Latest On Josh Smith
It appears Josh Smith will remain an Atlanta Hawk for at least the rest of this season, if not the calendar year. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reports that Smith's camp was told last week by the team that a trade by March 15th is unlikely, but the situation could be seriously revisited around the draft. Kyler's report supports Friday's story by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, which suggested the Hawks aren't presently looking to trade Smith, despite his desire to be moved.
The Hawks have talked to other teams about Smith, but "nothing seems real or imminent," Kyler adds. For his part, Smith isn't letting the trade rumors affect his play — his 28 points, three steals, and three blocks last night led Atlanta to a victory in Sacramento.
"I'm here. I have one more left on my deal," Smith said when asked about remaining in Atlanta long-term. "We have to see what happens. I just have to keep playing the way I'm capable of playing and keep doing what I'm doing and not worry about any outside distractions."
Lakers, Celtics Talked Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo's 24-point, 10-assist performance wasn't quite enough to beat the Lakers yesterday, but only a few days earlier, the Celtics' rivals had been talking about acquiring the point guard. According to Mike Breshanan of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers and Celtics discussed a potential Rondo trade last week, though talks didn't go far.
"Unless [the Lakers] give up [Pau] Gasol, they're not going to get a top-level point guard," a person familiar with the situation told Breshanan. Assuming Los Angeles is unwilling to move Andrew Bynum, I'd think this goes without saying. A package of Steve Blake and Metta World Peace isn't about to solve the team's point guard issues.
While a blockbuster deal is still possible, it doesn't appear likely at this point. Breshanan says a trade for the Timberwolves' Michael Beasley is more probable than any major move involving Gasol or a top point guard. With three days left until the deadline, Kobe Bryant and his Lakers teammates are looking forward to regaining some sense of certainty for the rest of the season.
"I think it will have a great effect," Bryant said. "Guys can just go out and play instead of waking up and checking their phones all the time to make sure they didn't miss a call from their agent."
Assessing Stocks: Indiana Pacers
Portfolio Review: Believe it or not, the Indiana Pacers stand at somewhat of a crossroads. This is a young, up-and-coming team with an incredibly deep assortment of talent at more than reasonable contracts. But right now, unless Paul George takes an early Tracy McGrady-like leap in quality of play, this is a team with a very definite ceiling.
Larry Bird has done a tremendous job of not only putting together assets, but assets that mesh well together. Furthermore, with each player, there is depth to replace them. This leaves the entire roster flexible. This is a team that is already a third or fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, but will always remain behind Miami and Chicago. Right now it has the liquid assets, the cap space, and the potential to be more. But flexibility of this magnitude is a temporary luxury in the
NBA and what the Pacers can be will determined over the next few months.
Prime Assets: Cap space and solid, young talent at every position. Indiana is not exactly a prime free agent destination, but fortunately the Pacers have enough cap flexibility and depth to put together a Carmelo Anthony-like deal without gutting their team like the New York Knicks did. The Pacers can put together a solid package with any combination of their roster.
Worthless Stock: Many NBA general managers are past the stage of offering max contracts to the likes of Michael Redd or Kenyon Martin. The remaining few already have their salary caps tied up in the likes of Joe Johnson. Danny Granger is the quintessential non-franchise player paid like a franchise player. As such, he represents one of the few Pacers hard to move. Too talented to give up for scraps, too overpaid to appeal other teams.
But then again…: Danny Granger and George Hill for Carmelo Anthony works too, should the Knicks rethink last year's trade.
Kyle Lowry Out Two To Four Weeks
The Houston Rockets suffered a blow to their playoff hopes with news that point guard Kyle Lowry will miss the next two to four weeks with a bacterial infection (hat tip to Ben Golliver of CBS Sports).
Houston currently holds the no. 8 seed in the Western Conference. So far as player movement is concerned, Goran Dragic is a nice trade chip for the Rockets and if they have any hopes of playoff contention it probably moves him off the table unless the right deal (Pau Gasol) comes along. But the Rockets will remain, as always, looking for that one elite or near elite player to tie their assortment of parts together.
Where Lowry's absence could make things interesting is for teams sitting just outside of the playoffs that might see this as an opportunity to secure a playoff seed. Any such team sitting on the fence about making a move might be compelled to pull the trigger, even if just for a rental, with Houston likely to fade.
Cavaliers Do Not Re-Sign Manny Harris
Even in an inactive trade season, the trade deadline can offer plenty of activity on the fringes of rosters. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reported the Cavaliers will not pick up Manny Harris' contract, opting to keep their 15th and final roster spot open to maintain flexibility heading into the trade deadline.
Harris signed two 10-day contracts with the Cavaliers, so a third extension would have made his contract permanent through the rest of the season. The Cavaliers could always choose to bring Harris back after the trade deadline.
In the grand scheme of things, this is a small move in NBA terms. But it's always interesting to note what little things teams do headed into the trade deadline, from minor tweaks to their roster to make room for an incoming player, or a shift in playing time both before and after the deadline as teams audition players for the market.
Bulls, Dwight Howard An Unlikely Match
Part of the problem trading Dwight Howard is that the Orlando Magic remain largely underwhelmed with the trade offers presented by the teams on the list of Howard's preferred destinations. The Magic should be seeking a deal not unlike the ones made for Carmelo Anthony or Derron Williams a season ago. Howard is a far more impactful player than both Anthony and Williams so its understandable the Magic have a pretty high ceiling for where the market is set.
It's also understandable that, after watching the Knicks and Nets gut their respective teams, the team receiving Howard would want a long-term commitment. The problem is the teams Howard has said he would be willing to commit to do not have the assets to make the deal.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports that the Magic's preferred trade partner remains the Chicago Bulls. The deal listed by Berger would send a combinatino of Omer Asik, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, and the Charlotte Bobcats lottery-protected-through-2016 first round draft pick for Howard and Hedo Turkoglu.
A Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard pairing could make the Bulls and even more formidable duo than the Miami Heat's LeBron James and Dwyane Wade but there are several reasons preventing the Bulls and Dwight Howard from happening.
The first, as Berger points out, is that the Bulls are doing just fine without Howard and would never risk that without a long-term commitment.
The second: why would the Magic make that deal? Deng, Boozer, and Asik are all above average players. Boozer is a very good post option against certain matchups, Deng can provide a little bit of everything at a better than average level for 35-plus minutes a night, and Asik is one of the most underrated defensive players in the NBA.
But such a deal still leaves the Magic with many of the same problems, most notably lacking a perimeter player that can create shots for himself and others. Furthermore, Boozer and Deng have reached the extent of their talents and Asik is likely not too far from the ceiling of his.
Chandler Sets Friday Deadline For Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are in an advantageous position when it comes to dealing with restricted free agent Wilson Chandler. Until the summer, Chandler has no options other than Denver. The Nuggets, understandably, are taking their time to reach the best deal possible for their organization. According to HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy, Chandler has issued a deadline for the Nuggets for this Friday. Some notes from Kennedy's report:
- Chandler has been open to signing a one-year deal, which would make him an unrestricted free agent heading into the summer. The Nuggets are seeking a longer commitment. Since Chandler returned past the March 1st deadline to sign an offer sheet with other teams, the Nuggets remain his only option for playing in the NBA this season. Without competing bids, the Nuggets are the only team setting his market value.
- An artifical deadline set by Chandler essentially has two threats to back it up. He can either sit out the remainder of the season and enter restricted free agency this summer, or he can opt to head overseas until the summer.
- All indications point to Chandler wanting to remain in Denver long-term, and the Nuggets wanting him, which generally means a deal will be completed.
- Some credit must be given to the Nuggets organization for properly utilizing, or at least taking advantage of, restricted free agency. Restricted free agency was a holdover from the previous CBA designed to allow teams to keep their players without going over market value. The problem was so few teams properly used it, opting to overpay their own players before someone else theoretically could. Chandler is a great asset to have, for the right price. The Nuggets are doing a great job of holding the line to ensure they sign him for that.
Odds & Ends: Dwight Howard, Clippers, Jeremy Lin
With so much of the trade deadline activity hinging on what happens with the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard, Magic CEO Alex Martins says the team has yet to make a decision on him, reports the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins.
The Magic are taking a huge gamble on a player worth taking such a gamble on. Robbins writes that a strong possibility is Howard opting out of his contract and exploring free agency while keeping the Orlando Magic at the negotiating table with an opportunity to re-sign their franchise player.
One reason why this is dragging on so long is the notion that Howard himself seems unsure of what he wants. And on that note, a quick thought: With lessons learned from the LeBron James fallout, if Howard had made up his mind definitively about where he would like to play next year, chances are he would not string the Magic along, or else he risks alienating himself to fans as James did.
Some other notes around the league:
- The Los Angeles Clippers are still exploring trade options to replace the injured Chauncey Billups at shooting guard reports ESPN LA's Ramona Shelburne. So far the Clippers have been reluctant to part with backup point guard Eric Bledsoe, whose trade value might rise in the offseason with a draft lacking quality point guard talent.
- The New York Knicks are reeling, but head coach Mike D'Antoni still supports point guard Jeremy Lin, writes ESPN New York's Jared Zwerling. D'Antoni is correct in stating Lin needs to play a very specific way, with plenty of spacing and energy from his teammates.
The Knicks have some offseason decisions to make, one of which may be on the future of D'Antoni himself. But the crux of the matter is whether they want to build their offense around the pick and roll heavy talents of Lin, or the stagnant isolation ball Carmelo Anthony has played his entire career. - Jason Fleming of Hoops World provides five steps for fixing the Portland Trail Blazers.
Hoops Rumors Originals: 3/4/12 – 3/11/12
Here's a look at some original posts from our Hoops Rumors writers this past week:
- Our Luke Adams takes a look at some injuries that could have a serious affect on this week's trade deadline.
- In a poll, I asked who is the league's least tradeable point guard. The overwhelming answer? Derrick Rose.
- Five Western Conference contenders who could be active at the deadline.
- Our Alex Lee inspected why Philadelphia might be interested in dealing Andre Iguodala.
- Five Eastern Conference contenders who could be active at the deadline.
- In a poll, Alex Lee asks which team could use a trade to boost them into elite status. With several playoff teams available to choose from, voters indicated that no trade could put a team on Miami or Chicago's level.
- Our Chuck Myron takes a look at Kirk Hinrich's status on the trade market.
- Taking a look at the 2011 trade deadline, one year later.
- Our Ryan Raroque wonders what could happen if Houston looked to deal Terrence Williams.
- In a poll, we ask which injury will most affect the trade deadline? Voters are siding with Brook Lopez.
- Chuck Myron looks at a few recent first-rounders who were dealt at the trade deadline.
Odds & Ends: Granger, Wilcox, Chandler
Danny Granger‘s status as Indiana’s best player has gone into question over the course of this season. With his drop in scoring and overall contribution not matching up with his significant salary, there’s a growing chance that he could be traded. According to Fox Sports’ Chris Tomasson, when asked if he could be dealt before this Thursday’s trade deadline, Granger said, “possibly.”
Here’s a look at a few other notes from around the league:
- In a tweet from ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg, Doc Rivers said that Chris Wilcox‘s heart issue could be similar to Jeff Green‘s in that it might end his season. Boston was already looking for more front court depth before news of this injury was revealed, and it could now ratchet up their hunt. CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely added in another tweet that Wilcox used to receive monthly check-ups when he was in Detroit. Right now he’s officially listed as out indefinitely.
- According to The Denver Post’s Benjamin Hochman’s twitter feed, Wilson Chandler is currently working out in Denver, waiting for his agent to negotiate a contract with the Nuggets.