Weighing in on recent Serge Ibaka and Nikola Vucevic rumors, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports that the majority of trade talks the Magic have been involved in are “very exploratory” in nature. That applies to the Vucevic talks with the Celtics, in particular, with sources telling Kyler that no deal involving Vucevic going to Boston was ever “actively under consideration.”
The Magic have been very active in pursuing potential deals, with GM Rob Hennigan recently vowing to be aggressive as he attempts to improve the roster. But Orlando doesn’t appear ready to make a deal yet, and sources who have talked to the team tell Kyler that the Magic may be overvaluing some of the players on their roster.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Larry Sanders, who is attempting an NBA comeback, is on the Wizards‘ radar, but Washington’s interest in Sanders depends on Ian Mahinmi‘s health, sources tell J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com. If Mahinmi can return to the court for the Wizards, the team’s interest in Sanders would fade. Michael also adds that Washington doesn’t have interest in trading for Ibaka.
- There were some offseason questions about the relationship on and off the court between Wizards guards Bradley Beal and John Wall, but Beal is tired of answering questions on that topic, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com writes. Appearing on ESPN Radio’s NBA Insiders, Beal said that his relationship with Wall is going “really well” this season. “It’s kind of getting old, people saying that we don’t agree and that we don’t click,” Beal said. “We’re just going out and proving it on the floor.”
- The Heat‘s supporting cast has played a huge role in the team’s recent winning streak, and many of those players are eligible for free agency this summer. In a mailbag, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel examines whether it makes sense for the club to try to keep players like Dion Waiters, James Johnson, and Willie Reed beyond this season.
Assuming we move Whiteside, I’d be fine keeping James Johnson, Willie Reed, and Wayne Ellington to a certain extent, depending on who else we get or don’t get in free agency.
Waiters definitely seems like a different person in certain regard, and he has definitely improved defensively, but his deficiencies aren’t worth the potential money he’d want, unless he somehow improves his percentages and develops even further through the rest of the year, but with Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson returning at some point, I don’t know that happens. Dion is still young, and he has taken the challenge this year to improve, so I can’t 100% say he wont, but he needs to get better at finishing at th rim, and he still sometimes takes bad shots, and can be a ball stopper. I also don’t like he and Dragic on the floor together. Though it’s worked recently, Dragic defers to him too much.
This 8 game winning streak makes some things interesting. The Heat are only 4.5 back of the playoffs right now, and they have a favorable schedule moving forward, as well as a couple of guys coming off injury. All of the close games they were losing earlier in the season are turning into wins. They’re still a terrible free throw shooting team, but they’ve been playing really good basketball down the stretch of games, in comparison to mistakes they were making earlier on. Having a top of the lottery pick or not changes some things, in my opinion
As a Grizzlies fan, I don’t regularly watch Heat games. So someone explain to me why most Heat fans want to move Hassan. His numbers look good but obviously there’s always more to it than that
Don’t know about most heat fans. I definitely want to move him for a young player and a 2017 1st rounder if possible. Short version is it would open up money to give them a little over $60 million in cap room, add assets to their core, and also get rid of a player that gives zero effort on a nightly basis. He is a black hole once he gets the ball, but is one of the least efficient post players in the league. He is a Stat chaser. Doesn’t pick and roll defend, or help the helper. Fights with his own teammates for rebounds. Chasing blocks leaves guys open at the rim for putbacks/offensive rebounds and/or free dump off passes for dunks. Always pouts, and doesn’t enjoy his teammates success. He just isnt a Miami Heat player. When you see them play so hard, and then watch this guy disrespect basketball on a nightly basis, it’s just really hard to watch this guy play, despite his talent that should make him a great player