5 Blockbuster Deals That Would Blow Up the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline – Bleacher Report
This year’s NBA trade deadline seemed destined for “dud” status…right up until it became the most shocking one in recent memory.Let that be a lesson to us all: No half-baked, far-fetched, wild-eyed fever dream of a made-up trade will ever be less plausible than the one that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.The following exchanges, all highly unlikely to actually happen, would continue the landscape-altering bent of the ones that have already come to pass, sending stars to seemingly long-shot landing spots and shaking up the league to a delightful degree.Let’s be honest: We’re all here for the chaos.Houston Rockets Receive: Devin BookerPhoenix Suns Receive: Fred VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, 2025 first-round pick (via PHX), 2027 first-round pick (via PHX), 2026 first-round pick (via OKC), 2029 first-round pick (via PHX)What better way to truly obliterate everyone’s expectations about the trade deadline than executing a deal both sides have either outright said (in Houston’s case) or telegraphed (in Phoenix’s) will never happen?The Rockets have consistently voiced their plans to hold fast through Feb. 6, content to see what their current core can do before making any major changes down the line. Meanwhile, the Suns are always in star-addition mode; trading away Booker, even to regain control of their own draft picks, is way out of character for them.All that understood, this is a logical move for both parties.If Booker were to initiate the proceedings by asking out, something he hasn’t indicated is realistic, Phoenix would get to have some semblance of a future. A move like this would likely preface others: Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal (if he agrees) might follow Booker out the door in moves that’d put Phoenix back on a rational roster-building path.For Houston, the addition of Booker would address a dearth of half-court offensive punch, onboarding a true star who’s still young enough to grow with Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengün.Nobody on either side of this hypothetical has indicated a willingness to get so bold, but the Rockets do have all those Phoenix picks and should be looking to dangle them for an outsized return like this.New Orleans Pelicans Receive: Jimmy Butler, Simone Fontecchio, Tim Hardaway Jr., 2025 second-round pick (via DET)Detroit Pistons Receive: CJ McCollum, Jordan Hawkins, Lakers 2026 second-round pick (via MIA), 2031 second-round pick (more favorable of MIA/IND), 2030 second-round pick (second least favorable of ORL and NOP)Miami Heat Receive: Brandon Ingram, Jeremiah Robinson-EarlLet’s break down the motivations for all three teams as cleanly as possible.Why New Orleans Does It: Butler is the hangup here. Having just lost Dejounte Murray to a season-ending Achilles tear and already stuck in the cellar, the Pels coul view Butler as an odd fit. But look at all the flexibility New Orleans gains. McCollum’s overpriced deal is gone, the Ingram saga is over and Hardaway’s salary comes off the books this summer.The Pels also duck the tax and could have heaps of spending power if Butler declines his player option. In a worst-case scenario, they wind up having to hold onto Butler through the season, at which point they could try to flip him for value or sign-and-trade him over the summer.Why Detroit Does It: McCollum and Hawkins would give the Pistons more shooting and ball-handling next to Cade Cunningham, key elements for this season’s playoff run without Jaden Ivey.Detroit would certainly rather send out Tobias Harris than Fontecchio and Hardaway, but it’s tough to envision the Pelicans agreeing to absorb both Butler and Harris’ deals—even if they’re getting off of McCollum’s. In alternate constructions that send out Harris, the Pistons probably can’t expect to also land Hawkins and those second-rounders.Why Miami Does It: The Heat are the easy winners here, essentially turning Butler into Ingram. Maybe it’s outdated to keep putting faith in #HeatCulture in light of how sideways things have gone with Butler, but doesn’t it seem like Miami is the place for Ingram to become his best self alongside Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo?The Heat would have to contend with Ingram’s free agency, but the market’s coolness toward the former All-Star could mean a bargain rate on his next contract. More importantly, the Heat need to make the playoffs this season to convey their 2025 first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder. If they fail in that effort, they’ll owe an unprotected 2026 first instead. Ingram, if healthy, will be more helpful to Miami’s short-term aims than Butler, who isn’t going to play for the franchise again.Denver Nuggets Receive: De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan BogdanovićAtlanta Hawks Receive: Michael Porter Jr., Dario Sarić, 2031 first-round swapThe Hawks would be selling high on Hunter (19.3 points on 46.1 percent shooting), who’s in the midst of his best career season, and low on Bogdanović (10.0 points on 37.0 percent shooting), who’s enduring his worst, for a shot at one of the league’s premium perimeter shooters in Porter.The 2031 first-round swap coming from the Nuggets should have enough upside to at least make this a conversation.One would also imagine Nikola Jokić co-signing the addition of Bogdanović, a friend and fellow member of the Serbian national team.Denver needs depth and versatility if it wants another shot at a title during Jokić’s prime, and MPJ is really its only means of adding some. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon are too important to the Nuggets’ makeup, and neither can be traded at this year’s deadline anyway. That leaves Porter as the obvious outgoing salary, and it’s worth noting that while Hunter and Bogdanović both come with their own past and present injury concerns, MPJ’s medical record has multiple back surgeries on it.He’s shaken the frail label for now, but Porter can’t be considered a safe bet going forward.The pick swap might be a hangup for the Hawks, though they could probably turn it into an outright first-rounder if they’d accept Zeke Nnaji instead of Sarić, whose deal is smaller and runs for fewer years.In the end, Denver gets two legitimate (if healthy) starting-caliber pieces for one while Atlanta onboards a shooting specialist to space the floor for Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher over the next few seasons.Golden State Warriors Receive: Kevin DurantPhoenix Suns Receive: Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II, 2026 first-round pick, 2028 first-round pickLet’s blow up the Suns again!As long as Bradley Beal wields his no-trade clause, additions are going to be tough to make in Phoenix. KD is savvy enough to understand that, and he could fast-track an exit by going to the Suns with a request to rejoin the only team with which he’s ever won anything of consequence.That’d align nicely with the Dubs’ desire to support Stephen Curry with star power—one that has seen them desperately canvas the league in search of veteran upgrades. Their inquiries have included calls to Phoenix about Durant, so the lines of communication are already open.Phoenix’s stubborn refusal to view its plight clearly stands in the way of this deal, but maybe as the deadline nears reality will make itself plain: The Suns are going nowhere as constructed and need to replenish their store of picks and reasonably priced assets.Kuminga is a potential star entering restricted free agency, Wiggins is a plus two-way starter and the other two contracts in the deal are expiring/non-guaranteed. Those two first-rounders would also be useful as a means to short the Warriors’ mid-term future or as trade chips.Meanwhile, the Warriors get to take one more crack at being relevant with a familiar face. And as an added bonus for Durant, he rides into town as a potential savior, a satisfying final chapter for someone who’d probably love to ditch the bandwagon-jumping reputation he earned last time around.Orlando Magic Receive: LaMelo BallCharlotte Hornets Receive: Jonathan Isaac, Anthony Black, Tristan Da Silva, 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round swap, 2030 first-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 second-round pickThis might be the fake trade most obviously influenced by the Dončić deal. On its face, the Magic seem to be getting away with robbery here; their own outgoing firsts probably won’t be worth much because Ball should make them a perennial contender in the East, and the Hornets aren’t getting a cornerstone piece back for the one they’re sending out.But the Dončić deal showed that one franchise’s risk tolerance for a player with conditioning/injury issues can be significantly different from another’s. The thinking here is that Charlotte doesn’t believe Ball will ever get past the ankle issues that have defined his career and want to move him for value while they can.Orlando, in contrast, is just fine betting on the upside.Is that logic misguided? Probably, but there’s also a precedent for it.Orlando adds a high-end playmaker and extreme-volume three-point shooter to an offense that lacks both. Whatever concerns exist about Ball’s shaky defense get minimized with Jalen Suggs next to him and a shutdown culture firmly in place under Jamahl Mosley.In Charlotte, the Hornets get young pieces, a defensive superstar (in short bursts) in Isaac and three first-rounders to build out their next era around Brandon Miller and this year’s lottery pick.Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.
