With just under a month until this season’s Feb. 5 trade deadline, the NBA transaction rumor mill has appropriately been heating up.
Even our Chicago Bulls, armed with seven expiring contracts and no clear direction to speak of, are allegedly getting into the fray.
Here’s the latest NBA news and notes.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves Plan Revealed?
The Los Angeles Lakers have looked a bit up-and-down this season. After a blistering 15-4 start mostly buoyed by the efforts of star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, LA has fallen back down to earth a bit. Summer signing Deandre Ayton has, predictably, started to check out on defense.
The Lakers are still the No. 3 seed in the West and sporting a 23-11 record, despite a porous team defense and a patchy offense beyond their three star players.
The roster is a bit mismatched, and badly needs defensive size at forward. Reaves is on the shelf with a calf strain for the next few weeks, but looks like a perfect supplementary creator next to Doncic long-term. When he and LeBron James hit unrestricted free agency this summer, the 6-foot-5 Oklahoma swingman seems likely to be the priority.
Sam Amick of The Athletic recently hopped on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” to suggest that, whatever happens, Reaves will be offered big bucks to stick around this offseason.
“The plan is Jeanie [Buss]’s still the governor of that team. And I bring that up because she’s the captain of the Austin Reaves fan club and Rob Pelinka is a huge fan as well,” Amick said. “Now, listen, Mark Walter paid $10 billion for the team — if he sees things differently, then who knows what happens down the road.”
Hawks, Ice Trae Collaborating on a Trade
Last week, we had heard that the Atlanta Hawks were looking to flip trade four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young and 2024 No. 1 pick forward Zaccharie Risacher. Things have only escalated since.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the 6-foot-2 Oklahoma product is now collaborating on a trade with Atlanta himself.
Just in: Atlanta Hawks All-Star Trae Young and his agents, Aaron Mintz, Drew Morrison and Austin Brown, are working with the franchise on a trade, sources tell ESPN. Young's reps and the Hawks have started collaborative talks over the last week on finding a resolution. pic.twitter.com/dUCNnDKqTt
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 5, 2026Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reports that the Washington Wizards have held “serious discussions” about a Young deal. He’s been such a defensive sieve — and has developed enough rumored chemistry issues with teammates — that even his aptitude as a passer and scorer could be a bit mitigated. Charania adds that the Wizards would be Young’s preferred landing spot.
On Young’s side, his reps have indicated that he’s also interested in being moved to the Brooklyn Nets or Minnesota Timberwolves. Fischer’s colleague Marc Stein indicates that a trade of CJ McCollum, and presumably some draft capital, for Young was discussed Monday.
Zach LaVine Wanted An Atlanta Deal Last Summer
During the offseason, old Bulls pal Zach LaVine’s Klutch Sports agents attempted to talk the Sacramento Kings into flipping him for Young, sources tell Fischer. Sacramento rejected the notion, and is now 8-29 on the year, and sports the worst offense and 27th-worst defense in the NBA. The LaVine-DeMar DeRozan reunion has been predictably painful to watch, as their on-court fit remains iffy.
Still just 30, LaVine has been putting up fairly efficient scoring numbers, as usual, but is on a pricey contract and an infamously poor defender. Through 25 healthy games, the two-time All-Star has been averaging 20.2 points on .484/.386/.879 shooting splits, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
Sergio Estrada-Imagn ImagesGolden State May Be Shutting Down Kuminga Through Deadline
Power forward Jonathan Kuminga may have played his last game with the Golden State Warriors, sources tell Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints. Kuminga has sat for nine straight Warriors contests, and has been a healthy scratch seven times. Siegel reports that both Kuminga’s reps and Golden State’s front office expect a trade to happen by the deadline.
It’s no secret to anyone with eyeballs that the Golden State Warriors badly need an upgrade at center. Which is why it’s very strange that the team has been linked to several non-centers in trade talks, including Michael Porter Jr.
According to Anthony Slater of ESPN, Golden State is at least still considering a move for a five — but that the relative recent improvement of Al Horford (he’s still been pretty disappointing, but can play a couple minutes off the bench) may convince Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. to stand pat. That would be a huge waste of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green.
Anthony Davis Trade Suitors Emerging
With 10-time All-Star big man Anthony Davis not expected to earn a contract extension from the Dallas Mavericks this summer, the former 2020 champ’s reps are apparently angling for a trade elsewhere, sources inform Christian Clark and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
The Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Warriors, and Milwaukee Bucks are all expected to have interest in the oft-hurt big man this season. His trade value may be depreciated enough right now, though, that Dallas will punt on making a move until the summer.
Injury Updates Around The League
Recently-extended Sacramento Kings power forward Keegan Murray has been struck by the injury bug for the third time this season. Per The Kings Beat’s James Ham, imaging on his left ankle has revealed that he suffered a moderate sprain during a Sunday clash with the Milwaukee Bucks. The 25-year-old is expected to have the ailment reassessed in the next three-to-four weeks. Just a minute into a tilt against the Dallas Mavericks over the weekend, Houston Rockets All-Star big man Alperen Sengun suffered a right lateral sprain. The 6-foot-11 power forward/center will be out for at least the next 10-to-14 days, per Space City Home Network sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson. Across his 27 contests so far this year prior to the Saturday clash, Sengun boasted averages of 22.6 points on .512/.317/.734, 9.3 rebounds, 6.7 dimes, 1.5 swipes and 1.0 rejections per. Speaking of the Mavericks, Dallas has been granted a pair of Disabled Player Exceptions for injured center Dereck Lively II and point guard Dante Exum, Fischer reports. The exceptions will be pay out half of the injured players’ salaries, meaning Dallas will have $2,626,680 to use from Lively’s deal and $1,148,137 through Exum’s contract. Lively fractured his right ankle last January, which eventually yielded a summer surgery. He played fleetingly this season, and ultimately went under the knife for another foot surgery in December. He’ll miss the rest of the year. Exum had a right knee surgery over the summer, didn’t play one iota during the season, and had a second, season-ending surgery last month. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn ImagesOdds & Ends
Although the Lakers’ “dueling banjos” offensive approach to running out stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic together has been relatively effective in the regular season, it has also occasionally resulted in some ugly losses. The 41-year-old James remains a pretty good offensive player, but he has regressed a bit there, too, and occasionally forces his own shot too much rather than deferring to Doncic. And he really, really needs to defer to Doncic. Doncic, the league’s leading scorer, has been absolutely on fire, and seems to relish trash-talking opposing fans.Pelicans fan to Luka Doncic:“You’re trash!”Luka Doncic after hitting the three:“What’d you say motherf**ker? What the f**k did you say?”pic.twitter.com/7DJVqKtj4D
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) January 7, 2026 The Indiana Pacers, losers of 13 straight, have cut former Bulls reserve center Tony Bradley, per a team press release. Bradley suited up for 29 games with the Pacers this year, averaging 10.7 minutes per. His non-guaranteed minimum deal would have become fully guaranteed Wednesday. Tony East of Forbes notes that Indiana could still opt to bring the 28-year-old pro back on a 10-day deal later this season. The Raptors are cutting former 2018 lottery pick Mo Bamba, Sportsnet.ca’s Blake Murphy reports. The 27-year-old was also on a non-guaranteed deal that would have become guaranteed for the rest of the year Wednesday. Toronto clearly didn’t like what it saw during Bamba’s week with the club, and decided to move on rather than pay.Hence then, the article about around the nba austin reaves future trae trade downloading lavine to atlanta jonathan kuminga shut down more was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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