Trade Talks Between Cavs, Lakers Stall
2:07pm: The Lakers don’t believe the Cavs have many other viable alternatives for Bynum, and feel as if they can afford to wait on a potential deal, says Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico adds that the Lakers are believed to be seeking players whose contracts expire within the “Kobe window” — 2016 (when Kobe Bryant‘s deal ends) or earlier.
10:30am: Trade discussions between the Cavaliers and Lakers about a potential deal centered around Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have stalled, according to Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. It was that same ESPN duo who first reported earlier in the week that the two teams were talking about a possible swap.
The impasse in negotiations doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no possibility of the Cavs and Lakers working something out, but the deal is no longer progressing. Sources tell Windhorst and Shelburne that the major roadblock involves the Lakers’ desire to land an additional asset in any trade. Besides Bynum, the Lakers want to add a young prospect or a first-round draft pick, and Cleveland is reluctant to part with either.
As we’ve discussed previously, Bynum’s appeal relates to the structure of his contract, which is only partially guaranteed until next week. If the Lakers could acquire a prospect (perhaps Sergey Karasev, Tyler Zeller, or even Dion Waiters) in the swap, it would allow the team to add future talent while cutting payroll and reducing tax penalties. However, it’s extremely unlikely that the Cavs would give up that significant a package to land Gasol, whose contract expires at year’s end — particularly when Kyrie Irving‘s latest injury further complicates Cleveland’s push to earn a postseason berth.
Windhorst and Shelburne report that the Cavs are “actively seeking” other options for Bynum. Earlier this morning, we heard from another ESPN.com scribe, Marc Stein, that Cleveland has called virtually every team in the NBA in the hopes of finding a suitable trade partner. If the Cavs or another team wants to save $6MM+ on Bynum’s salary, he must be released on or before next Tuesday.
Andrew Bynum Rumors: Wednesday
Since the Cavaliers suspended Andrew Bynum last Saturday, numerous rumors have circulated about what kind of action Cleveland will take with their disgruntled center. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today breaks down three options the club has in regards to Bynum and suggests that holding on to the big man might be the best move if the Cavs can’t find a suitable trade partner. According to Zillgitt, rival executives believe waiving Bynum is the last route Cleveland should take. Let’s have a look at the latest Bynum rumors:
- TNT’s David Aldridge agrees with Kyler, tweeting that the rumored swap of Bynum and Gasol is not likely to happen.
- Zillgitt checks back in on Twitter to confirm another piece of the Kyler report: that rival executives believe the Cavs are reaching in trade discussions because of the lack of a market for Bynum.
- Meanwhile, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio cites a source that thinks the deal could still happen, but concedes that the Lakers are downplaying talks (via Twitter).
Earlier updates:
- In the same piece, Zillgitt notes that the Cavs reached out to the Bulls and inquired on a trade that would send Luol Deng to Cleveland in exchange for Bynum. However, a source confirmed that Chicago wasn’t interested.
- Zillgitt echoes earlier reports that the Clippers would have interest in Bynum if the Cavs were to release him.
- The Heat wouldn’t have interest in signing the center, despite earlier reports suggesting otherwise, Zillgitt hears from an anonymous source.
- Fittingly, Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report outlines reasons why Bynum wouldn’t be a good fit for the Heat. The primary reason Skolnick cites is Bynum’s lack of passion for the game, a trait which doesn’t align with Miami’s fundamental principles.
- The rumored Pau Gasol/Bynum swap that would send Bynum to the Lakers is unlikely to happen, opines Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. He believes the Cavaliers are trying to get “something for nothing” with Bynum’s contract and hears the Lakers intend on keeping Gasol for now. (Twitter links)
Lakers Notes: Farmar, Young, Gasol, Bynum
The Lakers have dropped six straight games after hovering around the .500 mark for much of the season. With nine of their next 13 games set to take place outside of Los Angeles, the club is going to have a hard time clawing their way back up in the Pacific Division. Here’s the latest on the Lakers:
- New broke today that Jordan Farmar will miss at least four weeks with a torn hamstring. With Steve Blake and Steve Nash sidelined, this means that the recently signed Kendall Marshall will be the only healthy point guard on the team, as Mike Trudell of Lakers.com points out via Twitter.
- Offseason acquisition Nick Young has been a bright spot for the Lakers this season, and Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times notes that despite his sometimes questionable shot selection, the veteran guard has far exceeded expectations.
- Pau Gasol is being affected by the trade rumors implicating him in a potential swap with Andrew Bynum, reports J.A. Adande of ESPN.com. Adande passes along several remarks made by Gasol indicating that the big man would like to stay in Los Angeles: “It’s kind of out of my control. I’d like to continue to be here. It’s been my home for the good and the bad and everything else… We’re struggling right now, and that doesn’t help.”
- This morning we heard that the outcome of Kyrie Irving‘s MRI would impact the chances of a potential Gasol/Bynum swap. I’d imagine Farmar’s injury could play a role on the Lakers’ side of the possible deal, but there’s no word yet on just how much it will affect the reported discussion.
Cavs, Lakers Discussing Bynum, Gasol
WEDNESDAY, 8:45am: The outcome of Kyrie Irving‘s forthcoming MRI exam is likely to have a big impact on how the talks proceed from here, according to the latest update from Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
Irving told reporters Tuesday night that he felt a “pop” in his left knee after suffering the injury during Cleveland’s loss to the Pacers and an MRI is scheduled for Wednesday. If Irving is out for a substantial length of time, it’s believed that the Cavaliers’ appetite to take on additional salary in pursuit of a playoff push would be diminished. Still, talks between the two sides continued yesterday and a deal still seems possible, provided that the Cavs’ star guard won’t miss a significant length of time.
TUESDAY, 2:37pm: Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times seems to back up Medina’s report, hearing from a source that the idea of the Lakers taking on Bynum would be a stretch.
2:25pm: Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News throws cold water on the idea of such a deal, writing that “the Lakers would never under any circumstances” accept the proposal that Windhorst and Shelburne reported overnight. The Lakers don’t want Bynum back, and they wouldn’t even be interested in acquiring his contract just so they could waive him before the deal becomes guaranteed next week, according to Medina. The Lakers are also holding out hope that Gasol will improve his play as the season goes on.
2:19pm: The Lakers are seeking a first-round pick in a Bynum-Gasol deal, but the Cavaliers are balking at that idea, according to the Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto. If they were to trade a pick, the Cavs would be more willing to give up the Heat’s 2015 first-rounder acquired through a previous trade than surrender one of their own selections. Nonetheless, both teams are serious about striking some kind of compromise, Pluto writes.
7:51am: Nearly 17 months after they sent him to the Sixers, the Lakers are mulling the possibility of reacquiring Andrew Bynum, according to Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The ESPN duo reports that the Lakers and Cavaliers have had discussions about a trade that would sent Bynum back to Los Angeles in a package for Pau Gasol. No deal is imminent, but the two sides are weighing their options in advance of January 7th, this season’s contract guarantee deadline.
By trading Gasol for Bynum, and subsequently waiving Bynum before his full 2013/14 salary becomes guaranteed in January, the Lakers could potentially get out of luxury-tax territory for this season, depending on what other pieces were included in the deal. At the very least, it would significantly reduce the team’s payroll and tax bill, and would give L.A. more financial flexibility going forward. Since Gasol’s full-season salary is worth about $7MM more than Bynum’s, the Cavs would have to include at least one other player in the hypothetical swap for it to work under CBA rules. Adding C.J. Miles, or any player or combination of players earning more money than Miles’ $2.25MM, would make a Gasol/Bynum trade legal.
Still, the Lakers would have a hard time parting with Gasol without receiving some assets of value in return, according to Windhorst and Sherburne. Given the club’s storied history, a simple salary dump likely isn’t in the cards, even if the ability to avoid the repeater tax would be extremely beneficial. The ESPN duo notes that there’s still a strong organizational sentiment within the Lakers to let the current group get healthy and try to contend before the front office does anything drastic.
As for the Cavs, they also pursued Gasol in the summer, conducting extensive discussions with the Lakers before Dwight Howard signed with the Rockets, according to the ESPN report. Windhorst and Shelburne also suggest that Cleveland has engaged in talks with the Bulls about a similar deal that would involve Bynum and Luol Deng. Like the Lakers, the Bulls could get out of tax territory, or at least very close to it, by swapping Deng in a package for Bynum, then cutting the big man before his $12.25MM salary becomes guaranteed. However, Chicago still doesn’t seem inclined to move Deng at this point.
Cost-cutting moves by teams like the Lakers and Bulls, who are typically perennial contenders, may not have even been considered if not for the new CBA. As Windhorst points out (via Twitter), the new luxury tax, and the repeater tax in particular, is far more punitive than it was a few years ago, so clubs with expensive, non-contending rosters may be more inclined to cut their losses. Whether or not the Lakers or Bulls opt for that route, it’ll be something to watch closely as 2014’s trade deadline approaches.
Los Angeles Notes: Pau, Williams, Bledsoe
As the Lakers prepare to host a New Year’s Eve contest against the Bucks, let’s check in on the latest items on Los Angeles’ two NBA teams….
- Following up on ESPN’s report that the Lakers and Cavs have discussed a trade centered around Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes that such a move would represent a “fundamental shift in [the Lakers’] competitive and financial DNA.” Rival executives are dubious that the Lakers would really make a drastic cost-cutting move, and Berger doesn’t believe it would benefit the team in the short- or long-term, though I think he may be underselling the benefit of getting out of the tax this season — in that scenario, the Lakers could be a tax team again by 2015/16 and avoid paying the repeater penalty.
- For what it’s worth, the early returns on Hoops Rumors’ poll today suggest many of our readers believe the Lakers‘ best strategy for Gasol involves a salary-dump trade.
- In his list of potential fits for Bynum, ESPN.com’s Amin Elhassan (Insider link) classifies the Clippers as strong contenders, and doesn’t mention the Lakers. Of course, Elhassan’s piece is focusing more on logical on-court destinations for Bynum, rather than the best trade partners for the Cavs.
- In a separate ESPN Insider piece, Tom Haberstroh writes that the Lakers should embrace 2014’s Tankapalooza.
- Terrence Williams‘ D-League team will be the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ affiliate, according to Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. Williams, who played for the Celtics last season, signed to play in Turkey this year, but returned stateside in November for family reasons.
- Eric Bledsoe spoke to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com about returning to the Staples Center to face the Clippers for the first time as a Sun. Doc Rivers discussed Bledsoe as well, referring to the three-way trade involving the Clippers and Suns as a deal that should ultimately help both clubs.
- More Rivers on Bledsoe: “He was ready to be a starter. There’s no doubt about it. We really only had one talk and I talked to his representatives, and they made that very clear. If it wasn’t starting, it was playing a lot of minutes. That could have happened here. I just didn’t know if it was going to happen here, and I didn’t know if he would be happy or not. I think he would have handled it, but it would have been no fun.”
Poll: What Should Lakers Do With Pau Gasol?
Earlier this morning, we passed along an overnight report from ESPN that revealed the Cavs and Lakers have discussed a potential swap centered around Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Such a deal would be financially motivated for the Lakers, potentially allowing the club to dip below luxury-tax territory, avoiding the repeater tax, creating some future flexibility, and saving $20MM+. It could also better position them for a top pick in the 2014 draft.
According to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne, the Lakers would still want assets of value in such a deal, but it’s hard to imagine the Cavs parting with a player like Dion Waiters to rent Gasol for a few months. If the Lakers want to acquire real talent, or real future assets, for Gasol, they’ll likely have to take on longer-term contracts than Bynum’s, which would only be worth $6MM if he’s waived by next Tuesday.
The Lakers have set themselves up to have room for a max-salary free agent in either the summer of 2014 or 2015, so taking back long-term salary in exchange for Pau’s expiring $19MM+ contract may not be in the team’s best interests. In fact, Gasol may end up being one of the better free agents on the market next summer, so it could make sense for the Lakers to hang onto him, re-sign him at a lower salary, and pursue other second- or third-tier free agents with their remaining room.
In a perfect world, the Lakers would find a trade for Gasol that allowed the team to cut costs and maintain flexibility while simultaneously adding young talent or future draft picks, but I’d be surprised if that perfect deal materialized. For the purposes of this poll, we’ll assume that the Lakers would have to choose between two kinds of Pau trades: One that cuts costs and increases cap flexibility without adding much real talent, or one that nets the team assets at the expense of future cap space.
So what do you think? What’s the best course of action for the Lakers with Gasol in the coming weeks?
What should the Lakers do with Pau Gasol?
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Trade him in a cost-cutting deal to create future flexibility 58% (568)
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Trade him for the most talent possible, potentially compromising cap space 31% (303)
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Hang onto him and try to re-sign him 12% (114)
Total votes: 985
Lakers Rumors: Lopez, Gasol, Marshall
An injury-plagued Lakers team suffered its fifth consecutive loss yesterday, and it was a bad one. The club fell 111-104 at home against the Sixers, who had lost nine of their previous 10 games and hadn’t won the road in nearly two months. The defeat dropped the Lakers to 13-18, good for 13th in the West, but the schedule at least offers a little hope — L.A.’s next two contests are at the Staples Center vs. the 6-24 Bucks and the 9-24 Jazz. Here’s more on the Lakers:
- According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Lakers approached the Nets earlier in the month to see if Brooklyn had any interest in a swap centered around Pau Gasol and Brook Lopez. The exploratory talks, which happened before Lopez’s injury, didn’t go anywhere, as the Nets balked at the idea. However, Stein points out that it’s still noteworthy, since it shows the Lakers might be willing to trade for players whose contracts extend beyond even 2015, which would represent a shift in their philosophy.
- At the same time, Stein cautions that determining how serious the Lakers were about Lopez is tricky, since the team was known to be gauging Pau’s trade value earlier in the season, before pulling him off the market.
- In a piece for the Los Angeles Times, Eric Pincus examines the upcoming contract decisions for the Lakers, who have four players on non-guaranteed deals: Shawne Williams, Xavier Henry, Ryan Kelly, and Kendall Marshall. Williams and Henry, who have each started several games, appear safe, and Mike D’Antoni is a fan of Kelly, but Marshall may have reason to worry about his job security, Pincus writes. The 2012 lottery pick is on a two-year non-guaranteed contract which could be worth nearly $1.5MM in total if he sticks around.
- D’Antoni on Marshall: “He’s trying to find his way in the league. We hope that maybe garbage time in our favor or something would happen that we get a look at him, but I can’t grasp for straws.”
Lakers Notes: Kobe, Gasol, Meeks
Kobe Bryant‘s knee injury doesn’t affect the Lakers’ short- or long-term picture, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who writes that the team wasn’t going to make the playoffs this season either way and was already locked into Kobe’s two-year extension. In his latest Lakers-centric piece, Lowe writes that he’s talked to “dozens” of GMs, execs, coaches, and scouts around the league about Kobe’s new deal, and while some acknowledge that it makes business sense, none have been willing to call it a good contract. Here’s more on the Lakers:
- While it makes sense for the Lakers to gauge Pau Gasol‘s market value, Lowe notes that there are plenty of roadblocks to finding a logical trade partner, including Pau’s $19MM+ salary and L.A.’s desire not to take on long-term money. Lowe mentions the Cavaliers, Bobcats, Suns as potential players for Gasol, though it sounds like he’s speculating about the possible fit rather than reporting any actual discussions. Ultimately, the Lakers may be better off holding on to Pau and re-signing him to a two-year contract, says Lowe.
- As he faces another six weeks of recovery time, Bryant tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that “only an idiot” would doubt his ability to return from his latest injury.
- Jodie Meeks will draw interest in free agency next summer and figures to earn a raise on this year’s $1.55MM salary if he continues to play well. However, if it’s up to him, the 26-year-old guard would “love to be a Laker for a long time,” as he says to Lang Greene of HoopsWorld.
- Faced with a scarcity of options at the point, the Lakers reached an agreement with 2012 lottery pick Kendall Marshall and made the signing official today.
Lakers Not Open To Pau Gasol Trade
The Lakers aren’t interested in trading Pau Gasol for now, having been encouraged by Gasol’s play in the last three games and his fence-mending efforts with coach Mike D’Antoni, who criticized his performance, report Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The Lakers have reportedly fielded offers for Gasol, and they engaged in exploratory talks with several teams, according to Shelburne and Stein, but they didn’t get too far.
The Rockets are one of the teams the Lakers spoke to about Gasol, but those talks never got serious, the ESPN scribes say. Stein thinks that the Lakers might be better off trading Gasol for Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, but says such a deal would likely have to involve a third team and cautions that such talk is merely speculation (Twitter link).
The Lakers remain interested in Tyson Chandler and they’ve made exploratory calls on Iman Shumpert, but it doesn’t sound like the Knicks are biting. Gasol is set to hit free agency at season’s end, and the Lakers are apparently open to re-signing him.
Odds & Ends: Asik, Gasol, Wolves, Mirotic
With December 15th in our rearview and the trade deadline two months ahead of us, things should start to heat up quickly, as our Luke Adams noted in his Trade Season Primer. Here are some trade-related rumors as well as some odds and ends from around the league on Tuesday night:
- With two days remaining until the Rockets self-imposed December 19th deadline, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets that there is a consensus expectation that Omer Asik will be moved in a three-team deal in which he ends up in Boston or Philly.
- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports adds the Cavs and the Hawks to Stein’s list and says that there is a fifth mystery team in the mix for the center’s services. (Twitter links)
- Meanwhile, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that he is hearing that an Asik deal may go down on Wednesday, though he cautions that nothing is definite.
- Kennedy also writes about the possibility of the Lakers finally pulling the trigger on a deal to send the disgruntled Pau Gasol out of Los Angeles, opining that while the team has overvalued the Spaniard in the past, the combination of his contract, his struggles this season and his issues with Mike D’Antoni may finally be enough for the Lakers to move him.
- As Tim Faklis of Canis Hoopus writes, the Timberwolves don’t have the assets to complete another significant trade this season. Faklis concludes that any deal could only involve some combination of Dante Cunningham, Luc Mbah a Moute, Alexey Shved and/or Shabazz Muhammad. Referencing Faklis’ story, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that the Wolves are limited in their flexibility and that he is told to expect “status quo” in Minnesota for now.
- We know that not only have the Bulls met with Nikola Mirotic, but that they’re aggressively trying to bring him over from Spain for next season. Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago tweets that the Bulls “love” Mirotic and that if they get him stateside this summer that it should be considered their big offseason move. To put that into context, Friedell adds that the Bulls consider Mirotic more valuable than the top-10 protected first round pick of the Bobcats that they own. (Twitter links)