The Cavaliers‘ agreement with Ricky Rubio remains flexible and could eventually become a sign-and-trade with the Pacers, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Rubio, who suffered a torn left ACL last December, isn’t expected to be able to play for the first two or three months of the season, so the Cavs want to explore other point guard options.
If they do a sign-and-trade with Rubio, they’d be able to use their $10.4MM mid-level exception to address that area, and Fedor suggests that another signing could be reported sometime this weekend.
Bringing back Rubio was “Plan A” for the team, Fedor adds, after he helped fuel a surprising rise to contention last season. Serving as a veteran component in a young backcourt, Rubio averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 34 games before the injury. Cleveland was 20-14 with Rubio last season, but only 24-24 when he didn’t play.
There’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Nets owner Joe Tsai is fed up with the drama surrounding the organization and won’t mind parting with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Vardon notes that Tsai has been willing to pay the luxury tax in the three seasons since Durant and Irving arrived, but he hasn’t gotten much in return, with just one playoff series win in that time. Other distractions, such as the coaching change involving Kenny Atkinson, the trades to acquire and then unload James Harden, the addition of Ben Simmons when he wasn’t ready to play, and Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated have all tested Tsai’s patience, Vardon adds.
- The Bucks have some interest in former first-round pick Georgios Papagiannis, tweets Dionysis Aravantinos of HoopsHype. The Greek center fizzled out quickly after being selected at No. 13 in the 2016 draft — playing 38 games for the Kings and one for the Trail Blazers — but he has been a star in Europe, earning a spot on the All-EuroLeague Second Team this year. Papagiannis is still under contract to Panathinaikos, so Milwaukee would have to arrange a buyout, but Aravantinos doesn’t see that as an obstacle.
- The wife of Hornets forward Miles Bridges has posted several photographs showing injuries that she says were caused when he attacked her this week, as Amy Woodyatt and Jacob Lev of CNN write. Bridges was arrested on Wednesday and charged with felony domestic violence. His next court date is scheduled for July 20, per CNN’s report.
No one is offering handsome contracts to Nets
Kevin Durant to the Pelicans for
Nance Jr, Graham, Hernangomez (salary) + Kira Lewis Jr, Trey Murphy III, and Dyson Daniels (young players) + picks
Kyrie Irving to Hornets for Rozier, Bouknight, Kai Jones + pick
Nets get a whole lot younger with Kira Lewis Jr, Murphy, Daniels, Boughknight, Jones plus amass picks like they are the Thunder.
Nets should ship out Graham, Rozier, Nance Jr for more draft capitol, even 2nd round picks or young players who need playing time.
Maybe Rozier to 76ers for Melton, Niang, and Kormaz + picks to give 76ers some bench scoring/2nd unit scoring.
I think the Nets could get a better package from Toronto.
Durant is going to Toronto.
Siakam and Barnes. Done deal.
Wouldnt be surprised to see Atkinson going back …
Naaaa
Nets get: Sexton, Allen, Okoro, Osman and three 1sts
Cavs get: kd and Joe Harris
That would be the dumbest s**t the Cavs could do. Mortgage their future for an old snake and not even be good enough for a title run. Durant would be long done by the time those firsts even convey and the Cavs are probably back in the lottery by then.
The picks would likely convey in the mid to late 20s. Durant is the kinda scorer/playmaker to take pressure off of garland until Mobley is ready to take over. He’d be better than any perimeter defender we’ve had since maybe shump?He’s proven his worth, which is why most teams are trying to pry him from Brooklyn. I honestly think we were better than the finals iteration of Boston, when fully healthy. Aside from Miami, the teams at the top, and teams like atl and Detroit have improved. This may not be the deal: before McCollum went to new Orleans, I was pushing a more modest package for Brandon Ingram. Until we address the fact Garland’s doing most of the scoring and playmaking, we’re going to continue to bog down offensively when the games start to slow down.
Not sure abput the merits, but Altman probablly wants to grow something (he can take credit for), not throw it all on Durant’s back.
Merits: Interesting, Durant + Garland + Mobley. others. Heck three years later, the youth will still be in prime. Yeah, go for it!
Tsai comes off as a snowflake.
For starters, a lot of the “drama” surrounding the Nets has been and is manufactured by NBA reporters, NBA media figureheads, and amplified on various social media platforms by many NBA fans who are terminally online. Tsai (and the other members of the front office) could simply ignore the noise.
The Nets has also gotten very unlucky over the last couple of years with the pandemic, Harden and Kyrie getting injured against the Bucks, etc. Atkinson is not that good of a coach (even Nash is slightly better than him). Trading for Harden was a worthwhile gamble that didn’t pay off, and no one forced the front office to trade for Simmons (they chose to make that trade). Also, the Nets never should have prevented Kyrie from playing in games during the first half of last season.
Tsai and the other members of the Nets front office need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps instead of whining like a bunch of spoiled children.
Tsai is the owner and I feel like he’s definitely justified being annoyed at the Nets stars.
He pays huge amounts of money in wages, tax and luxury tax and his front office put together a team which should’ve been challenging for a title but only made the playoffs 1 season out of 3.
Kyrie stance of not getting vaccinated cost his team many wins and ultimately lead to James Harden forcing his way out. Which in the end derailed their whole season. Kyrie is now causing issues with his contract negotiations and that’s lead to Kevin Durant demanding a trade.
I’d be very annoyed too and ultimately hes 100% right, the team just needs to move these two off the team and build a strong side that can hopefully contend again soon.
Like I already said, the Nets got very unlucky the last couple of seasons. Kyrie and KD are entitled to request trades.
Tsai has the right to be upset, but at the same time he is acting like a snowflake.
Hawk6 youre giving “snowflake” a bad name— as an insult or a descriptor.
I suspect you were paid for that post.
You provide no evidence of any action.
Tsai has a right to his standards, just like Durant & Irving.
The CBA decides.
Id take the Ballmers/Tsai’s of the world over the Sterling/Glen Taylors
He went for it, it didn’t work, they can actually rebound fairly well with picks players and cap relief coming
It could have been worse,much worse; they could have extended Kyrie/Harden then it all falls apart w them under massive contracts
If anyone should have beef it’s Tsai, but that’s not going to help him over the next couple weeks. They INDEED need to buckle up those bootstraps and get the best deals they can for KD/KI and possibly Simmons (tho I think they’ll hold to reclaim value at min w him )
Acting like kyrie’s vaccination status was the only reason he didnt play is ignoring the fact that he randomly left multiple times for weeks at a time, claiming it was for cryptic reasoning, while everyone was supposed to assume what it was for, whether it be social justice, gun violence, religious reasons, etc, which is fine but how is it bringing awareness if you dont say what you’re actually doing? Also, to me, it seems like he doesnt even want to play basketball, so why wouldnt the owner be annoyed at the fact that he has been paying this dude to come and go as he pleases, and then still complain about money..
And then it doesnt even just effect him, it’s now causing Kevin Durant to want out. Ya, the owner should be annoyed at this point. As a human, how wouldnt you be if you were him
I do agree about social media, which is why I dont participate in it, but at the same time, this isnt a regular situation either. This is a global entity that is getting tons of negative feedback that can hurt their image. They already struggle with their own fan base too, so it’s reasonable to want to change narratives in that area, even though social media is one of the worst things that ever happened in human history, and the people that use it have no actual understanding of anything, and have no real credibility
If anyone is coming off like a “snowflake” it’s Durant and Irving. Why would Tsai bow to their requests? The Nets were building a good thing and KD, Kyrie, and Harden blew it up with nothing to show for it. They haven’t won a thing.
I would deal them and give zero thought to their preferred destinations.
IMO you are misguided. The Nets hadn’t accomplished anything before KD and Kyrie showed up. Unfortunately they haven’t won a title, but no one ever said that winning a title was easy. The Nets have also been the unluckiest team in the league the last couple of years.
Tsai and the front office also could have done a better job of giving KD and Kyrie a strong supporting cast.
GSW won through the draft. Most do the Lakers one Buying. The Heat won a few but most good teams are home grown.
Hopefully the Cavs can do a sign and trade for Rubio so that they can use their full MLE on Warren.
I think we are set at Center……
link to nydailynews.com
That link to the Bridges article makes jail seem more likely than a max.
Bridges’ wife got injuries “from being choked until I went to sleep and a severe concussion” in the Instagram post on Friday.
“I hate that it has come to this but I can’t be silent anymore.”
There’s more, her saying he has no remorse, that the kids are traumatized, and he & others are painting a wrong picture of her. She has pictures too.
She oviously has no plans to help him get the max.
Dude is an animal, should never be allowed to play in the NBA ever again!
Every single big move that BKN has completed the past few years has flopped. Simmons with his back and mental problems is on deck. Character counts and the Nets have, unfortunately, depended on low character guys like Irving, Durant, and Harden. Any GM has the rose-colored glasses on if he trades present and future assets for Irving or Durant.