Addressing a Friday report that stated the Pelicans have contacted Miami about Jimmy Butler, John Gambadoro of Arizona 98.7 tweets that New Orleans has “no interest” in trading for the Heat forward.
Butler doesn’t want to go to New Orleans and the Pelicans would be hard-pressed to add him in a swap involving Brandon Ingram without increasing their team salary, which they don’t want to do, Gambadoro notes (via Twitter), adding that he believes the Heat or Butler’s agent are using the Pelicans for leverage.
For what it’s worth, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line – who initially co-reported the Pelicans/Heat discussions along with Marc Stein – said in a Bleacher Report stream on Friday (video link) that while the two teams have talked, he doesn’t think Butler ending up in New Orleans “sounds likely at all.”
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- Despite some chatter from local media in San Antonio about the Spurs potentially gaining momentum toward a De’Aaron Fox trade, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link) hears from a source with knowledge of the situation that “all is quiet as of now” and that no deal involving the Kings star appears imminent. If the Spurs do make a deal for Fox, it’s unlikely to include Stephon Castle, according to plugged-in Sacramento reporter Damien Barling of ESPN 1320 (Twitter link), who says indications are that San Antonio won’t be willing to give up the rookie guard.
- In another story for The Stein Line (Substack link), Fischer adds the Timberwolves to the list of teams that have inquired on Sixers big man Guerschon Yabusele. Philadelphia has received offers that include multiple second-round picks for Yabusele, according to Fischer.
- After Stein reported on Thursday that the Hawks are actively exploring potential Bogdan Bogdanovic trades, Fischer follows up (Substack link) by citing momentum toward a deal, with confidence rising in Atlanta that a deal will get down. However, both Stein and Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (Twitter link) dispute that a deal with the Suns involving Jusuf Nurkic is among the options currently under consideration.
Compare to Finney Smith, Yabusele is worth 3 Seconds
Butler wants to play for the owners who is happy to pay $200 million luxury tax per season
Pels can get in a three way. Jimmy ain’t going to NO.
Fox to Spurs can work. But I don’t give up Castle.
I think no Castle is a deal breaker. Makes sense for Sacramento to ask for him, but Fox could just sign with the Spurs after next season. Castle isn’t going anywhere. The Spurs and also revisit trade talks in the off-season.
As a Kings fan, I want Castle in the trade. I also know that Fox isn’t elite. He made one all-star team as an injury replacement, and all-nba that season because of many injuries around the league. Good player, not a guy that gets a team to the next level.
I think the Spurs should chase a better player than Fox to pair with Wemby and Castle.
Sac isn’t inclined to deal Fox to San Antonio if they don’t want to include castle. All of this nonsense about him just waiting to sign next offseason is just that – nonsense.
Paul told Sacramento that Fox wanted out now so that they can trade him to team X so that team X would have his bird rights. So unless a team offers Sacramento something valuable like Castle, they don’t need to rush to do anything because Fox will ultimately be part of a sign and trade so that he gets the max.
IMO Paul jumped the gun because he knows someone else is going to want to play with Wemby. Seems like he forgot that most teams aren’t lining up to make trades that make other teams in their conference much better while their own team suffers. Unless you’re in Milwaukee.