Rockets Open To Trading Wall For Westbrook, Draft Assets
The Rockets, who traded Russell Westbrook to the Wizards for John Wall and a future first-round pick during the 2020 offseason, would be amenable to reacquiring Westbrook from the Lakers if the deal included “sufficient draft compensation,” Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column.
Stein hears from sources that Houston would want the Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick (the only first-rounder L.A. can trade due to the Stepien rule) in a Wall-for-Westbrook swap, though he says it’s possible the Rockets would accept multiple second-rounders.
This report doesn’t come as a surprise. After all, Wall has been inactive and on the trade block for a half-season already and there has been no indication the Rockets will be able to find a deal that nets them any positive assets for the veteran guard.
An eventual buyout appears to be the most likely resolution for Wall and the Rockets, so acquiring a player with a virtually identical contract (Wall and Westbrook are each earning $44MM+ this season, with a $47MM+ player option for 2022/23) and getting a draft pick or two in the process would be a massive win for Houston.
It may seem odd that the Rockets would have any interest in reacquiring Westbrook, given that they’re in the midst of a rebuild and their previous union with the nine-time All-Star didn’t work out especially well. But Westbrook almost certainly wouldn’t play any more for Houston than Wall has this season — any deal would be all about the draft assets. In other words, you could substitute any player’s name for Westbrook’s in the headline of this story and it would still be true.
While it’s easy to see why the Rockets would be motivated to explore another Wall/Westbrook swap, it’s harder to justify it from the Lakers’ perspective, a fact Stein acknowledges within his report.
As awkward a fit as Westbrook has been in Los Angeles, there’s no guarantee that Wall – who has dealt with a series of leg injuries in recent years and hasn’t played in a game since last April – would be any better. L.A. would also be selling extremely low on Westbrook, who came on strong during the second half of his first and only season in Washington in 2020/21.
[RELATED: Russell Westbrook “Surprised” By Crunch-Time Benching]
If the Lakers are willing to move their 2027 first-rounder and/or multiple second-round picks, there are better deals to be made. According to Stein, the Pistons haven’t shown any interest in trading Jerami Grant for a package of Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and the Lakers’ 2027 pick, but Grant is one of the hottest names on this season’s trade market — there will be other options available for Los Angeles that don’t involve the team rolling the dice on a player (Wall) whose 2021/22 cap hit ($44.3MM) exceeds his total games played over the last three seasons (40).
Denzel Valentine, Allen Crabbe Sign G League Contracts
A pair of veteran wings have signed NBA G League contracts, according to reports. Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link) says Denzel Valentine is headed to the NBAGL, while Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) says Allen Crabbe is doing the same.
Valentine will join the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate, sources tell King. The 14th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Valentine has appeared in 256 total regular season games for the Bulls, Cavaliers, and Jazz.
The former Michigan State swingman had a promising 2017/18 season (10.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.2 APG, .386 3PT%) with the Bulls, but missed the entire ’18/19 campaign due to an ankle injury and has provided inconsistent production since then. After starting this season in Cleveland, Valentine was traded to the Knicks in the three-team Rajon Rondo deal and was subsequently waived. He spent 10 days with the Jazz on a hardship contract this month — that deal expired earlier this week.
Crabbe has been out of the NBA since the 2019/20 season, having been waived by Minnesota in February 2020. The 29-year-old has a solid résumé though, with 381 regular season appearances (24.0 MPG) for the Trail Blazers, Nets, Hawks, and Timberwolves. He averaged 9.1 PPG and 2.8 RPG with a .387 3PT% during his seven NBA seasons.
It’s unclear at this point which G League team Crabbe will join as he seeks an NBA comeback.
Kings Rumors: Holmes, Haliburton, Fox, Randle
Examining the Kings‘ options at the trade deadline, James Ham of The Kings Beat confirms previous reporting from Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic, writing that Sacramento no longer has interest in taking on Tobias Harris‘ contract in any Ben Simmons deal and that De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton are off the table in trade discussions involving Domantas Sabonis.
While Fox and Haliburton are presumed to be off-limits, the Kings would be open to discussing virtually any other player on their roster, according to Ham. That includes center Richaun Holmes, who was just re-signed to a four-year contract during the 2021 offseason. Holmes, Harrison Barnes, and Buddy Hield would be among Sacramento’s prime trade candidates in any move for an impact player.
A league source tells Ham that the Kings – who are “working overtime” to seek out viable deals – won’t be eager to sacrifice future draft assets, but would be open to trading picks for quality players who are under contract for multiple years and who complement Fox and Haliburton.
Here’s more out of Sacramento:
- Tyrese Haliburton has exited the NBA’s health and safety protocols, as reported by… well, Haliburton himself (Twitter link). Sacramento no longer has any players in the protocols.
- De’Aaron Fox, who spoke to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports last week about his reaction to being included in trade rumors, discussed the subject again during a media session on Wednesday night, downplaying his concerns. “Am I worried about anything? No,” Fox said (video link via Ham). “Do I know stuff can happen? Yeah. But I’m not worried at all, no.”
- Asked in a video mailbag for SNY.tv about the possibility of the Knicks acquiring Fox, Ian Begley says some people in the Kings’ front office were interested in Julius Randle even before his breakout season in 2020/21. However, Begley is skeptical that there’s a major deal to be made between the two teams.
Pistons Sign Cassius Stanley To Third Hardship Contract
The Pistons have brought back guard Cassius Stanley, signing him to a third 10-day contract using a COVID-related hardship exception, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Stanley first signed with Detroit on December 25, then got a second 10-day deal on January 8. With Luka Garza and Jerami Grant still in the health and safety protocols, the Pistons were eligible to re-sign him without requiring an open spot on their 15-man roster. Stanley, meanwhile, was eligible to sign a third 10-day pact with the team because all three deals were hardship – rather than standard – contracts.
Stanley, 22, appeared in seven games during his first 20 days with the Pistons, averaging 6.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .405/.250/1.000 shooting in 20.3 minutes per contest.
The former Duke standout, who was the 54th overall pick in the 2020 draft and played for the Pacers last season, has spent much of the 2021/22 campaign with the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate. He has recorded 11.5 PPG and 4.5 RPG on .417/.309/.571 shooting in 13 NBAGL games (24.4 MPG).
Stanley’s new contract, which will run through January 30 and will pay him $85,578, won’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes.
Nuggets Sign DeMarcus Cousins To 10-Day Contract
12:32pm: Cousins’ 10-day contract is now official, the Nuggets announced in a press release. The veteran will earn $151,821 on the deal, which will run through January 30.
8:21am: Nearly two weeks after reports first indicated that the Nuggets were expected to sign DeMarcus Cousins to a 10-day contract, the two sides will finally complete a deal on Friday, says Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
While it took a while for Cousins and the Nuggets to make things official, reports throughout last week confirmed that they still had mutual interest and that a deal would likely get done at some point. When Denver made a two-for-one trade for Bryn Forbes earlier this week, it opened up a spot on the team’s 15-man roster, creating a path for Cousins to join the team without requiring a hardship exception.
Cousins, 31, spent a little over five weeks with the Bucks from late November to early January, averaging 9.1 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 17 games (16.9 MPG) for the defending champs. Milwaukee opted to waive the veteran center before his salary for 2021/22 could become fully guaranteed, making him a free agent. Word of Denver’s interest broke shortly thereafter.
A report around the time of Cousins’ release suggested the Nuggets were in the market for help on the wing and at center. Trading for Forbes gave Denver another option on the wing, and now the team will get a chance to audition Cousins at center for at least 10 days.
As Wojnarowski points out, signing Cousins today will maximize his 10-day stint in Denver, since the club has six games on its schedule between now and January 30. The last of those six games will be in Milwaukee against Cousins’ former team.
Knicks, Nets Each Fined $25K By NBA
The NBA has hit New York’s two franchises with fines, announcing in a pair of press releases that the Knicks and Nets have each been docked $25K.
The Knicks’ penalty is a result of violating league rules relating to media interview access, according to the league. New York refused to make Julius Randle available to reporters following Thursday’s loss to the Pelicans. It was the seventh straight time that Randle hasn’t spoken to the media after a game, notes Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), so the fine is presumably a response to a series of violations rather than a single incident.
Randle has had an up-and-down season after winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2020/21, and Thursday definitely qualified as one of his “down” moments. The veteran forward scored just four points on 1-of-9 shooting in an 11-point home loss. The last time he spoke to reporters after a game was when he gave a thumbs-down sign during a home game and later explained that it was a signal for the fans who had criticized him to “shut the f–k up” (Twitter link via Katz).
The Nets’ fine, meanwhile, is related to an incident involving assistant coach David Vanterpool, who received a separate $10K fine of his own. During Wednesday’s game vs. Washington, Vanterpool reached out from the sidelines to deflect a pass from Wizards guard Spencer Dinwiddie intended for forward Kyle Kuzma, resulting in a turnover (Twitter link). The incident wasn’t caught in the moment by referees and Brooklyn ended up winning the game by a single point.
Head coach Steve Nash said today that Vanterpool feels badly about his actions and called it an honest mistake in the heat of the moment (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
Checking In On Traded 2022 First-Round Picks
We’re over halfway through the 2021/22 NBA regular season, which means it’s a good time to take a look at where things stand with 2022’s traded first-round picks. Many of the traded first-rounders for the ’22 draft come with protections, so there’s a chance they might not change hands this year after all.
Using our list of traded first-round picks for 2022 and our reverse standings tool, here’s our breakdown of which of those traded picks are most and least likely to change hands, and which ones remain up in the air:
Picks that will definitely change hands:
- Thunder acquiring Clippers‘ pick (unprotected).
When the Clippers traded a series of first-round picks and swaps to the Thunder in the Paul George blockbuster in the 2019 offseason, they weren’t counting on losing both George and Kawhi Leonard to long-term injuries in the same season. That’s the case this year though, and it could result in Oklahoma City receiving an extra lottery pick.
The Clippers are currently in a play-in spot, so their pick could move to No. 15 or lower if they make the playoffs, but for now it’s projected to be No. 11 or No. 12 (they’re tied with the Knicks in the NBA standings).
- Thunder acquiring Suns‘ pick (top-12 protected).
The Thunder will also receive a first-round pick from another Pacific team, though that selection appears likely to end up at the very end of the round — the Suns have the league’s best record so far, so their pick would be at No. 30.
- Grizzlies acquiring Jazz‘s pick (top-six protected).
The pick the Grizzlies are getting from the Jazz will fall near the end of the first round too. For now, it projects to be No. 25 or No. 26, as Utah is tied in the standings with the Heat.
- Grizzlies or Pelicans acquiring Lakers‘ pick (unprotected).
The Lakers will send their first-rounder to the Pelicans if it lands in the top 10 or to the Grizzlies if it’s between 11-30. It’s certainly possible things continue to go south in Los Angeles and the pick moves up into the top 10 — if the Lakers don’t make the playoffs, their pick could even jump into the top four via the lottery.
For now though, the more likely scenario is that Memphis will get the Lakers’ pick — it would be No. 15 or No. 16 (they’re tied with Minesota) if the season ended today and L.A. clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament.
Picks that definitely won’t change hands:
- Thunder acquiring Pistons’ pick (top-16 protected).
- Hawks acquiring Thunder‘s pick (top-14 protected).
There’s still a lot of basketball to be played this season, but it seems pretty safe to pencil in the Pistons and Thunder as non-playoff teams, which means they’ll keep their first-round picks in 2022. Right now, Detroit’s at No. 2 in the lottery standings, while Oklahoma City’s at No. 4.
Given how weak the bottom half of the Western Conference has been, the Thunder could theoretically sneak into a play-in spot and make the playoffs, but it’s an extreme long shot — the teams ahead of them in the standings will be more motivated to push for the postseason.
Assuming they keep their pick this year, the Pistons will owe the Thunder their top-18 protected first-round pick in 2023. If the Thunder’s own pick is protected, they’ll instead send the Hawks their 2024 and 2025 second-round selections.
Still up in the air:
- Hornets acquiring Pelicans‘ pick (top-14 protected)
- Bulls acquiring Trail Blazers‘ pick (top-14 protected)
At this point, it looks more likely than not that the Pelicans and Trail Blazers will keep their own lottery-protected first-round picks.
Portland, despite holding the West’s No. 10 seed for now, has a tenuous hold on a play-in spot with Damian Lillard sidelined for a while. New Orleans may have some potential for a second-half surge, especially if Zion Williamson returns, but the team is on the outside looking in for the time being. Either team would have a difficult path to a playoff spot as a lower seed in the play-in tournament.
Currently, the Pelicans’ first-rounder projects to be No. 6 or No. 7 (they’re tied with San Antonio), pending lottery results. Assuming that pick ends up in the top 14, New Orleans would instead send their 2022 and 2024 second-round selections to the Hornets.
If the Trail Blazers keep their first-round pick, currently projected to be No. 9, they’d owe the Bulls their top-14 protected first-rounder in 2023.
- Hawks acquiring Hornets‘ pick (top-18 protected)
The Hornets‘ first-round selection, which was just traded from New York to Atlanta in the Cam Reddish deal, is right on the edge and could go either way. It’s top-18 protected and is currently projected to be at No. 19, meaning the Hawks would receive it if the season ended today (as long as the seventh-seeded Hornets clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament). That could change quickly though.
- Rockets acquiring most favorable of Heat‘s or Nets‘ pick (Heat get least favorable).
Finally, the Rockets will control the two most favorable picks of the following three: their own first-rounder, the Nets first-rounder, and the Heat‘s first-rounder; Miami will get the least favorable of the three, unless the Heat’s own pick lands in the top 14 (in which case Miami would keep it and Houston would get the other two picks).
It seems safe to assume at this point that the Rockets will keep their own selection and the Heat will make the playoffs, so it’ll come down to whether Brooklyn or Miami finishes higher in the standings. Currently, the Heat are a half-game ahead of the Nets, so Houston would get Brooklyn’s pick (No. 24) and Miami would hang onto its own (No. 25 or No. 26).
Thunder Re-Sign Mamadi Diakite To 10-Day Deal
The Thunder have officially signed forward Mamadi Diakite to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release.
Diakite’s first 10-day deal with Oklahoma City, which expired overnight, was completed using a COVID-related hardship exception. However, with Kenrich Williams no longer in the health and safety protocols, the Thunder are ineligible for another hardship exception, so Diakite will be on a standard 10-day contract, filling the open spot on the club’s 15-man roster.
In his first 10 days with the Thunder, Diakite saw action in four games, averaging 3.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 11.8 minutes per contest.
The 6’9″ forward, who is celebrating his 25th birthday today, was in training camp with Oklahoma City in the fall, but fractured his hip and was waived at the end of the preseason. He spent his rookie year in 2020/21 with the Bucks after going undrafted out of Virginia, appearing in 14 regular season games and seven postseason contests for the NBA champions.
Diakite will earn $85,578 over the course of his 10 days with Oklahoma City. Unlike his last deal, this one will count against team salary for cap and tax purposes — that’s not a problem for a Thunder club that remains significantly below the league’s minimum salary floor.
Chris Silva Signs Third 10-Day Deal With Heat
JANUARY 21: Silva has officially signed a third 10-day hardship contract with the Heat, the team announced today in a press release.
JANUARY 20: Chris Silva‘s second 10-day hardship contract with the Heat expired overnight, but the expectation is that he’ll sign a third 10-day deal, according to reports from Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter links).
Silva, 25, appeared in seven games with the Heat during his first 20 days with the team, averaging 3.4 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 9.0 minutes per contest. The 6’8″ forward was on a 10-day deal with Minnesota earlier in the season.
Since guard Tyler Herro entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday, Miami remains eligible for a hardship exception. The league permits teams to add one replacement player for each player in the protocols, with the replacement’s 10-day hardship contract not counting against team salary for cap or tax purposes.
The Heat don’t play today, so they’ll likely re-sign Silva on Friday prior to their game in Atlanta. Based on the reporting from Winderman and Chiang, it sounds like the only way the two sides won’t complete another deal is if Herro tests out of the protocols quickly, making the team ineligible for a hardship addition.
Miami does technically have an open spot on its 15-man roster and could re-sign Silva to a standard 10-day contract, but such a deal would count against the team’s cap and tax. The Heat don’t have much breathing room below the luxury tax line, so they’ve kept their 15th roster spot open for the entire season to date. They’ll likely continue to do so until they can safely promote two-way player Caleb Martin to the 15-man roster without going into tax territory.
Injury Notes: Sabonis, Ingram, Doncic, Williams
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said on Thursday that the team doesn’t have a “definitive” timeline for Domantas Sabonis‘ return from a left ankle sprain, but told reporters the All-Star big man will likely miss “at least a few games” (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN).
As we observed on Thursday, it’s bad luck for the Pacers that two of their top trade candidates – centers Sabonis and Myles Turner – are battling injuries with the February 10 deadline around the corner. However, Sabonis’ injury in particular seems unlikely to be a long-term concern. There’s still a good chance Indiana hangs onto Sabonis, but any trade offers the team gets shouldn’t be negatively impacted by what appears to be a minor ailment.
Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:
- The Pelicans held Brandon Ingram out of the fourth quarter of their Thursday win over New York due to a sprained right ankle, says Andrew Lopez of ESPN. There are currently no plans to have the forward an undergo an MRI, but the team will evaluate the injury further before determining how much time – if any – he’ll have to miss. New Orleans doesn’t play again until Monday, so Ingram’s ankle will have a few days to heal.
- Mavericks star Luka Doncic landed on his back after a drive to the basket during Thursday’s game against Phoenix and admitted after the game that his neck was “pretty sore” following the hard fall, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. However, Doncic expressed optimism that he’d be “OK in a couple days” and won’t miss any time.
- Thunder forward Kenrich Williams is no longer on the team’s injury report, an indication that he has cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols. A regular rotation player for Oklahoma City, Williams could draw trade interest from playoff teams in the next few weeks as a lower-cost three-and-D option.