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Atlantic Notes: Lee, Celtics, Lopez, Nets

December 21st, 2013 at 12:30pm CST by Zachary Links

Last night in Philadelphia, the Sixers stopped a seven-game losing streak with a 121-120 overtime win over the Nets. “We needed to get that win for the sanity of the group, keeping our group together, holding hope,” coach Brett Brown said after Evan Turner‘s game winner, “and for those reasons as that ball is hanging on a rim and then decides to fall in, for us, given where we are, that is an important win.” Here’s more out of Atlantic..

A rumored deal would had the Celtics sending Courtney Lee and Brandon Bass along with a first-round pick to Houston for Omer Asik, but Lee says the rumors were never serious enough to warrant a call from his agent, writes the Boston Globe’s Julian Benbow. “I haven’t even had a conversation with my agent,” Lee said. “He called me before and said he hasn’t heard anything and neither [general manager] called him, so don’t worry about it, and that’s what I did.”
Brook Lopez fractures the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, according to Roderick Boone of Newsday (on Twitter). Earlier today, we learned that the Stanford product will be out for the year with the injury.
Looking back on things, Jordan Crawford says that the trade sending him to the Celtics “had to happen” but admits that he could have been more professional during his tenure in Washington, writes Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

Omer Asik Leftovers: Rockets, C’s, Sixers, Bucks

December 20th, 2013 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

There’s still technically a little time left for the Rockets to trade Omer Asik and still be able to regain full flexibility to flip any new players in time for February’s trade deadline. However, it appears the team’s talks are all dead for now, which means Asik figures to remain in Houston at least into the new year. After several reports expressed confidence that the Rockets would move their backup center this week, it was a little disappointing to see Houston’s self-imposed deadline come and go without a deal, but we certainly haven’t heard the last of the Asik rumors this season. Here’s a roundup of a few leftovers from this week’s drama:

Rockets coach Kevin McHale didn’t seem at all disappointed to see Asik staying put, and sounds like he’s looking forward to getting the seven-footer back into the lineup, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. As Feigen points out, if Asik is willing to make the best of the situation, his defense and rebounding could help the Rockets more than perhaps any other player who was mentioned in recent rumors.
A Celtics source who spoke to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald was curious about how reports of Boston’s involvement in the Asik sweepstakes gained so much traction this week, considering the two sides had little recent contact and a deal was never particularly close, according to the source.
For the Celtics, adding Asik could’ve helped against established Eastern big men like Roy Hibbert and Brook Lopez, but the fact that talks died should have little fallout for the team, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. As Forsberg notes, Boston’s interest in Asik showed that the club is willing to consider any deal that would improve the roster without significantly compromising the franchise’s long-term flexibility.
While Spencer Hawes was frequently cited this week as the Rockets‘ primary target in talks with the Sixers, Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers (link via Philly.com) suggests Houston had interest in Thaddeus Young as well.
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times reported yesterday that the Bucks will not pursue Asik in a deal. Since Woelfel’s tweet came well after news broke that this week’s talks had ended, that seems to indicate that Milwaukee won’t be in the mix even if and when discussions reopen.

Rockets End Omer Asik Trade Talks

December 19th, 2013 at 12:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets are moving away from trade talks involving Omer Asik and won’t move him today, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (via Twitter). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports echoes that report, tweeting that the Rockets intend to hang on to Asik for now. Wojnarowski also tweets that Houston has informed agent Arn Tellem that trade talks involving his client have ended.

Houston figures to revisit trade discussions, if not this week, then at least before the NBA’s actual trade deadline on February 20th. However, Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that many teams are leery of Asik’s 2014/15 balloon payment of $15MM, while Stein adds (via Twitter) that there’s a growing pessimism within the Rockets that they’ll find a trade partner.

The Rockets’ self-imposed deadline of December 19th for an Asik trade was intended to give the team the flexibility to flip players in a second deal at the trade deadline in February. However, as I explained in a piece today, there are multiple ways to circumvent the rule that restricts over-the-cap teams from trading a player within two months of acquiring him. The Rockets could theoretically complete an Asik swap in January or February and still flip any players acquired in those deals prior to the February 20th deadline, as long as the trades met certain criteria.

Before the Rockets shut down trade negotiations involving Asik, the Celtics and Sixers appeared to be the strongest contenders to land the 27-year-old. Boston was reportedly prepared to offer Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee, and a first-round pick, though the club was reluctant to make that first-rounder a 2014 pick. As for the Sixers, the Rockets were said to be targeting Spencer Hawes and a first-round pick, but there was no indication Philadelphia would have been agreeable to that package. In addition to those two clubs, the Bucks, Hawks, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, and Pelicans were among the other teams linked to Asik within the last week. None of those teams seemed seriously in the mix as of this morning.

Although waiting until the new year to deal Asik could regain some leverage for the Rockets, there’s no guarantee of that. The seven-footer hasn’t been in the lineup recently, so his play on the court certainly hasn’t been improving his stock. Additionally, while his $15MM salary for next season is off-putting, it was somewhat balanced by the fact that he’s only earning about $5.23MM this year, despite cap hits of about $8.37MM in both years. The earlier a team acquires him, the more value that club would receive out of Asik’s reduced 2013/14 salary.

Omer Asik Rumors: Thursday Morning

December 19th, 2013 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

There were so many updates on the Omer Asik front yesterday that we needed three posts to round them all up, and the rumor mill doesn’t figure to slow down today. December 19th represents the Rockets‘ self-imposed deadline to move their disgruntled center, and it sounds as if the team plans to stick to that goal. Here are the latest items related to the Asik sweepstakes:

The Sixers remain “very involved” in talks for Asik, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Because this season’s trade deadline is February 20th, rather than the 19th, the Rockets have been told they could move Asik tomorrow and still re-package any involved players in February swaps. However, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports, Houston is still operating as if today is the deadline, meaning the club figures to take a step back and reconsider its options if nothing is finalized by day’s end (Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

While the Celtics are viewed as the frontrunner to land Asik, GM Danny Ainge said today on Boston sports radio that he’s been exploring deals, but doesn’t believe anything is close (link via Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston).
According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Rockets are believed to have spent much of Wednesday weighing the merits of the Celtics‘ offer (Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee, and a first-round pick), while remaining engaged in talks with the Sixers and leaving the door open for other teams to join the discussion. As we heard yesterday, Houston would like to obtain Spencer Hawes and a first-rounder from Philadelphia, but it’s not clear yet if GM Sam Hinkie is willing to pay that price.
Stein echoes yesterday’s reports in writing that the quality of the draft pick the Rockets can get from the Celtics will go a long way toward determining whether the two sides make a deal. However, most sources who spoke to Stein expressed a belief that Houston will proceed with an Asik trade today, accepting the best offer on the table.

Odds & Ends: Asik, Cavs, Turner, Green

December 18th, 2013 at 10:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

Thursday is the final day the Rockets can swap Omer Asik for players they can flip at the trade deadline in February, and Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle hears GM Daryl Morey intends to pull off a deal before the team departs for Friday’s game at Indiana (Twitter link). The Rockets are unlikely to trade for a player better than they perceive Asik to be, Feigen writes in his latest piece on the talks, but it sounds like a trade will happen nonetheless, as conflicting reports obscure the notion of the Celtics as the front runners to land the Turkish center. Here’s more from around the league:

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert isn’t pleased with the team’s sub-.500 start and has green-lighted GM Chris Grant to make deals, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Cleveland has “varying degrees of interest” in Evan Turner and Jeff Green, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
Reggie Jackson will be up for an extension this summer, and the stumbling block could involve his role with the Thunder instead of financial concerns, as The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater examines. Jackson tells Slater that he wants to start.
Luke Ridnour started all 82 games for the Wolves last year, but he’s fallen from the rotation for the Bucks this season. The 11th-year vet says the lack of playing time has been tough on him, but he isn’t worried about how it may affect his free agency this summer, observes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In an interesting piece for SBNation.com, Tom Ziller makes the case for why a general manager’s confidence in his ability to find value anywhere in a draft will prevent “institutional tanking” from happening in the NBA.
Speaking of tanking, it’ll be tough for the Lakers to make the playoffs, says Jeff Caplan of NBA.com, who believes they’re better off not trying to do so.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Latest On Celtics-Rockets Omer Asik Talks

December 18th, 2013 at 10:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

10:01pm: Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe hears the Celtics and Rockets are “close” to a deal and echoes much of what we heard tonight before Bulpett reported that the talks are no longer active. It appears the teams are sending out conflicting information on the talks, perhaps in an exercise of negotiating tactics, though that’s just my speculation.

9:16pm: The Celtics proposed a deal of Bass, Lee and a protected first-rounder for Asik a week ago, but talks have been closed since then, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. While other reports have indicated the teams are currently negotiating, that’s not the case, Bulpett writes, suggesting that Celtics GM Danny Ainge isn’t budging from his offer and that the Rockets would have to sweeten their end of the deal to revive discussions. Bulpett also hears that when the Rockets brought Asik aboard in 2012, they promised him they wouldn’t sign another center to compete with him for the starting job.

8:11pm: The Celtics prefer to trade the Clippers’ 2015 first-round pick they acquired via the Doc Rivers deal, while the Rockets are seeking a 2014 first-rounder, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

7:09pm: TNT’s David Aldridge suggests the Rockets won’t close on an Asik deal tonight, meaning they’ll have to pull one off Thursday to meet their self-imposed deadline (Twitter link).

6:50pm: The Trail Blazers, believing Asik isn’t worth the risk of disrupting team chemistry, aren’t involved in talks with the Rockets, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The Blazers have “grown to love” Robin Lopez and aren’t interested in any major acquisitions for now, Haynes adds.

6:24pm: Though the Hawks don’t appear too interested in Asik, his nearly $15MM balloon payment next season wouldn’t deter the team from taking him on, Vivlamore writes in a subscription-only piece.

5:58pm: The belief that the Celtics will land Omer Asik is growing stronger as other suitors drop out of the talks, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. It looks like the deal would involve Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee and a draft pick headed to Houston in a trade that includes only the Celtics and Rockets. The two teams are debating over which pick Houston would get, Mannix adds (Twitter links). The Celtics had reportedly been reluctant to surrender their 2014 first-rounder, but it appears they’ve at least relented on the notion of draft compensation.

Lee spoke this afternoon about the possibility of getting traded, saying that he’d prefer to stay put but that he isn’t too concerned with the talk, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com notes (Twitter links). Lee is no stranger to Houston, having played there before the sign-and-trade that took him to Boston last year.

It’s not clear whether the Rockets would send anyone other than Asik to Boston, but Donatas Motiejunas is “desperate” for playing time, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, who points out that Motiejunas and Asik share an agent. Still, Motiejunas would prefer that he got added playing time in Houston rather than with another team, Feigen adds.

The Hawks, also reportedly an Asik suitor, were only in talks with the Rockets out of due diligence, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

Atlantic Rumors: Celtics, Knicks, Young

December 18th, 2013 at 9:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

The allure of running a front office and coaching a team at the same time made the Clippers more attractive to Doc Rivers, but Brad Stevens is glad he isn’t overseeing personnel decisions the way his Celtics predecessor is, as Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald notes. Stevens is content to let GM Danny Ainge handle the team’s pursuit of Omer Asik and its situation with Rajon Rondo. It’s a busy time in Boston and around the Atlantic Division, as we detail:

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith hears Knicks management has “had it” with the team’s assistant coaches, and while he suggests assistant Herb Williams might be the replacement if the team fires Mike Woodson, Smith argues that Woodson should keep his job. Assistant GM Allan Houston is strongly denying reports that he’s next in line to coach, Smith adds.
Thaddeus Young, who’s been in trade rumors all season, is growing weary of dealing with the inexperience of his Sixers teammates, observes Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times. “Some of the young guys on the team just don’t know,” Young said. “When you’re dealing with them, the frustration level does get it up there because you’re not used to it. I’m used to guys who are four- and five-year veterans in this league and that can play. And then you have one- and two-year guys that come in fresh and they’re trying to make a name for themselves.”
Amir Johnson tells Doug Smith of the Toronto Star that he wants to play with the Raptors for the rest of his career, and Smith suggests keeping Johnson might not be the worst idea for the team amid trade rumors involving the power forward.

Celtics Not Interested In Rajon Rondo Trade

December 18th, 2013 at 8:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics are making no movements toward a Rajon Rondo trade even as they look to acquire Omer Asik, and if the C’s deal Rondo, it’s not likely to happen until around draft time in June, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Rondo hasn’t requested a trade, nor has he suggested that he’d be open to one, Deveney adds.

Boston is waiting to see how Rondo performs when he returns from his torn ACL, and a source tells Deveney that it would take an “exceptional” offer to get the Celtics to budge from their position. Coach Brad Stevens has been making an effort to develop a relationship with Rondo and wants to have him on the team for a long time to come, Deveney writes.

Rondo has been in trade rumors ever since the deal that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets, but the point guard would like to take over as the on-court leader of the Celtics now that Pierce and Garnett are gone, Deveney writes. Rondo wants to demonstrate his value as a franchise player before his contract is up after next season.

Celtics Moving Closer To Deal For Omer Asik

December 18th, 2013 at 5:32pm CST by Luke Adams

We’ve already passed along a series of Omer Asik rumors today, but this morning’s round-up was so extensive that we’re separating the rest of the day’s Asik rumblings in a new post so they don’t get lost in the shuffle. You can follow the latest rumors right here, with any new updates added to the top of the page throughout the day:

There’s no third team involved in the latest proposal involving Houston and the Celtics, Wojnarowski tweets. That means the Cavs are done with the talks, at least for today, Amico notes via Twitter. Cleveland feels like it’s moving in the right direction and is disinclined to shake up its roster, according to Amico (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

The Celtics are moving closer to landing Asik, but are reluctant to part with a 2014 first-rounder, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports provides a similar update, tweeting that the C’s and Rockets are still haggling over which first-rounder would change hands.
The Sixers remain in play to be a facilitator in a three-way Asik deal with the Rockets and Celtics, says Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. According to Berger, the Hawks also aren’t entirely out of the picture, but GM Danny Ferry is wary of the Rockets’ attempts to overvalue Asik and create a “false market.” Berger adds that the Cavs and Rockets haven’t engaged in serious talks since Houston asked for Anderson Varejao and Cleveland isn’t interested in giving him up in an Asik deal.
A league source tells Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe that there’s “nothing going on” right now when it comes to the Celtics landing Asik (Twitter link).
If the Rockets do end up working out a deal with the Celtics that involves Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee, Houston shouldn’t expect to flip either of those players before the deadline, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link), who hears from one exec that “no one wants them.”
The Cavs and Hawks have fallen back significantly in discussions for Asik, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’s not clear if this means Cleveland is simply unlikely to land Asik, or also unlikely to be involved at all in a three-team deal.
Two sources briefed on Asik negotiations tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) that a deal is unlikely to be consummated until tomorrow.
Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link) hears that the Blazers are “not even remotely involved” in talks for Asik, while Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld tweets that the Bucks aren’t interested in acquiring the center.
The Celtics are “gaining traction” in discussions to acquire Asik, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the “serious talks” between the two sides have included Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee, and a first-round pick, though it’s not clear if Lee would go to the Rockets or a third team in that scenario (Twitter links). For what it’s worth, both Bass and Lee played with Howard in Orlando.
Meanwhile, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (Twitter link) hears that the Celtics are open to trade discussions, particularly on Asik, but are “sitting tight” and not pursuing anything.
A league source tells Andrew Perna of RealGM.com that the “wild card” team cited last night by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is the Trail Blazers. It’s not 100% clear if Portland was the specific club referred to by Wojnarowski, but the club would make a logical suitor for Asik. We’ll have to wait and see if Daryl Morey is willing to send the big man to a Western Conference contender, however.
The Rockets, Cavaliers, and Celtics have had discussions about a three-way trade involving Asik, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. A possible three-way scenario that included the Sixers rather than the Cavs was mentioned in this morning’s installment of Asik rumors.
The Hawks are “barely involved” in Asik talks, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), though he cautions that that could always change.

Celtics Rumors: Asik, Rondo, Luxury Tax

December 18th, 2013 at 9:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics are viewed as one of the most likely suitors for Omer Asik, but even if they don’t land the Rockets center, the C’s figure to be active before this season’s trade deadline. The latest piece from Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald focuses on the team’s involvement in trade talks and rumors, so let’s round up the highlights from his piece….

Here’s what one rival GM had to say about the Celtics: “It looks like Danny [Ainge] doesn’t want anything to happen in the league until he gets a chance to see if he can find something in it for Boston. I think he’s got his fingers in a lot of pies.”
According to Ainge, while the Celtics would like to get involved in any deal that helps the franchise, there’s not a lot going on yet. “It’s December,” the GM notes.
Bulpett writes that the C’s have discussed Asik, but suggests that it’s unlikely they complete a deal directly with the Rockets, since Houston doesn’t seem to be interested in what Boston is offering. A three-team trade is a possibility.
While Ainge is willing to discuss Rajon Rondo, the point guard’s name hasn’t come up in discussions in any meaningful way, considering what the club would want in return. “Yeah, Danny will talk about Rondo if you bring his name up,” said one team executive. “You listen to everything, but when you find out the kinds of things they’d want in return for someone like Rondo, you wonder whether there’s really anything that could get something like that done.”
According to Bulpett, the Celtics are “very much interested” in a deal that would reduce team salary, giving the club more breathing room below the luxury tax threshold.