2016 February | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets, Steve Novak To Talk Buyout

February 18th, 2016 at 3:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nuggets and Steve Novak, whom they’re acquiring as part of a package in their Randy Foye deal today, will work on a buyout arrangement, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The veteran sharpshooter is on an expiring contract worth $3.75MM for this season. He’ll be eligible to appear in the postseason for another team as long as Denver waives him by the end of March 1st.

Novak hasn’t contributed much since his solid 2012/13 campaign for the Knicks when he averaged 6.6 points per game on 42.5% three-point shooting. He was virtually a forgotten man in Oklahoma City this season, making just seven appearances and notching 2.4 points in a meager 3.4 minutes per night. The 32-year-old’s career numbers are 4.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists to accompany a slash line of .438/.432/.876.

It is unclear what the market would be for Novak if he does agree to a buyout with Denver. The Heat, who are in dire need of outside shooting, were mentioned as potential suitors for Novak heading into today’s trade deadline by Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, though his report was speculation and not necessarily indicative of Miami’s thinking.

Western Rumors: Anderson, Rockets, Lakers

February 18th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Will Joseph

The price New Orleans has set for Ryan Anderson is “exorbitant,” tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. The Cavs were one of several teams linked to having interest in acquiring Anderson, who is set to be a free agent this summer. Anderson is expected to attract a salary starting at $16MM-$18MM when he hits the market this summer. It’s interesting to note how much the Pelicans are asking for Anderson because they aren’t even sure if they can keep him beyond this season.

Here is more trade deadline news from the Western Conference:

The Rockets have been gauging the value of point guard Patrick Beverley, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
P.J. Tucker is one of the Suns‘ top assets, but he has been told he will not be traded, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
The Lakers have taken calls regarding Roy Hibbert, but they don’t intend to buy him out if he is not dealt, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets. Most teams interested in Brandon Bass and Hibbert would force the Lakers to take back unattractive contracts, Shelburne also tweets.
Mike Conley‘s first choice when he hits free agency this summer is to stay with the Grizzlies, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reports.

Latest On Dwight Howard

February 18th, 2016 at 1:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:57pm: Howard will stay with the Rockets, ending weeks of speculation of him getting traded, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

11:07am: There is a strong belief from Howard’s camp that he will not be traded before today’s deadline, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports.

7:44am: The Rockets and agent Dan Fegan are hard at work to find a new team for Dwight Howard, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Houston is prioritizing its pursuit of a Howard trade over serious talks with the Jazz on a Ty Lawson/Trey Burke swap, though no favorite to acquire Howard has emerged, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Most executives from teams aside from the Rockets were saying as of Wednesday that a deal involving Howard was unlikely, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Houston turned down an offer of Al Jefferson and Spencer Hawes from the Hornets, league sources tell Isola, and little chance exists of those teams doing a Howard deal unless Houston’s demands come down markedly, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer hears (Twitter links). The Rockets called the Cavs to offer Howard, but Cleveland didn’t bite, according to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops (on Twitter).

The Celtics, Heat, Hawks and Raptors have also reportedly spoken with the Rockets about Howard, at least on a cursory level, though Houston has apparently been underwhelmed with the proposals it’s hearing. One GM told TNT’s David Aldridge he doesn’t think the Rockets want to end up with Howard still on the roster after the 2pm Central time deadline (Twitter link), which suggests Houston will bring its asking price in line with the market.

Salary concerns complicate any Howard trade. He’s making more than $22.359MM this season, but a 15% trade kicker in Howard’s contract means teams would have to match salaries based on a $22,970,500 figure for him. The Rockets are also less than $1MM shy of a hard cap of $88.74MM, so they have sharply limited flexibility. The Rockets and others expect Howard to turn down his more than $23.282MM player option and hit free agency this summer.

Mavs Make Long Shot Run At Ben McLemore

February 18th, 2016 at 1:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:39pm: The Mavs took several calls regarding McLemore, but are not expected to pull the trigger on a deal involving the shooting guard, Sam Amick of USA Today Sports tweets.

1:28pm: The Mavericks are making a late push for Ben McLemore, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link). Haynes calls the Mavs a darkhorse candidate for the shooting guard. The Kings are reportedly “desperate” to move McLemore with the Bulls, Timberwolves and Cavaliers also in the hunt.

Haynes’ report comes after Mavs GM Donnie Nelson told reporters that Dallas will not be making any moves today. The Mavs reportedly called the Nets about Thaddeus Young, and considering they were unable to strike a deal it is conceivable that they are looking elsewhere.

McLemore, the seventh overall pick from 2013, is making almost $3.157MM in year three of his four-year rookie scale contract. McLemore is averaging 7.7 points per game this year, a figure that is down from his 12.1 points per game last season.

Kings Making Push For Pau Gasol

February 18th, 2016 at 1:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

1:14pm: The Kings are really high on Snell, Jones tweets.

THURSDAY, 9:07am: Skepticism is emanating from the Bulls side about a deal getting done on this front, Amick hears (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 10:40pm: The Kings are “aggressively pursuing” Bulls center Pau Gasol, tweets Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Sacramento is offering center Kosta Koufos, shooting guard Ben McLemore and “sweetener” in return.

Chicago would also send swingman Tony Snell to the Kings and would receive a relaxation of the lottery protections on the first-round pick that Sacramento owes the Bulls this summer, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The pick is currently top-10 protected, but that provision could be lowered to give Chicago a better chance of having it this year.

Wojnarowski also reports that the Kings called the Sixers today because Philadelphia has the option to swap first-rounders with Sacramento this summer. Sacramento can’t make a trade with the Bulls without an agreement with the Sixers. Philadelphia plans to seek some type of unidentified compensation for going along with the deal.

However, if the Kings and Bulls agree to change the protection on the pick, the trade automatically has to become a three-team deal with the Sixers, tweets Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers. Fischer confirmed with the league office that a change in protection to an owned draft pick cannot legally affect another obligation (Twitter link). All teams affected by the pick in question must accept the changes as part of a trade (Twitter link).

Gasol makes nearly $7.45MM this year and has a player option for next season at nearly $7.77MM. He said in December that he is “very likely” to opt out of his current contract, and there were conflicting reports today on how badly the Bulls want to trade him before Thursday’s deadline.

Bulls, Raptors Talk Taj Gibson, Patrick Patterson

February 18th, 2016 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 1:10pm: The Raptors continue to make offers to teams that include both Patterson and the first-round pick the Knicks owe them in an effort to upgrade at the four, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

8:03pm: One source who spoke with Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com cast doubt on the idea of a Gibson trade, saying he isn’t going anywhere.

1:54pm: Chicago asked for the lesser of the Raptors’ two first-round picks, a source told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, who adds that it’s not clear whether the Bulls initiated the talks or the Raptors did. Presumably, Johnson’s referring to the pair of 2016 first-rounders the Raps have, and not the two 2017 first-round picks they also possess.

WEDNESDAY, 9:33am: The Bulls have proposed a swap that would send Taj Gibson to Toronto and bring Patrick Patterson to Chicago, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. However, the Raptors love Patterson and GM Masai Ujiri doesn’t appear to feel as strongly about any of the available power forwards who might bump Luis Scola from the starting lineup, Lowe adds in a different portion of his wide-ranging trade deadline column. Ostensibly, that signals Ujiri’s preference for Patterson over Gibson, though that’s not entirely clear. The Raptors would have a strong chance to re-sign Al Horford if they traded for him, sources tell Lowe, but it would take just about all Toronto has to give to wrest him from the Hawks, and a Horford-to-Toronto swap is unlikely, Lowe writes.

Gibson is making $8.5MM this season, with $8.95MM due in 2016/17, so he’d be a more expensive option than Patterson, whose contract runs the same length of time and gives him close to $6.269MM this year and an even $6.05MM next season. The Raptors are barely above the salary cap for this season, which would give them plenty of flexibility to make such a move, though it would add to the nearly $70MM in guaranteed salary they have for 2016/17, a figure that doesn’t include a new contract for DeMar DeRozan. A swap of Gibson for Patterson straight up would conversely represent a key savings for the Bulls, who are about $4.7MM above the tax threshold. It would cleave about $3.3MM from Chicago’s projected tax bill.

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports first reported Gibson’s availability, though that was before Joakim Noah went out for the season and Nikola Mirotic had two surgeries related to appendicitis. Chicago would have preferred to have traded Noah rather than Gibson, Marc Stein of ESPN.com recently wrote. Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors examined Gibson as a trade candidate.

Many teams are high on Patterson, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports, and Patterson’s name emerged as a figure in a rumored proposal between the Raptors and Nets.

Eastern Rumors: Teague, Gasol, Nets

February 18th, 2016 at 1:04pm CST by Will Joseph

The Hawks have stopped trade talks involving Jeff Teague, whom the Knicks and Jazz (among others) reportedly covet, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter links). Our own Chuck Myron examined the point guard’s trade candidacy last month.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Nets never wound up interviewing Wizards senior VP of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard despite asking Washington’s permission to do so, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
Knicks GM Steve Mills spoke with the Timberwolves about Ricky Rubio, but the Knicks believe Minnesota won’t deal him, and while New York contacted the Rockets about Ty Lawson, neither dialogue is active, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post.
The Celtics have thus far been unwilling to pay a premium for Al Horford or Dwight Howard, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Bucks have reached out to the Sixers about Kendall Marshall but haven’t made progress on that front, reports Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Pau Gasol confirmed today the Bulls are in the lead to re-sign him when he opts out, as expected, this summer, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. An earlier report indicated he preferred to join forces with Marc Gasol on the Grizzlies.
The Pistons are still deliberating on their point guard situation, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press hears (Twitter link).
The Magic are expected to make a big push this summer for Horford, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com tweets.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Bulls, Magic Talk Aaron Brooks, Shabazz Napier

February 18th, 2016 at 1:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls and Magic are discussing a would-be deal involving Shabazz Napier, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Aaron Brooks would be heading Orlando’s way, reports Vince Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (Twitter link). Orlando is believed to have been making Napier available, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported earlier today. Brooks could veto any trade, since he re-signed with the Bulls in the offseason on a one-year contract and would lose his Bird rights if he’s dealt.

Wolves Receive Late Pitches On Rubio, Martin

February 18th, 2016 at 12:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks and Timberwolves had a renewed discussion about Ricky Rubio today but were unable to gain traction, and while the Knicks made a run at trading for Kevin Martin today, it appears unlikely Minnesota will trade him to New York, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

This jibes with recent reports that indicated while Rubio is currently on the block, Minnesota doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to deal him for the time being. Martin, meanwhile, is unlikely to end up in a trade unless he turns down his player option, worth nearly $7.378MM for next season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. It would not make much sense for Martin to do that because he’d have a tough time making up that money on the free agent market this summer.

Kidd is said to be a longtime admirer of Rubio. Yet the Bucks head coach, who holds sway over the team’s personnel decisions, expressed doubt last week that Milwaukee would make any moves.

Mavs, Celtics Call Nets About Thaddeus Young

February 18th, 2016 at 12:09pm CST by Will Joseph

12:08pm: Mavs GM Donnie Nelson told reporters, including Tim Cato of SB Nation, that Dallas will not be making any moves (link to Twitter).

11:25am: The Celtics also reached out to the Nets about Young, Fischer tweets.

10:54am: The Mavericks have spoken to the Nets to gauge the availability of Thaddeus Young, who has interest in joining a playoff team, reports Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link). Several teams with interest in trading for Young have already attempted to reach Sean Marks, whom Brooklyn hired today as its new GM, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports tweets.

It was reported yesterday that Young appears the most likely member of the Nets to be traded. What’s the more, the Nets are willing to deal Young, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The Raptors and Clippers are two other teams that reportedly have interest in Young.

Young, a ninth-year veteran, re-signed with the Nets this past summer on a four-year, $50MM deal. Young has enjoyed a solid season and is averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

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