Kyler’s Latest: Kings, Gasol, Magic, Bucks, Jazz
Steve Kyler's latest piece for HoopsWorld is packed full of updates on players who could be on the move before this season's trade deadline. Kyler covers plenty of ground in his column, so let's dive right in and round up the highlights….
- The Kings' uncertain ownership situation may result in a quiet trade deadline in Sacramento. While the situation could change between now and February 21st, Kyler says that for now the team appears "frozen in terms of making deals."
- Kyler suggests it's possible the Grizzlies will explore ways of getting below the luxury tax line that don't involve trading a big contract like Rudy Gay's.
- The Lakers aren't engaged in any trade talks involving Pau Gasol, and may not seriously explore a Gasol deal unless they fall out of the playoff hunt by the deadline.
- While J.J. Redick is drawing plenty of interest, rival teams have also called the Magic about Arron Afflalo and Jameer Nelson. If Orlando makes a move, the club would like to include Glen Davis or Hedo Turkoglu to shed some long-term salary.
- Pointing to Andrew Bogut as an example of an injured player who was dealt last season, Kyler warns not to rule out Anderson Varejao as a trade candidate.
- The Bucks are much more inclined to move players like Beno Udrih, Drew Gooden, and Samuel Dalembert than Monta Ellis or Brandon Jennings, but those secondary pieces aren't drawing much interest.
- Al Jefferson seems more likely than Paul Millsap to re-sign with the Jazz this summer, though clubs have been in touch with the Jazz about both players.
- The Spurs "will be dealing" DeJuan Blair before the deadline, according to Kyler.
- Derrick Williams appears unlikely to be moved by the Timberwolves while Kevin Love remains sidelined with his broken hand.
- Several teams have been calling the Suns to inquire on Marcin Gortat. The Rockets are one team believed to have interest.
Western Rumors: Mavs, Barea, Gelabale, Kings
The Western Conference appears to be the stronger than the East once again this season, and the Heat's struggles on their Western road trip further drive home that point. Miami lost again tonight, to the Jazz, and face another stiff test Wednesday against the Warriors. We rounded up news from a couple Pacific Division teams earlier tonight, and we'll do the same for the rest of the Western Conference here.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reiterated his willingness to take on salary to make a trade, and said he's constantly trying to come up with ideas for GM Donnie Nelson, observes Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
- Jose Barea said he thinks every day about what might have happened if the Mavs had made an effort to match the deal he signed with the Wolves in 2011. Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com has the details.
- At the bottom of his story on Barea, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune notes the hangup in the Wolves' plan to sign Mickael Gelabale might be whether they can get him a work visa and administer a physical before Lazar Hayward's 10-day contract is up on Thursday.
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com ponders what would happen if the Maloofs decide to wait a while longer before selling or moving the Kings (Sulia link).
- John Reid of The Times-Picayune checks in with Austin Rivers, the 10th pick from last June who's fallen to the fringes of the rotation for the last-place Hornets.
- It's the first year of a hybrid partnership between the Blazers and the D-League Idaho Stampede, and Stampede owner Bill Ilett indicated that there's been some friction, in his comments to KTIK Radio 93.1 FM in Boise. Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge provides a transcription.
Pacific Notes: Cousins, Nash, Clark, Kings
The Clippers and Warriors may be the only two Pacific Division squads in line for a playoff spot, but in terms of dramatics, they're getting upstaged by their closest neighbors. The Kings could be on their way out of town, while the way the Lakers have struggled this season is probably the most surprising development of the season. Here's more on the Pacific's most intriguing off-court teams.
- In his report on a halt to trade talks involving Rudy Gay, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio also notes that the Kings never went further than exploratory discussions with other teams about DeMarcus Cousins, who'll likely remain in Sacramento while the future of the team's ownership is in limbo.
- Steve Nash, who says his team's goal is merely to make the playoffs, pointed to the Lakers' coaching change as a stumbling block this season in his comments on the "Max & Marcellus" show on ESPNLA 710 Radio (Twitter links via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com). "It's been a 180 degree difference from Coach (Mike) Brown's offense to Coach (Mike) D'Antoni's. … Big reason we've struggled," Nash said.
- Earl Clark, a throw-in as part of the Dwight Howard trade, has suddenly become a contributor for the Lakers, and Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News chronicles his journey to NBA relevance.
- With an eye on the Kings' potential move, Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty takes a look back at the NBA relocation committee's rejection of the Wolves' plan to move to New Orleans in 1994.
- Former Kings first-round pick Omri Casspi is among those who don't want to see the team leave Sacramento, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer.
Teams Facing Disabled Player Exception Deadline
Plenty of teams have had to endure injuries to star players this season, as Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bynum, Kevin Love, John Wall, Eric Gordon and others have all missed significant time. Still, for a team to get any monetary relief from the NBA, a player must be out for the entire season. The league grants the disabled player exception to teams who'll be without a member of their roster for the entire season, and Tuesday is the last day for teams to apply for it.
As Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors spelled out when he looked at this exception, it gives the team an amount equal to half the injured player's salary that it can use to sign a replacement to a contract for the rest of that season. Teams can also use that amount, plus $100K, to bring in a replacement via trade, as long as the incoming player is in the final year of his deal.
The exception doesn't automatically show up in a team's ledger when a player goes down. Clubs must submit an application to the league, which considers whether to fulfill requests on a case-by-case basis. Ostensibly, this is to prevent teams from trying to replace players who might come back at some point later in the season. But, if the injured player surprises and makes it back before the end of the year, the team suffers no penalty.
We heard earlier today that the Lakers are exploring the idea of applying for the exception to replace Jordan Hill, who was ruled out for the season on Friday. Over the weekend, the Timberwolves made official news that's been expected since last month, announcing on their website that Malcolm Lee is done for the year. Yet for all the players suffering injuries this season, only a handful of players appear to be definitely out for the season. We'll round them up here, with amount the exception would be worth in parentheses.
- Channing Frye, Suns ($3MM): There's no real need for Phoenix to pursue the exception, since they're already more than $3MM under the salary cap.
- Brandon Rush, Warriors ($2MM): The W's might be hesitant to add salary this season, since they're already a taxpaying team, and they're about $3MM below their hard cap, which the disabled player exception would not excuse them from.
- Malcolm Lee, Timberwolves ($381,098): The amount of this exception would be tiny, so it would be of little use in signings, but it could allow the Wolves a little bit of flexibility in trades.
- Jordan Hill, Lakers ($1,781,800): Luke Adams looked at the Lakers' case earlier today, noting that the Lakers already have more than $1.5MM available as part of their mid-level exception, so it seems unlikely they'd need the DPE.
- Elliot Williams, Trail Blazers ($721,440): The Blazers have already obtained the exception for Williams, though they have yet to use it.
Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.
T-Wolves Planning To Sign Mickael Gelabale?
The Timberwolves appear close to reaching a deal with French forward Mickael Gelabale, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Minnesota doesn't currently have an open roster spot, but the team may add Gelable on a 10-day deal when Lazar Hayward's 10-day contract expires.
We heard yesterday that Gelabale's team in Spain has granted him permission to travel stateside to negotiate an NBA deal. The 29-year-old has an NBA out in his contract that must be exercised by the end of the month — otherwise, he'll head back overseas and finish the season with Valencia.
According to Zgoda, Timberwolves president David Kahn confirmed before yesterday's game that the club maintains its interest in Gelabale, and said the Wolves are "working on some things," though he didn't confirm whether an agreement was in place. As our 10-day contract tracker shows, Hayward's deal is set to expire this Thursday, so Minnesota will have an open roster spot at that point.
Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities has reported multiple times that Gelabale is seeking a 20-day guarantee to come to the NBA, so if he signs a 10-day contract with the T-Wolves, it's possible it will be followed by a second 10-day deal. A 2005 second-round pick, Gelabale hasn't appeared in an NBA game since the 2007/08 season, with the SuperSonics.
Kyler On Dwight, Hornets, Beasley, Gay, Magic
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.com answered some questions from his Twitter followers on Saturday regarding various free agency and trade rumors.
- Just as they plan to make a run at Chris Paul (link below), the Hawks will aggressively pursue Dwight Howard as well, Kyler says.
- Hornets GM Dell Demps tells Kyler he wants to give his roster more time to play together, so New Orleans is unlikely to be active at the deadline.
- The Lakers almost traded for Michael Beasley last year, but Kyler can't see them doing so again (Twitter links).
- Kyler speculates that the Wizards are the most logical destination for Rudy Gay.
- The Magic, who possess a trade exception worth more than $17.8MM from the Dwight Howard deal, aren't likely to use it for a "splashy" move.
- If the Magic deal away J.J. Redick, he'll look to sign with a contender as a free agent this summer.
Earlier updates:
- Kyler tweets that the Hawks intend to make a strong push for Chris Paul this summer. The Bobcats will also attempt to lure him, but Kyler does not think he will leave the Clippers.
- Kyler says that Andrew Bynum will be seeking a max contract on the open market, although there is some doubt that he will get such an offer. He points to the Rockets as one team willing to take a gamble.
- The Magic value J.J. Redick highly, and it would cost several draft picks for them to move him.
- Kyler sees the Grizzlies' recent Rudy Gay trade discussions as an attempt to understand roster value.
- If Derrick Williams continues his strong play, Kyler thinks the Timberwolves may opt to move Kevin Love instead.
- The Celtics may be open to trading Paul Pierce, Kyler writes, if the return makes them more competitive right now.
Wolves Turned Down Trade Offer For Gay?
Earlier this week, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported that if the Grizzlies and Timberwolves had discussed a Rudy Gay trade, talks had been very casual. Now, Wolfson says that the Grizzlies did make Minnesota an offer involving Gay, but that Wolves president David Kahn "said no immediately."
According to Wolfson, the Timberwolves were very interested in Gay when he hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2010, and had planned to meet him face-to-face to discuss an offer sheet. However, Gay agreed to re-sign with Memphis before meeting with Kahn and the T-Wolves. The Wolves maintain interest in the 26-year-old, however, and are worth monitoring as the trade deadline approaches, despite their reluctance to take on the money remaining on his contract.
Wolfson speculates that the Grizzlies' offer to the Wolves included at least one of Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic, and suggests that three- or four-team scenarios may have been briefly discussed as well.
The Suns, Kings, Celtics, Warriors, Raptors, Nuggets, and Cavs are among the other clubs that have linked to Gay and the Grizzlies to varying degrees within the last few days.
Northwest Notes: Williams, Lillard, Thunder
The latest links and updates in the Northwest Division on Thursday:
- Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press praises Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams for taking advantage of the opportunity created by Kevin Love's latest hand injury.
- Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News writes that Oakland native Damian Lillard is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year with the Blazers.
- Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman reports that Eric Maynor has no interest in a D-League assignment despite falling out of the Thunder's rotation as backup point guard.
- Mayberry also has a quote from Nick Collison, who cites his ability to take a lesser role as a major reaso he's been able to stay relevant in the NBA.
Heat Re-Sign Josh Harrellson
Three days after being released by the Heat, Josh Harrellson has rejoined the team, according to Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Richardson reports that Miami has re-signed Harrellson to a 10-day contract.
The Heat opened up two roster spots earlier this week by cutting Harrellson and Terrel Harris before their non-guaranteed contracts became guaranteed for the season. However, the club didn't waste much time in filling those spots. Besides Harrellson, Jarvis Varnado also signed a 10-day contract with Miami yesterday.
The pair of signings means that, for now, there's no room on the Heat roster for Chris Andersen, who worked out for the team this week. However, Miami will have the opportunity to reevaluate their frontcourt options in 10 days, when Varnado's and Harrellson's contracts expire.
Before Harrellson re-signed with Miami, he was in contact with the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (via Twitter).
Kevin Love Breaks Hand, Out 8-10 Weeks
WEDNESDAY, 2:26pm: Love is expected to undergo surgery on his broken hand next week and then miss an additional eight to ten weeks, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
SATURDAY, 4:23pm: According to a tweet from the Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda, Kevin Love has re-fractured the third metacarpal in his right hand. Love will see a hand specialist in New York City this week, and his return to action is pending whether or not the doctor decides surgery is needed, tweets CBSSports.com's Ken Berger.
The injury occurred Thursday night against Denver. It's the same hand he infamously broke before the season while doing knuckle push-ups. Minnesota is currently 15-14 fighting for their first playoff appearance in nine seasons. Already rumored to be an active team before the trade deadline, Love's injury could have a major impact on whether or not they become sellers or buyers.