Odds & Ends: McGee, Lee, Bradley
Tick, tock. Just hours to go before tomorrow's 2:00pm trade deadline. No deals went down today, but there's been no shortage of news. Here are the latest tidbits on trades and other NBA action:
- Marc J. Spears reports the Wizards are actively trying to trade JaVale McGee, but a GM says Washington is "asking for the world" in return. (Twitter link) Tom Ziller of SB Nation adds detail.
- Alex Kennedy tweets that the price also appears to be too high for Courtney Lee, whom the Rockets are trying to move.
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News passes along a nugget about the Celtics in a larger roundup, reporting that the team would be willing to trade Avery Bradley for a big man. Perhaps that's the player they have in mind in a potential deal for J.J. Hickson.
- With the NCAA tournament getting in full swing tomorrow, ESPN's Chad Ford breaks down the top NBA draft prospects in the Midwest Region. He's also looked at the East and the South, with the West sure to come next. (Insider only)
- Adam Zagoria of SNY looks at likely lottery picks Andre Drummond and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as they gear up for the postseason.
- In a basketball-baseball crossover story, Warriors co-owner Peter Guber has joined forces with Magic Johnson in a bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to a Bloomberg News report by Scott Soshnick.
Northwest Notes: Blazers, Jazz, Thunder
The most pressing news out of the Northwest Division tonight surrounds the three-team deal apparently in the works between the Lakers and two Northwest teams: the Blazers and Timberwolves. It continues to be held up by the Blazers, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), who are seeking a draft pick. Here's more from around the division:
- The Blazers took an embarrassing 42-point loss to the Knicks tonight, and John Canzano of The Oregonian thinks the problems can be traced to the front-office turmoil of the past few years.
- The Thunder like the view from the top, and unlike last year, when they acquired Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammed, they aren't likely to make any deals before the deadline, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. As a result, the team has largely avoided the distractions that other teams encounter this time of year, coach Scott Brooks told fellow Oklahoman writer John Rohde.
- The Jazz are in contention for a playoff spot, but it will be better for them in the long run to make a deal before the deadline, even if it's a short-term negative, opines Patrick Kinahan on NBA.com.
Howard Not Committing To Magic For 2012/13
10:45pm: The Nets have sweetened their offer to the Magic, sources tell Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM. New Jersey is not sure a deal will happen, though, as Orlando has been reluctant to answer calls. (Twitter links)
10:27pm: Wojnarowski updates with a story indicating that the Magic is moving "quickly" to trade Howard, with the Nets and Rockets making pushes.
8:09pm: Multiple league executives are telling Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the Magic are firm in their decision to trade Howard before tomorrow's deadline. (Twitter link)
7:53pm: Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says a spokesman for the Magic has confirmed Stein's story that Howard will not waive his ETO. (Twitter link)
7:18pm: ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting Dwight Howard has told the Magic he won't waive his early-termination option for 2012/13, and intends to test free agency this summer.
It's a reversal from his earlier indication to the team today that he would elect to stay with the Magic for the final season of his contract, which would pay him $19.57MM.
According to Stein's sources, Howard and agent Dan Fegan told the team about his latest move in a conference call with Magic CEO Alex Martins, owner Rich DeVos and members of the DeVos family before Orlando's game in San Antonio tonight. Howard said in the call that the Magic are still his first choice.
Stein reports that Howard originally said he would opt in because he "didn't fully understand the ramifications" of doing so, and felt pressure from the Magic, who told him he would be traded by the deadline tomorrow if he didn't commit to at least one more year in Orlando, the sources said.
The Magic is continuing to field offers for Howard. The team had given D12 until the end of the day to sign the paperwork declaring that he was waiving the ETO. Ken Berger of CBS Sports tweets that the team is not caught off guard by the latest development, citing team executives who aren't surprised by anything given Howard's waffling of late.
Celtics, Kings Discussing J.J. Hickson
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets that the Celtics and Kings have had conversations about forward J.J. Hickson. The Kings acquired Hickson in an offseason trade that sent Omri Casspi to the Cavs.
It's unclear what the Celtics would send in return. Hickson, in the final year of a contract that pays him $2.35MM, has been buried on the bench of late in Sacramento. Last night, he saw just more than six minutes against the Warriors, his briefest appearance of the year. Hickson is averaging just 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18.4 minutes this year after putting up 13.8 PPG and 8.7 RPG in 28.2 MPG last year mostly in a starting role for the Cavs.
Once considered a cornerstone that Cleveland was reluctant to give up, his value has taken a hit of late. Depending on whom the Celtics would send back, it appears the team would be after Hickson for his ability to replace the ailing Chris Wilcox, who's out for the season, as well as his expiring contract. Hickson will be a restricted free agent at season's end.
Earlier today, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee said he didn't think the Kings had given up on Hickson. He noted that the team gave up a popular player and a draft pick for him, and that they would expect to get a pick in return. (Twitter links)
Nets Latest: Williams, Howard, Miles
9:43pm: Deron Williams sounds pleased with the Nets, telling reporters, including Andy Vasquez of the Bergen Record, that he has a much better relationship with team executives than he did in Utah. He also praised the greater endorsement opportunities he's received, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News notes, which could be a subtle hint directed at Dwight Howard.
6:16pm: The Nets are unwilling to trade Deron Williams, writes Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld. They're not sure of the assets they could get in return, and feel like they can make some offseason moves to strengthen the club and entice the point guard to stay.
5:24pm: The future of Deron Williams in New Jersey is not necessarily tied to Dwight Howard, tweets Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. With D12 apparently staying in Orlando for at least one more season, it throws a wrench into plans the Nets had of putting Williams and Howard together when they move to Brooklyn next year. The Mavs, too, have had eyes on combining Williams and Howard.
Williams will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. As we surmised earlier, the chances of Williams remaining with New Jersey have taken a hit with today's Howard news. The Nets now may look to deal Williams to get some kind of return in case he leaves the team after the season.
The Nets are also continuing to pursue C.J. Miles of the Jazz, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. (Twitter link). The Jazz have been rumored to be looking to move Miles, a free agent at seasons end.
List Of Players With Trade Kickers
With just hours to go before the trade deadline, it’s worth taking a look at a set of stumbling blocks that might be making some potential deals a lot harder: trade kickers.
A trade kicker, or trade bonus, is an amount of money paid to a player if he is traded during his contract. Only a few players have trade kickers as a part of their deals, many of them stars who can command such clauses during negotiations. Trade kickers are usually a certain percentage of the remaining value of the contract, but sometimes they are a fixed amount. In either case, they can’t exceed 15% of the deal’s remaining value.
For salary cap purposes, the kicker counts toward the cap of the team acquiring the player, and the bonus is spread evenly over the remaining years of the contract. So, if Player X has a $2.5MM trade kicker and two more seasons left on his contract after this year, the kicker counts as $500K for the rest of this season and $1M each for the next two seasons.
For more on trade kickers, check out Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ page. Here’s a roundup of players with trade kickers, with the value in parentheses.
Atlanta:
Josh Smith (15%)
Boston:
Kevin Garnett ($1,751,394)
Ray Allen (15%)
Jermaine O’Neal (7.5%)
Cleveland:
Anderson Varejao (5%)
Dallas:
Shawn Marion (15%)
L.A. Clippers:
DeAndre Jordan (15%)
L.A. Lakers:
Kobe Bryant (15%)
Pau Gasol (15%)
Metta World Peace (15%)
Luke Walton (7.5%)
Orlando:
Hedo Turkoglu ($415,850 for each 2011/12 and 2012/13)
Quentin Richardson (15%)
San Antonio:
Tim Duncan (15%)
Manu Ginobili (5%)
Toronto:
Jose Calderon (10%)
Andrea Bargnani (5%)
Amir Johnson (5%)
Note: A player's salary plus his trade bonus is not permitted to exceed the maximum salary for that year, so some of these bonuses would be unavailable in the case of a trade.
Storytellers Contracts and Yahoo! Sports were used in the creation of this list.
Knicks Notes: Coaches, Anthony, Stoudemire
The Knicks created some non-trade buzz today when they parted ways with coach Mike D'Antoni and named Mike Woodson the interim coach. Here's what's going on in the Big Apple:
- University of Kentucky coach John Calipari tried to swat away speculation that he would be interested in the Knicks job as his team prepares for the NCAA tournament, writes Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News.
- Don't look for Phil Jackson on the sidelines at Madison Square Garden any time soon either, as ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein report he and the Knicks have not talked about the coaching position.
- ESPN's John Hollinger believes the problems with the Knicks are more closely tied to the declining skills of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire than any Mike D'Antoni coaching deficiency. (Insider only)
Kyler On Smith, Magic, Bulls
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld passed along a few goodies on Twitter, so let's take a look (all Twitter links, of course):
- The Magic are one of multiple teams trying to get the Hawks to change their minds about keeping Josh Smith, even though it's a long shot. One potential scenario would have the Magic sending Jason Richardson to the Wolves and Ryan Anderson to the Hawks while Michael Beasley would go to Atlanta. Ownership would be reluctant to do that deal because they believe Smith is worth twice that price. David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets that no such talks between the Magic and Hawks have taken place.
- The rumored three-team trade involving the Lakers, Wolves and Blazers is just one of the options the Wolves have.
- The Bulls are eyeing Courtney Lee, and would look to Raja Bell as a fallback.
- Kyler is much more confident about the Mavs' chances of landing Deron Williams now that Dwight Howard is close to committing to the Magic for next season.
Odds & Ends: Timberwolves, CBA, Lakers
- Stephen Litel of HoopsWorld examines the impact the Ricky Rubio injury will have on the rest of the Timberwolves' personnel, and speculates, as we did earlier, that this may precipitate a Michael Beasley trade.
- The TrueHoop Network on ESPN.com discussed the how Rubio's injury affects Minnesota's involvement in the trade market, and the consensus appears to be that the Timberwolves will be able to make do with Ridnour and Barea in the meantime.
- NBA.com's John Schuhmann looks at the effect the new collective bargaining agreement is having on trade talks. The more punitive tax that is set to kick in during the 2013/14 season, restrictions on cap exceptions, and limits on sign-and-trades and max contracts are forcing GMs to adjust how they value players in trades.
- Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer believes that the value of the expiring contract has depreciated because of the new CBA.
- During a road trip that included disappointing losses to the Pistons and Wizards, the Lakers cancelled practice on Thursday and held a meeting between the coaches and players instead. The main message from the assistant coaches to the players appeared to be a request to "curtail external chatter," according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- HoopsWorld's Derek Page chatted with fans this afternoon and discussed a variety of ideas, including the suggestion that Chris Kaman would be a nice consolation prize for the Mavericks should they fail to land Dwight Howard.
- The Spurs have rarely engaged in deadline deals over the last 16 years, but Mike Monroe of Spurs Nation thinks that the team could be willing to shop their first round pick this time around if the right deal comes along.
- Although the Pistons are just four games out of the eighth seed, Lawrence Frank does not want to pay attention to the standings and would rather focus on taking things day by day, according to David Mayo of MLive.com.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel quotes Erik Spoelstra by saying that the Heat do not have any personnel moves pending after deciding not to renew the contract of Mickell Gladness. (Twitter link)
Dwight Howard Rumors: Saturday
Just a handful of days remain until Thursday's trade deadline, so we'll know soon where Dwight Howard will be for at least the next few months. Earlier today we heard that the Nets were looking at backup plans if they don't get Howard at the deadline, and its inevitable that most of D12's suitors will come away from their pursuit empty-handed. One team, though, will have him on the roster come Friday. We'll pass along any clues about which team that will be here, with the latest stuff on top:
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel takes a close look at the assets the Nets have to entice the Magic into a Howard trade. Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks and the Nets' draft picks all come with uncertainty, Robbins says.