LeBron James and Stephen Curry combined for 70 points (33 and 37, respectively) in yet another magnificent matchup between the two basketball legends, and in the end, the Warriors claimed a critical 123-116 win against the Lakers. Now, there’s a …
LeBron James and Stephen Curry combined for 70 points (33 and 37, respectively) in yet another magnificent matchup between the two basketball legends, and in the end, the Warriors claimed a critical 123-116 win against the Lakers. Now, there’s a good chance these two teams could face each other in the first round of the playoffs, something many fans would love to see.
Luka Doncic scored 19 points and went 0-for-6 on three-pointers, the first time he’s gone without a three since Game 4 of the last NBA Finals against the Celtics when he missed eight attempts. He also had a difficult time guarding Curry:
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HoopsHype presents how much money every NBA team has invested for the future in players who will be older than 35 years old.
The Golden State Warriors invested in a very veteran player yet again this trade deadline, acquiring the disgruntled Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, a protected first-round pick and more.
The problem for Golden State is that Butler is 35 years old and is joining a Warriors nucleus that already features a 36-(soon to be 37)-year-old Stephen Curry and a 34-(soon to be 35)-year-old Draymond Green. That means if Golden State makes what would be a miraculous run at a championship this year, they’d be led by a core that would be roughly a combined 107 years old by the upcoming Finals in June. According to our research, that would give Golden State the oldest Big Three in league history to win an NBA title.
How wise that investment will wind up being for the Warriors remains to be seen, but at least owner Joe Lacob is giving his current group one more shot with a still-effective Butler, so he deserves some credit there.
Even so, we looked up how much NBA teams have invested in players who will be 35 or older after the 2024-25 season, and Golden State has by far the most committed, with a whopping $289.9 million (combining what is owed to Curry, Butler, and Green). That’s a huge amount more than the team that finished with the second-most money invested in 35-plus-year-old player seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers, at $165.9 million. In third, the Milwaukee Bucks at $121.8 million, followed by the Boston Celtics at $104.4 million and the Los Angeles Clippers at $91.6 million rounding out the Top 5. That’s particularly troubling for Philadelphia as its roster has various players who aren’t that young but who are pretty injury-prone.
Others are taking the opposite approach, instead investing in their youth, teams like the Houston Rockets, who notably avoided trading for veterans this deadline because they reportedly want to see how far they can take it with their current group. Houston has $0 invested in player seasons over 35 years old and just $41.1 million invested in the 30-34 years old block. The Oklahoma City Thunder are another young team with $0 invested in players older than 35, and they are one of the favorites to win a title this year, so kudos to Sam Presti for how strong of a young roster he’s built, with so much draft capital left to play around with.
Also of note from our research, Boston has an enormous $510.6 million invested in player season between age 30 and 34 while the New York Knicks have $427.0 million in that group.
Below, check out how much money NBA teams have invested in player seasons 35 years old or older, as well as in players between 30 and 34, 25 through 29 and 25 and under.
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler got his wish granted when he was traded to Golden State in a four-team deal involving Andrew Wiggins. He then signed a two-year, $121 million extension with the Dubs. Check out the social media reactions to the trade …
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler got his wish granted when he was traded to Golden State in a four-team deal involving Andrew Wiggins. He then signed a two-year, $121 million extension with the Dubs.
Check out the social media reactions to the trade down below:
One fan shared the news about the Butler trade from the stands to players on the Heat bench during the game, with a video circulating on social media documenting the exchange.
These are the times we live in; a fan at a game can just check their phone and share news about a team with the team’s players while they’re on the bench.
Butler joining Golden State will be one of the marquee moves of this NBA trade deadline, and these Heat players really may have first heard about it from a fan in the stands.
This guy broke the Jimmy Butler trade news to the Heat right now (via shantsolmaz/IG) pic.twitter.com/wDUb1hICfx
Golden State surrendered a package including Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III, and one protected first-round pick.
Of course, the deal got incredibly complicated and expanded to include several teams. Here is what you need to know based on the reporting so far:
Trade details
Warriors get: Jimmy Butler
Heat get: Andrew Wiggins, P.J. Tucker, Kyle Anderson (will potentially get moved), 2025 first-round pick from GSW (protected 1-10)
Pistons get: Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson
Jazz get: Dennis Schroder, 2031 second-round pick
Golden State Warriors
As bizarre as this was for the Warriors after striking out on a potential reunion with Kevin Durant before the NBA trade deadline, Golden State found another high-caliber player to pair with Stephen Curry.
The question with Butler remains the same as always, though: Will he contribute at his potential? If so, this could easily help Golden State remain contenders while Curry is still an All-Star.
But if he decides he is no longer bought in and causes similar distractions as he did in previous stops along the way in his NBA career, this would become a far riskier decision.
Volatile though it may feel, the reward is tremendous if the Warriors get “Playoff Jimmy” in the postseason. If they don’t, though, then they may have bigger issues in Golden State.
Grade: B-
Miami Heat
Miami lost a lot of leverage as they continued to suspend Butler, making it evidently clear to the entire league that both parties no longer wanted to work together any longer.
Yet they still managed to return some at least mildly decent assets with Wiggins and a potentially valuable (protected) first-round pick.
Especially for a team that has drafted fairly well recently with Kel’el Ware and Jamie Jaquez Jr., that is more interesting than people may immediately give it credit for at first glance.
Wiggins is not exactly a star but he should fit in well alongside Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. This was not a home run return for Butler, but it wasn’t too shabby either, as they got everything they wanted in the deal.
They also managed to get out of the luxury tax in the process as well.
Things changed quickly for Jimmy Butler and the Warriors.
Well, new Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler came to California with a new contract in tow despite a report that he wasn’t interested in this very scenario.
Wednesday’s bombshell trade that sent Butler to the Warriors from the Miami Heat was immediately followed by news from ESPN’s Shams Charania about a new contract.
Butler’s reported two-year, $121 million contract extension locks him in with Golden State for the foreseeable future with superstar guard Steph Curry. Butler’s arrival should help steady the Warriors in the 2025 Western Conference playoff hunt.
However, this situation didn’t look viable earlier in the week.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst shared a report on Monday that Butler told Golden State he wasn’t willing to sign a new deal with the team, which made the prospects of a trade look quite questionable.
However, the deal reportedly came together anyway. Funny how this all works out in the end!
HoopsHype ranks the 10 players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week, including Lakers star LeBron James.
The NBA trade market exploded over the weekend, both with the shocking Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade, the first in league history involving two reigning All-NBA players to take place midseason, followed by the mega-deal that saw De’Aaron Fox end up with the San Antonio Spurs and Zach LaVine with the Sacramento Kings.
Moves of that caliber have led many to believe we could be in line for another surprise or two before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Below, check out the 10 players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week (without actually being moved), with some of the biggest names in the NBA today involved.
HoopsHype ranks the 10 players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week, including De’Aaron Fox and more.
With a little over a week left until the 2025 NBA trade deadline, the league was hit with another bombastic trade rumor regarding the player who finished No. 2 on this list, from a report that came almost out of nowhere.
Elsewhere, after the Nick Richards–Josh Okogie swap between the Hornets and Suns, Phoenix then acquired three future first-round picks from the Utah Jazz in exchange for one first-round pick of their own. That hasn’t led to a subsequent move by Phoenix, however, at least not yet.
Below, check out the 10 players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the previous week.
Heat fans, I hate to say I told you so, but I definitely told you so.
The Miami Heat needed to trade Jimmy Butler weeks ago when this whole suspension saga started, but at the very least, it needed to happen last week when the team decided to suspend him for two games.
On one hand, I get it. Butler hasn’t been part of the team over this last month. He’s actively tried to force his way out. So it makes sense to reward someone who actually wants to be there with a starting spot over a guy who doesn’t.
On the other hand, Butler is better than Highsmith on his worst day. That’s not a knock on Highsmith — it’s just the truth! We all know it. So, yeah, I can see Butler crashing out a bit when he gets that news.
Here’s the thing: The Heat are trying to out-petty Jimmy Butler right now.
Butler is doing things to get under the team’s skin, and Miami is doing the same in return. They’ve demoted him, suspended him, and taken chunks of his salary away. That wouldn’t go over well with anyone, but certainly not the guy who has burned every bridge he’s walked across in his career.
And that’s the thing, man. Somebody needs to tell the Heat that they won’t out-petty Jimmy Butler. He won’t let you do it. He’s going to get the last laugh. He always does. Just ask the Timberwolves how that goes. That man embarrassed his team in practice and then sat down with Rachel Nichols to let us all know that he did it.
He always finds a way to embarrass you in the end. That’s what he does. He’s chaos through and through. So, sure, the Heat may have him cornered now with the demotion and the suspension. But this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.
I am begging Miami to please trade this man before things get worse.
MLB, please be cooler next season
We absolutely need to see minute-long home-run trots like the one Junior Caminero did in LIDOM, a professional Dominican Republic winter league.
Look at him strut, y’all.
An all-time home run trot from Junior Caminero with an incredible call to match. pic.twitter.com/N7d3WhqqXj
“Monday night saw the close of the LIDOM, a professional Dominican Republic winter league, with Game 7 of the championship between the Leones del Escogido and the Tigres del Licey. And in the top of the ninth inning with the game tied 5-5, Caminero — an infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays — absolutely blasted what would end up being the game-winning home run to deep center field to give the Leones del Escogido the lead.”
Do something like this in Major League Baseball and you’re likely to get pelted by a ball six months later when you face the same pitcher again for the first time. It’s so corny.
MLB is a great league, but it can be so much more fun if it brings life like this into it. Please, baseball, let it happen someday.
It’s OK to hate the Chiefs
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Ever since Nate Burleson went on his spiel about how people need to appreciate the greatness of the Chiefs after Kansas City made it to a third consecutive Super Bowl, there’s been a conversation going about whether that’s actually necessary.
And, look. I like the Chiefs. I’m someone who loves to see a video game boss in sports. Patrick Mahomes is my GOAT QB.
But people don’t have to like them. They don’t have to like anyone. It’s sports! Sometimes, you can be a hater. It’s fine! The Chiefs have everything else already. They don’t need your love, too.
“The Chiefs are everywhere, and we’re now expected to be happy for them lest we disrespect the very game of football. This is like forcing people to be happy for a billionaire who finds a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk.
How many times do we have to hear Kelce yell the lyrics to the Beastie Boys until we’ve justifiably had enough? How many times do we need to hear NFL broadcasters wax poetic about the greatness of Mahomes when he’s not even playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL?
How many times do we have to hear a team that has won three Super Bowls in five seasons groan on and on about how nobody believed in them when they’re literally the most popular team in the country?
How many reruns of that obnoxious David Lynch nightmare State Farm Bundle-Rooski commercial do we have to watch until we “Bundle-Rooski-Doo” our remotes into the television screen and watch it shatter into a million fragments of color?”
Put them hater-shades on, folks. It’s alright.
Quick hits: The Super Bowl is scripted … Oof, Liam Coen … and more
(via shantsolmaz/IG) 
