The New Orleans Pelicans have traded star forward Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, one first-round pick and one second-rounder, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Wednesday.

Ingram has been out since early December with a significant lower left ankle sprain, one of several injuries that has derailed the Pelicans' season. Ingram has dealt with nagging injury issues throughout his career; this season is the third time he has missed at least 30 games.

When he's on the court, however, Ingram has shown himself to be a resilient scoring option as a 6-foot-8 forward. He has averaged more than 20 points per game six times, to go along with a career average of more than four assists per game. His 23 points-per-game average in New Orleans ranks third in franchise history.

Ingram is in the last year of his maximum rookie extension he signed with New Orleans in 2020. He's set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

This is the second trade for Brown since he signed a multiyear deal with Indiana after helping the Denver Nuggets to an NBA title in 2023. Brown was dealt to the Raptors last January.

Brown has been limited to 17 games this season after undergoing a knee procedure in September. He's averaging 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Olynyk has dealt with injuries this season, too, playing in 23 games. He's averaging 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Earlier in the day, the Pelicans traded center Daniel Theis and a 2031 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for cash.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander figured his night was over at the end of the third quarter, when the Oklahoma City Thunder held a 25-point lead over the Phoenix Suns. He was fine with sitting down with 46 points.

But Thunder coach Mark Daigneault wanted to give his superstar a shot to hit the 50-point milestone for the third time in a seven-game span. He told Gilgeous-Alexander that he had a few minutes to get there.

"I took my time," Gilgeous-Alexander said after the Thunder's 140-109 win Wednesday. "He told me not to rush it. If he didn't say that, I was definitely going to rush it."

Gilgeous-Alexander reached 50 for the third time in his career -- all in the past 15 days -- on a pull-up jumper with 9:32 remaining and checked out to a standing ovation a little more than a minute later.

He singlehandedly outscored the Suns 37-34 from the 6:36 mark of the second quarter until he swished the last of his 18 buckets on 29 field goal attempts. He was 17-of-27 off the dribble and 10-of-16 on contested attempts, according to ESPN Research tracking.

"He makes it look so easy," Oklahoma City center Isaiah Hartenstein said.

The seven-game span is the shortest by a player who recorded the first three 50-point games in his career. Only eight other players have scored 50 three times over seven games in NBA history: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Michael Jordan and Damian Lillard.

"Those guys have done so many great things in the game," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I'm so far off of that. It's cool, but I don't think too much of it. The most important thing is to just know that I'm getting better in this process.

"Some nights it's going to look good, some nights I'm going to miss shots. I'm still playing on feel and finding a way to win through those. That's what I'm after. That's what I'm chasing. That's what, I guess, fills my cup. Just knowing that I got better, taking the right steps in the right direction to ultimately win basketball games at a very high level and hoist a trophy at the end of the season."

Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP runner-up last season, probably could have had another 50-point night during this sizzling stretch. He scored 34 points in only 22 minutes in Monday night's blowout win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Over the past 10 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 39.1 points on 56.3% shooting from the floor. He's the first player to average at least 39 points while shooting 55% or better in a 10-game span since Jordan in March-April 1990.

"He's been on this run for a while but continues to defend, continues to do all the other things that going to basketball," Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander, who also had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block against the Suns. "It hasn't turned into an individual spectacle. He's just inside the team, blends it into a game."

Gilgeous-Alexander has boosted his scoring average to 32.8 points per game, a full point ahead of Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo for the league lead. He has more points (1,315) than minutes (1,313) this season, attributing his recent scoring outburst to a shift in his mentality.

"I used to really, really focus hard on efficiency to the point where in certain moments I think I would not just play more of in my flow state," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged more than 30 points per game in each of the past two seasons. "I'll force a play or force a drive, force a shot instead of just taking what the defense gives me all night. I found myself doing that and having big nights. I think that freeness to my mentality and aggressiveness is helpful."

The Los Angeles Lakers continued what was already one of the most consequential weeks in franchise history by acquiring center Mark Williams in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Wednesday night.

L.A. agreed to send rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap to the Hornets for Williams, sources told Charania, landing the big man that vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka admitted the team was lacking heading into Thursday's trade deadline.

Williams, listed at 7-0, 240 pounds, fits the profile of the mobile big man and lob threat that new Lakers star Luka Doncic prefers to play alongside. Doncic met with Lakers brass Monday and impressed upon them his desire to have that type of center on the roster, sources said, believing a big man who provides vertical spacing at the rim gives him another option when making his offensive reads.

Williams averaged 16 points on 59.7% shooting and 9.8 rebounds for the Hornets this season.

The Lakers view Williams, 23, as an answer at starting center right now and someone who can progress on the same timeline as the 25-year-old Doncic, sources said.

The third-year veteran also has previous ties to Lakers coach JJ Redick, with the two connecting while Williams played at Duke University, Redick's alma mater. A source described the dynamic of their relationship as that of a mentor and mentee.

In the past four days, L.A. parted with two first-round picks and key rotation players in Anthony Davis, Max Christie and Knecht in order to land a franchise cornerstone in Doncic and Williams in a big-man-hungry trade market. With the two additions, the Lakers revamped the team's future while staying in win-now mode with 40-year-old superstar LeBron James still showing he can take over games in his 22nd season.

A Lakers source told ESPN that the team's deadline approach was "aggressive."

One knock on Williams early in his career has been availability. He has played in 84 out of a possible 212 games through his first two and a half seasons with the Hornets (39.6%). Los Angeles is confident in his medicals, sources told ESPN, and Williams' recent back and foot injuries never required surgery, sources said.

L.A. is still equipped with one second-round pick it can trade before the deadline. By completing the two-for-one trade with Charlotte, the Lakers also opened up a roster spot that will allow them to pursue a player on the buyout market.

The Lakers could prioritize playmaking or 3-point shooting with Knecht's departure. Knecht, L.A.'s No. 17 pick in June, was praised by Redick for his shooting talent and enjoyed a hot start to the season: Five of his six games this season with four or more 3-pointers came in November.

The Jimmy Butler saga with the Miami Heat ended Wednesday night when he was traded to the Golden State Warriors as part of a multiteam megadeal, sources told ESPN.

The Warriors closed the deal for Butler after negotiations to acquire Kevin Durant ended when the Phoenix Suns star informed the team that he did not want to return to Golden State, sources said. The Warriors, Heat and Suns had been nearing an agreement on a trade that would have landed Butler in Phoenix and Durant back where he won championships in 2017 and 2018.

As part of the agreement, Butler will decline his $52 million player option for next season and is planning to sign a new two-year, $111 million deal that carries through the 2026-27 season, sources said.

The Warriors will send forwards Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson plus a top-10-protected 2025 first-round pick to the Heat, sources said. Also, guard Dennis Schroder, acquired by the Warriors in December, will be sent to the Utah Jazz. Utah will ship forward P.J. Tucker, who played with the Heat in 2021-22, to Miami. Guard Lindy Waters III will go from Golden State to the Detroit Pistons, and Josh Richardson will go from Miami to Detroit.

There were a number of other parameters in the deal that the teams were still ironing out Wednesday night.

Heat forward Nikola Jovic called Butler his "brother" and said that he and many of the Miami players would miss him.

"He's someone who did a lot for this franchise," Jovic said of Butler. "He's someone who helped me so much where I'm not sure if I'll be here right now if there wasn't him. I'm sad and happy in the same moment. Sad you're not going to see him anymore. But I'm really happy that he got what he wanted."

The trade was agreed to while the Heat were playing against the 76ers in Philadelphia and the Pistons were hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. Warriors coach Steve Kerr called a team meeting to inform players just before Golden State played against Utah in Salt Lake City.

Golden State, which had been looking for another star ahead of the deadline, now has a six-time All-Star in Butler to pair with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. While Wiggins was the team's second-leading scorer at 17.6 points per game and one of its best defenders versus guards and bigger forwards, Butler should be an upgrade.

The Warriors have desperately needed a dependable second scorer to alleviate pressure on Curry, especially in clutch time. Butler averaged 20 points or more in the four seasons prior to this campaign. He and Green also should form a formidable defensive duo for Kerr.

Curry said he texted with Butler at halftime of the Warriors-Jazz game, expressing his excitement to get going with Butler.

"We know who Jimmy is. Being in two Finals, he's a winner," Curry said. "I understand there's a lot of drama down there, and who really knows what the story is. We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy that's ready to impact our team for the better."

Wiggins went through his pregame warmup before the Jazz game, but upon walking back to the locker room, he was greeted and dapped up by an assistant coach, a Warriors security guard and Curry. When he got back to his locker stall, a couple of players walked over to him to shake his hand.

Minutes later, the Warriors' locker room was closed to the media during regular availability so Kerr could address the team. Players including Curry, who was on the court warming up, were brought back into the locker room for the closed-door meeting.

About 15 minutes later, Kerr emerged from the locker room with his head down, and Curry went back onto the court to resume his warmup.

"It's tough," Kerr said. "You develop these relationships with guys. They give you everything and commit to the team. They got families. Wigs just had a baby boy last week. Wigs is one of my favorite players I've ever coached. Just a beautiful soul, a wonderful human being. We don't hang that banner in '22 without him, everything he brings, every single day, the laughter, the smile. I am going to miss him, the other guys too."

A few weeks ago, Kerr and Curry said they did not want to see the Warriors organization make any "desperate" trades that would mortgage the future in an attempt to win this season. Kerr reiterated that about half an hour before he addressed the team behind closed doors.

"Feel the exact same way: Don't do anything crazy," Kerr said. "We are not in that position. I think it is important for every organization to know where they are and understand the circumstances, and then you see the possibilities. Draymond, Steph and I have talked about this privately; we have talked about this with [Warriors GM] Mike [Dunleavy Jr.]. There is a responsibility to the organization to do the right thing and to not beg for some crazy trade that is going to put the next 10 years in jeopardy."

To Kerr's point, the Warriors held on to young prospects Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, two players they were reluctant to give up last summer when the Warriors explored deals for Lauri Markkanen and Paul George.

The Warriors did lose some of the depth that Kerr has touted all season. But Golden State went into the game at Utah in 10th place in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, the blockbuster deal concludes a drawn-out divorce between Butler and the Heat.

Miami suspended Butler three times this season, twice for conduct detrimental to the team and once after he missed a team flight. His most recent suspension began Jan. 27 after he left shootaround following news that he would be coming off the bench for Miami's next game. The Heat announced that the indefinite suspension would last at least five games, which took things up to Thursday's deadline.

Butler hasn't played since Jan. 21.

The contentious parting seemed telegraphed last offseason when team president Pat Riley said the Heat did not plan to extend Butler this season. Butler has a history of messy exits after previously forcing his way out of the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Heat had called into question the 35-year-old's effort at times this season. Butler's 17.0 points per game is his lowest since his third season in the league.

His marriage with Miami seemed a perfect pairing, as Butler's strong-willed attitude fit well with the franchise's "Heat Culture" ethos. Over six campaigns in South Beach, Butler led the Heat to the playoffs in each of his first five, with three trips to the Eastern Conference finals and two NBA Finals appearances. Butler was named to two All-Star teams and made three appearances on All-NBA teams as a member of the Heat.

He will return to Miami on March 25 when the Warriors visit to play the Heat.

"Our biggest obstacle right now that we have to get over is consistency," guard Tyler Herro said of the Heat finding clarity with Butler's departure. "So being able to know your role, night in and night out, obviously without injuries is part of clarity, is part of consistency. So right now we're just trying to all get everything in line and just continue to stack good days, and we'll find consistency in that."

With news of the trade, the Warriors' odds to win the NBA championship shortened from +4000 to +3300 at ESPN BET. They moved from +3000 to +2000 for the Western Conference title and from +1800 to +1200 for the Pacific Division crown.

ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.

After a monthslong back-and-forth with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler was finally traded to a new team Wednesday night. He joins Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, with Butler immediately signing a two-year, $121 million extension, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

The multiteam trade includes Andrew Wiggins, P.J. Tucker (via the Jazz), Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick going to Miami, with Dennis Schroder heading from the Warriors to Utah, sources said. It also includes the Pistons, with the Warriors' Lindy Waters III and the Heat's Josh Richardson headed to Detroit, sources said. (Miami had hoped to move Anderson to the Toronto Raptors before that deal fell through, and it is actively working on a resolution.)

The Heat had suspended Butler three times since Jan. 3, with the most recent suspension beginning Jan. 27. He has not played since Jan. 21.

Does Butler immediately propel the Warriors -- No. 10 in the Western Conference at the time of the trade -- back into playoff contention? And what does this mean for Butler's former team in the East? Our NBA Insiders answer the biggest questions following the latest NBA blockbuster trade.

This trade is _____?

Tim MacMahon: A mediocre ending to a miserable saga in Miami. The Heat accomplished their major goal of not taking back any salary that stretched into summer 2026, when the Heat will be in position to persuade another star to take his talents to South Beach. It's a desperate swing by the Warriors to pair another star with Stephen Curry, but the desperation isn't evident in the cost.

Baxter Holmes: Certainly something! And the Warriors needed to do something splashy to help maximize Curry's window. The Warriors didn't give up a ton, all things considered, but Butler's fit will be interesting. The Warriors' culture starts with Curry, and Draymond Green provides the edge for this team. Butler, however, is accustomed to being the center of every team he has been on. But the move gives the Warriors a fighting chance in the Western Conference.

Chris Herring: Simply a trade. Getting Butler out of Miami was something the Heat desperately wanted to get done, given how big a distraction it had become. Miami received enough in return to be competitive, and Golden State got the established name it wanted so badly. But just because these teams had hoped to make something happen doesn't mean it will change their overall outlook for the time being.

Jamal Collier: A little lackluster. After the shocking and league-altering Luka Doncic-for-Anthony Davis trade, this one -- which we knew was coming in some form before the deadline -- is fine. The fit in Golden State next to Curry seems like a much better landing spot for Butler -- who gets an extension and gets out of Miami -- than replacing Bradley Beal in Phoenix would have been. Still, it doesn't seem like this trade will have any major implications at the top of the Western Conference.

Does Butler alongside Curry and Green make the Warriors contenders this season?

Collier: What does "Playoff Jimmy" look like next to Curry? If Butler is motivated to prove Miami wrong, that's at least more interesting than the situation Golden State was in before, especially considering the top of the conference is filled with young teams. Still, altering the roster so dramatically on the fly will be difficult to pull off, so it's hard to call Golden State a contender right away.

MacMahon: Does this deal make Golden State better? Yes. Good enough to contend in the loaded Western Conference? Probably not. The Warriors likely will still make the playoffs via the play-in tournament, considering the adjustment period of implementing such a major addition. And there will be some spacing issues with Butler and Green -- two players whom opponents are comfortable shooting 3s against -- as key cogs for Golden State.

Holmes: Butler makes the Warriors better, but being a contender means being up there with the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets -- and the list goes on. Right now, the Warriors are 10th in the West. They have a long way to go, and I don't see this as a transformational trade that suddenly vaults them to the top of the standings. It might have been different had they picked up Butler five years ago, but he's 35 now with plenty of mileage and a long injury history.

Herring: There's still a sizable gap between the Thunder and everyone else out West. I wouldn't have the Warriors in the second tier, either. But if Butler has the right approach -- seemingly more likely with the contract extension hammered out -- this move figures to make Golden State better, even if it isn't enough to push the Dubs into contender status by the end of the regular season.

Fact or Fiction: Golden State will be Butler's last NBA stop?

Holmes: If we use history as our guide, then it's safe to say this won't be Butler's last stop. For one reason or another, his tenures in Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Miami have all ended -- often in volatile fashion. There's an undeniable pattern, and it's hard to envision that breaking anytime soon.

MacMahon: If this trade deadline has taught us anything, it's to assume nothing -- except maybe that the ending won't be pretty with Butler, whether or not it is his last stop. That certainly has been a consistent theme.

Collier: Fiction, because I'm not going to make that bet for anyone right now.

Herring: Fiction. Unless this experiment goes swimmingly, the Warriors likely will find themselves in a position where they want to retool around Curry with another star before it's too late. That might require them to see what they can get for Butler if and when they determine he isn't the right fit. (Plus, as everyone has said, when have Butler's tenures ever ended in a pretty fashion?)

What is Miami's ceiling this season after the trade?

Herring: We've seen the Heat reach the second round as an underdog before, and it could happen again. Coach Erik Spoelstra has proved he is a fantastic coach, and the organization always will be known for its grit and willingness to turn any matchup into a fight. But advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs would seem more improbable this time around.

Collier: The Heat have a chance to stay out of the play-in tournament and reach the top six of the East, which would be a nice accomplishment after this ongoing saga threatened to derail their season. But it's hard to see a first-round matchup that would be favorable for the Heat to make any noise in the playoffs.

MacMahon: You have to give the Heat a sliver of a chance to get out of the first round, considering Spoelstra's track record. But Miami seems like first-round fodder. It's hard to envision the Heat beating the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks or Milwaukee Bucks in a series if any of those opponents' stars are healthy.

Holmes: I'm sure there will be a sense of relief in Miami now that the Butler saga is over, but it's hard to see the Heat going far in the postseason, even in a top-heavy Eastern Conference. At their best, I don't see them challenging Boston, New York or Cleveland. Maybe they could make some noise in the first round and extend a series a game or two beyond a sweep, but I'm not sure how much further they could go beyond that.

What should the Suns do to pivot after losing out on Butler?

Herring: It doesn't seem like Suns governor Mat Ishbia's M.O. at all, but remaining open to the idea of dealing Kevin Durant would seem wise. The organization isn't going anywhere with this group, so doubling down on it would make less sense than trying to build for the future around Devin Booker.

MacMahon: Take a deep breath and massage the egos of the stars they've been dangling on the trade market. "There's crazy things that can happen," Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said minutes before news of the Butler trade broke. "There's conversations that happen and then we're going to coach. All those guys [on the Suns], I love 'em. So, I think the vibes will be good if they're here."

Holmes: Don't do anything rash. Ishbia has proved since day one that he loves to take big swings, no matter the cost, and he has received criticism about compromising the Suns' future to do so. Right now, patience is the watchword. Take and make calls, but if there's nothing there, the Suns don't need to force it. They have a lot of talent on the roster as it is.

Collier: Sure, they probably should take a breath and keep going forward, but they are trending toward the play-in tournament after getting swept out of the last playoffs in the first round and are probably going nowhere. I'm intrigued by a Durant trade and don't think they should shut that door so quickly.

Slugger Pete Alonso and the New York Mets are in agreement on a two-year, $54 million contract, sources told ESPN on Wednesday, ending a lengthy free agency with a return engagement to the only team for which he has played.

The deal, which is pending a physical, includes an opt-out after the first season, sources said. Alonso will make $30 million this year.

The 30-year-old Alonso, whose 226 home runs since his 2019 debut are second in Major League Baseball behind Aaron Judge's 232, heads back to Queens to join a lineup that added outfielder Juan Soto on a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract this winter.

Though New York considered pivoting away from Alonso after discussions on a deal with him reached an impasse, talks resumed amid a market that did not value him similarly to the long-term deal he sought at the outset of free agency. First basemen in their 30s who hit and field right-handed are seen by teams as risky -- even ones who have consistently produced like Alonso.

After hitting a rookie-record 53 home runs in 2019, Alonso's consistent run production helped buoy the Mets through lean years and made him a fan favorite and franchise cornerstone. Alonso rejected a seven-year, $158 million contract extension from the Mets in the summer of 2023, hoping to strike riches on the open market, even when saddled by draft-pick compensation after turning down a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer from the Mets.

A long-term deal never materialized, leaving Alonso with limited choices. Though the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays were among the teams that expressed interested in Alonso, coming back to the Mets was always the likeliest possibility, even as owner Steve Cohen publicly expressed frustration with the trajectory of negotiations.

Alonso's production declined over the past three seasons, with his OPS decreasing from .869 to .821 to .788. His FanGraphs wins above replacement dropped from 3.8 to 2.8 to 2.1, and his 34 home runs in 2024 were a career low for a full season.

Still, Alonso remained capable of special moments. With the Mets facing elimination, trailing 2-0 in the ninth inning of a wild-card series game against Milwaukee in early October last year, Alonso tattooed a changeup from Brewers closer Devin Williams to the opposite field for a three-run home run that held up to send New York to a series against Philadelphia. Alonso homered twice against the Phillies and once more in a six-game NLCS loss to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Alonso's postseason bona fides -- a .278/.429/.574 line in 70 plate appearances -- added to his allure for the Mets, who now can lead off star shortstop Francisco Lindor and bat Soto, Alonso and emerging star third baseman Mark Vientos in the 2-3-4 holes. The Mets' deep roster includes outfielders Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte and Tyrone Taylor, catcher Francisco Alvarez, second baseman Jeff McNeil, young infielders Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuna and Brett Baty, as well as Jesse Winker (who re-signed as a free agent) and Jose Siri (acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay).

The Mets' also refashioned their pitching staff, re-signing left-hander Sean Manaea and signing right-handers Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes and Griffin Canning for their starting rotation, and bolstering their bullpen with left-hander A.J. Minter and right-hander Ryne Stanek.

ESPN's Jorge Castillo contributed to this report.