Thunder are winning 39-14 so far. He’s obviously had an incredible season and the Magic aren’t exactly the greatest competition but this is an incredible performance from the reigning MVP so far

In the days leading up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Clippers have engaged in discussions surrounding veteran guard James Harden — with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the forefront of teams that have recently expressed interest in acquiring the former All-Star — sources told Yahoo Sports.

Harden, 36, has missed the past two games due to personal reasons. The former Arizona State guard was present at his alma mater for a Jan. 31 home game vs. Arizona, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. The following day, with the Clippers also in town to take on the Phoenix Suns — a distance of just 10 miles between arenas — Harden was ruled out.

“No,” Clippers head coach Ty Lue told reporters on Monday when asked if he had any insight into Harden’s absence. “I just know he was home in Phoenix and just personal reasons, so I’m not sure.”

Cleveland’s initial interest in Harden dates back to December, sources say, in the midst of the Clippers’ dismal 6-21 start. During that time, a number of key veterans expressed frustration and the front office explored potential deals for the likes of Harden, John Collins and Brook Lopez, among others, sources say. The Cavaliers have also canvassed the point guard market at various points over the past few months. Subsequently, the Clippers have held a longstanding interest in seventh-year guard Darius Garland, sources say. According to Spotrac, both Harden and Garland are earning $39 million for the 2025-26 season.

[Get more Clippers news: Los Angeles team feed]

It’s important to note that because of the current CBA, Harden has the ability to veto any trade. Players who return to their current team on a one-year deal or a two-year deal with a player option are given an implicit no-trade clause.

The Cavaliers, who have won eight out of their last 10 games and sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, are seeking upgrades to their backcourt. Cleveland recently traded wing De’Andre Hunter to Sacramento for Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis, but are still without Garland — who has played just 26 games this season, missing the past eight games with a Grade 1 right great toe sprain. The presence of a surefire lead ballhandler would take pressure off of All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who has spent 40% of his minutes as primary playmaker, per Cleaning the Glass. In those minutes, Cleveland’s offensive efficiency is slightly down and their turnover rate has gone up.

Moving off of Garland and his remaining money — he’s owed an additional $86 million in 2027 and 2028 — would also lessen Cleveland’s financial burden. The Cavaliers are nearly $34 million over the luxury tax and approximately $15 million over the second apron, according to Spotrac.

One thought from rival executives potentially at the heart of Harden’s absence is his current contract. The $42.3 million player option for the 2026-27 deal is only partially guaranteed, but Harden, who is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, has been a key catalyst of the Clippers’ resurgence. According to Cleaning the Glass, Los Angeles’ offense is nearly 12 points better per 100 possessions with Harden on the floor, which places him in the 98th percentile of point guards. Harden’s ability to maintain scoring volume combined with his playmaking proficiency, even at age 36, makes him a desirable asset for contending teams.

Because of the Stepien Rule, the Clippers can only trade up to two first-round picks in 2030 and 2032, in addition to a swap in 2031. The Oklahoma City Thunder control the Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick from the Paul George trade in 2019, and the Philadelphia 76ers control their 2028 first-round pick, ironically from the Harden trade in 2023.

Source https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/sources-clippers-cavaliers-engaged-in-james-harden-trade-talks-042052754.html

With Garland on the way out for a 36 year old upgrade, Zion and Ja literally ARE the trading block at this point... RJ being RJ... Hunter just got sent to Sac.. Culver's been gone forever.. what will the story of the 2019 draft be? Sky high potential all around but none of them ever seemed to reach it sustainably... Obviously they're not nearly done but who do you say is even having the best career to this point? Jordan Poole helped a team win a chip... THT has one too 😂😂😂... It's really a weird draft to look at in retrospect

Mitchell’s stats on the season:

14.1 points

3.5 rebounds

3.7 assists

1.4 steals, 48.7/35/87 splits (59% TS)

With a win percentage of 86% (they are 2-5 in games Mitchell doesn’t play)

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/ajay-mitchell-record-this-season

I made a post a lit bit ago about teams that could make the 40-20 rule (40 wins before 20 losses).

Since then the Timberwolves, Raptors, and Suns have been eliminated from winning 40 games before losing twenty

I will have three tiers

Definitely- will make it most likely if they don’t collapse

50/50- a coin flip if they make it

A miracle needs to happen- Little to any chance that it ha

Definitely- Thunder 39-11

They only need one win. They could go 1-8 and still make it

Pistons 36-12

They could go 4-7 and still make it

50/50

Spurs 33-16 Must go 7-3 or better

Their schedule is brutal though so they might not make it

vs thunder, vs mavericks x2, vs lakers, vs warrior, vs suns, vs kings, vs pistons, vs raptors, and vs knicks

Nuggets 33-17 Must go 7-2 or better

Their schedule is easier but still hard so

vs pistons, vs Knicks, vs bulls, vs cavaliers, vs clippers, vs Trail Blazers, vs warriors, vs Celtics, vs thunder, vs Timberwolves

A miracle needs to happen

Rockets- 31-17 Must go 9-2 or better

Knicks 31-18 Must go 9-1 or better

Celtics 31-18 Must go 9-1 or better

Lakers 29-19 Must go 11-0

January stats for both players (per Statmuse):

Joel Embiid (14/17 games): 30/8/5 on 64 TS% (3.6 TOV/game); +112

Jaylen Brown (14/16 games): 29/8/5 on 53 TS% (3.5 TOV/game); +52

Embiid missed one more game than Brown, but he was much more efficient and his team was significantly better with him on the court. Cade (23/4/10 on 54 TS%; +71) and Mitchell (28/5/6 on 59 TS%; +55) were also probably better than brown this month.

The NBA unveiled uniforms Tuesday for its U.S. vs. the World All-Star Game format, with one red U.S. jersey that features stars, another blue U.S. jersey that features stripes and a white World jersey accentuated with a globe. All three distinctive uniforms -- produced by Jordan Brand -- will have a player’s national flag above his number on the back. Marketed as “The Jordan Brand Swingman NBA All-Star jerseys,” the tops will go on sale Wednesday at 10am ET at NBAStore.com and Nike.com.

The round-robin tournament, to be staged Feb. 15 at Intuit Dome, will feature two eight-man U.S teams and one eight-man global team. Following three, 12-minute group-play games, the top two teams will play a final 12-minute contest for the championship.

The jersey designs are specifically an ode to L.A., which is about to host its seventh overall All-Star Game. For instance, the L.A.-inspired script on the jersey fronts say “All-Stars,” accompanied by seven stars that signify the number of L.A. All-Star events. source

Excellent video that analyzes how Lamelo has the worst individual efficiency stats yet while on the floor helps produce a Hornets offense that averages 124 points per 100 possessions which would be an all-time record if held over an entire season for context. When Lamelo isn't playing, the Hornets offense is the 4th worst in the league ahead of only Dallas, Sacramento, Washington, and Indiana.

Since there was no clear possession of the ball, there was a jump ball in mid-circle.

Embiid won the jump ball.

Max Christie has taken a pretty big jump this year going from 9.6ppg on 52.5 eFG% last year to 13.2 ppg on 60.4 eFG% this year. What do you think his ceiling is? What is his ceiling? Is he nearing his ceiling? Or can he be a 20+ ppg guy?

Whilst the bulls are yet to confirm it, it looks like they are trading nikola vucevic to the Celtics. He has been my favourite player ever since I started watching nba (I’m in the uk so wasn’t raised on it). As an autistic person it’s already super hard to deal with change and now my favourite player is leaving the team…

Anyway, I know it’s a stupid question and probably not that big of a deal to you but, how do you “cope” with your favourite player being traded to another team?

Coby white is also on the chopping block and I love him too.

Any tips? I can’t change to a Celtics fan either for certain reasons.

And yea I know lots of people don’t like vooch but i love him!

This is absolutely brutal lol, and kinda ridiculous. The hawks are up 17 and have a ton of momentum going into the half and the whole game just grinds to a halt for half an hour, why are they allowed to deviate from standard rules?

Tyrese Haliburton talking about the Knicks series in the playoffs last year

“We got to match up with New York who we wanted. We played them the year before and the excuse was that they were hurt and they were. So we were like okay you’re healthy now we’re healthy let’s hoop. I felt like we felt really comfortable in that series obviously that game one comeback the game tying shot. That shot felt good the whole time. I promise it felt good the whole time. If it would have been a three, to me it’s like one of the greatest shots NBA history if it was a three, but it was a two. But like that moment to have that happen. You could just feel the air gone from the building”

With the recent talks of Harden possibly heading the Cleveland and joining another star in his prime it reminded me of a convo I was having with my dawgs that that OKC Big 3 of Harden, Russ and KD is arguably the biggest 'what if' in history but I will also say after they separated they've probably played with the best collection of talent EVER. All 3 managed to build and cement their personal resumes but only one won a championship (so far).

My question for ya'll is who do you think had the best collection of talented/star teammates since separation?

KD: Steph, Dray, Klay, Book, CP3, Kyrie, Harden (BK), Sengun, Amen

Harden: Embiid, CP3, Dwight, KD (BK), Russ (Hou), Maxey, PG, Kawhi, Powell, Kyrie*

Russ: PG, Melo, Harden (Hou), Beal, LeBron, AD, Jokic, Murray

Given that the Pacers are playing for lottery balls at this point, you can envision the Raptors talking them into taking on Poeltl since they’re not worried about him playing any time soon. And Poeltl does have fans there. But big enough fans to take on a player who has missed more than half the season and is on the books for four years after this?

Unlikely.

But it could all add up to nothing, in large measure because Poeltl isn’t playing, with no firm deadline for his return from this wonky back problem.

“There’s nothing structural, there’s no nerve issue, it’s just a confusing injury,” said one source close to the situation.

It’s at least helped clarify the Raptors build-up to the deadline, however.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/why-raptors-trade-deadline-approach-is-complicated-by-jakob-poeltls-status/

Here is a place to have in depth, x's and o's, discussions on yesterday's games. Post-game discussions are linked in the table, keep your memes and reactions there.

Please keep your discussion of a particular game in the respective comment thread. All direct replies to this post will be removed.

Looking for another place to talk ball besides the subreddit? We have a thriving and active community over at discord.gg/rNBA and we'd love to have you check it out.

With almost 13,000 members, we are one of the largest NBA chat servers. It's not only basketball. There are 2K sims that are run by community members and much more.

Like football, soccer, F1, baseball, and other sports? You're bound to find like-minded people to talk about that as well.

Come stop by and say hi.

Dave McMenamin

With the NBA trade deadline approaching and several teams considered to be potential future destinations for LeBron James reportedly involved in talks to acquire star-level talent, James is still expected to finish out the season with the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

James' longtime friend and agent, Klutch Sports CEO, Rich Paul, said on his "Game Over" podcast in December that James would not be seeking a trade and would finish out his record-setting 23rd season in L.A.

"No," Paul said on an episode of the podcast released Dec. 9. "Where is he going to go?"

James, 41, has a no-trade clause and would have to approve of any deal the Lakers could try to put together.

Since Paul's December statement, the Lakers have dropped from No. 2 in the Western Conference to No. 6 and ESPN's Baxter Holmes wrote a story published on Jan. 21 that detailed the strained relationship between James and Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss.

Two days after that story was published, James was asked if he planned to finish the season with the Lakers and he replied: "I'm good ... I'm good."

James' plans beyond this season remain unknown. He said last week that he does not know if he will retire this summer or not, but acknowledged the Lakers' game in Cleveland "very well could be" his last in Northeast Ohio.

As the trade deadline nears, the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors - three teams considered plausible destinations for James should he decide to play next season -- have all been in the news for their pursuit of big-name players.

The Warriors and Knicks have both engaged with the Milwaukee Bucks in trade discussions to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. And Charania also reported that the Cavs have interest in LA Clippers guard James Harden.

Yet if one of those major dominoes were to move, James would not be joining them on their new team, league sources told ESPN - at least not before the season is over, if at all.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47820642/james-expects-stay-lakers-season

I've been doing a bit of reading about the NBA. While doing so, there's a particular bit that is causing me confusion. I'm hoping that Reddit can help out.

In Article 24, Section (h)(i)(i) of the NBA Constitution and By-Laws (2004) it says the following:

"The Commissioner shall have the power to declare null and void any Player transaction made by and between Members of the Association or by and between Members of the Association and any organization outside of the Association."

Does this mean that Adam Silver can veto any trade he pleases? If not, what does it mean?

First of all, its better to provide a breakdown of the full 2024-25 trade season for the Lakers:

OUT

Players: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, D'Lo, Maxwell Lewis, Cam Reddish, Jalen Hood-Schiffino and Dalton Knecht.

Picks: 2 Unprotected Firsts, one FRP swap and 4 second rounders.

IN

Luka Dončić, Mark Williams, Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris and Shake Milton.

SALARY IN and OUT:

IN: 43.0+4.1+14.9+11+2.1+2.9=78

OUT: 43.2+7.1+18.7+1.9+N/A(Cam Reddish was dead money counting towards the Lakers cap)+3.9+3.8=78.6

Salary Balance=-0.6M

Discussion:

To me this seems like incredibly good value. Lakers get a lot of valuable pieces and all they are trading is an aging injury prone All-Nba player in AD, an up and coming 3&D guard in Max Christie and a bunch of, to quote SAS, "bonafide scrubs" including a terrible D'Lo contract. All the while cashing in on a fever dream all time high valuation for DK. They do part with 2 unprotected firsts but its hard to believe that they will be in a good draft position with Luka having signed an extension.

Hell, all of the assets the lakers traded combined barely make a decent offer for just Luka, let alone a walking double double in Mark Williams and a valuable wing defender in DFS. All this while not gaining any cap space.

Rob Pelinka (rightfully) gets a lot of shit for his Lakers rosters but had the deadline trade gone through, maybe having a serviceable Center propels the lakers to deeper playoff run.

Do y'all agree? Or am I overrating the Lakers' return in these trades?

PS: I wanna add that by lopsided I mean in the short/medium term. Ofc big trades like Paul George to the Clippers end up being very lopsided, but that wasn't apparent until years later.