Let’s take a different approach and look at three trades — including one involving Jimmy Butler — that make check the boxes of the modern NBA landscape.
As the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline approaches, teams and players are gearing up for the possibility of changes.
Trade targets can often be broken up into three categories.
Some players are broadly viewed as being available in trade discussions, such as Nikola Vučević, who’s playing some of the best basketball of his career with the Chicago Bulls.
Then there are players who are unquestionably available, such as Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
(Generally, when a player’s own team releases a statement basically saying, “Yeah, we’re shopping this guy,” the follow-up assumption should certainly be that it’s trying everything in its power to move him.)
Finally, there are players not mentioned in trade chatter who could get traded out of nowhere, which seems to happen every so often.
Let’s take a look at one trade from each category:
Heat’s Jimmy Butler and Alec Burks to the San Antonio Spurs for Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins and Tre Jones
All right, so let’s get into this before Heat fans rush to the bathroom to revisit their lunch.
Miami is in trouble. Full stop. The organization needs to make the playoffs this season to avoid forking over an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
If the Heat make the postseason this year, they’ll only relinquish this season’s selection, meaning a pick that falls outside the lottery.
The Heat could choose to keep Butler around, as to optimize their playoff chances, but should they fail — and should Butler leave in the summer as an unrestricted free agent (he has a player option in place, which he can decline) — Miami might end up having to give up a high pick in 2026, which they assuredly don’t want to do.
Johnson, Collins, and Jones are a modest return, yes, but they keep Miami competitive for this season, to the point where they could help the franchise make the postseason.
Jones’ contract is expiring, meaning the Heat could re-sign him or gain salary relief, depending on what they prefer.
Johnson’s contract is descending in value. It drops from $19 million to $17.5 million during the last two years, meaning he’s not just a decent trade chip, but he also produces at a level that’s above his compensation.
As for Collins, he’s had a rough season, but history shows he’s better than his current level. Miami could add him for depth purposes up front and go into the 2025-26 season with him as an expiring contract. There’s a decent chance his value will be rehabbed, so the Heat could get a solid return for him later on.
Look, this isn’t a super intriguing return. We all get why Heat fans would feel frustrated about such a trade. But fact of the matter is this: Given Butler’s contractual complexity, his obvious desire to not play in Miami anymore, and the aforementioned situation with the draft pick, the Heat have very, very little leverage here in a trade conversation.
The Spurs might be persuaded to add some type of draft compensation — a second-round selection or two — but the idea of relinquishing a first-round selection for a disgruntled 35-year-old who can opt out after this season seems too aggressive.
For the Spurs, the logic is fairly simple: They gamble on upside this season, and if Butler isn’t a great fit, they let him leave in the summer or flip him as an expiring deal (if he unexpectedly picks up his option).
San Antonio isn’t in dire need of either Collins or Jones, and it has enough picks and money to replace Johnson. The Spurs will be fine either way.
Bulls’ Nikola Vučević to the New York Knicks for Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson
The Knicks have one of the best and most potent starting lineups in the NBA. They have an All-Star center and point guard combo in Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson that most teams envy and role players who fit well.
Yet, they lack depth. Particularly big man depth that can produce offensively.
Achiuwa is a perfectly solid defensive power forward, but his modest offensive output suggests Towns will be overburdened come playoff time.
As for Robinson, he’s a genuine asset as an impactful defender, rebounder and rim-runner. Unfortunately, he’s also prone to miss huge chunks of virtually every season, meaning he’s also a risk to miss the playoffs.
The Knicks could roll the dice and just hope Achiuwa becomes a better scorer, and Robinson returns and stays healthy.
Or, they could be proactive and engage the Bulls in a conversation about swapping big men.
Vučević is playing highly efficient offense this season, scoring 20.2 points per game and converting on 55.7% of his shots, including 42.9% of his 3-pointers.
He’s also grabbing 10.1 rebounds per game, which would go a long way in replacing the rebounding that would be lost from the departure of Robinson.
Of course, some might point to the idea that Vučević wouldn’t start and he’d be a bench player earning $20 million. But that’s an oversimplification.
Vučević is fully capable of playing big minutes, and Towns, who spent two years next to Rudy Gobert in Minnesota, could spend time in the frontcourt at the four alongside Vučević.
The idea wouldn’t be to pair them, but simply let them overlap for about a quarter per game. Every minute Towns isn’t playing at the five should go to Vučević, and by the end of a game, the 34-year-old center should be sitting at close to 30 minutes per game.
Vučević adds a legitimate floor-spacing component from the bench unit, which the Knicks currently do not have. He’ll help New York’s starters ease back on the scoring, keeping their legs fresh for what the organization hopes will be a deep playoff run.
For Chicago, it’s all about the Benjamins.
Vučević’s deal runs another year after this season, but Achiuwa is coming off the books after this campaign. Robinson’s deal, which runs the same length as Vučević’s, declines in value, meaning the Bulls save even more money and can go into the 2025 summer with more financial flexibility.
The Bulls might ask for draft compensation in this framework. But they failed to squeeze a single additional asset out of Oklahoma City when they sent Alex Caruso there for Josh Giddey, so who knows if they’re good enough negotiators to extract additional value?
Regardless, the Knicks get better and the Bulls save money. This strongly aligns with how each organizations is being run these days.
Bulls’ Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu to the Spurs for Zach Collins, Malaki Branham, Chicago’s 2025 pick and a 2027 unprotected first-round pick via the Atlanta Hawks
That’s right. Despite warnings of the opposite, we’re crossing streams and re-using players in other potential deals.
This one might seem out of left field, but it makes sense.
White and the Bulls are in a bit of a situation: Due to the 140% extension limit, the Bulls can’t realistically extend the contract of White before he hits unrestricted free agency in 2026, as he’s earning just $12.8 million next season.
With the Bulls stuck in the middle, odds are decent that by then White will be open to a change of scenery. If a winning team offers him similar money as the Bulls, why would he stay?
(The same overall principle applies to Dosunmu, whose contract also expires in 2026.)
Here, the Bulls get ahead of the issue by sending out two players who remain extremely underpaid — $19 million total this season and just over $20 million collectively next year.
Basically, the Bulls tell the Spurs: “You’ll get two players who fit the timeline of Victor Wembanyama, and they are drastically underpaid for two potential playoff years, until they have to be paid.”
That’s a strong sales pitch, especially as White and Dosunmu space the floor, handle the ball, make plays and defend the guard spots at a decent level. Those are exactly the type of guards necessary for Wembanyama.
The Spurs know Chris Paul won’t be there forever, so adding two guards of that caliber should be of interest.
Of course, San Antonio will have to pay for it. Not through outgoing players, as Collins and Branham don’t have major roles, but in the form of draft compensation.
Chicago gets back full control of its 2025 selection this season, which is otherwise top 10-protected, and it gets Atlanta’s unprotected pick in 2027, which is currently in San Antonio’s possession.
Chicago could even ask for a future pick swap, albeit protected, and the deal would still have legs.
This would be a deal that comes out of nowhere, but with both teams making headway in the directions they should go.
(Of course, the Bulls may wish to keep themselves competitive, in which case this wouldn’t go anywhere, but that would be a faulty direction to choose.)
The Spurs also benefit in another way via this trade: Due to White and Dosunmu earning just over $20 million collectively next season, they won’t even remotely ruin San Antonio’s financial flexibility going into the summer.
