2016 February | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Trying To Trade Chase Budinger

February 16th, 2016 at 2:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers and Chase Budinger‘s representatives are cooperating in an effort to find a new team for the Kevin Bradbury client, reports Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). A decent chance exists that it’ll require a third team to facilitate a trade for Budinger and his expiring contract, worth $5MM, Buckner also hears (Twitter link).

Indiana acquired Budinger from the Timberwolves this summer thinking he would come in handy at the wing with Paul George playing power forward, but as the team abandoned the idea of George at the four, it put the squeeze on Budinger, who’s averaging a career-low 15.5 minutes per game, Buckner explains (on Twitter).

The 27-year-old has appeared in 41 games this season, including two starts, and is averaging 4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist to accompany a shooting line of .407/.295/.705.

Magic Shopping Channing Frye

February 16th, 2016 at 1:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic have been trying to trade Channing Frye, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link), who suggests the effort will accelerate now that the team has reportedly agreed to trade Tobias Harris, who’s Frye’s cousin, to the Pistons for Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. Orlando has fielded multiple inquiries on Frye, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported a few weeks ago, adding that an executive from a rival team said interest in the veteran floor-stretcher was high. The Magic apparently denied before the season that they were making Frye available for little in return.

The 32-year-old has disappointed since Orlando signed him to a four year deal during the summer of 2014. He has appeared in 44 games this season, including 29 as a starter, and is averaging just 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per night. His career averages are 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist and Frye owns a career slash line of .438/.387/.820.

Frye is making more than $8.193MM this season, with about $7.8MM coming next season and $7.4MM in 2017/18, the final year of his deal.

Latest On Chris Bosh

February 16th, 2016 at 12:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

12:58pm: Bosh is taking blood-thinners and has hopes of playing again this season, Reynolds hears (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 12:01am: Bosh is expected to meet with doctors on Thursday to determine the seriousness of the clotting in his left calf and whether blood thinners could allow him to return this season, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports.

MONDAY, 10:46pm: Heat perennial All-Star power forward Chris Bosh may be dealing with another serious health situation, multiple sources told Barry Jackson and Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald. Bosh has a blood-clot scare, a source told the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, but Bosh’s season has not been declared over (Twitter link). Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweeted first that multiple sources had told him Bosh might have a serious issue.

Bosh missed Sunday’s All-Star game with a strained calf and returned to Miami for additional tests, according to Jackson. A person in contact with the Heat’s front office indicated a problem surfaced Monday beyond a strained calf.

Bosh sat out the second half of last season after potentially life-threatening blood clots were found in his lungs but the current problem is not life threatening, a source told Jackson. Bosh’s agent, Henry Thomas, told Jackson via text that it’s “too soon” to declare that Bosh has a blood clot in his calf.

A blood clot would require Bosh to take blood thinners that would put him out of action indefinitely, the Herald story adds. Bosh was on blood thinners for seven months after being diagnosed with blood clots, according to Jackson.

If Bosh is sidelined, the Heat’s chances of making the playoffs would obviously be dealt a severe blow. They have limited options at power forward and Chris Andersen and Josh McRoberts have been nagged by injuries much of the season. It could also alter their strategy heading into the trade deadline, where they might be more inclined to be sellers than buyers.

Kings Seek To Deal Ben McLemore; Wolves Eye Him

February 16th, 2016 at 12:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 12:10pm: Sacramento is “desperate” to trade McLemore, a league source told Sam Amico of Amico Hoops.

3:17pm: The Timberwolves are among the teams talking to Sacramento about McLemore, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 2:53pm: The Kings and Ben McLemore are working together to find a new team for the former lottery pick as the trade deadline approaches, report Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The Cavaliers are one of multiple Eastern Conference teams with strong interest in the shooting guard, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported last week, though it appeared then that Sacramento was resisting offers for the Rich Paul client. Sacramento wants someone who can help them immediately and not future draft picks, Stein and Windhorst write. McLemore, the seventh overall pick from 2013, is making almost $3.157MM in year three of his four-year rookie scale contract.

The effort to trade McLemore is similar to the one the Kings made to try to facilitate a trade for Caron Butler in December, according to Stein and Windhorst. However, Butler remains with Sacramento.

The Kings drafted Nik Stauskas at No. 8 in 2014, one year after they took McLemore, but they traded Stauskas this to Philadelphia past summer, ostensibly designating McLemore as their shooting guard of the future. Instead, his minutes have shrunk from 32.6 last season, when he started all 82 games, to 21.0 this year. He’s shooting career bests of 37.2% from 3-point territory and 45.1% from the field, but it hasn’t translated into more playing time, and he wasn’t in the starting lineup for the last two games in which he appeared before going out with a wrist injury for Sacramento’s final three games leading up to the All-Star break.

Cavs Make Iman Shumpert Available?

February 16th, 2016 at 12:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 12:05pm: The Cavs intend to keep Shumpert, barring an unforeseen major offer from another team, sources told Sam Amico of Amico Hoops.

9:12pm: Cleveland isn’t actively thinking about trading Shumpert, whose name simply came up because his contract was a fit for salary matching purposes in a larger proposal, reports Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links).

MONDAY, 2:42pm: The Cavaliers are making Iman Shumpert available for a trade, report Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Cleveland had been seeking a three-and-D wing to back him up, given his history of injuries, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported a month ago, but now it seems the Cavs would be willing to send out Shumpert himself. He’s making close to $8.988MM this season in the first year of a four-year, $40MM deal he signed with Cleveland just this past summer.

Shumpert is averaging a career-low 6.2 points this season, one in which he’s played in only 30 of Cleveland’s 52 games so far thanks to a preseason wrist injury. His 3-point shooting is off, at 32.2%, his lowest rate of accuracy since he shot 30.6% from behind the line as a rookie in 2011/12. Still, he’s the sixth best shooting guard in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus and is having his finest season to date on D according to the Basketball-Reference Box Plus Minus metric.

Cleveland appears to be operating on multiple fronts in addition to the search for wing players, as they’ve been eyeing big man Kosta Koufos, Stein reported earlier today, while also reportedly shopping Kevin Love. The Cavs want a star in return for Love, and not the role players and draft picks the Celtics have offered in their recent talks, Stein and Windhorst hear.

Jazz Have External Trade Talk About Trey Burke

February 16th, 2016 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Jazz have held multiple discussions with other teams about trades involving Trey Burke, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Still, the Jazz aren’t in line to acquire fellow point guard Jeff Teague from the Hawks, Jones tweets, despite an earlier report that they were thinking about pursuing him. Utah rejected an offer from the Hawks of Teague for Rodney Hood and a draft pick, according to Spencer Checketts of 1280 The Zone radio in Salt Lake City (Twitter link).

Jazz coach Quin Snyder has praised Burke for his defense, Jones notes, and the No. 9 overall pick is shooting a career best 42.3% from the floor and 34.7% from 3-point range. Still, his minutes are at a career-low 23.6 per game, down significantly from the 30.1 he saw last season, even though he seemed to be first in line to start when Dante Exum went down with a torn ACL in the summer. The Jazz have gone with rookie Raul Neto as the starter instead and often employed lineups with three wing players instead of a point guard.

Burke, the No. 9 pick from the 2013 draft, is making more than $2.658MM this season in year three of his four-year rookie scale contract. He’ll be up for an extension this summer.

Jones speculates that George Hill, whom the Pacers have reportedly dangled in talks with Atlanta about Teague, would be a strong fit for the Jazz, and that he’d be obtainable if Utah has interest (Twitter links). The Tribune scribe believes that an offer of Burke and the unprotected 2017 first-round pick the Warriors owe the Jazz would be reasonable in exchange for Hill. Still, it’s unclear whether any connection exists between the Jazz and Pacers on that front.

Kings Eye Ryan Anderson, Make Belinelli Available

February 16th, 2016 at 11:02am CST by Chuck Myron

The Kings would like to sign Ryan Anderson in free agency this summer, and they’re pondering whether it would be wise to trade for him at the deadline to gain his Bird rights and the ability to give him a fifth year in a new contract this summer, reports Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, adding that the same is true for the Pistons. Sacramento is making several players available for a trade, including Marco Belinelli, according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports (audio link; scroll to 14:45 mark), who also mentions the availability of Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore, which earlier reports made clear. It’s unclear if any of them are connected to Anderson. The Pelicans rejected a proposal from Sacramento of Anderson for Gay, as Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reported, though James Ham of CSN California cast doubt on the notion of whether that offer took place.

Several teams have shown interest in Belinelli as well as Gay, Ham later reported, though it’s unclear just who’s in the mix for Belinelli, in particular. The shooting guard who turns 30 next month recently entered the starting lineup, but he’s shooting a career-worst 29.9% from 3-point range, off precipitously from last season’s 37.4% clip and his career mark of 38.1%. He’s nonetheless averaging more 3-point attempts than in any of his nine seasons so far. Sacramento signed him this past summer to a three-year, $19MM deal, fending off the Warriors, Hornets and Heat. The contract gives him nearly $6.061MM this season.

Anderson’s name has been mentioned frequently in rumors of late, both as a trade candidate and a looming free agent. Miami, like the Kings and Pistons, has also drawn mention as a team with interest in signing him over the summer, but it’s unclear if the Heat have any inclination to trade for him. A source with an NBA team told Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders a while ago that he expects Anderson to command a maximum-salary contract with a projected starting salary of $24.9MM. Lowe makes passing mention of $20MM as a possibility for Anderson’s salary next season.

New Orleans reportedly made Anderson available for a swap earlier this season, but the team wasn’t anxious to trade him, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported. The Wizards have apparently asked about him and the Rockets “kicked the tires” on Anderson earlier this season, Kyler also reported. The Raptors have strong interest in trading for him, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press heard. New Orleans apparently had talks with the Suns that involved Anderson, too.

Heat Interested In Randy Foye

February 16th, 2016 at 10:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The Heat have been looking into inexpensive 3-and-D wing options, including Nuggets shooting guard Randy Foye, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com. Foye was said to be available as of mid-December, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported then, and that’s no surprise, given his shrinking role in Denver. He’s averaging career lows in points and minutes per game while shooting a career worst 29.6% from 3-point range, well beneath his career mark of 37.0%.

Foye is making $3.135MM on an expiring contract, so Miami would have to match for that salary, and given the Heat’s position as a tax team and the repeat-offender tax penalties they face if they don’t ditch roughly $5.5MM from their payroll by season’s end, they have incentive to send salary Denver’s way. The Heat have been aggressive in trying to trade a player on the end of their bench, especially Chris Andersen and Jarnell Stokes, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported around the same time that fellow Herald scribe Ethan Skolnick heard Miami had explored trading for Omri Casspi. It’s unclear if the Nuggets would want either Andersen, whom they amnestied in 2012, or Stokes, who’s spent enough time in the D-League this season to be named one of its All-Stars. Neither of them have a salary that would work in a one-for-one swap involving Foye, with Anderson’s $5MM pay too large and Stokes’ minimum salary too small.

Concern over the health of Chris Bosh clouds Miami’s trade deadline plans. The Heat have reportedly spoken with the Rockets about a swap involving Hassan Whiteside and Dwight Howard, but Miami isn’t sold on Howard’s character and the way he’d fit with the Heat, Lowe adds.

Rockets, Heat Talk Dwight, Whiteside Swap

February 16th, 2016 at 8:34am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 8:34am: The Heat have questions about Howard’s character and the way he’d fit with their team, sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.com.

MONDAY, 10:56am: The Rockets and Heat are talking about a potential trade that would involve Dwight Howard and Hassan Whiteside, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Miami would have to come up with at least an additional $17,315,052 in salary to make such a trade work within the league’s salary-matching rules, thanks in part to Howard’s trade kicker, and significantly more if the Heat want to cut payroll to avoid repeat-offender tax penalties. The Heat have reportedly measured the market for Whiteside, and the Rockets have reportedly gauged interest in Howard, too, if only on a due-diligence basis.

Howard is making in excess of $22.359MM this season, while Whiteside earns the three-year veteran’s minimum of $981,348. Both are poised for free agency this summer, with the Rockets expecting Howard to opt out and Whiteside’s bargain contract set to expire. The Heat have only Early Bird rights on Whiteside, meaning they’d have to use cap room to pay him in excess of roughly $6MM next season. The same would be true for the Rockets, or any other team that might trade for him before Thursday’s 2pm Central time deadline. The Heat reportedly believe Whiteside, who turns 27 this summer, would command a salary of at least $17MM. The Sean Kennedy client will no doubt try for a max deal with a projected starting salary of $20.4MM, while Howard, only three and a half years older but with eight additional years of NBA experience, is expected to seek his max of a projected $29.3MM.

Miami has reportedly grown frustrated with the emotional Whiteside, while the Rockets are looking for answers while they sit at 27-28, in ninth place in the Western Conference. ESPN’s Chris Broussard said this morning that Howard would like to play for his hometown Hawks, though it’s unclear if Atlanta has interest, and the market for the former All-Star center apparently hasn’t been overwhelming so far.

Can you envision a workable trade proposal involving Howard and Whiteside? Share your ideas in the comments.

Knicks Offer To Attach O’Quinn To Calderon Trades

February 16th, 2016 at 8:31am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 8:31am: New York is seeking rotation players on expiring deals for Calderon and O’Quinn, sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.com.

MONDAY, 3:06pm: The Knicks are offering Kyle O’Quinn to potential trade partners as they seek to offload Jose Calderon, report Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. New York harbors a strong desire for Jeff Teague, Stein and Windhorst write, with the Knicks having reportedly spoken with Atlanta about Teague last month, but it’s unclear if O’Quinn and Calderon have been a part of any talks between the Knicks and Hawks.

Trade rumors have surrounded Calderon since he underwhelmed following a 2014 trade that sent him from Dallas to New York, and he’s making close to $7.403MM this year on a contract that runs through next season. O’Quinn sees $3.75MM this year on a four-year deal worth about $16.013MM that he inked just this past summer as part of a sign-and-trade with the Magic.

O’Quinn’s role has shrunk in recent weeks, as he’s averaged only 7.3 minutes per game since the calendar turned to 2016. He’d seen 13.8 minutes a night prior to that, a rate of playing time that was still reduced from his final two seasons with the Magic.

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