Jaden Ivey, Mike Conley traded to Bulls in 3-team deal with Pistons, Timberwolves: Sources
Jaden Ivey and Mike Conley Jr. are being traded to the Chicago Bulls in a three-team deal involving the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves, league sources confirmed to The Athletic.
The Pistons will receive Kevin Huerter and Dario Šarić from the Bulls, along with a 2026 first-round pick swap from the Timberwolves, league sources said.
Since returning from those leg injuries, Ivey has lacked the explosion and athleticism that once made the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft seem like a long-term backcourt mate for All-NBA guard Cade Cunningham. Ivey is in the final year of his rookie-scale contract, making $10.1 million. and will become a restricted free agent this offseason.
The move gives Ivey a fresh start for the first time in his professional career and creates more opportunity for Detroit’s guards off the bench.
He joins a crowded guard room alongside Josh Giddey, Coby White, Tre Jones and Ayo Dosunmu.
The 23-year-old is averaging a career low in minutes, points, assists, and rebounds per game this season and was on pace for what seemed to be a breakout year during his 2024-25 campaign before fracturing his left fibula on Jan. 1, 2025. Ivey then suffered another setback this preseason when he underwent arthroscopic surgery to relieve right knee discomfort on Oct. 16, 2025.
White, who the Bulls have been in communication with teams about, turns 26 in less than two weeks — certainly still young, but not Ivey young. While questions remain about Ivey’s athletic abilities following injuries, the Bulls acquire him during the final year of his rookie deal as he enters restricted free agency. Detroit’s ascension somewhat left Ivey as an odd-man out, now a buy-low candidate whose next deal is likely to be a fraction of what White is expecting.
Ivey is 23, which falls into the Bulls preferred youthful framework; Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey are 21 and 23, respectively, and at 19, first-round pick Noa Essengue remains one of the youngest players in the NBA.
Huerter, who turns 28 this summer, began the day as one of Chicago’s eight expiring deals. Detroit will pay him the remainder of his $17.9 million salary this season before his contract is up. Known as a volume movement shooter, Huerter has shot a remarkably low 31.4% on 5.1 attempts from 3, the second-worst mark of his eight-year career.
While Huerter’s age doesn’t necessarily age him out of the Bulls’ presumed timeline just yet, the Bulls have looked to acquire younger players and assets.
Saric never suited up for the Bulls, and instead, they received two future second-rounders for helping facilitate that deal between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Sacramento Kings.
The Bulls are expected to continue to seek youthful chips and assets leading up to Thursday’s deadline.
On Minnesota’s side, a team source says the deal is still being finalized. The Wolves are attaching a first-round swap in 2026 to get off Conley’s contract and save more than $20 million in luxury tax payments.
As for Conley, while his play has eroded, that doesn’t take away from his immense value to the Timberwolves over the two Western Conference finals runs. He was essential and will be missed in Minnesota.
The highly regarded veteran was invaluable to the Wolves in his first two-plus seasons in Minnesota. Conley headlined one of the most important trades in team history, when team president Tim Connelly sent D’Angelo Russell to the Lakers in 2023 and got Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Utah in the deal.
Conley gave a young Wolves team a much-needed adult in the room and a steady hand on the court. He played a prominent starting role in back-to-back runs to the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025.
But Conley is shooting 33 percent from the field and from 3 this season while playing a career-low 18.6 minutes per game. The floater that made him such a devastating pick-and-roll ball-handler has abandoned him. He has scored more than six points just twice in the last 16 games, once when he scored seven and once when he scored nine.
This move may create more flexibility for the Wolves to pursue other options. They remain in on Giannis Antetokounmpo and could look to add depth to their bench as well. But as for now, they’re paying to unload a player who looked every bit his 38 years this season.
