Sources have informed Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter links) that the Blazers and Wolves had talks regarding what Bonnell termed, “a major deal,” though the discussions ended without any deal being struck. Bonnell also noted that the discussions were salary cap room driven, though he didn’t specify which players may have been involved, nor which team initiated the talks. The Trail Blazers currently have just $48,304,966 in guaranteed salary on the books for 2015/16, while the Timberwolves are over the $70MM salary cap with a total of $73,620,533 in guaranteed salary committed for next season, so it stands to reason that Minnesota was the franchise looking to shed some payroll, though that is merely my speculation.
The Wolves currently have a roster count of 17, including 16 players possessing fully guaranteed pacts, while Portland currently has 17 players on its roster, 12 of whom have fully guaranteed contracts. One aspect that could have made facilitating a trade easier is that almost all of Minnesota’s roster is eligible to be traded immediately since the franchise wasn’t especially active on the free agent market this offseason. Players who sign in the summer can’t be traded until December 15th at the earliest, or for 30 days after signing if they’re a draft pick.
There have been reports relaying that the Wolves were entertaining the idea of trading Ricky Rubio, who is scheduled to earn $12.7MM this coming season. Portland wouldn’t appear to be a match for the point guard, seeing as Damian Lillard is already firmly entrenched as the starter and franchise centerpiece at the point. Lillard certainly has the ability, if not the size, to play shooting guard full time, but it’s highly doubtful that the team would look to acquire Rubio, unless a third team were to potentially get involved.
Kevin Martin? Peckovic? Both? Peckovic is young enough to be part of a rebuild.
Blazers don’t need Peckovic (Kaman, Plumlee, Davis, Vonleh, Leonard).
More like Anthony Bennett for free if they also take Kevin Martin?
Yeah, I’d think the Bennett and Martin idea has more legs than the Pekovic one, but I don’t think Portland is too concerned about positional fit right now. A team like the Blazers just wants to accumulate all the talent and trade assets it can get and tries to build from there.
I doubt Martin is going anywhere. He is a Flip favorite and the only T-wolf who is a legit 3 pt threat. Probably a Bennett/Pek deal but the wolves don’t have much for draft picks to deal so not sure what they could give to get anyone to take Pek.
The Sixers would make the most sense as a third team. They need a point guard & have more cap space than anyone else. Throw in some draft considerations & it’s a done deal.
Well, the Celtics have what it takes to become a third team, too. You never know. That said, the existence of a third team is just a guess. I think the Wolves and Blazers were the only teams involved here.
Any time I hear mystery team I always assume its the Celtics and there boatload of draft picks..idk
The Celtics and Sixers are sort of running on a dual track here. Both of them seem to come up as the third team when talks like that surface. That said, I don’t think there was a third team involved in these discussions.
I see Kevin Martin going to the mavericks after all he did say he wants to play for dallas last season when the wolves were in trade rumors with one of their veterans
Now that’s news.