Blazers Notes: Mills, Batum, Felton
The Trail Blazers were one of Thursday's most active teams, sending out Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace in separate deals, then parting ways with Chris Johnson and former number one pick Greg Oden to clear space for the new acquisitions. Oh, and the team fired its coach too, with assistant coach Kaleb Canales taking over for Nate McMillan. What's next for the Blazers? Let's have a look….
- Patrick Mills, who played in China this season, is a restricted free agent and could be brought on board for the rest of the season. However, acting GM Chris Buchanan indicated the team isn't looking at bringing anyone on board at the moment: "We're at 12 healthy bodies. It's an opportunity for guys to get some more minutes. At this point I wouldn't anticipate us adding another player" (link via Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge).
- Asked specifically about Mills, Buchanan said the team would take to his representatives in the coming days, and would consider all its options, including renouncing Mills' rights. Renouncing his rights would allow Mills to become an unrestricted free agent and sign anywhere.
- Nicolas Batum, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, will "definitely" be a Blazer next year, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. However, it'll cost the team more than what Batum's agent was asking for in January.
- After shopping Raymond Felton aggressively yesterday, Buchanan says a buyout for the point guard "is not an option," according to Haynes.
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.
Blazers To Waive Greg Oden, Chris Johnson
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
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
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
Trade Rumors: Hinrich, Pierce, Pistons, Crawford
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
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
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.