There is a new trend at the 2025 NBA trade deadline, and it’s kind of hilarious: Players finding out from fans with camera phones about the latest big deal that just went down. This happened to both the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers in the aftermath of Saturday’s shocking Luka Doncic trade, and on Wednesday, we got to see three members of the Miami Heat find out about a deal involving their own team, and that they would no longer be playing with Jimmy Butler.
After NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN broke the news that Butler had been traded to the Golden State Warriors, an enterprising fan at Sixers-Heat got to feel like Shams Charania, and break the news to Kevin Love, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyler Herro that their indefinitely suspended teammate was now officially exiled, and their reactions were priceless:
I love the range of expressions on the three players as they find out here, this is art:
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Image via @DimeUPROXX on Twitter
Jaquez looks like he’s worried he’s about to find out he’s in the deal, Herro is smiling like a madman about how many shots he’s going to continue to get, while Love just seems amused as he asks the fan follow-up questions about the trade package. The best detail, though, is the fan saying “we robbed them” and then mentioning getting a first-round pick, as if that is something that would matter to the 36-year-old Love. It’s all amazing.
Unfortunately, the NBA trade deadline is tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. ET), so we are unlikely to get any more camera phone trade reaction vids this year, but I hope people keep this going for buyout season and beyond. I want to see Austin Reaves’ reaction on the Lakers bench when he finds out they’re signing Andre Drummond after he’s been bought out, or the summer league Warriors being told that Butler is demanding a trade again. These are the most wholesome interactions we’ve gotten between players and fans in quite some time, proving that all of us, no matter our athletic ability, can bond over telling each other the latest trade rumors.
