Amico’s Latest: Terry, Sixers, Cavs
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio seconds Monday’s reports of discussions between the Cavs and Nets about Jarrett Jack, but the Cavs have no interest in Jason Terry, whom the Nets would apparently be relinquishing as part of the deal. The trade appears to be on the back burner for now, but there are plenty of other rumors involving the Cavs and others around the NBA, and Amico passes along more in his latest piece:
- People around the league tell Amico that Thaddeus Young is more likely to be traded than Sixers teammates Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner, who aren’t garnering strong interest. Philadelphia is reportedly looking for more in return for Young than for Hawes and Turner, lending credence to the notion that Young has greater market value.
- New Cavs GM David Griffin is active, but most around the league believe he’ll pull off a small-scale deal rather than another foundation-shaking move, Amico writes.
- C.J. Miles‘ camp is bracing for a trade, Amico hears, though that appears to be based out of the recognition that his $2.225MM expiring contract is a fungible asset more so than any knowledge that the Cavs are shopping him.
Bobcats, Lakers Talk Gasol, But Trade Unlikely
The Bobcats and Lakers have spoken about Pau Gasol, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, but Bonnell’s source cast the notion of a trade between the teams as unlikely. Charlotte is wary of giving up a “significant” first-round pick for Gasol, who’s on an expiring contract and might not want to re-sign, Bonnell writes.
Still, the ‘Cats are aggressively pursuing deals as the deadline nears. They were moving closer to a deal to acquire Caron Butler and Gary Neal from the Bucks but those talks fell apart in recent days, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets. They’ve been connected to Evan Turner, Brandon Bass, Taj Gibson and others in the past few weeks.
Most of the chatter surrounding Gasol of late has involved the Suns. Phoenix and the Lakers appear to be in a standoff regarding draft compensation, though those teams have been expected to rekindle talks before the deadline.
Latest On Rajon Rondo
The Knicks are making one last push to acquire Rajon Rondo from the Celtics, but they’re convinced it’s a futile attempt even as they do so, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. It sounds as if New York is doing its due diligence to make sure the four-time All-Star is truly out of reach as the trade deadline nears. Sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News there’s “very little chance” the Celtics find a suitable trade partner for Rondo, and that’s consistent with most reports. Here’s more from Deveney:
- Boston is looking for a young player with All-Star potential plus multiple first-round draft picks for Rondo, Deveney says, adding that some would-be suitors are scared off by Rondo’s ACL injury last year. Teams that have called often abandon their pursuit once they realize the asking price, as Deveney explains.
- The Kings highly value Ben McLemore, one of the players reportedly in their proposed Rondo trade, but the C’s would want a more well-established player in return, according to Deveney.
- The Raptors don’t possess the assets to land Rondo, unless they get involved in a multi-team deal, Deveney writes.
Clippers Looking For Frontcourt Help
The Clippers are dangling Jared Dudley, Antawn Jamison and Byron Mullens in search of a frontcourt upgrade, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Matt Barnes may also be on the block as well, Berger says. Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported the Clippers were shopping Dudley a couple of weeks ago. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports last night tweeted overnight that the Clips were seeking backup bigs.
Jamison and Mullens were two players the team signed this past summer to serve as frontcourt reserves, but neither is having much impact. Both are on minimum-salary deals, though Jamison’s pact covers just this season while Mullens has a player option for next year.
Dudley is signed through 2015/16, making $4.25MM each year. His production is down after coming over from the Suns last summer via trade, and Doc Rivers recently yanked him from the starting lineup. Barnes is posting a career-worst 38.5% field goal percentage after inking a three-year deal for nearly $10.2MM in the offseason.
No Trade Talk Surrounding Omer Asik
The Rockets have no ongoing discussions about trading Omer Asik, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). GM Daryl Morey said last month that it’s likely the team will keep Asik through next season, and it appears he’s keeping his word. Morey indicated the team would trade Asik in December, but no deal came about.
Houston also isn’t making much traction toward acquiring Bulls swingman Mike Dunleavy, Amick tweets. The Bulls appear unwilling to move him, according to Amick, in spite of his $3.183MM salary this season and $3.326MM pay for 2014/15.
The Rockets would love to move Asik, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports wrote last night, but the nearly $15MM balloon payment Asik will receive next season, in contrast to an $8.37MM cap figure, appears to be scaring off suitors. A January report indicated Houston was targeting Dunleavy, though not necessarily for a deal involving Asik.
Southeast Notes: LeBron, Magic, Hawks
LeBron James offered a rare glimpse into his long-term plans in an interview that aired on NBA TV Monday night. James can opt out of his deal this summer, and while he says that he can’t picture himself leaving the Heat, he’s putting off his decision until after the season, as The Associated Press notes.
“At this point, I can’t,” James said to interviewer Steve Smith. “At this point, I can’t. We don’t know what can happen from now to July, so what I’ve been able to do this whole season to this point is just worry about what’s at hand and that’s winning another championship. And hopefully at the end of this year I can put myself in a position where I can hold that Larry O’Brien Trophy up once again and then I will assess what I have to do with my future after that.”
While we wait to see what the No. 1 free agent will do, here’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Agents and executives around the league think the Magic have a strong chance to attract a second star via free agency if they could just find a first star, writes Grantland’s Zach Lowe. The Magic are prepared to spend up to the tax line if need be and go into the tax when executives feel the team is “one piece away” from a title, CEO Alex Martins tells Lowe. Still, the club senses no urgency to make a push next season, Lowe writes, believing that the easiest way, by far, for the club to find that first star is through the draft. Lowe also notes that the Magic are more wary than most teams of taking on any players with character issues.
- The Magic are unlikely to make a run at Lance Stephenson in the summer, as there’s fear around the league that he won’t be quite as team-oriented if he’s not around the strong structure of the Pacers, according to Lowe.
- The Hawks are seeking a small forward, as Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News writes in a story on the Knicks’ pursuit of Jeff Teague, which appears to have cooled.
Warriors Seek Bench Help Via Trade
FEBRUARY 18TH: Golden State continues to aggressively seek a bench upgrade, but they’re not expected to go into the tax to do so, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The Warriors have considered bringing in a point guard to replace earlier trade acquisition Jordan Crawford, but they’re also looking at forwards, Deveney writes.
FEBRUARY 11TH: The Warriors are looking to bolster their bench and hope to use their trade exceptions in order to facilitate a deal that would likely need to involve three teams, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. Golden State has a total of four trade exceptions, valued at roughly $9.8MM, $4MM, $762K, and $762K respectively.
If there is a deal is to be done, Amick doesn’t think the $9.8MM exception will be used considering Golden State’s already-steep payroll. At about $69.3MM committed in salary for 2013/14, the Warriors are at about $2.5MM under the league’s luxury tax threshold. If they were to consider using their largest exception in a deal, it would only be for a major impact player.
You can find a list of outstanding traded player’s exceptions along with their expiration dates here.
Celtics Rumors: Rondo, Bradley, Sullinger
Other teams around the NBA appear to have joined the Knicks in their belief that Danny Ainge is more willing to move Rajon Rondo than he’s letting on. The Kings have reportedly made an offer for Rondo, while the Raptors have their eyes on him, too. The C’s appear to be demanding a pair of unprotected first-round picks for their All-Star point guard. Sources tell Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald that those picks would have to be virtually guaranteed to come within the top few selections, even though Boston wouldn’t insist that both picks come in the same year. Here’s more on the C’s:
- Bulpett hears that teams around the league have called the Celtics about Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Jeff Green and Kris Humphries, as the Herald scribe writes in the same piece. While none of those talks are ongoing, the Celtics would like to make some kind of deal this week, according to Bulpett.
- The C’s are open to acquiring a major player, Bulpett notes, and they’ll go into the tax if necessary, as Ainge explains to Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. “We would go over the cap for the right deal,” Ainge said. “We’re not going to go over the cap just for the cap’s sake, just because we’re not a playoff team this year, most likely, unless we turn things around quickly. I think that it would not be prudent to be a tax-paying team this year. But if we needed to be a tax-paying team to make a certain acquisition, we certainly would. We have the support of ownership and I think we have the best ownership in basketball. And they would certainly be willing to spend the money. It’s not that; it’s just the competitive advantage to stay under the tax for future years and to allocate our money the best that we can.”
- Ainge tells Holmes that there are “a lot of different directions we could go,” and that the team could either make an upgrade or do a deal that furthers the rebuilding process. Ainge is also keeping an open mind regarding the team’s store of draft picks, of which there could be as many as 17 in the next five years. “You know what, I look at them as 17 opportunities to draft some really good players,” Ainge said. “Or maybe 12 opportunities to draft and five to trade, or five to draft and 12 to trade. It depends on the players.”
Lamar Odom To Play In Spain
7:58am: Odom will earn about $50K per month with Laboral Vitoria, according to Chema de Lucas of Gigantes (translation via Sportando, on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 7:43am: Odom has officially signed with the Spanish team, according to the Euroleague’s website.
MONDAY, 6:37pm: Lamar Odom has reached agreement on a deal with Spanish club Laboral Vitoria, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter) first passed along word that Odom was in talks with the team. Odom intends to play out the rest of the season in Spain, Stein adds.
The Clippers were flirting with the idea of signing the veteran forward for much of the season but they wound up inking the likes of Hedo Turkoglu and Sasha Vujacic instead. It has been a rocky few years for the 34-year-old New York City native. Odom was a bust when he was with the Mavericks for the 2011/12 season and even though he saw time in all of the Clippers’ 82 games in 2012/13, he reportedly went into a downward spiral over the summer that included a DUI and possible drug abuse. It remains to be seen whether he can find his way back to the NBA, but the basketball world is rooting for him.
Odds & Ends: Cavs, China, Akognon, Melo
The fates of GM David Griffin and coach Mike Brown hang in the balance, as does Cleveland’s appeal to free agents as the team embarks on a season-ending stretch run that’s one of the most important times in franchise history, writes Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. The Cavs are 20-33 coming out of the All-Star break and will hope for a major turnaround in their last 29 games. Here’s tonight’s look around the Association..
- The Chinese basketball season is through and Emiliano Carchia of Sportando rounded up a list of notable CBA players who will now be available for NBA clubs. The list includes Pooh Jeter, Delonte West, D.J. White, Lance Thomas, and Josh Akognon.
- Akognon has offers from Puerto Rico and Europe but may head to the D-League in an effort to keep his NBA hopes alives, Carchia writes. Akognon averaged 28 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 5.0 APG in 30 games for his Chinese clubs.
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com gives props to LaMarcus Aldridge and Carmelo Anthony for caring about the wellbeing of the NBPA. Both stars were vocal about the union during the weekend in New Orleans.
- In his latest mock draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders dropped Duke’s Jabari Parker to No. 5 after executives told him that they were concerned he might be a tweener in the NBA.
- The Warriors announced that they have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz. Kuzmic has compiled averages of 6.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 21.4 minutes in nine games (one start) on previous assignments to Santa Cruz this season. He has appeared in 17 games for Golden State.
- The Rockets announced they have re-assigned guard Isaiah Canaan to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. To keep up with all of this year’s D-League assignments and recalls, check out Hoops Rumors’ running list.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.