- Thunder shooting guard Alex Abrines has returned to action but he’ll have to work his way back into the rotation, according to Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. Abrines played six minutes against Orlando on Tuesday after missing 17 games due to an illness and a personal matter. During his absence, Abdel Nader seized a rotation spot. Abrines will have battle Nader and Terrance Ferguson for minutes.
1:03pm: The Bulls have issued a press release confirming that they’ve sent a heavily protected 2020 second-round pick to the Thunder in exchange for Luwawu-Cabarrot and cash. The team has also officially waived Anthony, lining him up to clear waivers on Sunday.
Chicago plans to hang onto Luwawu-Cabarrot, per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter link).
12:39pm: The Bulls and Thunder are in the process of finalizing a trade that will send Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and cash considerations to Chicago, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Chicago currently has a full 15-man roster, so the club will need to trade or waive a player to finalize the deal. It sounds like that player will be Carmelo Anthony, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Anthony had remained in limbo after being sent from Houston to Chicago in a trade last month, but appears set to become a free agent, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers. The Lakers remain a “real possibility” for Carmelo, Woj adds (via Twitter).
The trade itself between the Bulls and Thunder appears financially motivated. Oklahoma City will be on the hook for a huge tax bill at season’s end, so clearing TLC’s $1,544,951 salary will save the franchise exponentially more than that in tax penalties. ESPN’s Bobby Marks pegs the tax savings at $7.3MM.
As for the Bulls, they’ll likely receive enough cash from the Thunder to cover more than Luwawu-Cabarrot’s remaining salary, so they’re essentially being paid to use a spot on their 15-man roster — the deal is similar to the financially–motivated swaps Chicago made with the Rockets earlier in the season. It’s not clear if the Bulls will hang onto TLC, an unrestricted free agent in 2019, for the rest of the season or if they’ll replace him with another player after trading for him.
The 24th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Luwawu-Cabarrot hasn’t developed into a reliable NBA rotation piece. In 142 career games (14.9 MPG) for Philadelphia and Oklahoma City, he has averaged 5.5 PPG and 1.7 RPG with a .385/.317/.829 shooting line.
The Thunder will dip to 13 players as a result of the deal and will have two weeks to add a 14th man to their roster. By signing a player – or player(s) – to a 10-day contract or a prorated rest-of-season deal, the club will save some money on its year-end tax bill. I explained this concept last week when I identified Luwawu-Cabarrot as a potential trade candidate.
Meanwhile, the Bulls will use part of the $2.73MM trade exception they generated earlier this season in the Justin Holiday trade in order to absorb Luwawu-Cabarrot’s salary, Marks notes. The Thunder, in turn, will create a TPE worth TLC’s salary ($1,544,951).
The NBA announced today the reserves for the 2019 All-Star Game, releasing the pool of players eligible to be drafted by captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo for the contest.
For the Eastern Conference, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Detroit’s Blake Griffin, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic were all selected.
Indiana guard Victor Oladipo was also chosen, but he’ll miss the game due to injury. The NBA could name a replacement for Oladipo, with Eric Bledsoe or D’Angelo Russell among the most likely candidates.
New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Golden State’s Klay Thompson, Portland’s Damian Lillard, San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns were chosen to represent the Western Conference.
James and Antetokounmpo will draft their respective teams next Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7:00pm ET. The draft will air on TNT and commence just hours after the NBA’s trade deadline. Each captain must first finish selecting from the pool of starters — announced last week — before choosing from this list of reserves.
The All-Star Game is set to take place on Sunday, Feb. 17 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The starters for the game were chosen by votes from fans, players and media, while the reserves were selected by the 30 NBA head coaches.
After meeting with Knicks management to express his concern about the team’s direction, Kristaps Porzingis left the franchise with the impression that he prefers to be traded, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Knicks are expected to begin discussions about possible Porzingis trades ahead of next week’s deadline, the ESPN duo reports.
As we relayed in our earlier Porzingis story, the injured big man – along with his brother (and agent) Janis – reportedly spoke to the Knicks today about his frustration with the team’s losing, the franchise’s history of dysfunction, and his concern about whether sustainable organizational success is possible.
While ESPN’s report suggested that Porzingis would like to win in New York, it seems that he’s not confident that can happen anytime soon. He’ll be a restricted free agent during the summer of 2019, so the Knicks are in position to hang onto him for at least another season, if they so choose, but it sounds like the club is willing to test the market to see what kind of offers are out there. The Knicks previously considered trading Porzingis when Phil Jackson was in charge of basketball decisions.
An All-Star a year ago, Porzingis averaged 22.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.4 BPG with a .439/.395/.793 shooting line in 48 games in 2017/18, displaying franchise-player potential. However, a torn ACL ended his season early and has sidelined him for the entire 2018/19 campaign so far.
Considering Porzingis still hasn’t returned to action following that ACL tear, it’s not clear what the trade market for him would look like at this point. If he’s able to get back on the court during the final couple months of the season and prove he’s healthy, it would increase his value, but it’s not clear when he’ll return — plus, it may be tricky for the Knicks to pull off a sign-and-trade deal in the offseason.
The Celtics, Clippers, Thunder, and Spurs figure to be among the teams with interest in trading for Porzingis, tweets Frank Isola of The Athletic. Wojnarowski names the Clippers and Spurs as well, adding the Nets, Heat, and Raptors to the list of potential suitors (Twitter link). Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (Twitter link) throws the Mavericks into the mix as well.
As we noted earlier today, Porzingis will have a limited ability to jump ship anytime soon if he’s not traded during the season or in a sign-and-trade. He could accept his qualifying offer this summer and become an unrestricted free agent in 2020, but settling for a one-year, $4.5MM deal would be a big risk for a 7’3″ player coming off an ACL tear.
His other option would be to sign a shorter-term offer sheet with a rival suitor — the Knicks would almost certainly match it, but Porzingis would have the opportunity to get back on the open market sooner than if he signs a four- or five-year contract with New York.
If the Knicks don’t move Porzingis before the deadline, it will be interesting to see if he reconsiders his stance at all in the coming months. New York has a good deal of cap flexibility and is in position to land a top-five draft pick, so it’s not as if the club is poised to stay stuck in lottery territory forever. Some good luck in the draft lottery or on the free agent market could substantially accelerate the Knicks’ rebuilding process.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Pelicans are approaching the Anthony Davis trade request “methodically,” listening to trade inquiries and offers but remaining focused on “the long play,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Wednesday during an appearance on NBA Countdown (video link). According to Wojnarowski, it’s “very unlikely” that the Pelicans will get serious enough in any trade talks by next Thursday’s deadline to actually finalize a Davis deal by February 7.
[RELATED: Examining Every Team’s Chances Of Trading For Anthony Davis]
As Wojnarowski observes, the Pelicans could gain leverage during the offseason by getting more teams involved in the Davis sweepstakes. Besides all the teams that will open up cap room and gain flexibility in the summer, the Celtics will also enter the mix, no longer held back by the Rose Rule restrictions that prevent them from trading for Davis. According to Wojnarowski, it sounds like the Celtics have conveyed to the Pelicans that they should be patient and that Boston would be willing to discuss virtually anyone on its roster except for Kyrie Irving.
If the Pelicans don’t make a deal at the deadline, that could be bad news for the Lakers, who would like to trade for Davis as soon as possible, before the Celtics can get involved. However, Wojnarowski suggests that New Orleans’ front office has “no interest in acquiescing Anthony Davis to the Lakers right now.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s top trade candidate:
- There has been speculation that Davis may have played his last game for the Pelicans, who could hold their star big man out of action for the rest of the season even if he’s not moved at the deadline. However, while that’s an option under consideration, nothing has been definitively decided on that front, a source tells Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links). Asked this week whether Davis would play again for the Pelicans, head coach Alvin Gentry was noncommittal, as Peter Thompson of Sporting News relays. “I don’t really know how to answer that. I assume that he will,” Gentry said. “That’s something that will obviously have to be discussed about what’s best for him and what’s best for our team.”
- Mirjam Swanson of The Los Angeles Times explores whether the Clippers could be a player in the Davis sweepstakes, while Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic digs into the Warriors‘ long-shot odds and Erik Horne of The Oklahoman does the same for the Thunder.
- While much of the coverage this week has focused on Davis and his potential suitors, Royce Young of ESPN.com looks at the other side of the saga, examining how the Pelicans are dealing with the trade rumors swirling around the franchise.
- Cap expert Albert Nahmad takes a deep dive into Davis’ future contract options, along with a potential timeline for a trade (and new contract) in an interesting piece for HeatHoops.com.
- The Thunder have certainly benefitted from Terrance Ferguson admirably filling in his role as the team’s fifth starter. Considering Ferguson’s youth and low contract, the value he is providing has helped an expensive Thunder team that has limited young talent contributing to their success.
- Speaking of the Thunder, Brett Dawson of The Athletic detailed the possible moves that the team could make at this season’s trade deadline, such as a possible acquisition of a strong 3-point shooter.
Kevin Durant plans to travel to Oklahoma City for the jersey retirement ceremony of longtime teammate Nick Collison, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The ceremony is set to take place on March 20 when the Thunder take on the Raptors at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Durant and Collison spent eight seasons together on the Thunder (and one on the Sonics) from 2007-’16, reaching the NBA Finals in 2012 and multiple conference Finals in that span. Collison grew close to several teammates in his 14 years with the franchise and remained friends with Durant even after he joined the Warriors.
“That group was so special, that whole group from 2010 until I left there, it was special,” Durant told ESPN. “It’s about time for us to let go of all that extra stuff, and just come together — especially around this time, because it’s Nick.”
Several of Collison’s former teammates are expected to be in attendance for the ceremony, showing appreciation for the kind of hard-worker and consummate professional Collison was during his career.
Despite the brief return for Durant, neither he nor the Thunder organization have active interest in a basketball reunion, Wojnarowski reports. Durant emphasized that he still holds the Thunder, their fans, and the city in high regard.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division today:
- Jazz guard Dante Exum (ankle) missed his 11th game of the season on Friday and is now ineligible to receive a $200K bonus, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Exum would’ve received the bonus if he played 73 or more games this season with Utah. He also has a separate $200K incentive in his contract that can be earned if he plays 67 games or more on the season.
- Timberwolves veteran Taj Gibson was fined $25,000 for aggressively pursuing and directing an obscene gesture towards a referee, the NBA announced on Friday. Gibson was ejected Thursday after excessively arguing a foul call with official James Williams. “He’s like a big brother,” Gibson said of Williams, according to Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You see him every day, you have a relationship, sometimes tempers flare and you kind of lose it a little bit, but you know you mean well. I’ll see him again, but it was just part of the job. It was just one of those times I just lost it.”
- Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio has remained focused on helping his team despite Utah’s reported interest in Mike Conley and Otto Porter Jr., Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News writes. “I was in Minnesota traded like 20 times,” Rubio said. “Until it doesn’t happen, you have to really don’t pay attention to that. A lot of them are just rumors and just 5 percent are true, so if it happens it happens, but I’m committed 100 percent to this team, to the community, and nothing’s going to change.” Rubio, 28, is set to become a free agent on July 1.
The NBA announced the starters and captains for the 2019 All-Star Game on Thursday, with the Lakers’ LeBron James and Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo being named team captains for their respective conferences.
The Western Conference starters are comprised of James, Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, Rockets guard James Harden, and Thunder forward Paul George.
Antetokounmpo, Hornets guard Kemba Walker, Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard, and Sixers center Joel Embiid were named starters in the Eastern Conference.
James (4,620,809 votes) and Antetokounmpo (4,375,747 votes) received the most fan votes from each conference in the past month, giving them the honors of being captains this season.
James and Antetokounmpo will draft their teams from the list of these starters and reserves on Thursday, February 7, hours after the NBA’s trade deadline. The All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, February 17, with the reserve players set to be announced next Thursday night.
We made our All-Star picks for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference earlier this week.
Trading Wayne Ellington would give the Heat just enough cap relief to escape the luxury tax, writes salary cap expert Albert Nahmad for HeatHoops. Miami currently projects to be $6.2698MM over the tax line and Ellington’s salary is $6.27MM, so if the Heat can find a deal in which they don’t take any money back, they would be in the clear by $159.
However, Nahmad notes that won’t be easy to accomplish. Only six teams have the ability to make such a trade with Miami, but the Hornets and Pistons would put themselves into tax territory, the Thunder and Wizards are already over the threshold and may not want to take on more salary and the Kings aren’t likely to be interested in using their cap room because they already have Buddy Hield.
Nahmad identifies the Nuggets, who are $6.9MM below the tax line and have a pair of trade exceptions worth $12.8MM and $13.8MM, as the most likely team to take on Ellington. His salary would be pro-rated at $2.2MM if he’s acquired at the February 7 deadline, and the Heat can trade up to $5.3MM in cash to help offset that.
However, it’s not certain that another shooter is Denver’s top priority. Any other club that trades for Ellington would have to send out at least $3.5MM in salary, which means a third team would have to get involved to make it work for Miami. Nahmad cites the Lakers, Rockets and possibly the Thunder as other potential contenders for Ellington.
There’s more news from Miami:
- The Heat have been working on deals to ease their overcrowded roster and Rodney McGruder may be a candidate to get traded, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The source adds that McGruder would be a good fit for the Celtics, who could use an all-around role player and wouldn’t mind adding his expiring $1.5MM contract. The Heat may not get more than a second-round pick for McGruder, but won’t be in a great position to re-sign him this summer because of their cap situation.
- In the same story, Jackson states that the Heat don’t seem like a good fit for the Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol or Mike Conley, who are reportedly now available on the trade market. Jackson cites Conley’s $32.5MM salary for next season and $34.5MM in 2020/21 as too much for Miami to take on, while Memphis may not be interested in the collection of players — James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk and Dion Waiters — that would need to be included to match the salaries of Gasol and Chandler Parsons, whom the Grizzlies would like to move in a trade involving the center.
- Olynyk is the latest player to fall out of the Heat’s frequently changing rotation, notes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The backup center didn’t play in the second half Saturday, then was held out of Monday’s game. “You look at the game saying, ‘I definitely think I can help out there. I can make an impact, make a difference,'” Olynyk said. “But Coach has to do his job and I don’t envy him, because it’s not an easy job.
Over the course of the 2018/19 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.
The Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Jazz are wild cards, but the Northwest could end up being one of the least active divisions at the trade deadline this season. While the division-leading Nuggets and Thunder hold large trade exceptions and could use reinforcements as they continue their postseason push, they probably lack the financial flexibility and movable assets to do anything too drastic.
Here’s our latest look at a few possible trade candidates from the Northwest…
Anthony Tolliver, F
Minnesota Timberwolves
$5.75MM cap hit; unrestricted free agent in 2019
After falling out of the rotation earlier this season, Tolliver has once again been a regular since Robert Covington went down at the start of January. Still, Tolliver’s 15.3 minutes per game are the fewest he has played since his rookie year, and most of his other numbers are below his career rates too. It’s also not clear whether he’ll continue to see consistent minutes when Covington returns.
I don’t imagine Tolliver plays a major role in Minnesota’s long-term outlook, and he’s not necessarily doing a lot to help the Wolves in the short term — the team has a -5.8 net rating when he plays and a +1.5 rating when he sits. Even if the Wolves want to remain in the playoff hunt on February 7, it might still make sense to send Tolliver, who has an affordable expiring contract, to a team more in need of a player with his skill set.
A stretch four, Tolliver continues to hit three-pointers at a rate (37.9%) that’s in line with his career percentage (37.6%). That could be valuable to a team seeking more shooting from its frontcourt, such as Oklahoma City or Philadelphia.
Maurice Harkless, F
Portland Trail Blazers
$10.84MM cap hit; $11.51MM guaranteed salary for 2019/20; UFA in 2020
Harkless has shown he can be an effective complementary contributor on the wing when he’s healthy, having shot 50.1% from the floor and 37.5% on three-pointers during the two seasons prior to 2018/19. Knee problems have slowed him down over the last year, however, resulting in multiple stints on the shelf so far in ’18/19.
With Portland in need of a big-bodied wing who can be trusted to stay on the court down the stretch and in the postseason, the club should consider dangling Harkless as a trade chip. A trade partner looking ahead to next season could better afford to play it safe with Harkless, making sure he’s fully healthy for 2019/20 — especially if the Trail Blazers were willing to attach another asset in the deal.
A swap like Terrence Ross for Harkless and a draft pick makes some sense to me, though Orlando may be reluctant to pull the trigger on any trades that weaken this season’s roster, and the Blazers may want to target a player more capable of guarding bigger bodies.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, G/F
Oklahoma City Thunder
$1.54MM cap hit; UFA in 2019
The Thunder currently have an open spot on their 15-man roster. In fact, that spot has been open all season, by design. With the NBA’s most expensive roster, Oklahoma City won’t add another salary to its books and increase its projected tax bill unless the team badly needs reinforcements.
Rather than filling that 15th spot, the Thunder might actually look to reduce their roster count prior to the February 7 deadline. Trading Luwawu-Cabarrot and his $1.54MM cap hit in a money-saving deal similar to the ones Houston has made with Chicago would make some sense for OKC, since TLC doesn’t have a role for the team (he has played 11 total minutes since the start of December) and will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
The Thunder aren’t allowed to stay at 13 players all season, but with Luwawu-Cabarrot off the books, they could carry 13 players for up to two weeks at a time, and could potentially address the 14th spot using 10-day contracts or a rest-of-season deal for a veteran on the buyout market. Taking that route would save Oklahoma City a little money and would potentially allow the club to add a player that has a better chance of contributing in the postseason.
Previously:
- NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Northwest (12/5)
- NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Northwest (11/8)
- The rest of our NBA Trade Candidate series
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.