade. Teams have also been informed that Butler intends to opt out of his deal in the offseason and become a free agent, sources said. The Heat have hovered around the play-in tournament over the last two seasons, and with Butler’s contractual status, they have been open-minded to trade inquiries.
Butler has been professional throughout the season, by all accounts, and has an affinity for Miami, where he even opened up his first “BIGFACE” coffee shop in the city’s Design District. He has produced on the floor, too: 19 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting a career-best 55.7% from the field in his fewest attempts since 2013-14 (11.3). The Heat (12-10) have won three games in a row and five of their past seven.
Sources said the Warriors are looking to add a star player — a playmaker, scorer — alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Golden State pursued Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen and Paul George as a free agent last offseason, and is expected to remain aggressive this deadline. A telltale moment happened for the Warriors on Friday night, when Curry, Green and coach Steve Kerr spoke about this being fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga’s time to take the mantle and Green accepted a bench role for Kuminga to start at power forward.
Rival executives are surely keeping an eye on Kuminga’s play, as he is set to be a restricted free agent in July. In his career, Kuminga has played 30 minutes or more in 41 games, averaging 20 points, 54% field goal shooting and 40% from 3. He has played 30 minutes or more in two of the past three games — including a 33-point performance on Dec. 5 against the Rockets and then 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals versus the Timberwolves on Dec. 8. In 191 games with less than 30 minutes of action, his averages are 10.5 points, 50% shooting and 32% from 3.
The next two months leading up to the February deadline will shape the Warriors’ present and future. Will the star they’re seeking be found internally with Kuminga — or externally?
Ingram, for his part, made a seismic shift in recent weeks, signing with Klutch Sports Group for his new representation with agents Shy Saee, Mike George and CEO Rich Paul. To understand how Ingram got here, it’s important to study the offseason.
The Pelicans and Ingram engaged in contract extension conversations in addition to canvassing the league for a trade. Ingram’s previous representation sought $50 million per season in a contract extension, sources said, which was near his maximum number. No deal occurred. The Pelicans, already over the luxury tax line this season, are facing higher salary cap bills for years to come. Executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin has taken a sustainable approach to roster building without going into the tax — New Orleans has never been a taxpaying team — but signing Ingram to a pricey extension would push the Pelicans not only over the tax but into the apron, further restricting how they add to their roster. The offseason acquisition of Dejounte Murray and recent extension of Trey Murphy III have pushed the Pelicans’ payroll next season to $157 million, $31 million below the luxury tax.
The Pelicans discussed trades with multiple teams over the summer, but no concrete offer made sense. A level of interest came from the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources told ESPN, and they would have needed to put together a trade concept around Karl-Anthony Towns for Ingram. The window to get a deal done for both teams, however, needed to come during the 2023-24 season, not the offseason, because Towns still would have been under his old contract.
Taking on Towns — entering the first year of a four-year, $224 million supermax deal — would have made a trade extremely difficult, especially as New Orleans drafted No. 21 overall pick Yves Missi, who has shown flashes as a high-level center of the future.
So the Pelicans stood pat and believed that the current roster was the most talented ever assembled in New Orleans. And the case is strong for that. The Pelicans’ top rotation players appeared promising on paper heading into the season: Ingram, Zion Williamson, Murray, Herb Jones, Murphy, CJ McCollum, Missi, Jose Alvarado and Daniel Theis. All season long, however, it has been a revolving door of injuries.
The Pelicans are currently 5-20, in last place in the Western Conference, and now Ingram is out indefinitely with a significant low left ankle sprain. Williamson also remains sidelined indefinitely with a left hamstring strain suffered on Nov. 6. The Pelicans’ three All-Stars — Ingram, Williamson and Murray — have yet to play together. Teams have already started expressing interest in the Pelicans’ supporting cast players, such as Jones and McCollum.
Now, Ingram’s new representation will remain in constant dialogue with Griffin on the 27-year-old’s future. Because of their financial situation, the Pelicans are unlikely to reach Ingram’s current salary annually on an extension, making the trade route much more likely than a long-term deal, league sources said. New Orleans values Ingram highly, though, and is expected to keep the extension door open with him, those sources said.
Ingram has averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists this season.
Beyond Butler and Ingram, there are many more integral players set to alter dynamics in the NBA.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets have received trade interest and opened exploratory conversations around forwards Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Dennis Schroder, sources said. Brooklyn has amassed significant cap and asset flexibility — an NBA-high $60-plus million in salary cap space next summer and 12 first-round picks and 11 second-round picks eligible for trade — to position the franchise for the future. After trading Mikal Bridges to the Knicks last summer, the Nets were looked at as a seller.
The Warriors are among the teams that have expressed interest in those three players, sources said. The 31-year-old Schroder is having a standout season on a $13 million salary, averaging 18.6 points and 6.5 assists.
Rival teams believe the Warriors are open to using injured guard De’Anthony Melton’s $12.8 million expiring salary along with draft incentives to make a potential deal for that salary range.
Indiana Pacers
After losing centers James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson to Achilles tendon tears, the Pacers are actively pursuing a backup 5, sources said.
Phoenix Suns
There is optimism that MVP candidate Kevin Durant could return from an ankle sprain on Friday against the Utah Jazz or Sunday at home versus the Portland Trail Blazers, sources said. The Suns are 11-2 with Durant in the lineup this season — and 1-9 without the two-time Finals MVP.
As the Suns look into trades, they have a 2031 first-round pick and three second-round picks eligible to be moved.
Portland Trail Blazers
Multiple teams have begun expressing interest in a group of Portland’s veterans — Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons and Robert Williams III — as the Trail Blazers make decisions on the roster, sources said.
Washington Wizards
Several contending teams are expected to pursue Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, sources said. Kuzma, a proven NBA champion on the 2020 Lakers, is in the second season of a four-year, $100 million deal. The 6-foot-9, versatile Kuzma has averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds this season.
Source: espn.com