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Recap Of Trade Deadline Deals

March 15th, 2012 at 5:33pm CST by Sean Highkin

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.

Blazers To Waive Greg Oden, Chris Johnson

March 15th, 2012 at 4:39pm CST by Luke Adams

After completing a pair of two-for-one trades today, the Blazers found themselves over the maximum roster size by two players. To clear roster spots for the new additions, it appears the team will waive Greg Oden and Chris Johnson. Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets the Oden scoop, while Johnson's wife first broke the news on her husband on her Twitter account, tweeting "C just got released :(" (hat tip to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge).

In addition to those moves, the Blazers are also working on a possible buyout for newly-acquired forward Shawne Williams, tweets Freeman.

Oden, the former first overall pick, was sidelined by health issues again this season, having undergone season-ending knee surgery. Johnson, meanwhile, has seen limited action in 20 games with the Blazers this year, averaging 1.6 points and 0.9 rebounds in less than five minutes per contest.

Timberwolves Backed Out Of Beasley Deal

March 15th, 2012 at 4:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers and Blazers had agreed to a three-team trade that would've sent Michael Beasley to the Lakers, with Jamal Crawford and Derek Fisher heading to the Timberwolves, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. However, the T-Wolves pulled out of the deal, says Cooper (Twitter link).

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune echoes Howard-Cooper's report, saying that Minnesota decided upgrading from Beasley to Crawford wasn't enough to justify the additional salary heading to the T-Wolves (Twitter link). The Wolves also had no guarantee that Crawford would exercise his player option and remain in Minnesota next season, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (via Twitter).

Zgoda adds that Luke Ridnour and Steve Blake don't seem to have been involved in the discussed deal, as the Blazers would have received Dallas' first-round pick from the Lakers (Twitter links).

Failed Deals: Beasley, Crawford, Allen, Pierce

March 15th, 2012 at 3:31pm CST by Luke Adams

You've read about the trades that were completed prior to the deadline, but there were also plenty of moves that didn't quite work out. Here are a few that have been reported so far:

The Lakers had been in talks to acquire Michael Beasley in a deal that would've sent Jamal Crawford and Derek Fisher to the Timberwolves, with Dallas' first-round pick going to the Blazers, says Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (on Twitter).
Crawford also could've gone to the Lakers, but the Blazers didn't want to take on Derek Fisher, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Before they acquired Nick Young, the Clippers talked extensively with the Rockets about trading for Courtney Lee, tweets Sam Amick of SI.com.
The Clippers were also "this close" from acquiring Ray Allen, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
The Celtics had serious talks with several teams about both Allen and Paul Pierce, but nothing came together, says Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Another interesting tidbit from Amick: He says the Nuggets tried to engage the Kings on Nene/DeMarcus Cousins swap about a month ago, but the Kings weren't interested (Twitter links).
The Bucks made a "strong late push" for the Hornets' Carl Landry, but couldn't work anything out, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
GM Otis Smith told John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com that the Magic explored many deals to bring in help around Dwight Howard, but that the risk/reward factor didn't make sense (Twitter link).

Blazers Fire Nate McMillan

March 15th, 2012 at 2:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have fired coach Nate McMillan, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Portland has promoted assistant coach Kaleb Canales, naming him the interim head coach, tweets Wojnarowski.

Trade Rumors: Hinrich, Pierce, Pistons, Crawford

March 15th, 2012 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA's 2:00pm trade deadline is upon us, but teams who are close to deals could still be given a little leeway to finalize things. Here are a few of the latest rumors:

Kirk Hinrich will remain a Hawk through the deadline, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The Hawks and Bobcats will stand pat, says Steve Kyler of Hoops World (Twitter link).
Interest in Paul Pierce picked up today, but a deal isn't likely because the Celtics' asking price is too high, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
The Pistons received and made phone calls, but likely won't make a deadline deal, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets that the Blazers are still working on a Jamal Crawford trade, but a deal doesn't look likely, says Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter).

Blazers Don’t Find Deal For Raymond Felton

March 15th, 2012 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Raymond Felton won't be moved before the deadline, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (via Twitter). The Blazers were pushing hard to make a deal, having called every team today, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

If Portland had been able to find a taker for Felton, it would've been the team's third deal of the day. They've already sent Gerald Wallace to New Jersey and Marcus Camby to Houston.

Rockets Acquire Marcus Camby

March 15th, 2012 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have acquired Marcus Camby from the Trail Blazers, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Blazers will receive Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet, and a second-round pick (originally the Timberwolves') in exchange for Camby (Twitter links).

Camby is in the final year of his contract, with a cap figure that exceeds $11MM+. Flynn and Thabeet are also on expiring deals, totaling a little over $8.5MM. So Houston should receive about $2.5MM in summer savings, along with a player who should see more consistent minutes.

According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports (via Twitter), the Rockets had been pursuing Camby for a while. Berger says if Camby was to be traded, Houston was his preferred destination.

Nets To Acquire Gerald Wallace

March 15th, 2012 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Blazers and Nets have reached an agreement on a trade that will send Gerald Wallace to New Jersey, reports TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter). The Blazers will receive Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams, and a top-three protected 2012 pick. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, who first reported the two sides were close, confirms the agreement (via Twitter).

After finding out Dwight Howard would not be available via free agency this summer, the Nets quickly turned to trades that would add help for Deron Williams. The price for Wallace seems awfully high though — while the Nets were able to move Okur's expiring $10.89MM contract and avoid Williams exercising his $3.1MM option for next season, the first-round pick seems to be the Nets' own selection. While New Jersey will retain the pick if it lands in the top three, it's very possible that the Blazers will receive a top-ten pick in what's expected to be a strong draft. The Nets currently have the sixth-worst record in the league (15-29).

Wallace has a $9.5MM player option for next season, which I assume the Nets will want him to exercise. Perhaps the two sides could even agree to void the player option in favor of working out a longer-team deal with a reduced 2012/13 cap figure. Even with Wallace on the books for next year, the team should have a decent amount of cap space to re-sign Brook Lopez and perhaps sign another free agent to entice Williams to stay.

Lakers Still Could Make Multiple Deals

March 15th, 2012 at 12:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The pace of the Lakers' trade talks has picked up to the point where Los Angeles could make multiple trades before the deadline, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.

Yesterday, I would've assumed that two trades for the Lakers would mean bringing in Michael Beasley from the Timberwolves and Ramon Sessions from the Cavs, but J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today reports (via Twitter) that the Lakers' three-way talks with Portland and Minnesota for Beasley seem to be losing momentum. Falgoust hears that Portland "dragged its feet," and that other deals are now in the works.

Earlier reports suggested that the Lakers were gaining interest in Jamal Crawford.