Trade/Buyout Rumors: Kaminsky, Vonleh, Kanter, More

The Hornets are still “pushing hard” for a taker for Frank Kaminsky and there are indications that teams are interested, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The fourth-year center will be a restricted free agent this summer and doesn’t appear to be in Charlotte’s long-range plans.

The ninth selection in the 2015 draft, Kaminsky has only appeared in 24 games under new coach James Borrego and is averaging 5.5/2.5/1.1 in about 11 minutes per night. He has fallen completely out of the rotation over the past two months, playing just 41 minutes in Charlotte’s last 23 games.

There’s more to pass along as the deadline gets closer:

  • The Nuggets have expressed interest in acquiring Noah Vonleh from the Knicks, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. Vonleh has been productive in New York since signing a minimum contract, averaging 8.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per night, mostly as a starter. He will be a free agent this summer. Denver has a pair of trade exceptions that Vonleh would fit into and is about $7MM under the luxury tax.
  • While Enes Kanter probably won’t be traded today, he’s expected to reach the buyout market, and rival executives believe the Celtics will be among the teams with interest in him, sources tell Begley (Twitter link).
  • Elsewhere on the buyout market front, Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) adds the Pacers to the list of clubs that will have interest in Wesley Matthews if and when he’s bought out.
  • The Rockets, another team with potential interest in Matthews, still intend to be active on the buyout market after sneaking under the luxury tax threshold today, a source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

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