Rockets Acquire Derek Fisher
The Rockets have acquired Derek Fisher from the Lakers in exchange for Jordan Hill, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Houston also receives the first-round pick in the Lakers acquired from Dallas in December's Lamar Odom trade, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
While the Lakers ended up moving both of their 2012 first-rounders in this trade and today's Ramon Sessions deal, they were able to upgrade their roster and improve their future cap situation. Fisher and Luke Walton were both under contract for multiple years, while Hill and Sessions could both come off the books at season's end.
The Rockets will explore a buyout, but could use the point guard depth for the time being with Kyle Lowry out, tweets Wojnarowski.
Rockets Acquire Marcus Camby
The Rockets have acquired Marcus Camby from the Trail Blazers, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Blazers will receive Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet, and a second-round pick (originally the Timberwolves') in exchange for Camby (Twitter links).
Camby is in the final year of his contract, with a cap figure that exceeds $11MM+. Flynn and Thabeet are also on expiring deals, totaling a little over $8.5MM. So Houston should receive about $2.5MM in summer savings, along with a player who should see more consistent minutes.
According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports (via Twitter), the Rockets had been pursuing Camby for a while. Berger says if Camby was to be traded, Houston was his preferred destination.
Rockets Aggressively Shopping For Draft Picks
While they haven't completed any deals yet, it would be a surprise not to see the Rockets make a move in the next hour. Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reports that GM Daryl Morey is aggressively pursuing trades, with one GM joking, "I can't imagine Daryl's phone bill."
As Kyler suggested earlier today, a good chunk of Houston's roster is available. According to Chris Mannix of SI.com, the Rockets are seeking first-round picks, and still hope to make a significant move by the deadline (Twitter link).
Kyler On Rockets, Gasol, Pacers, Blazers, Smith
In his NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler reported that Dwight Howard is highly unlikely to change his mind again, but that the Magic seem to have a deal they'd do with the Nets if Howard waffles once more. You can follow all of today's Howard updates here, and check out the rest of Kyler's morning notes below:
- The Rockets are discussing more than half their roster in trades, having offered around Terrence Williams, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Patrick Patterson, Luis Scola, Hasheem Thabeet and Courtney Lee. According to Kyler, Houston would trade any combination of those players to acquire Chris Kaman.
- The Bulls want Lee, but aren't likely to meet the Rockets' asking price, which would mean parting with Taj Gibson or Omer Asik. The Pacers and Timberwolves are also eyeing Lee.
- Houston has a standing offer out to the Lakers for Pau Gasol, but it doesn't include Kyle Lowry, so nothing is expected to happen there.
- If the Blazers' three-team deal with the Timberwolves and Lakers involving Jamal Crawford falls through, Portland may have a backup trade in place with the Pacers.
- The Magic won't be able to make a move for Josh Smith, which isn't a surprise. One league source tells Kyler the Hawks want an All-Star frontcourt player in exchange for Smith, so a deal is very unlikely.
Rockets Rumors: Howard, Lowry, Martin, Dragic
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle shares a few pre-deadline updates on the Rockets in his latest column. Let's check out the highlights:
- The Rockets have been aggressive about trying to engage Orlando in Dwight Howard talks, but the Magic aren't very interested in Houston's assets.
- One front office executive believes Houston will end up offering Kyle Lowry for Pau Gasol before Thursday's deadline, though the Rockets continue to insist that won't happen.
- The Rockets still hope to either make it work with Kevin Martin, or pursue a deal down the road when Martin's value is a little higher than it is now.
- Houston "went hard" after Andrew Bogut before the big man was traded to Golden State.
- Terrence Williams likely could be had for a second-round draft pick.
- Feigen considers Goran Dragic the Rocket most likely to be moved in a deal like last year's Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier trades.
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.
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.
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.
Amico On Mbah a Moute, Sessions, Jamison, Ellis
Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio chatted with fans about trade topics this afternoon. Here are a few of the highlights:
- Plenty of teams "love" Luc Mbah a Moute and are calling the Bucks about him.
- The Cavaliers continue to be aggressive in their pursuit of draft picks, and Amico expects them to land a first-rounder, possibly for Ramon Sessions.
- Antawn Jamison isn't drawing a ton of interest, and still appears likely to remain in Cleveland.
- Addressing the rumored three-team deal involving the Cavs, Lakers, and Rockets, Amico says he heard one of the three teams told the other two, "Let me get back to you on that" and talks haven't progressed since then.
- Amico thinks it would make more sense for the Hornets to amnesty Emeka Okafor than to trade him to the Cavs with a first-round pick, as was rumored. I can see the league-owned Hornets preferring to avoid the amnesty clause as long as the ownership situation is in flux though.
- The Lakers, Hornets, Hawks, and perhaps the Bobcats are among the teams with whom the Cavs have had "long discussions."
- The Bucks have "absolutely zero interest" in flipping Monta Ellis to another team.
Broussard On Pierce, Brooks, Curry, McGee, Daye
ESPN.com's Chris Broussard has a ton of trade rumors in today's Insider-only piece. You can read his major update on Dwight Howard here, but let's dive into the rest of his rumors….
- The Celtics offered Paul Pierce to the Blazers, though Broussard isn't sure who else would've been involved in the deal. Portland wasn't interested in Boston's proposal.
- The Clippers are reluctant to trade Eric Bledsoe for Jamal Crawford because they believe Crawford will opt out of his contract at season's end, and Bledsoe will have more value at draft time, since there won't be many point guards available.
- Ramon Sessions is unlikely to be moved unless the Cavaliers can get a first-round pick. Cleveland would try to trade for Jonny Flynn if they moved Sessions, though the Spurs have also expressed interest in Flynn.
- The Cavs are also in talks with the Hornets about swapping Antawn Jamison for Emeka Okafor and a first-round pick.
- Aaron Brooks is drawing interest from the Blazers and Kings, though the Suns hope to re-sign him. When Brooks returns from China, he can only sign with Phoenix. If he doesn't sign anywhere this season, he becomes a restricted free agent again this summer.
- A second-round pick is likely all it would take for the Hornets to move Chris Kaman.
- The Warriors preferred to deal Stephen Curry rather than Monta Ellis, but Curry's ongoing ankle issues hurt his trade value.
- Broussard hears JaVale McGee will be seeking a contract worth $14MM annually this summer. Good luck with that, JaVale.
- Wilson Chandler is seeking a deal starting at $7MM, which the Nuggets feel is too high, since that amount won't be prorated this season — Denver would prefer to start around $5MM.
- The Pistons are shopping Austin Daye "all day every day" but not many teams are biting.
- The Grizzlies would like to move Sam Young to get below the luxury tax line.