Pacers Shopping Leaf, Increasing Oladipo’s Minutes Limit
While the Pacers are unlikely to make a major move, they are not going into the 2020 NBA trade deadline quietly. The team is sniffing around to see if there is a trade for T.J. Leaf, sources tell J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star.
Leaf was selected with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2017 draft. He’s never really carved out a consistent role with the club, given the presence of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner on the roster. Now, the Pacers could look to trade him for a true stretch four, per Michael, though they are not expecting a major asset in return.
Leaf, who has appeared in 22 games for Indiana this season, is shooting 35.7% from three, though he’s only taken 14 attempts this season.
Minutes should be even tighter now with coach Nate McMillan and the Pacers medical staff increasing the minutes limit for Victor Oladipo, who returned from a gruesome leg injury just three games ago. The star will be capped at 28 minutes now instead of 24, writes Mark Montieth of Pacers.com.
Indiana had initially planned to re-evaluate Oladipo’s minutes restriction at the All-Star break, but is hoping that loosening that restriction will help him find a rhythm and break out of his shooting slump.
“We need to get him to that workload he needs to put on his knee,” head coach Nate McMillan said.
Latest On Wolves’ Multi-Team D’Angelo Russell Trade Talks
As multiple reports have indicated, the Timberwolves have been making an effort to orchestrate multi-team trade talks involving the Warriors, Rockets, and Hawks that would help them land point guard D’Angelo Russell.
The basic goal of such a four-team deal would be get a center (Clint Capela) to Atlanta, a wing (Robert Covington) to Houston, Russell to Minnesota, and various assets to Golden State. However, according to those previous reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Minnesota and Golden State haven’t been able to find common ground on a package for Russell.
The Timberwolves may need to give the Warriors flexibility on which year(s) they’d prefer to get draft picks, league sources tell Wojnarowski.
Multi-team trades aren’t easy to complete, so this mega-trade is certainly no lock to get done. But it also doesn’t appear as if the clubs involved have given up yet. Here are the latest updates on these four-team discussions:
- Within his report, Wojnarowski suggests that Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins would almost certainly have to be included in any trade involving Russell for financial reasons, and our Chris Crouse confirms (via Twitter) that Wiggins has been discussed as part of a potential deal.
- According to Jabari Young of CNBC (Twitter link), Hawks swingman Evan Turner – who has a pricey expiring contract – and Warriors center Kevon Looney are among the other players whose names have come up as parts of this potential trade.
- The Hawks, Timberwolves, and Warriors are talking about what draft picks (and possible protections) would be involved in the trade, according to Young (Twitter link). The Rockets aren’t involved in that aspect of the deal and would presumably just receive Covington and a center, Young adds.
- Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) hears that the Rockets like Looney as a potential option to replace Capela in the middle if they can land a three-and-D upgrade such as Covington.
- According to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), a four-team, seven-player trade that includes Wiggins, Russell, Covington, Capela, Looney, Turner, and Nene could get both the Warriors and Rockets out of the tax. Wojnarowksi has suggested that the Warriors are interested in shedding some salary — they’d avoid repeater penalties if they sneak below the tax line this year.
Tristan Thompson Reportedly Prefers To Be Traded
Tristan Thompson‘s camp would like to see him moved by this Thursday’s deadline, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, who says people close to the Cavaliers center are calling a trade a “priority.”
The news comes a little over 24 hours after word broke that the Cavaliers had put Thompson on the trade block. At the time, I noted that there had been rumblings earlier in the season about the team wanting to extend Thompson, with reports suggesting the big man was open to the idea. Cleveland’s newfound willingness to move him seemed to signal that the 28-year-old may no longer reciprocate that interest in an extension.
As Vardon explains, Thompson’s Bird rights would move with him in any trade, which is one reason why his camp may be pushing for a deal. Most of the teams that project to have cap room this summer are rebuilding clubs. So if Thompson wants a chance to sign with a contender for more than the mid-level, his best chance to do so may be joining that team now, then signing a new contract in the summer using those Bird rights.
Thompson’s $18.5MM cap hit will be tricky for some teams to match, but he’s having a strong season with unrestricted free agency around the corner, averaging career-best marks in PPG (11.9), RPG (10.4), and APG (2.1) in 48 games (31.0 MPG).
The Wizards are among the teams said to have expressed interest in Thompson. Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that the Cavs want a first-round pick in exchange for the veteran center. If that offer doesn’t materialize, it’s not clear whether the team will be open to taking the best offer available or if it would prefer to hang onto Thompson through the deadline.
Nuggets Seeking First-Round Pick For Malik Beasley
The Nuggets are open to listening to inquiries on swingman Malik Beasley, but are seeking a first-round pick in any deal for him, two league sources tell Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
After enjoying a modest breakout season a year ago for Denver, Beasley has been in and out of the rotation and hasn’t been as productive in 2019/20. For the season, he’s averaging just 7.8 PPG on .392/.364/.941 shooting in 40 games (18.1 MPG). The 23-year-old is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, so the Nuggets will have to decide soon whether he’s in their long-term plans.
Like Beasley, Juan Hernangomez will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason and could be had this week for the right price. The Nuggets are seeking a second-round pick for Hernangomez, sources tell Singer. Denver has already traded away its own first- and second-round selections for 2020.
The Timberwolves are among the teams with interest in Beasley, a source tells Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link), who cautions that any pursuit of Beasley would be secondary to Minnesota’s efforts to land D’Angelo Russell. As for Hernangomez, Singer reports that the Hawks are one team that has inquired on the power forward.
While the Nuggets could explore the market for a larger trade, don’t expect second-year forward Michael Porter Jr. to be involved in such a deal. We heard earlier in the season that Denver views Porter as essentially untouchable and recent reports have confirmed as much.
Singer hears from a source that the Nuggets have no intention of moving Porter, while Sam Amick of The Athletic said on the Tampering podcast that team owner Stan Kroenke is among those who don’t want to see the 2018 lottery pick go anywhere (hat tip to RealGM).
Knicks Make Marcus Morris Available
In the wake of Steve Mills‘ ouster, the Knicks may reconsider potential paths at this week’s trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who notes that Mills was just on the phone on Monday exploring deals, including a possible pursuit of D’Angelo Russell.
Most notably, Wojnarowski suggests that ownership pushed the front office to change course on its plans for Marcus Morris. The Knicks, who were said to be “hell-bent” on retaining and trying to re-sign Morris, have now made him available in trade talks, says Woj.
Marc Berman of The New York Post reported earlier this afternoon that the debate over whether to retain or shop Morris was one issue Mills and GM Scott Perry were divided on. Based on Wojnarowski’s report, it sounds as if Perry was in favor of exploring the trade market for the veteran forward.
Morris, who is on an expiring $15MM contract, is enjoying a career year, with 19.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG with a .442/.439/.823 shooting line in 43 games (32.3 MPG). He has reportedly drawn some league-wide interest, including from the Clippers, and could potentially net the Knicks a first-round pick.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Although it appears Perry is making the decisions in the Knicks’ front office for now, the franchise has begun its search for a new president. According to Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne (via Twitter), New York has given some thought to hiring a player agent for that role, like the Warriors (Bob Myers) and Lakers (Rob Pelinka) have done.
- Sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) that CAA’s Austin Brown is among the candidates being internally considered by the Knicks. One of CAA’s top agents, Brown represents players like Zion Williamson, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Russell, per Begley (Twitter link).
- Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports classifies the Knicks’ trade discussions with the Hornets involving Julius Randle and Terry Rozier on Monday as serious. However, he hears that Charlotte balked at taking Dennis Smith Jr. in a deal.
- League sources tell Goodwill that Knicks owner James Dolan has had intermediaries get in touch with top executives around the NBA to ask, “What would it take to get you to take over this franchise?”
Knicks Fire Team President Steve Mills
12:11pm: The Knicks have officially announced Mills’ dismissal, phrasing it in their press release as the team president “leaving his position.” Mills will be nominated to the board of Dolan’s standalone sports company once it spins off from MSG’s entertainment business, according to the announcement.
“Steve and I have come to the decision that it would be best for him to leave his role as president of the New York Knicks,” Dolan said in a statement. “We thank Steve for his many years of service to our organization and look forward to continuing our relationship with him as part of our board.”
10:59am: The Knicks are parting ways with team president Steve Mills, according to reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). General manager Scott Perry has taken over as the club’s head of basketball operations on an interim basis, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Mills, a former MSG executive, was named the Knicks’ general manager in 2013 and worked under Phil Jackson during Jackson’s tenure as team president, starting in 2014. Following Jackson’s dismissal in 2017, Mills was elevated to the president role, with Perry coming aboard as New York’s new GM.
The Knicks haven’t earned a playoff spot or won more than 37 games in a season since Mills arrived in 2013. Although he was given the green light to lead the team’s latest rebuild, his job security began to waver in 2019 after the team traded up-and-coming star Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas in a cap-clearing trade, then failed to land any star players with that cap room in free agency.
Mills was still given the chance to start the season with the team and had the autonomy to fire head coach David Fizdale in the fall, but New York remains lottery-bound under interim coach Mike Miller. Curiously, the 15-36 Knicks ultimately decided to part with Mills just 51 hours before the trade deadline, leaving Perry to run the show this week. The two executives hadn’t been seeing eye-to-eye on certain issues going forward, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Perry is expected to remain in his GM role for the foreseeable future. However, Knicks owner James Dolan will interview candidates for the president position, with Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri at the top of the club’s wish list, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Charania suggests (via Twitter) that the team’s interview process has already begun.
New York’s previous interest in Ujiri went nowhere, and there’s some skepticism that the Raptors’ head of basketball operations would leave a stable situation in Toronto to work for Dolan and the dysfunctional Knicks.
Still, there have been “strong rumblings” since December that the Knicks believe they have a real chance to land Ujiri, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). Begley conveys a similar sentiment, tweeting that Ujiri has told confidants in the past that he’d be open to considering the Knicks’ job under the right circumstances.
Ujiri’s contract runs through the 2020/21 season, so if the Knicks want to lure him away from Toronto before then, they’d have to send some form of compensation to the Raptors. And their division rivals are probably unlikely to give the Knicks a discount, even if Ujiri decides he wants to leave.
For now, it will be fascinating to see how the Knicks approach the trade deadline. Nearly everyone on the roster has been mentioned in at least one trade rumor, but it’s unclear how Perry’s and Mills’ views on certain players differed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Heat In Mix For Andre Iguodala
The Heat have emerged as a potential suitor for Grizzlies forward Andre Iguodala, according to Shams Charania of Stadium (video link), who reports that the two teams have had discussions.
While Miami would be a nice on-court fit for Iguodala, it may be tricky for the two teams to come to a trade agreement that works for everyone. The Heat’s only sizable expiring contracts belong to Meyers Leonard and Goran Dragic, who are key parts of the team’s rotation and seem unlikely to be moved for the former Finals MVP. As such, Memphis would likely have to be willing to take on a multiyear deal, with James Johnson, Dion Waiters, Kelly Olynyk, and perhaps even Justise Winslow among the candidates.
[RELATED: Dillon Brooks On Iguodala: Can’t Wait Until We Trade Him]
Additionally, the Heat are right up against a hard cap this season, so they won’t be able to take on more money than they send out. For instance, even though Johnson’s $15.35MM cap hit meets the salary-matching requirements to take back Iguodala’s $17.19MM salary, Miami would have to send out at least one more player because it can’t accommodate that extra money.
Finally, the Heat don’t have much draft capital available to dangle in trade talks, having moved so many of their future picks already. Their next available picks for trade purposes would be a conditional 2024 second-rounder or a conditional 2025 first-rounder. They also control the less favorable of the Sixers’ and Nuggets’ 2022 second-round picks, which could be included in a deal.
On top of all those roadblocks, there’s the question of whether or not Iguodala would be happy to land with the Heat. South Beach is a popular destination for most NBA players and Miami is a legit contender in the East, so presumably the 36-year-old would be satisfied with that outcome. However, Charania notes that Iguodala may want to play closer to home on the West Coast, and a report on Monday indicated the veteran could sit out the rest of the season if he isn’t sent to one of his preferred landing spots.
Although it’s not clear what those preferred landing spots are, it’s probably safe to assume the Lakers and Clippers are among them. If Iguodala is bought out, the two L.A. teams would likely be the frontrunners to sign him, but the Grizzlies have insisted all season long that they’ll find a pre-deadline trade involving the ex-Warrior. We’ll find out this week if they’re right.
O’Connor’s Latest: Capela, Covington, D-Lo, Nets, More
The Rockets, Hawks, and Timberwolves recently discussed a three-team trade that would have sent Robert Covington to Houston, Clint Capela to Atlanta, and Brooklyn’s 2020 first-round pick (from Atlanta) to Minnesota, league sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.
As O’Connor explains, the Timberwolves’ goal would have been to use that Brooklyn first-rounder as part of a trade package for D’Angelo Russell. According to O’Connor, Minnesota was willing to include its own 2020 first-round pick in that offer too, but the Warriors turned them down, putting those three-team talks on hold.
We don’t know exactly what protections the Timberwolves might have wanted to put on their pick, or what contract(s) they wanted the Warriors to take on in that offer for Russell, but it’s still worth noting that Golden State declined an offer featuring multiple first-rounders. While the Dubs are reportedly open to listening to inquiries on D-Lo, their asking price is high, and it appears they’d be happy to wait until the offseason to revisit Russell’s trade market, if necessary.
Here’s more from O’Connor:
- The Warriors‘ price tag on Russell is one reason the Timberwolves‘ asking price for Covington is so high, O’Connor writes. O’Connor also adds the Nuggets to the list of teams with interest in Covington, though he acknowledges that interest is “minimal,” suggesting the Rockets and Sixers are more serious suitors.
- The Rockets and Hawks have had some discussions about Capela without the Timberwolves‘ involvement, per O’Connor.
- The Rockets offered Capela to the Nets in a deal that would have included Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince, league sources tell O’Connor. We’ve heard Houston wants to get a wing and another big man for Capela, so the ask makes sense, but it’s not a surprise that Brooklyn turned it down.
- The Hawks are believed to be wary about investing $20MM+ per year in John Collins on his next contract, preferring a less expensive center like Capela or Tristan Thompson, sources tell O’Connor. For what it’s worth, Hawks beat writer Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (Twitter links) suggests the recent Collins-related rumblings are coming from other teams, not Atlanta.
Dillon Brooks On Iguodala: Can’t Wait Until We Trade Him
Before the Grizzlies defeated the Pistons on Monday night, maintaining their hold on the No. 8 seed, a report surfaced suggesting that Andre Iguodala is preparing to sit out the season if he’s not traded to one of his preferred landing spots, or bought out. After Memphis’ win, forward Dillon Brooks weighed in on the Iguodala rumors, as Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal relays.
“Andre Iguodala’s a great player. I feel like he’s doing the right thing for his career, but we don’t really care,” Brooks said. “It’s not a distraction at all. I laugh at that type of stuff.
“A guy that’s on our team that doesn’t want to be on our team,” Brooks continued. “I can’t wait ’til we find a way to trade him so we can play him and show him what really Memphis is about.”
Although no other Grizzlies players conveyed a similar sentiment to reporters, Brooks’ teammates Ja Morant and De’Anthony Melton published cryptic tweets seemingly supporting his message.
Iguodala was sent from the Warriors to the Grizzlies in a July trade as Golden State cleared salary to bring in D’Angelo Russell. Although that trade was a salary dump that netted Memphis a first-round pick, the Grizzlies are confident Iguodala can be flipped for positive value and has insisted all season long they plan to move him rather than buy him out. The team has until Thursday afternoon to make that happen.
The Grizzlies and Iguodala reportedly reached a mutual agreement in the fall to have him remain away with the team, so the front office has no issue with his absence, but it’s not hard to see why some Grizzlies players may share Brooks’ sentiment.
When Iguodala talked in September about the trade, he recalled predicting in the summer that he’d be moved to “Memphis or some s–t,” implying that it was among the worst possible outcomes. And even as the upstart Grizzlies have outperformed expectations and moved into the playoff picture, the former Finals MVP has shown zero interest in playing for the team.
While a few young Grizzlies players may be eager to show Iguodala what he’s missing out on, veteran forward Jae Crowder took a more measured stance, as Barnes details.
“I would like to keep a lot of stuff in-house but we respect what he’s done,” Crowder said of Iguodala. “He’s a Hall-of-Famer. In my eyes, he’s a Hall-of-Famer. He’s proven in this league, so as long as he handled it like a professional, I believe he is. … I would not say that he’s been a distraction at all. Like I said, he hasn’t been here. But we respect what he wants at this time of his career, and you have to respect it.”
Suns, Pistons Discussing Luke Kennard Trade
The Suns and Pistons are discussing a possible trade that would send Luke Kennard to Phoenix, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that a Suns first-round pick is in play.
Kennard, 23, is a career 40.2% three-point shooter and had taken on an increased role in Detroit this season, averaging a career-best 15.8 PPG and 4.1 APG in 32.9 minutes per contest. The 23-year-old has been limited to 28 games, having been sidelined since December 21 with a knee injury.
A third-year guard who will be extension-eligible during the 2020 offseason, Kennard could be a nice fit on a Suns team that has lacked reliable outside shooting. Phoenix ranks among the NBA’s bottom 10 teams in terms of both three-point attempts and three-point percentage this season, and the club’s most consistent long-distance threat has been a rookie, Cameron Johnson.
It wouldn’t be difficult for Phoenix to match Kennard’s $3.8MM salary — Wojnarowski suggests (via Twitter) that a potential package gaining some traction would feature Jevon Carter, Elie Okobo, and a first-round pick.. If the Suns are willing to part with their 2020 first-rounder, I expect they’d want to add some form of protection, since it currently projects to land at No. 11.
As Gina Mizell of The Athletic tweets, the Suns’ current VP of basketball operations, Jeff Bower, was the Pistons’ general manager when Detroit selected Kennard with the No. 12 pick in the 2017 draft, so he’s very familiar with the former Duke standout. Phoenix envisions Kennard as a floor-spacer who could complement scorers and play-makers like Devin Booker, Kelly Oubre, and Ricky Rubio, per Wojnarowski.