Basketball

While Kevin Durant reportedly wasn't interested in a return to the Golden State Warriors, a move to Miami wasn't off the table.

Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported that while Durant told the Phoenix Suns he "had no desire" to return to Golden State, he was "open" to being traded to the Heat and that Miami considered pivoting to an entirely different move before Thursday's trade deadline.

"Durant, however, would have been open to playing for the Heat, sources said, so Miami debated cutting the Warriors out completely and dealing Butler to Phoenix for Durant, sources said," Windhorst and Shelburne wrote.

A Warriors source told Windhorst and Shelburne that Durant likely didn't want to return due to "the same reasons he left" and that Golden State would have "been a f--ing circus."

Durant is under contract with the Suns through the 2025-26 season. Windhorst previously reported that there was a "level of concern" about Durant's future and that caused some thoughts of making a deal at the deadline.

He is averaging 26.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 39 games for the Suns, which sit ninth in the Western Conference at 25-25. Durant will remain the centerpiece of the team's playoff hopes but a trade would have represented at least a partial reset for the franchise by bringing a player like Butler in.

Instead, Butler will attempt to help Stephen Curry and company grab a playoff birth, while Durant and the Suns will hope to keep their pace above Golden State in the West standings. Miami, meanwhile, will look to Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson fill the hole left by Butler.

The Phoenix Suns reportedly found just two teams willing to take on Bradley Beal's $50 million cap hit when testing out potential trades for Jimmy Butler.

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst, "of all the teams Phoenix canvassed, sources said only the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks would consider taking on Beal if he'd waive his no-trade clause to go there."

The Suns were working to move Beal's cap hit in order to take on Butler's $48.8 million cap hit, but the Heat would not accept Beal in a one-for-one trade, according to Shelburne and Windhorst.

According to Shelburne and Windhorst, the Suns "clung to that hope for weeks" that the Wizards or Hawks would eventually take on Beal's contract.

The Suns were "hoping that if they could somehow improve their package to incentivize these teams to participate, and other trades the Wizards and Hawks were working on fell through, then maybe there would be a path to a deal," according to Shelburne and Windhorst.

It was ultimately the Golden State Warriors who managed to construct a five-team deal to snag Butler from the Heat.

Both the Hawks, who sent out De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanović, and the Wizards, who parted ways with Kyle Kuzma and Jonas Valančiūnas, were busy at the deadline, but not with anything involving Beal.

Even if the Warriors or Hawks had pursued him, however, it is not clear if Beal would have waived his no-trade clause to join either team.

It has been less than two years since Beal waived his no-trade in order to be dealt by the Wizards, and he again has full control over where he is moved.

Even Beal had waived the clause again for another move at the 2025 deadline, he would again retain trade control for the final two seasons and more than $110 million remaining on his contract. In a previous report, Shelburne and Windhorst wrote that Beal keeping his no-trade clause after a potential move was a "deal-breaker" for "multiple team executives."

The Suns are now set to keep both Beal and Kevin Durant after reportedly shopping both stars at the deadline. After Shelburne reported the reports led to a "toxic" vibe in Phoenix, the Suns will need to work on repairing team chemistry before more trade rumors involving both players inevitably begin this offseason.

The Los Angeles Lakers are adding some more depth to the roster.

Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Lakers have signed guard Jordan Goodwin to a two-way NBA deal. Goodwin has played in the G-League this season for the team's affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

Goodwin entered training camp with the Lakers but did not make the final roster. He last played in the NBA in 2023-24, splitting the season between the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies.

Goodwin has played in 14 games for South Bay in 2024-25, averaging 13.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and three assists. In 121 career NBA games, he has averaged 6.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

The best stretch of his career in the NBA came during his 17-game stint with the Grizzlies in 2023-24, where he averaged 10 points, eight rebounds and 4.5 assists for a Memphis team that was depleted by injuries.

While he will not assume a large role with the Lakers, he can be a solid bench piece that can freely be sent between the G-League and NBA as needed. Los Angeles is currently 30-19 and recently acquired star guard Luka Dončić via a trade with the Dallas Mavericks.

Damian Lillard will get a shot at a third straight three-Point Contest title.

The Milwaukee Bucks star was one of eight contestants named to the 2025 edition of the All-Star Weekend competition Friday by the NBA.

Lillard will be joined by the New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham, Cleveland Cavaliers' Darius Garland, Miami Heat's Tyler Herro, Golden State Warriors' Buddy Hield, Brooklyn Nets' Cam Johnson and Los Angeles Clippers' Norman Powell.

Lillard won his first 3-Point title by beating out Hield and Tyrese Haliburton in a three-contestant final round of the 2023 contest.

The following year, he became the first back-to-back winner since Jason Kapono in 2008 by beating out Trae Young and 2022 three-point champ Karl Anthony-Towns on a contest-winning final shot.

The 2024 All-Star event was a big weekend for Lillard, who put up 11 more three-pointers during the 2024 All-Star Game to earn All-Star MVP honors in the Eastern Conference win.

To defend his 3-Point title in 2024, Lillard will have to go up against some of the hottest shooters in the league next weekend in San Francisco.

Herro, who currently ranks third in the NBA in three-pointers made, is scoring on 39.3 percent of his career-high 9.7 three-point attempts per game through 48 contests this season.

Powell, who was not named to an All-Star roster despite averaging career-best 23.9 points per game so far this season, leads all 3-Point Contest competitors with a 43.1 percent success rate from deep.

Garland has meanwhile shot a career-best 42.9 percent from behind the arc so far this season, while Johnson is averaging a personal-best 19.3 points per game.

The NBA made the somewhat surprising decision to select Cunningham, who is shooting 35.4 percent from deep, over his Pistons teammate Malik Beasley, who trails only Anthony Edwards for the NBA lead in three-pointers made.

Hield, who won the event while representing the Sacramento Kings in 2020, is the only past winner to join Lillard in the competition. Brunson, meanwhile, heads into the contest looking for redemption after a first-round elimination from the 2024 event.

The 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend is scheduled for Feb. 14-16 at the Warriors' Chase Center in San Francisco. The 2025 3-Point Contest will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15.

At least one rival NBA executive seems to believe De'Andre Hunter was just the addition the Cleveland Cavaliers need to go on a title run this spring.

"They've been hunting size on the wing to match up with the Celtics and OKC and [other contenders]," the anonymous Western Conference executive told ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "If he stays healthy, he could be the missing piece."

The Cavs acquired Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday in exchange for a package including draft capital and Caris LeVert.

The Cavaliers leaned heavily on injured forward Dean Wade throughout the first half of the season. More than half of the team's 10 losses this season have come without Wade in the lineup.

That may be part of the reason the Cavs, who headed into the trade deadline on top of the East with an NBA-high 41 wins, were looking to add size on the perimeter for the run-up to the playoffs.

The Athletic's Joe Vardon reported in mid-January that the Cavaliers were looking to address the issue, exposed by matchups with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, of "size and physicality on the perimeter."

As Vardon noted, the Cavaliers believed they could use additional size to add to a court staffed by 6-foot-2 Darius Garland and 6-foot-3 Darius Mitchell.

Hunter, 6-foot-8, averaged a career-high 19.0 points while shooting a personal-best 39.3 percent from deep through 37 games with the Hawks. He has also provided the kind of physical perimeter defense the Cavs have reportedly been looking for.

By swapping out LeVert for Hunter, the Cavs have addressed a roster weakness while potentially upping how much production they can get from their sixth man.

As the Western Conference executive told Bontemps, however, how much Hunter is able to impact the Cavaliers going forward will depend on his health and availability. Hunter has only played at least 60 games in a season twice in his six-year NBA career, and he's already missed time this season due to right knee injury management.

If he is able to stay in the lineup, however, Hunter could provide the Cavs with a boost off the bench as the team looks to finish the season on top of the conference standings.

Kobe Bryant's shoes from his "Achilles game" set a high bar for future sales of the Black Mamba's memorabilia at auction.

The shoes that Kobe wore when he shot a pair of iconic free throws after suffering a torn Achilles in a 2013 game against the Golden State Warriors sold for $660,000 in a Sotheby's auction on Friday.

According to Cllct's Will Stern, it was the highest price paid to date for a pair of game-worn Kobe sneakers.

Bryant suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of an April 2013 game against the Warriors and attempted both free throw attempts to tie the game at 109 before exiting with the injury. The Lakers went on to win, 118-116.

Bryant was limited to just six games the following season but returned for 2014-15 and 2015-16 and remained an impact player for the Lakers until his retirement.

According to Cllct, the shoes were acquired by Panini Authentic following the game, and Bryant signed them. They were sold privately and officially hit the open market for the first time for the Sotheby's auction.

His jersey from the same game sold for $1.2 million in June 2024. The most expensive piece of Bryant memorabilia on record is his 2008 MVP season jersey, which sold for $5.8 million in 2023.

Other notable Bryant memorabilia items that have sold at auction include his Staples Center locker, his high school basketball jersey and his championship ring from the 2000-01 season.

It's safe to say that Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is excited to play with his new teammate.

The Lakers shocked the NBA when they traded for Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić last week, dealing away star center Anthony Davis in the process. This move likely puts the Lakers future in the hands of the 25-year-old Dončić and could signal a passing of the torch from the 40-year-old James.

When asked about the move, James expressed excitement at the opportunity to play with a "generational talent" and "watch him do his thing."

"I'm looking forward to it," James said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. "I can't wait. Everything I do on the floor, (Dončić) just has the ability to do it, or even do it better. That's how great he is. Even at his young age of 25, he's such a unique player, special player, generational talent.

"So I'll be super appreciative to be able to share the floor with him and then watch him do his thing. It'll be good."

Dončić is in his seventh NBA season and is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 22 games for the Dallas Mavericks. He is a five-time All-Star and helped lead Dallas to a NBA Finals appearance in 2023-24.

The Lakers are reportedly targeting a Feb. 10 debut for Dončić, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, and will hope he can push the team further up the standings of the Western Conference. Los Angeles is currently 30-19 and sits in fifth in the conference.

James is averaging 24.5 points, nine assists and 7.8 rebounds for the Lakers in 2024-25. Dončić's presence should take some pressure off of James while also signaling the future direction of the franchise.

The Los Angeles Lakers will soon add one of the best scorers in the NBA, Luka Dončić, to their lineup. Until then, they can count on LeBron James.

The 40-year-old James, who continues to defeat Father Time, lifted the Lakers to a 120-112 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday behind an absurd scoring outburst.

James had 42 points in the win, adding 17 boards and eight assists. He's the second player to score 40 or more points at the age of 40—the other being the great Michael Jordan.

James may not be the same player he once was, but after another outstanding performance, it's hard to deny he's not one of the best players in the league at the moment.

James' long-time rival, Stephen Curry, also had a tremendous night with 37 points, but it wasn't enough to get his team past the Lakers. Luckily for Curry, help is coming. Jimmy Butler, who was traded from the Miami Heat to the Warriors on Wednesday, will join the team soon.

NBA fans were thrilled by the scoring outburst on social media after the win.

James is playing his best basketball of the season at the moment, and it's led to a recent surge for the Lakers. They've won 11 of their last 13 games and are currently sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference at 30-19.

While Los Angeles will certainly miss Anthony Davis after he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, it seems like the Lakers might be able to make do without him, especially once Dončić is on the court.