Pacific Links: Kings, Patterson, Suns, Lakers
While the Los Angeles clubs stood pat and the Suns and Warriors only made small moves at the deadline, it was the Kings that were the Pacific Division's most active team, completing a six-player trade with the Rockets on Wednesday night. We have a couple links related to Sacramento's deal, as well as the rest of the latest items out of the Pacific:
- Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee questions why the Kings didn't wait until the offseason to consider dealing Thomas Robinson, since the trade with Houston ultimately won't save the team that much money.
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee spoke to Patrick Patterson about being traded from the Rockets to the Kings.
- The Suns have been looking for an opportunity to pair Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris since the 2011 draft, and nearly gave up a first-round pick to do it at the time, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic writes.
- Jerry Buss had plenty of time to consider the best course for the Lakers after his death, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who says that Buss' decision to pass on the team to his children suggests the former Lakers owner is still asking fans to trust his vision for the franchise.
Kings, Warriors Not Expected To Reach Deal
1:35pm: Barring a last-minute surprise, the Warriors won't make a move to get below the tax, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Kings had some interest in Jeremy Tyler, according to Spears, but it sounds like the two teams couldn't work out an agreement.
10:22am: Given the team's uncertain ownership situation, we expected a quiet deadline from the Kings, but Sacramento has already made a six-player trade, and is still discussing deals. According to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), the Kings have talked to the Warriors about acquiring one of Golden State's minimum-salary players, with cash as a sweetener.
Sending cash and a player to Sacramento now would help the Warriors save money later, if the team can dip below the luxury-tax threshold. Trading a pair of players from a group of minimum-salary guys that includes Charles Jenkins, Jeremy Tyler, and Kent Bazemore would allow Golden State to avoid being a taxpayer this season.
The Kings, meanwhile, are allowed to take on up to $3MM in cash via trade per season. The team acquired $1MM in its deal with the Rockets, but still has room to take on more, as Sam Amick of USA Today tweets.
While a Kings/Warriors swap would be a minor one, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee isn't ruling out the possibility that Sacramento could explore a larger deal, tweeting that the Kings may revisit Tyreke Evans talks.
Rockets Send Morris To Suns, Get Kings’ Robinson
The Rockets have finalized a pair of deals they agreed upon Wednesday night, sending Marcus Morris to the Suns for a second-round pick and trading Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas and $1MM to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. The second-rounder heading to Houston is Phoenix's own 2013 selection. The Suns, who were at the roster limit of 15 players going into the trade, waived Luke Zeller to make room for Morris.
Houston was reportedly deciding between a pair of deals for Morris, whom the Rockets held out of their win against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. With Houston's top two power forwards gone, it looks like a pair of rookies, in Robinson and Terrence Jones, will man the position as the team fights to hold on to the final playoff spot in the West. One of the motivations to trade Morris was to free up time for Jones, according to HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler.
As Grantland's Zach Lowe points out via Twitter, the pair of moves will save Houston approximately $1.6MM for next season if they decline their option on Garcia. Lowe surmised earlier that Houston would look to cut between $1.5MM and $2MM to clear room for a max deal to land Dwight Howard, who'll be a free agent this summer. The Rockets also get the No. 5 overall pick from this past June's draft in Robinson, who's seen just 15.9 minutes per game as a reserve for the Kings this year. Nonetheless, Robinson is grabbing 4.7 rebounds in his limited action, which would extrapolate to 10.6 rebounds per 36 minutes.
Sacramento had appeared unlikely to make a deal as their ownership situation remains in limbo, but they flipped Robinson for two expiring deals and Patterson, who will enter the final season of his rookie contract next year. The move was all about cost-cutting and not something the Kings current management wished to do, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Chris Hansen/Howard Ballmer group from Seattle that has a deal in place to buy the Kings was briefed on the trade before it went down, according to fellow Yahoo! Sports scribe Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It's unclear exactly where the directive to make the trade came from, though SB Nation's Tom Ziller indicated Wednesday night that co-owner Gavin Maloof and Geoff Petrie are the driving forces in the Kings front office at the moment.
The Suns considered trading a first-round pick for Morris when the Rockets drafted him 14th overall in 2011, but wound up nabbing him for a second-rounder, currently projected to be the 35th overall selection. Now the power forward will reunite with his twin brother, Markieff Morris, whom the Suns took 13th overall in 2011. With the next pick that year, the Rockets drafted Marcus.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (All Twitter links) initially broke the news of both trades. Sam Amick of USA Today (All Twitter links) and TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link) contributed additional details.
Odds & Ends: Bulls, Warriors, Kings, Gordon
Just to make sure they don't slip through the cracks, here are a few odds and ends from overnight and this morning, as the trade deadline creeps closer….
- Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com expects the Bulls to stand pat at the deadline, since Carlos Boozer and Richard Hamilton aren't drawing a ton of interest.
- The Warriors are shopping Jeremy Tyler, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, while Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group says (via Twitter) Charles Jenkins is also being shopped. I would guess Golden State has discussed both players with Sacramento, as the Warriors attempt to get below the tax line.
- Spears also tweets that Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins have been given the impression by the Kings that they won't be moved today.
- If they don't move Eric Gordon today, the Hornets will likely revisit trade talks this summer, writes John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
- Teams with the draft rights to players currently overseas could find those guys to be valuable trade chips, and A.J. Mitnick of SheridanHoops.com profiles the top five assets stashed away in Europe.
- The Thomas Robinson trade between the Rockets and Kings came together in about 48 hours, having been initially hatched on Monday, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Celtics Making Run At Evans; Deal Unlikely
As the Celtics continuing to target backcourt help, the club is making a deadline-day run at Tyreke Evans, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). However, a source familiar with the situation tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee that Evans won't be moved today (Twitter link).
Jones had reported earlier today (via Twitter) that he was hearing the Kings could revisit trade discussions for Evans, noting that a knee injury earlier this season slowed talks when he could have been moved. It's a little surprising that the Kings are so active, given the team's uncertain ownership situation, but the Seattle group was consulted on yesterday's six-player trade and would presumably also be apprised on any other deals.
It's unclear what sort of package the Celtics could put together for Evans. Players like Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Bass would all be good matches from a salary perspective, but I doubt the Kings would want to take on a long-term contract. Some sort of package of cheaper players on shorter deals, like Fab Melo, Leandro Barbosa, and Jason Collins, may appeal more to Sacramento, if the club is listening to offers.
Kings Might Not Be Done Trading
The Kings already made one surprising deal with less than 24 hours to go before the trade deadline, and Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee hears there could be another on the way (Twitter link). Jones doesn't specify who might be included, but DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans have drawn interest, even as it has appeared the Kings would not make any moves while their sale, either to competing groups from Seattle to Sacramento, is pending.
The trade that sent out Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt for Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas was reportedly a cost-cutting measure that some members of the team's management opposed. Tom Ziller of SB Nation indicates that co-owner Gavin Maloof and GM Geoff Petrie are driving forces in the front office at the moment (Twitter links).
Still, it seems far-fetched the deal was done purely for financial reasons. If the Kings were planning to decline their team option on Garcia and waive Honeycutt, whose deal is only guaranteed for $100K next season, the trade saves them just $521K for next season, when new ownership is likely to be in place. It saves them a pro-rated portion of $3,674,395 for this year, though, so perhaps that's the primary concern.
Western Notes: Kings, Garnett, Mavs, Wolves
Most around the league are surprised by the Kings' involvement in a cost-cutting deal that sent away Thomas Robinson, the fifth pick of this past June's draft this evening, Grantland's Zach Lowe hears (Twitter link). It's just the fifth time a team has traded a top five pick in his rookie season, ESPN Stats and Info tweets. The Kings weren't expected to be involved in any deals as their ownership situation is resolved, but ultimately they didn't hesitate to jump in at the last moment. Here's more on that trade and from around the West as the hours tick down until tomorrow's 2:00pm Central time deadline:
- If Kevin Garnett is traded, it will be to the Clippers or not at all, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes.
- The Mavs are making Brandan Wright, Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones available in return for draft picks, but won't compromise future cap space, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (All Twitter links).
- J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour and Derrick Williams are all available from the Wolves, Berger also tweets.
- Marcus Morris is averaging 18.4 minutes per game this month for the Rockets, and he was seeking more before the trade that sent him to the Suns, tweets Sam Amick of SI.com.
- There's a decent chance the Blazers get involved in serious trade talks, but it would likely be about smaller moves, according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
- Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune sums up what looks to be a quiet deadline for the Jazz, who aren't interested in trading for anyone on a long-term deal unless they get a core player in return.
Western Rumors: T-Wolves, Grizzlies, Warriors
Regular-season action resumes tonight, and one of the more intriguing games on the schedule will impact the Western Conference's playoff standings. If the Jazz can defeat the Warriors in Utah, they'll pull into a tie with Golden State for the sixth seed. As we wait to see if the Warriors can snap their five-game losing streak, let's check out a few notes from the West:
- Multiple reports have suggested the Timberwolves are shopping draft picks as they try to bolster their roster. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities isn't exactly sure who the Wolves are pursuing, but says Josh Smith and J.J. Hickson aren't among the team's targets and that J.J. Redick is "doubtful" (Twitter link).
- According to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld, the Grizzlies are likely to be buyers rather than sellers at the deadline, since they'll need to add a 13th man to their roster soon.
- Kyler also echoes a report by Ken Berger, writing that the Warriors are expected to try to move a couple of minimum-salary players to duck below the luxury-tax threshold. The HoopsWorld scribe notes that Draymond Green is also a possibility, and that he'd bring back a better return, but Golden State will probably want to keep him around.
- We've heard plenty of times over the last few weeks that the Kings aren't likely to make a deadline deal, and general manager Geoff Petrie agrees with that assessment, as he tells Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- Eric Gordon is unconcerned with the trade rumors surrounding him and is focused on moving forward with the Hornets, writes Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Spears On Oden, Kings, Gordon, Ridnour, Bucks
In the last pre-trade-deadline installment of his weekly power rankings, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports shares trade nuggets for a good chunk of the NBA's 30 teams. We've already heard many of them, but here are a few of Spears' notes of interest:
- Agent Mike Conley tells Spears that his client Greg Oden likely won't sign with a team until the offseason. We've heard that the Cavaliers and Bobcats are preparing to make Oden offers after the trade deadline, so if he really waits until the summer to sign, it would strongly suggest to me that he prefers to go to the Heat. Miami can only offer a minimum-salary contract at this point, but would have the mini mid-level exception available again in July.
- The Kings prefer to let a new ownership group inherit the team as is, so they likely won't make any moves at the deadline.
- Eric Gordon figures to remain with the Hornets through the deadline, but the club may explore potential trades involving Gordon this summer.
- A source tells Spears that, contrary to previous reports, the Timberwolves aren't actively shopping Luke Ridnour.
- The Bucks doubt that they'll move either Brandon Jennings or Monta Ellis this week, even though both players could become free agents in the summer.
- Mark Cuban would like to make a trade that makes Dirk Nowitzki the Mavericks' second-best player, according to Spears. I have a hard time believing there's a deal out there like that for Dallas.
- The Pistons are expected to stand pat at the deadline.
Kings Rumors: Trades, Arena, Spurs
Talk about Sacramento, Seattle and the future of the Kings dominated the yesterday's joint press conference held by commissioner David Stern and deputy Adam Silver. Stern said that he doesn't believe the tug-of-war between Sacramento and Seattle will ultimately come down to money, as Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty notes, but the Bee's Ailene Voisin believes Stern made it clear that economics are at the heart of the matter. Here's more about whether players or the team itself will soon be departing Sacramento:
- The team has the second-worst record in the Western Conference, at 19-35, but Kings GM Geoff Petrie said "it's very unlikely" he'll trade away any of the team's top players, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee notes.
- The NBA vetted Sacramento's arena plan last year, and mayor Kevin Johnson believes that, coupled with a lack of pending lawsuits, gives the city an advantage over Seattle, as Cowbell Kingdom's Jonathan Santiago observes, via Sulia.
- Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News compares the small-market Spurs and Kings, noting that while San Antonio's newer arena has helped keep the Spurs in town, its isolated location on the east side of the city could cause trouble in the future.