The Kings are in position to be players at the trade deadline, but first they must decide which direction they want to pursue, writes James Ham of CSNBayArea. Sacramento entered tonight just a game and a half out of a playoff spot, but a 24-32 record suggests a lot of improvement is still needed. The Kings can’t offer a draft pick before 2021, but they have several expiring contracts to deal, including Ty Lawson, Darren Collison and Omri Casspi. Kosta Koufos has been the subject of trade rumors, and Olympics star Bogdan Bogdanovic, currently playing in Turkey, could be a valuable trade chip.
There’s more tonight from the Western Conference:
- Veteran forward Anthony Tolliver is hoping his stay in Sacramento won’t get cut short, relays Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. A rash of injuries has created more playing time for the 31-year-old, and he has responded by shooting a career-best 45% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. Tolliver signed a two-year, $16MM deal over the summer, but only $2MM of his $8MM salary for next season is guaranteed before June 1st. That might make him attractive on the trade market for a team looking to cut salary, or the Kings could decide to save money by not bringing him back next season.
- Thunder backup center Enes Kanter had the cast removed from his fractured right forearm, according to Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Kanter had surgery January 27th and is scheduled to be re-evaluated February 24th. His recovery time was originally projected at four to eight weeks. Kanter says he knows when he should be able to play again, but doesn’t want to release it publicly, fearing it might put pressure on him or the organization to hit the target date.
- Bobby Marks of The Vertical examines trade possibilities for the Clippers, Grizzlies and Thunder as next week’s deadline approaches. All three teams have dealt with major injuries this season.
It will be nice to have Kanter back. Hopefully we can get Wilson Chandler. I like that he has a little control beyond this season at a reasonable salary.
True they really lack Kanter’s scoring punch, he is a beast on the low block. Chandler would be ideal.
If only Kanter could play defense he’d be perfect. He and Adams complement each other very well
I know this isn’t the right place but when is enough, enough? The Cavs has spent 13M more than any other team, not only do they have 3 of the leagues top 20 players they’re also trying to spend MORE money! The league needs to step in and tell them no, they need a lower cap where no team can go over. If the League can stop the CP3 deal to the lakers they can surely stop Lebrons team from spending more money. If they can’t win a title this year hands down the biggest disappointment of all time
The Hornets were owned by the NBA at that time, thats the reason the trade was stopped.
Tolliver has been really good Sacramento, they should keep McLemore around, that kid is really starting to play to his potential and has been scoring double digits the past 4-5 games.