Harden Reportedly Wants Trade To Sixers But Hasn’t Made Formal Request
Nets star James Harden would like to be traded to the Sixers, but hasn’t formally asked the Nets to move him, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
As Wojnarowski explains, Harden’s reluctance to make a trade request stems from a fear of the public backlash he would face for trying to force his way to a new team for a second consecutive season.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer previously reported that Harden wanted to be traded to the 76ers.
According to Wojnarowski, Harden is hopeful that the Sixers and Nets will be able to work out a deal prior to today’s deadline that sends him to Philadelphia, with Ben Simmons and other assets headed to Brooklyn. However, sources tell Woj that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and Nets general manager Sean Marks have yet to engage in serious dialogue on a deal.
There’s an expectation that the Nets and 76ers will talk on Thursday, so there’s still a possibility that the two sides could come to an agreement, Wojnarowski reports. However, Brooklyn would likely want a collection of assets beyond Simmons — Seth Curry, Matisse Thybulle, and future first-round picks have been repeatedly cited as pieces that would appeal to the Nets.
Both sides will have a handful of factors to take into account as they weigh whether or not to make a deal today. If Harden truly wants to go to the Sixers, Philadelphia could afford to be patient and try to land him as a free agent in the offseason when they wouldn’t necessarily require the Nets’ cooperation. Clearing the cap room required to sign Harden outright would be tricky, but not impossible, so Brooklyn may feel some urgency to get something in return for the All-Star guard today rather than risk facing that scenario this summer.
On the other hand, if and when the Nets get healthy, their roster as currently constructed has more championship upside than the Sixers’ roster does. Philadelphia may feel some pressure to get something done today in order to get Joel Embiid help to contend for a title this year, rather than face the possibility of having an asset like Simmons remain on the shelf for the rest of the season.
According to Wojnarowski, the Sixers have “largely retreated” on other trade discussions involving Simmons until they determine one way or another whether they can move him for Harden.
If the discussions between the Nets and Sixers hit a dead end today, it’s still possible Philadelphia will hang onto Simmons until the summer. More trade options, including a renewed opportunity to land Harden, could be available to the team at that point.
Harden, who hasn’t played since last Wednesday due to a minor hamstring issue, didn’t accompany the Nets to Washington for Thursday’s game vs. the Wizards, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Wojnarowski mentions in his story that Harden’s ongoing absence has led to speculation that he’s “purposely shutting down to send a message on his waning desire to remain with the Nets.”
Lakers, Knicks, Raptors Have Discussed Possible Three-Team Trade
7:08am: In a full story on the talks involving the Lakers, Knicks, and Raptors, Scotto says Toronto has discussed sending a first-round pick to New York, while Los Angeles has talked about sending a second-round pick. The Knicks have sought additional draft compensation, according to Scotto.
The new details from Scotto are a little surprising. Based on the underwhelming seasons Noel and Horton-Tucker have had, and the guaranteed money left on their contracts beyond 2021/22, including a first-round pick seems like a steep price for the Raptors. I’d also be pretty shocked if the Lakers could make this move without giving up more draft assets beyond a single second-rounder.
6:40am: The Lakers, Knicks, and Raptors have engaged in talks about a possible three-team trade, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
According to Scotto, the framework the teams have discussed would see the Lakers get Cam Reddish and Alec Burks, the Knicks acquire Goran Dragic and draft capital, and the Raptors receive Talen Horton-Tucker and Nerlens Noel. It’s also possible Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn could find his way into the hypothetical deal, Scotto adds.
It’s an intriguing concept. The struggling Lakers would get a couple players capable of immediately stepping into the rotation and playing alongside their stars; the slumping Knicks would move off a series of players on multiyear deals in exchange for an expiring contract and more draft assets; and the Raptors would turn Dragic’s expiring contract into a veteran center in Noel and a young prospect in Horton-Tucker, who hasn’t played well this season but is still just 21 years old and has some upside.
While Scotto doesn’t specify one way or the other, the draft picks going to New York in the proposed deal would presumably come from the Lakers, based on the players changing hands. Based on a combination of their contracts and recent production, Reddish and Burks have the most trade value of any of the players included in this trade scenario. Los Angeles has the ability to offer either a 2027 or 2028 first-round pick, as well as second-rounders.
It’s worth noting that the NBA’s trade rules wouldn’t prevent the Knicks from being able to flip Reddish in a deal like this one even after acquiring him less than a month ago, since the structure of this trade wouldn’t require him to be aggregated with any other players for salary-matching purposes — New York could use Noel and Burks to match Dragic’s incoming salary.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) has also heard that the Lakers and Raptors have talked about Horton-Tucker and says Toronto has been “quite active” in trade discussions. However, Fischer notes that the Raptors have explored many Dragic-related scenarios and downplays the idea that any talks with Los Angeles have gotten too serious yet.
Jazz Acquire Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Juan Hernangomez In Three-Team Trade
7:54pm: The three-team trade is now official, the Jazz, Blazers and Spurs announced.
2:24pm: The Jazz are sending Memphis’ 2022 second-round pick to Portland in the trade and will send a 2027 second-rounder to San Antonio, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Utah has already traded away its own 2027 second-rounder, so the pick going to San Antonio will likely be the least favorable of Oklahoma City’s, Houston’s, Indiana’s, and Miami’s ’27 second-rounders. The Jazz previously acquired that pick from the Thunder in the 2021 offseason.
1:13pm: The Jazz, Spurs, and Trail Blazers have reached an agreement on a three-team trade, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Wojnarowski, Utah will acquire Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Portland and Juan Hernangomez from San Antonio. The Spurs will receive Tomas Satoransky and a second-round pick, while the Blazers will get Joe Ingles, Elijah Hughes, and a second-round pick. Both second-rounders will be coming from the Jazz, Woj adds (via Twitter).
Even before Ingles went down with a season-ending ACL tear, the Jazz had been exploring the market to see if they could find an upgrade on the wing using his expiring contract and a draft pick. Following the injury, Ingles’ value dipped, and Utah apparently decided none of the options available for the forward’s expiring deal and a first-round pick were worth moving forward on.
Instead, the Jazz will make a move that sees them sacrifice a pair of future second-round selections – rather than a first-rounder – for two healthy players, while reducing their projected tax bill in the process. Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) estimates $11MM in tax savings. Utah should also create a new trade exception worth nearly $10MM by taking Hernangomez into an existing TPE.
Alexander-Walker, a third-year guard, had a promising sophomore season in 2020/21, but has struggled to score efficiently this season, averaging 12.8 PPG on .375/.311/.722 shooting in 50 games (26.3 MPG). He has spent most of the season in New Orleans, having been sent to Portland on Monday in the CJ McCollum trade. The 23-year-old has a $3.3MM salary this season and will make $5MM next season before becoming eligible for restricted free agency.
Hernangomez has had some success in the past as a stretch four, but has played poorly in limited minutes this season, putting up 1.1 PPG and 1.7 RPG on 21.2% shooting in 23 games (6.4 MPG). He was traded from Boston to San Antonio in last month’s three-team Bryn Forbes deal. Hernangomez is essentially on an expiring contract, since his $7.4MM salary for next season is non-guaranteed.
From San Antonio’s perspective, the deal is about picking up an extra draft asset. Neither Hernangomez nor Satoransky is in the team’s long-term plans, so the Spurs were rewarded for their willingness to add to this season’s payroll by taking on a slightly bigger contract (Satoransky has a $10MM expiring salary).
The Blazers, meanwhile, continue to wheel and deal, agreeing to their third trade in the last week. It appears they weren’t particularly high on Alexander-Walker, choosing to flip him right away in a deal that clears another $5MM off their books for 2022/23 and nets them another second-round pick.
Both Ingles and Hughes will be free agents this offseason. Ingles spoke last week about remaining in Utah to rehab his knee injury even if he were traded and said he’d be interested in eventually re-signing with the Jazz (Twitter links via Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune).
[RELATED: Joe Ingles Has “No Doubt” He’ll Come Back From ACL Tear]
Despite the fact that Satoransky, Alexander-Walker, and Hernangomez were recently traded, the NBA’s rules don’t prevent them from being moved again right away, since they’re not being aggregated with a second player for salary-matching purposes in this deal.
From Portland’s perspective, Satoransky’s salary is being used to match Ingles’ $13MM cap charge, with Alexander-Walker’s salary not required for matching purposes (the Blazers will create a trade exception worth his $3.3MM cap hit), since Hughes can be acquired using a minimum salary exception. San Antonio is trading Hernangomez on his own for Satoransky.
Clippers’ Jay Scrubb Out For Season
Clippers guard Jay Scrubb will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair the plantar plate in his right foot, the team’s PR department announced (Twitter link). Scrubb suffered a turf toe injury necessitating the procedure, which occurred Wednesday in New York.
Scrubb, 21, was the 55th overall pick of the 2020 draft by the Nets. He was dealt to the Clippers the next day as part of a three-team trade that also brought Luke Kennard to Los Angeles.
Scrubb appeared in four games last season as a rookie and played in 18 contests this season, averaging a modest 6.7 MPG and 2.7 PPG.
Scrubb is on a two-way contract with the Clips. In four G League games with Agua Caliente this season, the team’s afilliate, Scrubb averaged an impressive 24.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, and 1.5 SPG on .450/.438/.667 shooting (27.5 MPG).
As a young two-way player on a deep team, Scrubb’s absence won’t have much of an impact on the Clippers’ rotation, but hopefully he will recover quickly.
Frustration Mounting Between Lakers, Russell Westbrook
As we discussed earlier today, the Lakers are feeling urgency to make moves to get their season back on track. One major factor in that urgency has been the poor fit of Russell Westbrook, and there’s a growing sense of frustration between the player and team, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
Westbrook has been abysmal through four games in February, averaging 10.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 3.5 turnovers on .275/.154/.550 shooting in 31.1 minutes per contest. As Buha details, Westbrook was benched not just for the last few minutes, but for the final 14:34 of the 131-116 loss to Milwaukee Tuesday, showing L.A.’s decaying confidence in the guard.
Head coach Frank Vogel couldn’t pinpoint why Westbrook has struggled so much of late, but said the trio of Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis hasn’t meshed well in the limited games they’ve played together.
“It’s tough to say,” Vogel said. “He wasn’t that bad. The group that was making a run, we just left them in there in the fourth, aside from bringing Bron back. Had a tough night the other night, and a tough night shooting the ball tonight, but I thought he was competing. And the lineups have changed. He’s playing without AD one time on the road, and without AD and Bron, and without Bron, he’s got the ball a lot more, and it’s easier to get in a rhythm. And that’s how he’s played.
“But all those three guys are out there at the same time, it’s different. There’s less touches, and everybody’s out there sharing. So maybe tougher to get into a rhythm, but that’s one of the things we’re working through.”
For his part, Westbrook believes the team’s inconsistency is due to Vogel’s constantly fluctuating lineups, per Buha.
“It’s difficult,” Westbrook said. “You never know when you’re coming in. You never know when you’re coming out. You never know when you’re playing. You never know a bunch of things. And I’m speaking for me personally. It’s a difficult process to be able to figure out and (create) a rhythm, (create) some consistency where we can actually see what we’re able to do as a team. But those decisions are made by him (Vogel) and this coaching staff, and you’ve gotta live with it and move on.”
Westbrook tried to offer to support to Davis and James in the closing seconds of the dispiriting loss, a gesture that didn’t appear to go over very well, although that could have been poor timing rather than ill-will. Still, it was a telling moment of potential dissatisfaction with how the gamble to acquire Westbrook has played out, Buha opines.
The Lakers are unlikely to find any takers for Westbrook at the trade deadline, which could increase the tension and awkwardness between the two sides, according to Buha.
At 26-29, the Lakers are currently the No. 9 seed in the West.
Latest On James Harden, Ben Simmons
It remains difficult to get a read on the odds that the Sixers and Nets will complete a James Harden/Ben Simmons blockbuster before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline.
As we detailed earlier today, a pair of ESPN reporters painted vastly different pictures of the likelihood of a deal getting done, with Brian Windhorst suggesting he believes a trade is more likely than not, while Adrian Wojnarowski expressed serious skepticism.
Since then, a series of new reports have surfaced, so let’s dive in and round up all the latest rumors on the Harden/Simmons front…
- Sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that Harden wants to be traded to the Sixers, which echoes a claim Windhorst made during an ESPN appearance earlier in the day. Referring to the possibility of Harden being sent to Philadelphia, Windhorst said, “I can’t tell you how much James Harden wants this.”
- Matisse Thybulle‘s name has come up in trade discussions between the Nets and Sixers, according to Pompey. One source tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that Seth Curry and a first-round pick have been mentioned along with Thybulle as part of a possible package for Harden, though Pompey says a person close to the Sixers disputed that.
- According to Jordan Schultz (Twitter link), the Nets have pushed for both Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey, but a league source tells Pompey the 76ers are reluctant to part with either player. Previous reports have stated that Maxey is essentially off the table this week from Philadelphia’s perspective.
- Ian Begley of SNY.tv says the Sixers have been considering a package for Harden that includes Thybulle and “sizable draft compensation” in addition to Simmons.
- One of Pompey’s sources said that, as of Wednesday afternoon, a deal “isn’t as close to being finalized as people think.”
- Pompey suggests the Sixers seem to have a Harden-or-bust mindset heading into Thursday’s deadline, which means that if Simmons doesn’t get moved in a Harden deal, he’s probably staying in Philadelphia through the deadline.
Sixers, Nets Engaged In Trade Talks On Tuesday
The Sixers and Nets engaged in trade discussions on Tuesday, multiple sources tell Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who says the two sides “bickered” over pieces to add to a hypothetical deal involving James Harden and Ben Simmons.
Despite the discussions, there doesn’t appear to be any traction on a Harden/Simmons blockbuster, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. Mannix says the Nets still remain publicly and privately steadfast against the idea of moving Harden during the season, believing that – despite the current nine-game losing streak – the team will be fine once it gets healthy.
Although the Nets have certainly publicly expressed their desire to retain Harden, Pompey isn’t convinced that the team’s private stance is as unwavering, citing one source who says Brooklyn’s decision-makers are split behind closed doors. Some people within the organization would be open to moving Harden now, believing he’s hurting team chemistry, according to Pompey.
Still, even if the Nets were open to the idea of trading Harden today or tomorrow, it seems unlikely that the two teams would be able to agree on a package. As others have reported and as Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com reiterates, the Sixers have made it clear that Tyrese Maxey is unavailable this week and they’ve resisted the idea of offering Matisse Thybulle along with Simmons.
While it’s possible Philadelphia would be willing to add Seth Curry to its trade offer, even that’s a dubious proposition, a team source tells Neubeck. And even with Curry included, Mannix says it’s not clear whether that would move the needle enough for Brooklyn to make a deal.
Here’s more on the Sixers, Nets, and the Harden/Simmons situation:
- The Sixers have had conversations with the Thunder about Tobias Harris, according to Pompey. However, one of Pompey’s sources downplayed those talks, suggesting they may have been instigated by Oklahoma City and adding that Harris has nothing to worry about. Even if Philadelphia is interested in moving Harris in a salary-dump deal, it’s unlikely to happen this week unless it’s part of a series of moves, since the forward is a key part of the current lineup.
- As Neubeck writes, the Sixers clearly seem to be trying to signal to Brooklyn that they believe they’ll be able to clear the necessary cap space to sign Harden in the offseason without having to worry about a sign-and-trade. Sources tell Neubeck that Philadelphia has lined up a couple potential trade partners willing to take on Harris’ contract using cap space, presumably in the summer.
- In that scenario, the idea for the 76ers would be to move Harris to one team this offseason and Simmons to another, taking back little – if any – salary in return, in order to clear cap room to sign Harden. While this is one path the Sixers could take, the fact that they’re putting it out there could just be a negotiating ploy to encourage the Nets to seriously consider moving Harden by Thursday’s deadline.
- For his part, Harris is looking forward to getting through the trade deadline and being able to focus on basketball for the rest of the season, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN relays. “That will be good for us. Because you’re just hearing everybody’s name. I’ll just be honest, it’s one of those things … trade rumors always come around, even for guys around the NBA, but in this situation, yeah, I was reading an article and there were five guys on the top 10 list to be moved, whatever,” Harris said. “So, obviously don’t get twisted: that has an impact on guys’ mental, psyche, focus, all the way down the line. So we’ll see what happens.”
- Asked again on Tuesday about the possibility of Simmons returning to the team if he’s not dealt before the deadline, Sixers center Joel Embiid again said that he’d be fine with that, per Bontemps. “Like I’ve been saying since the season started, I’m happy,” Embiid said. “Whoever wants to play is welcome. If someone wants to play, they’re welcome. But we’ve got guys here that want to be here, that show up every single night. … And if you want to be part of us, I am sure everybody is gonna be fine with it, but you got to show up. You got to want to be there. And I’m sure everybody is going to accept whoever that is.”
Lakers Feeling Urgency To Make Deadline Move
The Lakers are feeling urgency to make a move prior to the trade deadline to try to get their season back on track, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
According to McMenamin, the team’s latest loss – to the defending champion Bucks – on Tuesday, led to the “uneasy admission” in the locker room that the current roster just isn’t working. Sources tell ESPN that standing pat at the deadline and hoping for the best isn’t viewed as a viable option by Lakers players.
After the game, star forward LeBron James acknowledged that there’s a significant gap between the Lakers and a serious title contender like Milwaukee.
“It tells me we ain’t on their level,” James said, per McMenamin. “I mean, I could have told you that before the game. … Obviously you always kind of use games to see where you are at that moment. But we know where we are at this moment: sitting at a couple, few games under .500. Haven’t played the basketball that we’d like to play.”
As Bill Oram of The Athletic writes, James offered a clear answer when asked if he thought the current roster was capable of reaching the Bucks’ level: “Do I think we can reach the level where Milwaukee is right now? Um, no. Is that what you wanted to hear? No.”
While the Lakers may feel more compelled than ever to shake up their roster at the deadline, their ability to do so will be limited due to their lack of valuable trade chips.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- For the third time this season, Russell Westbrook was benched during crunch-time minutes on Tuesday. Asked after the game about what he had to do to earn a consistent spot in L.A.’s closing lineups, Westbrook rejected the premise of the question, per McMenamin. “I shouldn’t have to hit any benchmark, to be honest,” Westbrook said. “I’ve put a lot of work and I’ve got a lot of respect in this game. I don’t got to hit a benchmark, or I shouldn’t have to. I’ve earned a right to be in closing lineups.”
- One Lakers staffer who had reservations about the Westbrook trade when the team made the deal in the offseason told Oram, “I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
- Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said on Tuesday that the team remains hopeful Kendrick Nunn will be able to play this season, but acknowledged that the point guard is unlikely to suit up until at least March, per Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. Nunn, who is considered one of L.A.’s only trade chips, hasn’t played at all this season due to a right knee injury.
Sabonis To Kings, Haliburton To Pacers In Six-Player Trade
9:00pm: The trade is now official, the Pacers announced in a press release.
4:36pm: The second-rounder being sent to Sacramento in the deal is actually a 2023 pick that will be convey if it lands anywhere from 31-55, per Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter links).
12:37pm: The Pacers have agreed to send Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday to the Kings in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Sacramento will also receive a 2027 second-round pick in the trade, according to Wojnarowski. That pick will presumably be the Utah selection the Pacers acquired from Cleveland on Monday, since Indiana has traded away its own 2027 second-rounder.
The deal involves two teams that have been trying to shake up their rosters ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Both are in the middle of disappointing seasons, with the Pacers 13th in the East at 19-36 and the Kings, who were open about their need to make the playoffs heading into the season, stuck at 13th in the West at 20-35, two games out of the final play-in spot.
Sabonis, who was an All-Star in 2020 and 2021, carries a $19.8MM cap hit this season, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. As Marks notes, Sabonis’ cap figure is expected to eventually drop to $18.5MM this season and $19.4MM next year because his All-Star bonus will be considered unlikely going forward.
Sabonis’ production has remained steady at 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists through 47 games, but the Pacers have been looking to break up the combination of Sabonis and Myles Turner.
Lamb has an expiring $10.5MM deal, while Holiday is under contract for $6MM and $6.3MM next season. The Kings will create a $4MM trade exception in the deal, Marks adds.
It’s a fascinating deal for the Kings, since reports in recent weeks repeatedly stated they preferred to build around Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox going forward. They relented on Haliburton in order to land a star center and will now move ahead with rookie Davion Mitchell as Fox’s potential long-term backcourt partner. It’s unclear whether more moves are coming for Sacramento, which still has a frontcourt logjam that includes center Richaun Holmes.
The Pacers, meanwhile, acquire a potential future star in Haliburton, who has emerged as a full-time starter this season and is averaging 14.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 51 games. He will make $4.2MM and $5.8MM over the next two seasons and will be eligible for a rookie scale extension in the summer of 2023.
Indiana also lands Hield, who has a $23.1MM salary this year that will drop to $21.2MM next season and $19.3MM in 2023/24, and Thompson, who has a $9.7MM expiring deal. The Pacers will create a $10.5MM trade exception, according to Marks (Twitter link).
The trade leaves Indiana $615K below the luxury tax line, though Hield has nine bonuses in his contract that could affect that, Marks adds (via Twitter). Two of them are considered likely — fewer than two turnovers per game and finishing in the top 10 in made three-pointers — which would add up to $595,962 and push team salary dangerously close to the threshold. If the Pacers make more deals this week, they’ll likely try to trim a little more salary to create additional breathing room below the tax line.
Indiana was said to be seeking a Nikola Vucevic-esque package of several draft picks and/or young prospects in exchange for Sabonis. However, as we noted when we previewed the trade deadline for Central teams last week, the Pacers have historically preferred to acquire packages headlined by promising NBA-ready players rather than draft picks when they’ve traded away stars. The team first acquired Sabonis along with Victor Oladipo for Paul George in a 2017 blockbuster that was widely panned by experts at the time.
Sabonis and Oladipo both eventually developed into All-Stars in Indiana, and now the Pacers will hope for the same from Haliburton, a potential two-way impact player who is still just 21 years old.
Blazers Trade CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr. To Pelicans
8:00pm: The trade is now official, according to press releases from the Pelicans and Trail Blazers. Portland waived Cody Zeller to create room on their 15-man roster for the incoming players.
The full deal looks like this:
- Pelicans acquire McCollum, Nance, and Snell.
- Trail Blazers acquire Hart, Satoransky, Alexander-Walker, Louzada, the Pelicans’ protected 2022 first-round pick, the Pelicans’ 2027 second-round pick, and either the Pelicans’ or Blazers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; New Orleans had previously acquired Portland’s 2026 second-rounder).
“On behalf of the Trail Blazers organization, I want to thank CJ McCollum for the integral role he has played in the success of the franchise over the last nine seasons and for his countless acts of service to the Portland community,” Blazers GM Joe Cronin said in a statement. “CJ has cemented himself in Trail Blazers history with his elite skill level and memorable moments on the court as well as with the work ethic, professionalism and generosity he displays behind the scenes.”
10:10am: The Pelicans and Blazers have reached an agreement, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter links), who reports that Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell are also headed to New Orleans in the deal, with Didi Louzada going to Portland.
The Blazers will receive a future first-round pick and two future second-rounder, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter). As Woj explains (via Twitter), the Blazers will get New Orleans’ 2022 first-round selection if it lands between No. 5 and No. 14. Otherwise, the Blazers will receive a future first-rounder. That Pelicans pick currently projects to be No. 9.
The inclusion of Nance, who has been out for the last month with a knee injury, will give the Pelicans another versatile two-way contributor in the frontcourt while clearing even more multiyear money off the Blazers’ books. The Pels will presumably acquire Nance and his $10.7MM cap hit using a portion of their $17MM trade exception. Nance is under contract for $9.7MM in 2022/23.
Because the Blazers have a full roster, they’ll have to trade or waive a player to accommodate the three-for-four swap.
9:24am: The Pelicans and Trail Blazers are finalizing a deal that will send CJ McCollum to New Orleans, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The package for McCollum will include Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and draft compensation, per Charania (Twitter link).
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who first reported that the two sides were engaged in serious talks, an agreement technically hasn’t been finalized yet and there’s still work to be done, but Woj says there’s optimism a deal will be completed (Twitter link).
McCollum, 30, has been a Blazer since entering the NBA in 2013, making up one-half of the team’s star backcourt alongside Damian Lillard. Portland made the postseason in each of McCollum’s first eight NBA seasons and got as far as the Western Conference Finals in 2019, but the team has taken a step back this year and is clearly in retooling mode, having sent Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers last Friday.
Trading McCollum will create more future financial flexibility for the Blazers, who are reportedly interested in re-signing free-agents-to-be Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic this offseason. Based on the team’s moves so far, it appears Portland views those players, along with Lillard and Nassir Little, as keepers going forward, though there’s still time for things to change in the 48+ hours before Thursday’s trade deadline.
While we’ll have to wait to see what sort of draft compensation is headed from New Orleans to Portland in the trade, the Blazers did well to acquire a solid two-way player like Hart, and they’ll get a chance to take a flier on Alexander-Walker, who has struggled in 2021/22 after a promising sophomore performance last season.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, are on the verge of adding a talented shot creator to their backcourt as they continue their push for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. New Orleans currently leads Portland by a half-game for the No. 10 seed in the West.
McCollum has been hampered this season by health issues, including a collapsed lung, and his numbers have dipped a little as a result, but he’s still averaging 20.5 PPG and 4.5 APG on .436/.384/.706 shooting in 36 games (35.2 MPG).
McCollum, Brandon Ingram, and Jonas Valanciunas will be the go-to offensive options in New Orleans for the time being. The Pelicans are also hoping to get Zion Williamson back in their lineup at some point in the second half, though it’s been a while since we’ve gotten an update on Williamson’s recovery from foot surgery.
McCollum is owed $30.9MM this season, $33.3MM in 2022/23, and $35.8MM in ’23/24 before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2024. Hart’s contract is more team-friendly — after earning $12MM this season, he has a $13MM non-guaranteed salary next season, with a $13MM player option (also non-guaranteed) for ’23/24.
Satoransky has an expiring $10MM contract, while Alexander-Walker is earning $3.3MM this season. Alexander-Walker is under contract for $5MM in 2022/23 and will be eligible this offseason for a rookie scale extension. He’ll be a restricted free agent in 2023 if he doesn’t sign a new deal later this year.
The Hawks, Knicks, and Pacers were among the other teams said to have trade interest in McCollum.