The Central Division has been reshaping the past few days, with LeBron James and Pau Gasol arriving to the Cavs and Bulls, respectively. Here’s a rundown of the division:
- If Andrew Wiggins is set to be traded in a deal for Kevin Love, David Blatt doesn’t know anything about it, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter). “He’s not going anywhere, as far as I’ve heard,” said the Cavs‘ soon-to-be first-year coach.
- LeBron’s two-year contract with the Cavs is purely a business decision and doesn’t indicate any hesitancy from James to finish his career in Cleveland, a source tells Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Zillgitt explains how James could maximize his earnings with a series of short-term deals in the coming years.
- The Cavs renounced their rights to Luol Deng, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The move clears Deng’s cap hold with Cleveland and forfeits their right to exceed the cap to sign him, but it clears the cap room necessary for Cleveland to sign LeBron. Deng has long been expected to sign elsewhere this summer, and is in serious talks with the Heat.
- The Pacers are interested in obtaining Suns point guard Goran Dragic, potentially in a sign-and-trade agreement involving Lance Stephenson, writes Mitch Lawrence of New York Daily News.
- The Pacers would also be interested in Carlos Boozer, should he get amnestied by the Bulls, writes Lawrence.
- The Bulls were offered a late top-10 2014 draft pick for Nikola Mirotic and declined, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
I heard that Deng is waiting on Dallas-Parsons to make a decision….Also, if the Heat really are only offering the reported $10 million, that seems off to me considering the presumed interest from the Mavs, Hornets, Rockets, and especially considering Deng turned that same amount down from the Bulls….
Why would the Suns want that knucklehead? We’re loaded with point guards at the moment. I’d rather see them do a sign and trade with Bledsoe, then extend Dragic.
I still dont understand why they picked up Isiah Thomas. I would keep Bledsoe and Dragic and use my other assets and cap space to add to a very talented young roster
They’re afraid they’re going to lose Dragic after next season. He can opt out then and they won’t be able to get him for what they’re paying Thomas. They seem intent on keeping Bledsoe even at a max salary and they can’t/won’t/shouldn’t pay 2 point guards max salaries.
As a Pacers fan, yes please! Although knowing the Suns they’ll turn him into an All-Star. We got fleeced in the Scola trade!
So your willing to trade Stephenson (age 23, with a limit high as the sky in how he can mature in not only his game, but personality), versus a 28 year old who finally figured things out?? Sorry, Dragic may have figured things out this year, I’m more willing to sign Stephenson who is a fan favorite, and has a huge ceiling.
Stephenson(in his current state) is NOT a main ballhandler/distributor, neither is Hill. Dragic would bring shooting, ballhanding, and passing. This would allow PG to get more open looks. Nothing against Stephenson, but I think Dragic is a better fit. Also with Stephenson, being a bit of a mental case isn’t the only reason he was a 2nd round pick, his upside might not be what we think it is.
While I understand where you are coming from, he is 23. Dragic has stated he does NOT want to be traded, and even though he may get traded for Indiana, Lance Stephenson is once again a SG. There is no fit, because they do not need any more point guards, now Indiana I’d also rumored to be a team interested in Carlos Boozer from Chicago if he is Amnestied. I think the Pacers could make a huge bench trade like we did with scola, and land dragic for something else. Also with the Rudez signing he is basically an upgraded Chris Copeland, and George Hill would need some playing time. They basically have three point guards in Gragic, Thomas, and Bledsoe. So there are many options, not to mention the Pacers could also trade away pics with a huge package deal. So trading Stephenson doesn’t seems to fit in this conversation.
Couldnt the Suns just sign Stephenson without moving Dragic? I dont see where the Pacers think they have the capability of doing something like that considering they’re about to lose Stephenson for nothing
If they sign Deng and Bledsoe, then they won’t have the money i think.
Three team trade. Wiggins To Philly. Dion Waiters Anthony Bennett Thaddeus Young and a unprotected PHI 2015 1st round pick to Minnesota. Kevin Love to Cleveland.
that is terrible
Terrible idea. Cleveland does not need Philly in situation where they have to give up Wiggins. The whole point of the 3rd team is to acquire something that the Wolves would consider valuable without losing Wiggins.