Hollinger On Deadline Deals
ESPN.com's John Hollinger has posted grades for every trade that took place today. The post is only available to ESPN Insider subscribers, but here are the highlights:
- The Nuggets were smart to shed Nene's contract, even if trading for JaVale McGee is a risk.
- However, Hollinger views the Wizards' acquisition of Nene is an overreaction to McGee's contract demands.
- For the Clippers, Hollinger doesn't believe Nick Young is a perfect solution, but that he's worth the risk since they didn't have to give up any significant assets.
- Hollinger praises the Blazers' rebuilding effort in the Gerald Wallace trade, although he has reservations about the players they got back from Houston for Marcus Camby.
- He doesn't think the Nets made a smart move giving up a lottery pick for short-term help when they risk losing Deron Williams at the end of the season.
- Hollinger likes the Rockets' acquisition of Camby as a short-term pick-up to help them make a playoff run.
- The Warriors' acquisition of Richard Jefferson is counterproductive to their efforts to tank for a draft pick, Hollinger writes. However, he praises the Spurs for shedding Jefferson's contract for Stephen Jackson's shorter one.
- Hollinger questions the Cavaliers for taking on Luke Walton's expensive contract while giving up Ramon Sessions, but loves the deal for the Lakers, as Sessions is a massive upgrade at point guard over Derek Fisher and Steve Blake.
- Hollinger likes the Sam Young acquisition for the 76ers, and while he doesn't believe losing him will shift the Grizzlies' playoff hopes one way or another, he questions whether it was necessary to shed him simply for cap reasons.
- He sees the Leandro Barbosa trade as a low-risk deal for both the Raptors and Pacers, giving Indiana immediate help at shooting guard while freeing up room for other players to get more minutes in Toronto.
Recap Of Trade Deadline Deals
Here's the complete list of trades that took place this week leading up to the trade deadline earlier today:
- On Tuesday, the Warriors sent Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh, and Kwame Brown to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson.
- The Warriors then flipped Jackson to the Spurs for Richard Jefferson, T.J. Ford, and a first-round pick on Thursday.
- The Grizzlies traded Sam Young to the 76ers for the rights to former second-round pick Ricky Sanchez.
- The Pacers acquired Leandro Barbosa from the Raptors in exchange for a second-round draft pick and cash considerations.
- The Blazers entered rebuild mode by trading Gerald Wallace to the Nets for Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams, and a 2012 first-round draft pick with top-3 protection.
- Portland also sent Marcus Camby to the Rockets for Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet, and a second-round pick.
- The Rockets acquired Derek Fisher from the Lakers as well as the Mavericks' 2012 first-round pick (from the Lamar Odom trade) for Jordan Hill.
- The Lakers also traded for Ramon Sessions, sending Luke Walton, Jason Kapono, and a 2012 first-round pick to the Cavaliers and also receiving Christian Eyenga. The Cavs will also have the ability to swap the Heat's 2013 pick (which they own from the LeBron James sign-and-trade) with the Lakers' pick that year.
- The Nuggets, Wizards, and Clippers agreed to a three-team deal that will send Nene, Brian Cook, and a future second-round draft pick to Washington; Nick Young to the Clippers; and JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to Denver.
Nuggets, Wizards, Clips Agree To Three-Way Deal
4:55pm: Lee clarifies (via Twitter) that the Hornets' pick heading to the Wizards is a 2015 selection. Lee also reports that Young was initially supposed to go to the Nuggets in the deal, but declined to surrender his Bird rights to go to Denver (Twitter link).
4:42pm: The draft pick the Clippers are sending to Washington is the second-round pick they acquired from the Hornets, so it should be an early second-rounder, tweets Michael Lee.
2:38pm: The Clippers have acquired Nick Young from the Wizards as part of a three-team trade, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, JaVale McGee is heading to Denver and Nene will go to Washington (Twitter link). Ronny Turiaf will also head to the Nuggets, with Brian Cook going to the Wizards, tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. The Wizards will receive a future second-round pick from the Clippers, says Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
For the Nuggets, the deal seems intended to create future cap flexibility. Ken Berger of CBS Sports hears Denver had been experiencing some "buyer's remorse" about Nene's long-term deal (Twitter link). The future cap space created could make the Nuggets more inclined to increase their offer to restricted free agent Wilson Chandler before his self-imposed Friday deadline.
The Wizards acquire what appears to be their center of the future in Nene. Presumably, amidst reports that McGee would seek $14MM annually in free agency this summer, Washington decided to acquire a big man they felt was worth that sort of commitment. Nene has four years and $52MM remaining on his contract after this season.
The Clippers, meanwhile, use the $3.8MM trade exception they received by trading Eric Gordon to absorb Young's salary. For the low cost of Cook and a second-rounder, they've added a two guard to help in a potential postseason run. Young has the ability to veto any trade he's involved in, but multiple reports have suggested he appears willing to approve this deal.
TNT's David Aldridge first tweeted that the Wizards and Nuggets were "in serious talks" about a deal involving Young, McGee, and Hilario.
Grunfeld: Wizards Actively Working Phones
Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld says the team is actively working the phones in advance of next Thursday's trade deadline, tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Asked if Washington will make any moves, Grunfeld said "only time will tell."
Of the players on the Wizards' roster, Andray Blatche and Nick Young are the most likely to be involved in any significant move Washington makes. The Wizards are said to be aggressively shopping Blatche, having signed him to an ill-advised extension that keeps him under contract until 2015. Finding a taker for Blatche will be challenging, and Washington may have to take on an equally bad contract if they want to make a move.
Young, who will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, has the option of vetoing any trades involving him, since he accepted a qualifying offer from the Wizards in the offseason. However, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld reported this week that Young may welcome a trade to another club.
Kyler On Thunder, Howard, Crawford, Young
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld wraps up his look at trade options for all 30 NBA clubs today, running alphabetically from Oklahoma City through Washington. You can find our recaps of the first two installments in the series here and here. Now, let's round up a few of the highlights from Kyler in part three….
- The Thunder aren't actively engaged in any trade talks, but if they're concerned about Thabo Sefolosha's foot injury lingering, they could look into acquiring a defensive-minded replacement.
- Sources close to the Dwight Howard process say the Magic are at least 50% sure they can keep D12 around for another season, if not longer. If that's the case, a blockbuster trade involving Howard is unlikely. Orlando is working hard to acquire pieces around its star center, though the team's lack of assets is making it a challenge.
- Daniel Orton is "a safe bet" to be traded by the Magic.
- While the 76ers have trade chips, they're unlikely to make a move before the deadline.
- The Suns would gladly move Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick, or Robin Lopez.
- Kyler hears from sources close to Jamal Crawford that the Blazers guard hasn't requested a trade, but that he wouldn't be opposed to being sent to a less chaotic situation.
- The Spurs haven't had "meaningful discussions" with any potential trade partners, and will probably stand pat at the deadline.
- The Raptors may be active in the next ten days, but Toronto continues to turn away proposals for Andrea Bargnani.
- Although the Jazz have some strong trade assets, they probably would want to include Devin Harris in any deals, which could turn off potential suitors for other players.
- Having accepted a qualifying offer from the Wizards this season, Nick Young can veto any deal that sends him out of town. However, Kyler hears that Young would welcome a move.
Odds & Ends: Timberwolves, Calderon, Kobe
With the All-Star Game behind us and regular season games not restarting until tomorrow, a handful of writers today are looking ahead to the season's second half. With the March 15th deadline just 17 days away, the start of the second half figures to be dominated by trade rumors, so Sean Deveney of the Sporting News and Sam Smith of Bulls.com were among the scribes who examined a few big-name trade candidates. Here are a few more links from around the Association as we wait for the second half to get underway:
- Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman doesn't believe that there is a solid wing upgrade available on the trade block, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter).
- Raptors head coach Dwane Casey says that there's nothing brewing on the trade front, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Casey added that the club has received interest in Jose Calderon but "there's nothing on the table" when it comes to the point guard (Twitter link).
- The Grizzlies recalled rookie Josh Selby from the D-League, according to the Commercial Appeal's Twitter feed. The former Kansas Jayhawk was assigned to the Reno Bighorns earlier this month in order to see more playing time.
- Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez told reporters this weekend that Kobe Bryant was thinking about retirement before undergoing platelet-rich plasma treatment in the offseason, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times.
- Michael Lee of the Washington Post wonders which of the Wizards' young players are part of the team's long-term plans. Spoiler alert: Andray Blatche isn't mentioned. In a separate piece, Lee previews the summer for Nick Young and JaVale McGee, who are both in contract years.
- Point guard may not be a major offseason priority for the Heat if they can win a title with Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole manning the position, says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star handicaps the odds of a few Raptors trade candidates being moved before the deadline.
- Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has been eliminated from the list of prospective bidders for the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
- The 2015 All-Star game will likely be in New York, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post.