Heat Notes: Dragic, Bosh, Trade Targets
The Heat not surprisingly have interest in soon-to-be free agent Mike Conley, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald passes along via Dan Le Batard of ESPN Radio, and Miami is open to hearing offers for Goran Dragic, Jackson writes. However, the Heat are in no hurry to trade their point guard. The Heat like Jeff Teague and Al Horford, but Miami would need to find a third team to involve in a deal to get Atlanta the assets it wants for them, according to Jackson. DeMarcus Cousins and Jahlil Okafor have also held appeal to Miami, at least as of earlier this season, a source who has spoken with the Heat told Jackson. Moreover, the Heat want to further reduce their luxury tax bill and add a shooter, and they’re continuing to try to make the playoffs despite the health scare for Chris Bosh, who has an encouraging prognosis for his long-term health once his latest blood clot issue is resolved, Jackson reports.
See more from Miami:
- The most likely course of action regarding Bosh’s health would probably knock him out for three months, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, though agent Henry Thomas told Winderman that it’s too soon to know what will happen.
- The Heat probably wouldn’t benefit from missing the playoffs as much as they did last year when they snagged the No. 10 pick and Justise Winslow, making Bosh’s situation potentially devastating for the franchise, contends Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Miami’s first-round pick is again top-10 protected, but lottery and draft-night luck played in the Heat’s favor last year.
- Jackson lists Mirza Teletovic, Jerryd Bayless and Wayne Ellington as “options” for the Heat as they look for a shooter, though it’s not entirely clear whether the Heat are indeed interested in them.
Kings Interested In Thabo Sefolosha
The Kings have interest in Thabo Sefolosha, a league source tells ESPN’s Chris Broussard (Twitter link). Sacramento has been on the lookout for a major upgrade at shooting guard and veteran contributors, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday. The 31-year-old Sefolosha is in his 10th NBA season and can play the two, but it’s debatable whether he’d constitute a major upgrade over starter Marco Belinelli, whom the Kings are reportedly making available, and former No. 7 overall pick Ben McLemore, whom Sacramento is apparently “desperate” to trade.
Sefolosha’s best work comes on the defensive end. ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus rankings list him as a small forward and peg him sixth in the league. Oddly, he’s shooting a career best 51.8% from the floor while enduring the second-worst 3-point shooting season of his career, canning only 30.9% of his shots from behind the arc. That’s even though his shot distribution hasn’t changed much, according to Basketball-Reference. The net effect is his scoring is up to 6.8 points per game from 5.3 last season as he takes slightly more shots and sees about five more minutes a game than he did last year.
It’s unclear what it would take to pry Sefolosha from the Hawks, who sorely missed him in the playoffs last spring while he was out with a broken leg and ankle ligament damage suffered during an encounter with police, one for which he’s filing a civil suit after being cleared of wrongdoing. He’s making $4MM this season and will see $3.85MM next year in the final season of his contract.
Pistons Acquire Tobias Harris
2:58pm: The Pistons have acquired Tobias Harris from the Magic for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova, the teams have formally announced. ESPN’s Chris Broussard first reported it was a done deal shortly after Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reported the sides were in talks (Twitter links), while Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, USA Today’s Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel added detail (All Twitter links).
“We are pleased to welcome Tobias Harris to our organization,” Pistons GM Jeff Bower said in Detroit’s release. “Tobias adds good versatility as a ball-handler and scorer who can play both forward positions. He also has good experience for a young player and will fit well with the young core we have assembled on our roster. We appreciate the contributions made by Brandon and Ersan to our organization and wish them well moving forward.”
The deal represents a nearly even exchange of salaries for this season, with Harris’ $16MM going to the Pistons and $16,244,497 headed to Orlando, but a long-term cost savings for the Magic, since Jennings is on an expiring deal and Ilyasova is guaranteed only $400K for next season. Harris signed a four-year, $64MM deal this past summer.
Detroit appeared to be one of the leading contenders for Harris as free agency got underway in the offseason, but the team hadn’t emerged as a trade suitor this year until today. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last week that the Magic were open to trading the 23-year-old Harris, cautioning that they weren’t shopping him. However, a serious discussion took place recently between the Magic and Clippers involving Harris, Blake Griffin and other players, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The Magic had been on the lookout for veterans, according to Stein, and Jennings, who’s 26, and Ilyasova, 28, ostensibly fit that bill.
“Brandon and Ersan are two veterans that will help balance our roster and provide valuable experience to our team,” Magic GM Rob Hennigan said as part of his team’s statement. “Both players bring scoring, competitiveness and added depth to our roster. We want to thank Tobias for his contributions, both on and off the court.”
Power forward has been the unsettled spot for the Pistons, who were high on Ilyasova but saw him instead as a backup, as ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported as he identified the team’s interest in Ryan Anderson. The acquisition of Harris would presumably take the Pistons out of the running for other power forwards the team has been linked to, including Markieff Morris and Al Horford, though Detroit will still have significant cap flexibility for next summer, when only about $64MM in guaranteed salaries will be on the books against a cap that many around the league reportedly believe will surge to $95MM.
The Magic meanwhile reduce their guaranteed salary commitments to only about $44MM for next season, giving them plenty of spending power. They had an open roster spot before the trade, so they didn’t have to offload anyone to make the two-for-one exchange.
Hornets Acquire Courtney Lee In Three-Teamer
6:45pm: Courtney Lee is headed to Charlotte as part of a three-team deal involving the Grizzlies, Heat and Hornets, all of whom have officially announced the trade that Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports originally reported. The Heat pick up Brian Roberts in the deal, while Lee is the only asset going to the Hornets, but the Grizzlies come away with two players and four second-round picks.
From Charlotte, the Grizzlies receive P.J. Hairston, Charlotte’s 2018 second-rounder and Brooklyn’s 2019 second-rounder, which the Hornets acquired this past summer. From Miami, Memphis gets Chris Andersen, Miami’s second-rounder for 2017, with top-40 protection, plus Boston’s 2019 second-rounder with top-55 protection that Miami acquired this past summer. USA Today’s Sam Amick and Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal reported the details of the picks changing hands (All Twitter links).
“We are excited to be adding a quality veteran wing player to our roster in Courtney Lee,” Charlotte GM Rich Cho said in his team’s press release. “Courtney has proven to be a team defender, a consistent outside shooter and a solid scorer in our league for the past eight years. Particularly in terms of experience, he adds depth to our roster in a position of need for us and we expect him to fit in to our system and contribute right away.”
The Memphis-bound Hairston had started on the wing for Charlotte in place of Kidd-Gilchrist while he dealt with an earlier shoulder injury that kept him out for the season’s first few months, so presumably Lee will slide into that spot alongside soon-to-be free agent Nicolas Batum. All four players involved are on expiring contracts, with Lee’s worth $5.675MM, Anderson making $5MM, Roberts getting close to $2.854MM and Hairston seeing more than $1.201MM. The Grizzlies won’t be able to re-sign Hairston to a deal with a starting salary of more than $1,253,160 for next season because the Hornets declined the team option they had for next year on his rookie scale contract.
Memphis, Charlotte and Miami are all dealing with significant health issues, too. Marc Gasol has a broken foot, while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is out for the season with a torn labrum in his shoulder, and mystery surrounds the status of Chris Bosh as he deals with another blood clot. Miami is also missing Tyler Johnson until at least April, if not the rest of the season.
The Grizzlies had reportedly been testing the market for Lee, though they apparently rejected a proposal from the Timberwolves of Lee for Kevin Martin several weeks ago, before Gasol went down. Andersen had been a trade candidate for months, with the latest dispatch indicating that Miami was aggressively trying to trade him as repeat-offender tax penalties loom. The trade as reported lowers the Heat’s payroll by about $2.1MM, but Miami would still need to trim roughly another $3.4MM to sneak under the tax line.
Rockets, Hornets Talk Dwight Howard Swap
4:15pm: Charlotte doesn’t have interest in cashing in its assets for Howard, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports hears, noting that despite the connection between Howard and Hornets coach Steve Clifford, who were together with both the Magic and Lakers, the sides don’t see a path to a deal (Twitter link).
3:48pm: The talks have been exploratory, Stein writes, adding that one source close to the discussion was pessimistic about a deal getting done. The Rockets are seeking at least one first-round pick in any Howard trade, Stein adds.
3:05pm: The Rockets and Hornets have discussed the possibility of sending Dwight Howard to Charlotte, but the sides haven’t been able to find a workable trade idea, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Hornets earlier today reportedly agreed to trade for Courtney Lee after news broke that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is out for the rest of the season.
Howard’s salary of more than $22.359MM, which would become $22,970,500 if the Rockets deal him because of his trade kicker, is a likely stumbling block, since it would require the Hornets to send Houston at least $18,296,400 in salary to make a legal deal under the NBA’s salary matching rules. Charlotte couldn’t include Lee in any trade that aggregates his salary with another player’s once the deal to acquire him from Memphis becomes official, presenting a further complication.
Tiago Splitter To Miss Rest Of Season
4:04pm: The Hawks have confirmed via press release that Splitter will undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the 2015/16 season as a result.
3:35pm: Tiago Splitter will be out for the season, having decided to undergo surgery on his ailing right hip, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). The Hawks center hasn’t played since January 31st. It’s too late in the season for the Hawks to apply for a disabled player exception, and Atlanta doesn’t have enough of an injury problem to warrant a hardship exception for a 16th roster spot, so the team has limited means to offset the effect of Splitter’s absence.
The injury leaves the Hawks without an experienced backup at the five spot for Al Horford, who’s been in trade rumors of late. Mike Muscala and Walter Tavares are the team’s only other options on the roster behind Horford, unless coach/executive Mike Budenholzer goes small with either Paul Millsap or Mike Scott playing center.
Atlanta gave up virtually nothing in return to acquire Splitter via trade this past summer. He’s making $8.8MM this season, and next season’s $8.55MM salary is the last on his contract.
Dwight Howard Interested In Hawks?
TUESDAY, 3:08pm: The Rockets and Hawks have spoken, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com indicates via Twitter, though it’s unclear what sort of dialogue took place.
MONDAY, 9:44am: Dwight Howard would like to find a way to play for the Hawks, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN, who spoke this morning in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” show (audio link, scroll to 7:30 mark). His representatives spoke with the Hawks as early as last year, Broussard adds. The Hawks, in Howard’s hometown of Atlanta, were one of the teams with which Howard met in the summer of 2013, when he ultimately signed with the Rockets. Still, Howard said last week that he hasn’t asked for a trade.
The Rockets have reportedly engaged teams about their interest in trading for Howard, but it’s not clear whether the Hawks are one of them, and it appears to be more a matter of due diligence than any serious push to trade him. Broussard suggests it’s unlikely that Houston moves him before Thursday’s deadline. Agent Dan Fegan made comments last week that seemed to counter an assertion in the report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports that the Rockets were working in concert with him to find a new home for the star center.
Houston expects Howard to opt out of his contract and hit free agency this summer, when longtime Hawks center Al Horford is also poised to become a free agent. The Hawks, who apparently aren’t entirely sure Horford will re-sign, have been calling teams to assess their interest in trading for him, along with Jeff Teague, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wrote this weekend. Still, Horford has said he’s content in Atlanta. The Hawks already have close to $53MM in guaranteed salary for next season, so it would likely be impossible for the team to sign both Horford and Howard to max deals under the projected $89MM cap.
Pacers Trying To Trade Chase Budinger
The Pacers and Chase Budinger‘s representatives are cooperating in an effort to find a new team for the Kevin Bradbury client, reports Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). A decent chance exists that it’ll require a third team to facilitate a trade for Budinger and his expiring contract, worth $5MM, Buckner also hears (Twitter link).
Indiana acquired Budinger from the Timberwolves this summer thinking he would come in handy at the wing with Paul George playing power forward, but as the team abandoned the idea of George at the four, it put the squeeze on Budinger, who’s averaging a career-low 15.5 minutes per game, Buckner explains (on Twitter).
The 27-year-old has appeared in 41 games this season, including two starts, and is averaging 4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist to accompany a shooting line of .407/.295/.705.
Magic Shopping Channing Frye
The Magic have been trying to trade Channing Frye, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link), who suggests the effort will accelerate now that the team has reportedly agreed to trade Tobias Harris, who’s Frye’s cousin, to the Pistons for Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. Orlando has fielded multiple inquiries on Frye, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported a few weeks ago, adding that an executive from a rival team said interest in the veteran floor-stretcher was high. The Magic apparently denied before the season that they were making Frye available for little in return.
The 32-year-old has disappointed since Orlando signed him to a four year deal during the summer of 2014. He has appeared in 44 games this season, including 29 as a starter, and is averaging just 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per night. His career averages are 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist and Frye owns a career slash line of .438/.387/.820.
Frye is making more than $8.193MM this season, with about $7.8MM coming next season and $7.4MM in 2017/18, the final year of his deal.
Kings Seek To Deal Ben McLemore; Wolves Eye Him
TUESDAY, 12:10pm: Sacramento is “desperate” to trade McLemore, a league source told Sam Amico of Amico Hoops.
3:17pm: The Timberwolves are among the teams talking to Sacramento about McLemore, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
MONDAY, 2:53pm: The Kings and Ben McLemore are working together to find a new team for the former lottery pick as the trade deadline approaches, report Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The Cavaliers are one of multiple Eastern Conference teams with strong interest in the shooting guard, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported last week, though it appeared then that Sacramento was resisting offers for the Rich Paul client. Sacramento wants someone who can help them immediately and not future draft picks, Stein and Windhorst write. McLemore, the seventh overall pick from 2013, is making almost $3.157MM in year three of his four-year rookie scale contract.
The effort to trade McLemore is similar to the one the Kings made to try to facilitate a trade for Caron Butler in December, according to Stein and Windhorst. However, Butler remains with Sacramento.
The Kings drafted Nik Stauskas at No. 8 in 2014, one year after they took McLemore, but they traded Stauskas this to Philadelphia past summer, ostensibly designating McLemore as their shooting guard of the future. Instead, his minutes have shrunk from 32.6 last season, when he started all 82 games, to 21.0 this year. He’s shooting career bests of 37.2% from 3-point territory and 45.1% from the field, but it hasn’t translated into more playing time, and he wasn’t in the starting lineup for the last two games in which he appeared before going out with a wrist injury for Sacramento’s final three games leading up to the All-Star break.