NBA trade rumors: Zach LaVine wants to stay with Bulls; Grizzlies have talked to Heat about Jimmy Butler

With the Jimmy Butler situation still uncomfortable and unresolved, the Memphis Grizzlies are “lurking” and have “been in contact” with the Miami Heat, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst.

The Grizzlies are 29-15 and third in the Western Conference, just half a game behind the second-place Houston Rockets. In theory, they could use a two-way wing who can make plays, but it’s not clear that the 35-year-old Butler is on their timeline or would fit their extremely fast-paced style of play. It’s also worth noting that, in the last few weeks, Chris Haynes, The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer and ESPN’s Marc Spears have all reported that Butler, who has a $52.4 million player option next season, does not want to go to Memphis.

Why would the Grizzlies trade for a star who doesn’t want to play for them and could simply leave in free agency (or pick up his option and demand a trade, James Harden-style)? According to ESPN, rival execs have suggested that Memphis is interested in Butler as a short-term play: The front office could “combine a talent influx with offloading some future salary so it can facilitate a contract extension for Jaren Jackson Jr. as early as this summer.” (For context: The Grizzlies owe Marcus Smart $21.6 million in 2025-26, Brandon Clarke $12.5 million in both 2025-26 and 2026-27 and John Konchar $6.2 million in both 2025-26 and 2026-27.) The Toronto Raptors‘ trade for Kawhi Leonard in 2018 is not a perfect parallel, but this would be another case of a team making a move knowing full well that it’s not the player’s preferred destination.

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Sam Quinn

ESPN also reported that “there is a real chance” that Butler doesn’t go anywhere by the Feb. 6 trade deadline. While Miami is motivated to move him and he remains the Phoenix Suns‘ top target, this is not a friendly trade market. One of the reasons it has been difficult to find a suitable trade is that, according to ESPN, the Heat want to position themselves to acquire another star. The free-agency pool is shallow this summer, but that won’t necessarily be the case in 2026. Miami is reportedly looking for a combination of “players who can help now, young talent, draft capital and salary that expires by the summer of 2026.”

The Heat could find more potential trade partners in the offseason. And if Butler simply walks in free agency, an unlikely scenario because the Brooklyn Nets are the only team projected to have the cap space for a max contract, Miami would gain significant flexibility.

LaVine doesn’t want to be traded

Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine has been on the trade block for more than a year, but he would prefer not to be moved before the deadline, according to The Stein Line.

LaVine, who will turn 30 in March, is having perhaps the best season of his 11-year career. He has averaged 24 points in 34 minutes per game on 51-45-81 shooting splits. He has made 45.8% of his pull-up 3s on 4.4 attempts per game. He has appeared in 40 of Chicago’s 45 games, and he might make his third All-Star appearance next month. (The All-Star reserves, which are selected by NBA coaches, will be announced next Thursday.) 

The Bulls, however, are 19-26 and 10th place in the East. They rank 22nd in point differential, mostly because they’ve been outscored by 10.7 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage-time minutes with LaVine off the court, per Cleaning The Glass. (They’ve had a slightly positive point differential with him on the court.) More importantly, they started to pivot away from their current core last summer when they sign-and-traded DeMar DeRozan and traded Alex Caruso. It is not surprising that many, many reports have indicated that both LaVine and 34-year-old center Nikola Vucevic, who is also in the middle of a bounceback season, are available.

Chicago remains prepared to trade LaVine despite his desire to stay, according to The Stein Line. If the team gets a suitable offer, that is.

And that’s the tricky part. LaVine is making $43 million this season, is owed $46 million next season and has a $49 million player option for 2026-27. Even though he’s played at an All-Star level, that contract makes it mechanically difficult for many win-now teams to put together an offer for him. Talks between the Bulls and the Denver Nuggets, centered around forward Michael Porter Jr., have stalled, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley reported two weeks ago. Lately, there has been speculation that LaVine could change teams in some kind of multi-team mega-trade involving Butler, but it’s unclear if such a scenario is plausible.

The Stein Line reported that the Suns “could emerge with interest” in acquiring him for Bradley Beal, but they are not currently pursuing such a swap. If they were to try to pull off a deal like that, Beal would have to sign off on it, as he has a no-trade clause.

TL;DR: LaVine wants to stay in Chicago, and he might get his wish, if only because this is a terrible trade market (and not because the team isn’t trying to trade him or he hasn’t played well enough to attract interest).

Milwaukee to move Middleton?

The Milwaukee Bucks are “active” in trade talks, and, if they can acquire an “impact player,” they are expected to make forward Khris Middleton available, per ESPN.

Middleton, 33, has spent 12 of his 13 NBA seasons in Milwaukee. He has made three All-Star teams with the Bucks, and he was a crucial part of the team that won the 2021 championship, scoring 40 points in Game 4 of that season’s NBA Finals. He has appeared in just 18 of Milwaukee’s 42 games this season, though, and he has averaged just 23.5 minutes per game. He had surgery on both of his ankles last summer, and is still dealing with ankle tendinitis. In order to manage the rotation while he’s on a minutes limit, the Bucks decided earlier this month to bring him off the bench.

As much as Middleton has meant to Milwaukee, the franchise is clearly in win-now mode. Damian Lillard is 34, Brook Lopez is 36 and the front office should be trying to maximize what remains of 30-year-old franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo’s prime. Middleton has a $34 million player option next season, and, while his injuries have surely limited his trade value, it makes sense that the Bucks would at least see if they can swap him for a player whose availability is less of a question mark.

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The problem is that Milwaukee is over the second apron and doesn’t have much sweetener to include in a trade. According to ESPN, the team is also expected to make Bobby Portis (who is making $12.6 million and has a $13.4 million player option next season) and Pat Connaughton (who is making $9.4 million and has a $9.4 million player option next season) available. In order for the Bucks to legally aggregate salaries in a trade, though, they need to be under the second apron when the trade is complete, which would mean cutting $6.5 million from their payroll. And unless they decide to turn a dollar into three quarters the way Phoenix did, the only future picks they can trade are their 2031 first- and second-round picks.

A non-exhaustive list of questions I have about the possibility of a Middleton trade: Does Beal want to be a Buck? Might Milwaukee want LaVine? Is Butler even a remote possibility? Where would Portis and Connaughton go? Would the Bucks give up Andre Jackson Jr.? How would they replace Portis? Does AJ Johnson (the No. 23 pick in the 2024 draft) have some trade value based on his play in the G League? 

If it’s not obvious by now, any Middleton trade would be, uh, complicated.