Amico’s Latest: Lowry, Dragic, Cavs
Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio leads his latest piece with news about the Bucks making Larry Sanders available in trades, but he passes along plenty more pre-Christmas rumors. Let’s dive in:
- Amico identifies the Magic and Pelicans as potential Kyle Lowry suitors and hears from one league executive who says he’d be shocked if the Raptors don’t deal the point guard by the deadline.
- A report yesterday suggested Goran Dragic is the Suns player most likely to be dealt, but Amico hears that while the Suns would listen to offers, they aren’t looking to trade him.
- The Cavs have been aggressive in their search for “an impact player” on the trade market recently, but they’re not willing to give up Dion Waiters or Tristan Thompson to do so, according to Amico. The team might become more willing to include those players in trades at a later point, Amico speculates.
- Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro is still talking to other teams about moves that would improve his club, Amico writes, which jibes with earlier reports that suggest Sacramento remains in trade mode.
- Draft prospect P.J. Hairston could soon wind up in the D-League. The University of North Carolina recently dismissed the swingman, but many around the league think he might head to the D-League to help his draft stock. He’s currently No. 32 on the DraftExpress Top 100 Prospects list.
Ford On Randolph, Raptors, Cavs, Suns, Draft
Recent reports have downplayed the Grizzlies‘ and Raptors‘ interest in moving Zach Randolph and DeMar DeRozan, but in his latest chat, ESPN.com’s Chad Ford suggests both teams would still be open to moving their respective highest-paid players in the right deal. Here’s more from ESPN’s draft guru:
- Jonas Valanciunas and perhaps Amir Johnson are the only players the Raptors “really want to keep,” according to Ford.
- The Cavaliers are working the phones in an effort to add impact players, and are still very much trying to make the playoffs this season, says Ford.
- Ford believes that anyone on the Suns except for Eric Bledsoe could be had, suggesting that Goran Dragic, who is drawing interest from the Kings, is “the most likely to go.” I’d assume the Suns would require a pretty nice package to seriously consider moving Dragic, given how well he and Bledsoe have played together so far.
- In a 2013 re-draft, Ford would have Giannis Antetokounmpo at No. 1, followed by Victor Oladipo and Michael Carter-Williams.
- There’s no clear consensus on who will be picked first overall in 2014. According to Ford, conservative GMs will lean toward Julius Randle or Jabari Parker, while risk-taking teams will likely opt for Andrew Wiggins, Dante Exum, or Joel Embiid.
Draft Notes: Hawks, Bennett, Craft, Ross
Is your favorite team looking to deal future draft choices to make things brighter today? Not so fast. There are rules and regulations to follow. You can get yourself all caught up on the rules for dealing future picks thanks to Luke Adams’ handy guide, published last week. Here’s today’s draft links..
- It may be bad times in Brooklyn but the Nets’ troubles are giving the Hawks reason to smile, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- Everyone feared that the 2013 Draft would be historically bad and the early returns support that, writes Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer. “It’s very early,” ESPN.com analyst Chad Ford said of No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, “but right now, he’s looking like the worst in the past 20 years. That includes Greg Oden. Oden was injured all the time, but when he played, he at least looked like a No. 1 pick.“
- Dan Kelly of SNY.tv asks if Ohio State’s Aaron Craft and LaQuinton Ross have NBA futures. Craft figures to be the best perimeter defender in this year’s class and is currently slated to go in the second round. Ross, who stands at 6’7″ and boasts a 7’1″ wingspan, has a good build for the two-guard position and can shoot well, but his effort isn’t consistent from game to game. He’s also projected to go in the second round.
Central Notes: Pacers, Varejao, Deng
The Pacers aren’t looking for Danny Granger trades, but they wouldn’t be averse to such a move if they came across the right deal, as we passed along yesterday. Team president Larry Bird can envision re-signing both Granger and Lance Stephenson in free agency this summer, as Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star noted in his piece, but that could be a tight squeeze unless owner Herb Simon relents on his no-tax pledge, a change of heart Bird seems to hope for. Here’s more on the teams looking up at the first-place Pacers in the Central Division standings:
- The Cavs would have had to relinquish either Anderson Varejao or a first-round pick to acquire Jeff Green if they had acted as a facilitator in a rumored three-way trade, and that’s a price they were unwilling to pay, as Bob Finnan of The News-Herald notes in his weekly column. Finnan also suggests that Asik’s agent, Arn Tellem, wouldn’t have been on board with any trade that sent Omer Asik to Cleveland, where he would back up Andrew Bynum.
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com is convinced the Bulls will trade Luol Deng before the deadline if the right offer comes along, in spite of a report that the team is determined not to deal him. Still, Friedell admits Deng’s $14.275MM salary makes him tough to fit into a swap.
- The Bulls are giving recent signee D.J. Augustin heavy minutes, and that indicates that the team will keep him around as the backup point guard this season, Friedell writes in a separate piece.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer checks in with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s emerging as a contributor for the Bucks just months after Milwaukee used the 15th overall pick on the then-18-year-old small forward.
- Schmitt Boyer talks trades and other Cavs-related topics in her latest mailbag column.
Lakers Notes: Kobe, Gasol, Meeks
Kobe Bryant‘s knee injury doesn’t affect the Lakers’ short- or long-term picture, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who writes that the team wasn’t going to make the playoffs this season either way and was already locked into Kobe’s two-year extension. In his latest Lakers-centric piece, Lowe writes that he’s talked to “dozens” of GMs, execs, coaches, and scouts around the league about Kobe’s new deal, and while some acknowledge that it makes business sense, none have been willing to call it a good contract. Here’s more on the Lakers:
- While it makes sense for the Lakers to gauge Pau Gasol‘s market value, Lowe notes that there are plenty of roadblocks to finding a logical trade partner, including Pau’s $19MM+ salary and L.A.’s desire not to take on long-term money. Lowe mentions the Cavaliers, Bobcats, Suns as potential players for Gasol, though it sounds like he’s speculating about the possible fit rather than reporting any actual discussions. Ultimately, the Lakers may be better off holding on to Pau and re-signing him to a two-year contract, says Lowe.
- As he faces another six weeks of recovery time, Bryant tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that “only an idiot” would doubt his ability to return from his latest injury.
- Jodie Meeks will draw interest in free agency next summer and figures to earn a raise on this year’s $1.55MM salary if he continues to play well. However, if it’s up to him, the 26-year-old guard would “love to be a Laker for a long time,” as he says to Lang Greene of HoopsWorld.
- Faced with a scarcity of options at the point, the Lakers reached an agreement with 2012 lottery pick Kendall Marshall and made the signing official today.
Eastern Notes: Lowry, Bobcats, Cavs, Woodson
The Bulls are the only team from the East that will see any action on the hardwood tonight, but that doesn’t mean other clubs from around the conference aren’t making some noise off of the court. Let’s take a look at a few notes from around the Eastern Conference..
- The Raptors aren’t urgently trying to move Kyle Lowry, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reports (via Twitter). This report comes as a bit of a surprise since we heard yesterday that the club was working hard to move the veteran guard. It seems likely that Lowry will be moved before the trade deadline, but how soon remains unclear.
- Nate Duncan of HoopsWorld examines the rosters of the Bobcats and Cavaliers and reveals who he thinks could be franchise players for each club.
- The Knicks have won five out of their last ten games, but Marc Stein of ESPNNewYork.com reports that Mike Woodson is still on the hot seat and being evaluated on a “game-by-game basis” by upper management. Stein notes that if the Knicks had lost to the Bucks last night, it might have marked the end of Woodson’s tenure in New York.
- Chauncey Billups has no desire to coach after his playing days, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald notes in his latest piece. He wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a front office gig, however.
- The Bucks will not attempt to deal for Omer Asik, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. It’s not completely clear, but Woelfel might be talking about a trade in the long term since we’ve heard that Asik will remain in a Rockets uniform for the time being.
- Danny Granger is returning to the Pacers’ lineup, but it’s a much different squad than the one he left, notes Candace Buckner of USA Today Sports. Buckner still sees Granger as a valuable asset to the team but suggests he will have a different role than the one he had before his injury.
Odds & Ends: Asik, Cavs, Turner, Green
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
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).
Celtics Moving Closer To Deal For Omer Asik
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.
Eastern Notes: Bulls, Waiters, Nene, Pistons
After losing in Indiana last Tuesday, the Heat will get another shot at the Pacers tonight, this time in Miami. As we look forward to the evening’s showdown between the only two Eastern teams that look like title contenders, let’s round up a few notes from around the conference….
- The Bulls are considering their options with Marquis Teague and D.J. Augustin, and could ultimately end up trading the former or waiving the latter. If that happens, the team may re-sign the recently waived Mike James, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
- Dion Waiters moved quickly to shoot down yesterday’s report that he wanted to be traded from the Cavs to the 76ers, and Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer hears from a source that the Sixers are unlikely to land Waiters anyway.
- Addressing the trade rumors surrounding Waiters and Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown suggested those reports were laughable, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- While he has said in the past that he may retire before the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, Wizards big man Nene acknowledged in a Q&A with Grantland’s Zach Lowe that he’d be open to playing beyond that date, health permitting.
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com fields Pistons-related questions from readers in his latest mailbag, including inquiries on the futures of Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey in Detroit.