The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NBA trade deadline. We’ve seen a few minor trades leading up to the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline. But with that date less than two weeks away, expect the action to heat up.

Point guard Lonzo Ball missed almost three years due to a knee injury, and is now back as an invaluable piece of the Chicago Bulls.

The biggest reason why Lonzo Ball missed so much time is that a lot of doctors weren't familiar with his injury. It took a while to even figure out what happened, and there was always a lot of uncertainty surrounding the situation.

In a new trade idea, the Bulls do part with Ball for a former NBA champion. The deal would be between Chicago and the Los Angeles Clippers, sending Ball back to Los Angeles. Using the Spotrac trade machine and abiding by the CBA restrictions in place, here is what a deal could look like:

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season under first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson. While they were expected to be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference,

Friday's game was only the fourth meeting between the Ball brothers due to injuries to both players. The head-to-head series is tied, 2-2.

Ball played at least 23 minutes for the seventh straight game, hitting four triples en route to a season-high 18 points. While his scoring has been somewhat sporadic, his defensive contributions remain steady, having tallied at least two combined steals and blocks in five of the past six contests.

Whenever Ball has the opportunity to return to his hometown of Los Angeles and play, it's special. That doesn't mean he needs to play for an L.A. team, but he won't rule it out, either. For now, he's just enjoying being healthy.

Looking at Lonzo Ball’s on-court performance alone, pitching him to other teams shouldn’t be difficult for the Chicago Bulls. But everything about Ball comes with a caveat.

And rival teams continue to describe the Bulls as a franchise willing to discuss deals up and down the roster. Thursday’s opponents from Golden State have been known for weeks to be weighing

The Bulls haven't made a trade deadline deal since 2021 when they sent Wendell Carter Jr. and two first-round picks in exchange for Nikola Vucevic. Chief executive Arturas Karnisovas can't afford to continue that inactivity for a third time.