The NBA's trade deadline passed on Thursday with a relatively quiet final day that followed nearly a week's worth of seismic moves. (More Sports News)
ﷺAfter a slew of current or former All-Stars such as Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, De'Aaron Fox, Zach LaVine, Brandon Ingram and Khris Middleton all changed addresses in the days leading up to the deadline, the biggest news on Thursday may have been the superstar who stayed put as the Phoenix Suns held on to Kevin Durant amid several teams reportedly making bids for the four-time scoring champion.
🍬Phoenix did make one move on Thursday by offloading veteran center Jusuf Nurkic to Charlotte while attaching a 2026 first-round pick to entice the Hornets to take on the remainder of his sizeable contract. The Suns received wing Cody Martin and point guard Vasilije Micic in exchange.
🎀The Memphis Grizzlies also got rid of a weighty contract by shipping former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to the non-contending Washington Wizards as part of a three-team trade. Washington received Memphis' 2025 first-round selection in the deal while sending forward Marvin Bagley and former lottery pick Johnny Davis to the Grizzlies, who also moved guard Jake LaRavia to the Sacramento Kings in the trade.
🌸Smart, acquired from Boston last summer in a three-team trade that sent standout center Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics, has been limited to just 19 games by health issues this season and just returned from a finger injury that sidelined him more than six weeks.
✨The Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off perhaps Thursday's most impactful trade by acquiring forward De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for key role players Caris LeVert and Georges Niang. Hunter is averaging a career-high 19.0 points per game in 2024-25 and has two seasons remaining on a four-year, $90 million extension he signed prior to the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
♐Atlanta, which has dropped to ninth place in the East after losing nine of its last 10 games, was one of the more active teams Thursday. The Hawks also traded 3-point specialist Bogdan Bogdanovic to the Los Angeles Clippers for wing Terance Mann, guard Bones Hyland and three second-round picks.
⭕The Clippers made another notable move by sending guard Kevin Porter Jr. to the Milwaukee Bucks for young forward MarJon Beauchamp.
🐈Also on the move for the second time in as many days was well-traveled guard Dennis Schroder, who will go from the Utah Jazz to Detroit to help the Pistons in their push to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018-19.
💞Schroder was traded from Golden State to Utah as part of Wednesday's mammoth multi-team deal that landed Butler with the Warriors and former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins with Miami as part of the package the Heat received to ship the disgruntled six-time All-Star to the Bay Area.
ಞThe 31-year-old Schroder is averaging 14.4 points and 5.5 assists in 47 games this season and is expected to add a veteran presence to the young Pistons, who presently reside in seventh place in the East.
