1:18pm: Washington isn’t actively shopping Nene, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
1:06pm: Teams around the league aren’t showing much interest in trading for Nene, though the team is confident that the market for him would pick up around the trade deadline if a deal doesn’t happen this summer, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington (Twitter links). Washington has interest in trading Nene regardless of whether it lands West, Michael also tweets.
10:22am: The Wizards continue to shop Nene and cling to hopes that they can deal him into cap space, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, presumably indicating that Washington would like to unload him without taking any salary back in return. It’s unclear when the Wizards started shopping the veteran, but the team is reportedly making the addition of a stretch four a top priority this offseason, and Marcin Gortat wants to pair with just that sort of power forward. The Wizards are making a push for free agent David West, as Stein reported minutes ago.
Nene might not be too keen on playing more center, a position that he’s in the past seemed reluctant to play. He’d be an expensive third big man if the Wizards intend to emphasize West at power forward and keep Gortat as the starting center, as Nene is scheduled to make $13MM this coming season on a contract that expires next summer. It remains to be seen whether capped-out Washington, with only the $5.464MM mid-level exception, could even afford West if it doesn’t clear salary, as the Wizards are apparently competing against the Spurs, who’ll have max-level cap flexibility to burn if they miss on LaMarcus Aldridge. West is prioritizing a shot at a title over money, notes Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri knows Nene from their time together with the Nuggets, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun points out (Twitter link), though Toronto’s pursuit of Wesley Matthews may well signal that the team would ultimately prefer to have soon-to-be signee DeMarre Carroll at the four. Grantland’s Zach Lowe speculates that Nene might be a fit for the Mavs if they miss out on DeAndre Jordan (Twitter link).
Sacramento has room after their trade with philly. It seems like a trade is the only way to get players to town.
If the wizards are gonna add a 1st rounder with him I’d take him in LA for 1season
Also think he’s a good option for the Knicks instead of signing Lopez long term