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Cleveland added forward De'Andre Hunter (27) and Phoenix traded Bosnian big man Jusuf Nurkic (30) to Charlotte, according to multiple reports, as Thursday afternoon's NBA trade deadline approached. In the final two hours before the deadline for all transfer deals, ESPN reported the Atlanta Hawks were trading Hunter to the Cavaliers for guard Caris LeVert, forward Georges Niang, three second-round picks and two future pick swaps.
Hunter is averaging 19 points a game for the Hawks, who rank ninth in the Eastern Conference at 23-28. He joins a Cavs squad that stands atop the East at 41-10, just behind Oklahoma City (40-9) for the NBA's best overall record. With Charlotte sending centre Mark Williams to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Hornets found another seven-footer (2.13m) in Nurkic, who went from Phoenix along with a 2026 first-round pick in exchange for swingman Cody Martin, Serbian guard Vasilije Micic and a 2026 second-round pick, ESPN reported.
Nurkic has not played for the Suns in a month after being benched by Phoenix in early January. Final deals were in the works in the wake of Luka Doncic's trade to the Lakers and Wednesday night's reported deal sending Jimmy Butler from Miami to the Golden State Warriors. Phoenix's Kevin Durant, according to ESPN and The Athletic, did not want to return to Golden State, where he won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018, so the Heat and Warriors swung a deal for Butler without him.
Instead, the Warriors sent Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a first-round draft pick to the Heat for Butler, who had grown unhappy in Miami and was serving a third-team suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. The 35-year-old playmaker, who helped the Heat to the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023, will join Stephen Curry and Draymond Green in trying to lift the Warriors into a Western Conference playoff spot. Butler is expected to decline a player contract option for next season in favour of a two-year deal with Golden State worth $121 million.
