NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Central Division
Over the course of the 2019/20 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.
With just nine days left until the 2020 trade deadline, we’ve surveyed each of the NBA’s divisions three times this season, identifying three potential trade candidates during each go-round. So far, every one of the five in-season trades completed in 2019/20 has included at least one player we’ve previously discussed as a trade candidate. Here’s the full list.
Although we may not have time to circle back through all six divisions a fourth time, we’re revisiting the Central today, taking a look at three more possible trade candidates. Let’s dive in…
Denzel Valentine, SG
Chicago Bulls
$3.4MM cap hit; RFA in 2020
While Valentine has been in and out of the Bulls’ rotation this season, any teams keeping an eye on him Monday night were rewarded with perhaps his best game of 2019/20. He racked up 16 points and made 4-of-6 three-point attempts with a +19 rating in 19 minutes.
The performance provided a glimpse of what kind of value Valentine can bring as a rotation player when things are going well. However, he seems increasingly unlikely to reach his potential in Chicago. Since a solid 2017/18 season, the 26-year-old has appeared in just 27 games due to ankle issues and Jim Boylen‘s rotation decisions. Restricted free agency is on tap for the fourth-year wing this summer, and I’d be surprised if he’s in the Bulls’ plans moving forward.
Given his modest cap hit, controllable rights and .377 career 3PT%, Valentine may appeal to teams looking for a low-cost shooter. The Bulls shouldn’t expect a substantial return, but if they can get a second-round pick out of a deal, it might be an offer worth taking.
Derrick Rose, PG
Detroit Pistons
$7.3MM cap hit; guaranteed $7.68MM salary in 2020/21; UFA in 2021
Like Dwight Howard in Los Angeles, Rose has experienced an impressive resurgence this season. The former MVP isn’t the superstar he once was, but he has been the Pistons’ most reliable scorer, with 18.8 PPG in just 26.6 MPG through 41 contests. He’s a walking bucket and could be a formidable play-making threat for a contender if Detroit decides to move him.
It certainly seems that there has been interest. The Lakers and Sixers were recently cited as potential suitors, with the Clippers also reportedly inquiring. The Pistons may actually have a better chance of acquiring a first-round pick for Rose than they would for Andre Drummond, given the two players’ respective contract situations and cap hits.
Still, with Rose currently battling a sore right knee, potential suitors will proceed with caution. Health has always been the concern for the former Bull, and a contending team willing to surrender a first-rounder for a roster upgrade may prefer to pursue a player with a less worrisome injury history.
John Henson, F/C
Cleveland Cavaliers
$9.7MM cap hit; UFA in 2020
Besides Tristan Thompson, whom we covered in an earlier look at the Central, the Cavaliers have three other veterans on pricey expiring contracts who could be on the move at this year’s deadline. However, none of those players have positive trade value.
Brandon Knight ($15.6MM), Matthew Dellavedova ($9.6MM), and Henson are borderline rotation players, and the Cavs will be hard-pressed to acquire a real asset for any of them unless they’re willing to take on some unwanted multiyear money.
Of the three, Henson looks like the most realistic trade candidate. Knight has barely played this season and is dealing with a knee injury, while Dellavedova’s numbers have been dreadful. Henson, in a part-time role, has at least showed he’s still capable of cleaning the glass and protecting the rim, with 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per 36 minutes. The Cavs also have a -1.4 net rating when he plays, compared to -9.8 when he sits.
Cleveland will still be hard-pressed to get much of value for Henson, but I’d expect the team to get more traction on him than some of its other expendable vets.
Revisit the rest of our 2019/20 Trade Candidate series right here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Community Shootaround: Honoring Kobe Bryant
A Change.org petition asking the NBA to make Kobe Bryant the league’s new logo has surpassed two million signatures, and that idea has some support among players too. Hornets center Bismack Biyombo, the vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, tells Roderick Boone of The Athletic that he’d be on board with the idea of having Bryant’s silhouette replace Jerry West‘s on the league’s logo.
“We are hoping,” Biyombo said. “The NBA is going to do something. As a player, I think you want to see that. You just want to see that because of what the guy has meant to the game, to be honest. For me, I think as a player, I would really like to embrace that because you’ve seen the change, and you’ve seen it over the course of the years. Kobe, he wants to teach. As we see now, he opened the academy, and everybody was going to his academy, and the guy was present there early in the morning early to teach. There’s not many people who are doing that.
“(Making him the logo), it’s an appreciation of what the guy has done for the game of basketball, and that’s what I think we all should be thinking about.”
Biyombo is right that the NBA will certainly find a way to honor the memory of Bryant, who died on Sunday in a tragic helicopter crash near Los Angeles. However, the idea of changing the NBA’s logo isn’t the only one that has been floated this week.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg (video link) suggested on Get Up this morning that the NBA should name an award after Bryant, in the same way that Bill Russell is the namesake for the league’s NBA Finals MVP award. Pointing to Bryant’s longtime presence and popularity in Europe and Asia, Greenberg proposed that the award named after Kobe could be given annually to the player who does the most to grow the game internationally.
Other suggestions for ways to honor Bryant have involved his jersey numbers. Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link) wondered if the NBA might have this year’s two All-Star teams wear No. 8 (for Team LeBron) and No. 24 (for Team Giannis) uniforms.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced this week that his team will retire No. 24 in honor of Bryant. There has been speculation that other teams could follow suit. The Lakers, of course, have already retired both No. 8 and No. 24.
We want to know what you think. What would be an appropriate tribute by the NBA to honor Bryant’s memory?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts.
NBA Players Who Can’t Be Aggregated In Trades
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a rule that states players who are acquired using an exception (ie. not using cap space) can’t be aggregated in a second trade for two months after the original deal.
Aggregating a player in a trade refers to the act of combining his contract with another player’s contract for salary-matching purposes. For instance, an over-the-cap team can’t trade a player with a $5MM salary straight up for a player with a $13MM salary. But if the team aggregates that player with a second player who also earns $5MM, the deal would work.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Traded Player Exception]
The rule against including a player in an aggregated trade for two months after he’s acquired doesn’t preclude the player’s team from adding him to a multi-player deal. His salary simply can’t be combined upon with another player’s for matching purposes in such a trade.
For instance, even if a player earning a minimum salary can’t be aggregated in a trade, his team could still include him in a swap involving a pair of $10MM players, since his minimum-salary cap hit wouldn’t be needed for salary matching.
With those rules in mind, here’s the list of players who have been acquired using a cap exception within the last two months and can’t be aggregated in a deadline trade this season:
- Trevor Ariza (Trail Blazers)
- Kent Bazemore (Kings)
- Willie Cauley-Stein (Mavericks)
- Jordan Clarkson (Jazz)
- Allen Crabbe (Timberwolves)
- Dante Exum (Cavaliers)
- Wenyen Gabriel (Trail Blazers)
- Isaiah Roby (Thunder)
- Caleb Swanigan (Trail Blazers)
- Anthony Tolliver (Kings)
NBA Draft Rights Held For 2019/20
When a top college prospect is drafted, it’s generally a given that his next step will involve signing an NBA contract. However, that’s not the case for every player who is selected in the NBA draft, especially international prospects and second-round picks.
When an NBA team uses a draft pick on a player, it gains his NBA rights, but that doesn’t mean the player will sign an NBA contract right away. International prospects will often remain with their professional team overseas for at least one more year to develop their game further, becoming “draft-and-stash” prospects. Dario Saric, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Tomas Satoransky are among the more notable players to fit this bill over the last decade.
However, draft-and-stash players can be former NCAA standouts too. Sometimes a college prospect selected with a late second round pick will end up playing overseas or in the G League for a year or two if there’s no space available on his NBA team’s 15-man roster. This was the case for former Gonzaga standout Nigel Williams-Goss, who was drafted by the Jazz in 2017 but didn’t join the NBA team until 2019.
While these players sometimes make their way to their NBA teams, others never do. Many clubs currently hold the NBA rights to international players who have remained overseas for their entire professional careers and are no longer viewed as top prospects. Those players may never come stateside, but there’s often no reason for NBA teams to renounce their rights — those rights can sometimes be used as placeholders in trades.
For instance, during the 2019 offseason, the Warriors and Timberwolves agreed to a trade that sent Treveon Graham, Shabazz Napier, and cash to Minnesota. For Golden State, the deal was just about getting off a pair of guaranteed salaries and remaining under the hard cap, but the Wolves had to send something to the Warriors in the deal. Rather than including an NBA player or a draft pick, Minnesota sent Golden State the draft rights to Lior Eliyahu, the 44th pick in the 2006 NBA draft.
Eliyahu, who is currently playing for Maccabi Ashdod in Israel, has had a long, decorated career overseas, but he’s 34 years old and at this point is unlikely to ever come to the NBA. Still, his draft rights have been a useful trade chip over the years — he was also included in a Rockets/Timberwolves deal back in 2012.
Listed below are all the players whose NBA draft rights are currently held by NBA teams. A few of these players will eventually arrive in America and join their respective NBA clubs, but many will end up like Eliyahu, plying their trade overseas and having their draft rights used as pawns in NBA trades.
Atlanta Hawks
- Augusto Binelli, C (1986; No. 40): Retired.
- Alain Digbeu, F (1997; No. 49): Retired.
- Marcus Eriksson, G/F (2015; No. 50): Playing in Germany.
- Alpha Kaba, C (2017; No. 60): Playing in France.
Boston Celtics
- None
Brooklyn Nets
- Christian Drejer, F (2004; No. 51): Retired.
- Nemanja Dangubic, F (2014; No. 54): Playing in Spain.
- Juan Vaulet, F (2015; No. 39): Playing in Spain.
- Aaron White, F (2015; No. 49): Playing in Spain.
- Isaia Cordinier, G (2016; No. 44): Playing in France.
- Aleksandar Vezenkov, F (2017; No. 57): Playing in Greece.
- Jaylen Hands, G (2019; No. 56): Playing in the G League.
Charlotte Hornets
- Arnoldas Kulboka, F (2018; No. 55): Playing in Spain.
Chicago Bulls
- Albert Miralles, C (2004; No. 39): Retired.
- Jon Diebler, G (2011; No. 51): Last played in Turkey.
Pacific Notes: GRIII, Warriors, Kings, Hield
The 2019/20 Warriors haven’t been the contender that Glenn Robinson III may have thought he was joining when he signed with the franchise last summer. However, the injuries that have derailed the team’s season have cleared a path to a major role for Robinson, who has started 44 games and averaged 31.8 minutes per game this season — both are easily career highs. The veteran tells Scott Agness of The Athletic that he’s appreciative of the opportunity he has received in Golden State.
“That 25- to 30-minute range a night, to be able to show what I can do and to showcase my skills and to do it with an organization as great as the Warriors, I think it’s everything I wanted in free agency,” Robinson said.
Robinson, whose 12.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, .470 FG%, and 1.3 3PG are also career bests, signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Warriors during the 2019 offseason. That modest deal makes him a candidate to be moved at the trade deadline, but even if he remains in Golden State this season, he’ll have the opportunity to consider offers from other teams this July. As he tells Agness, he wouldn’t mind sticking around beyond this season.
“Hopefully, it can be another great free agency for me and I would love to be back here,” the Warriors’ swingman said. “So we’ll see what happens.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- After trading Willie Cauley-Stein to Dallas, the Warriors have a chance to take an extended look at Omari Spellman and Marquese Chriss up front, writes Logan Murdock of NBC Sports Bay Area. Neither player is really a natural center, but they’re embracing the challenge of handling minutes at the five. “I’ve tried making a role off playing hard and doing the dirty work,” Chriss said. “I’m not the guy who is going to shoot 20 shots and get you 40 points. I’m gonna try and be that guy that is down low and banging, getting rebounds and setting screens.”
- For the first time since the 2017/18 season, the Kings removed Buddy Hield from their starting lineup over the last two games, starting Bogdan Bogdanovic in his place. It seems safe to assume that experiment will continue for the time being, as Hield scored 63 points and made 14-of-23 three-point attempts in those two games, both Sacramento wins. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic explores how grief from Kobe Bryant‘s death fueled a historic night for Hield on Monday.
- Replacing Hield with Bogdanovic in the starting lineup gives the Kings‘ first unit stronger ball-handling, play-making, and defense, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. As Anderson points out, head coach Luke Walton said that Hield’s move to the bench isn’t necessarily permanent, but it’s working for now.
- In case you missed it on Monday evening, the NBA announced that Tuesday’s Lakers/Clippers game has been postponed in the wake of Kobe Bryant‘s death.
Northwest Notes: Whiteside, Nuggets, Towns, Wiggins, Dort
The Trail Blazers will entertain offers for center Hassan Whiteside, a free agent after the season, and The Athletic’s Jason Quick estimates the chances of him being traded at 50/50. Quick also dealt with a few other Blazers-related topics.
Their recent trade with the Kings which involved five players and two second-round picks was a solid one, according to Quick, because the Trail Blazers saved approximately $12MM and upgraded at the wing with Trevor Ariza replacing Kent Bazemore. Portland is unlikely to deal its first-round pick because president of basketball operations Neil Olshey covets draft choices, even if the draft class is considered weak, Quick adds.
We have more from around the Northwest Division:
- The Nuggets will continue to be without three rotation players when they face the Grizzlies on Tuesday, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Starting point guard Jamal Murray will miss his sixth straight game due to an ankle sprain while power forward Paul Millsap will sit out for the 11th consecutive game due to a knee injury. Backup big man Mason Plumlee will miss his fourth straight game due to a foot ailment.
- Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins get the blame when things aren’t going well with the Timberwolves but the players around them need to do more, Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. Guard Shabazz Napier told Youngblood that the role players need to do their jobs better. “This team is so used to KAT and Wigs doing all the work that when it doesn’t happen, we just stand around,’’ Napier said. “That’s how it is. We just gotta find ways to help them guys out. … We all, the role players, have to figure out, how do we help them out better?’’
- Undrafted rookie guard Luguentz Dort has earned playing time with the Thunder for his defense while showing more of an offensive game, Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman relays. Over the last five games, Dort is averaging 7.2 PPG and 1.8 APG while shooting 5-for-12 on 3-pointers and making seven steals. “You can’t tell me he’s a rookie,” guard Chris Paul said of the two-way player.
Dwight Powell Undergoes Achilles Tendon Surgery
Mavericks center Dwight Powell underwent surgery to repair the rupture of his right Achilles tendon on Monday, according to a team press release.
Powell suffered the season-ending injury against the Clippers on January 21. The surgery was performed by Dr. Bob Anderson in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the release adds.
There is no timetable for his return. It’s uncertain whether he’ll be ready for the start of the 2020/21 season, since recovery from an Achilles tear can take upwards of a full calendar year.
The former second-round pick appeared in 40 games, including 37 starts, this season. He averaged 9.4 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 26.5 MPG.
The Mavericks fortified their frontcourt by acquiring Willie Cauley-Stein from the Warriors over the weekend.
LeBron James, Others React To Kobe Bryant’s Death
LeBron James issued his first comments since the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, which were posted on the Yahoo Sports Twitter feed and by other news organizations. James spoke with Bryant – who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning – on Saturday evening after passing him on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
“Didn’t think for one bit in a million years that would be the last conversation we’d have,” James wrote. James also vowed to carry on Bryant’s legacy. “It’s my responsibility to put this (bleep) on my back and keep it going!! Please give me the strength from the heavens above and watch over me!”
We have more reaction from around the league on the loss of the Lakers legend:
- The Lakers brought in grief counselors to the team’s offices on Monday to help not only players and staff members cope with Bryant’s tragic death but also employees throughout the organization, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. Bryant had many relationships with other Laker employees during his 20-year playing career, McMenamin notes. The counselors provided comfort and guidance in both group and one-on-one sessions, McMenamin adds. The league decided on Monday afternoon to postpone the team’s scheduled game with the Clippers on Tuesday out of respect for the Lakers organization.
- The organization thanked fans and well-wishers from around the world for the overwhelming support it has received since the tragedy. It issued a statement via the team’s PR department (Twitter link) which read, “The Los Angeles Lakers would like to thank all of you for the tremendous outpouring of support and condolences. This is a very difficult time for all of us. We continue to support the Bryant family and will share more information as it is available.”
- Kings coach and ex-teammate Luke Walton said the loss has not only deeply affected him but everyone around his team, as he told Chad Graff of The Athletic and other media members. “We talked about it. Life is hard. There are moments that challenge us,” Walton said. “What I’ve found is together we can get through that easier and more efficiently than we can alone. Guys here are hurting whether you knew him or not. He was that type of guy, and he had that type of impact on the NBA world that everybody is hurting.”
- Pop music icon Michael Jackson fueled Bryant’s passion for excellence, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recalls in a November 2010 interview he did with Bryant. “He would teach me what he did: how to make a ‘Thriller’ album, a ‘Bad’ album, all the details that went into it,” Bryant told Wojnarowski. “It was all the validation that I needed — to know that I had to focus on my craft and never waver. Because what he did — and how he did it — was psychotic. He helped me get to a level where I was able to win three titles playing with Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) because of my preparation, my study. And it’s only all grown.”
- The fact that three teenagers, including Bryant’s daughter Gianna, perished in the helicopter crash was especially heartbreaking for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel relays. “Obviously this has been a horrible 24 hours,” he said. “And, as a parent, it absolutely crushes your heart to think about this. When something like this happens it can be so wrong and so arbitrary.”
- Bryant played the game with ferocity but he wasn’t fearless, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN writes. However, Bryant’s determination allowed him to overcome his fears. “To a certain extent, every day I was vulnerable,” he told Shelburne. “You’re always dealing with fear, with something in your imagination. Something that you think can happen. But you just say, ‘I don’t know if I can do that. But I’ll give it a try.'”
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/27/20
Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league:
- The Clippers recalled rookie forward Mfiondu Kabengele from their Agua Caliente affiliate, the team’s PR department tweets. Kabengele has averaged 19.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 1.9 BPG in 19 G League starts.
- The Nets assigned Theo Pinson and Dzanan Musa to their Long Island affiliate, according to the G League transactions log. Pinson, a second-year guard, has appeared in 27 games with Brooklyn this season, averaging 4.4 PPG in 12.3 MPG. Musa, a second-year swingman, is averaging 4.3 PPG and 12.2 MPG as 32 appearances with the NBA club.
- The Warriors recalled guard Jacob Evans III from their affiliate in Santa Cruz, according to a team press release. Evans has played two G League games this season. In 22 games with Golden State, he is averaging 4.4 PPG in 15.0 MPG.
Kings Willing To Reconcile With Dedmon
The Kings are willing to retain and mend their relationship with center Dewayne Dedmon, according to Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Dedmon was fined $50K by the league after publicly requesting a trade late last month.
“I would like to be traded,” Dedmon said at the time. “I haven’t been playing, so I would like to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.”
The Kings are willing to deal Dedmon but only if they get a fair return, Anderson adds. The Kings signed Dedmon to a three-year, $40MM contract during free agency over the summer, but when Richaun Holmes emerged as a starter, he fell out of the rotation.
With Holmes (shoulder) and Marvin Bagley III (foot) dealing with injuries, Dedmon has received an increase in playing time lately. He had a 13-point, 10-rebound outing against the Pistons last Wednesday and saw 19 minutes of court time against Chicago on Friday.
Overall, Dedmon hasn’t been able to duplicate the success he had in Atlanta last season, when he averaged 10.8 PPG and 7.5 RPG while shooting 38.2% on 3-point attempts in 25.1 MPG. He is shooting 21.3% from 3-point range this season with averages of 6.4 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 14.5 MPG.