The Northwest Division includes the Nuggets, who are as active if not more so than any other club as the deadline draws near, the Thunder, who’ve been frequently linked to Brook Lopez and have a trade candidate of their own in Reggie Jackson, and Enes Kanter, who wants off the Jazz. It’s also home to the Timberwolves, who last week took part in the first two trades of February. The Trail Blazers have come up in rumors, too. Here’s more from what could be the NBA’s division to watch between now and 2pm Central time on Thursday:
- The Jazz offered Kanter a four-year, $32MM extension this past fall, but the Max Ergul client’s representatives wanted a deal akin to the max contract worth nearly $63MM over four years that Gordon Hayward signed this summer, sources tell Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).
Earlier updates:
- The Nuggets have received calls from numerous teams about Ty Lawson, but have so far turned away those suitors, sources tell Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post, who adds that the Nuggets haven’t actively shopped the point guard (Twitter links). Denver and the Celtics reportedly engaged in exploratory talks about Lawson, and the Bucks have been loosely connected to him as well.
- The interest the Thunder have in Arron Afflalo is strong, as a source describes it to Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reported Monday that the Thunder had spoken with the Nuggets about Afflalo, nonetheless adding that none of the conversations that Denver was having with several teams about the shooting guard had advanced to a serious stage.
- Utah is indeed asking for a lot in any deal involving Kanter, but several teams are in pursuit, executives tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Wojnarowski lists a young player and a first-rounder as two sorts of assets the Jazz would want, but it’s unclear if they would require both to get a deal done. Still, a league source later reaffirmed to Scotto (Twitter link) what Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune had heard Monday, when Jones wrote that Utah is unlikely to trade the center and that while the Jazz will listen to offers, he remains in the team’s plans.