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Clippers Trade Jackson, Second-Rounder To Hornets For Plumlee

February 9th, 2023 at 11:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

11:11pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Clippers.

“Mason will help fortify our center position with his energy and playmaking ability,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “He is an impressive passer with great vision. Our team will enjoy playing with him.”

As we relayed in a separate story, Jackson is expected to be bought out by the Hornets.

1:46pm: The Clippers will get the veteran center they’ve been seeking by acquiring Mason Plumlee from the Hornets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Point guard Reggie Jackson will head to Charlotte in return, and the Hornets will also receive the Clippers’ 2028 second-round pick, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

Plumlee is making $9.08MM in the final year of his contract. He has been the Hornets’ starting center over the past two seasons.

Despite being 32 years old, Plumlee is posting career highs in most statistical categories, including points (12.2), rebounds (9.7), assists (3.7), FG% (66.9) and minutes per game (28.5) in 56 games this year. The Clippers are undersized off their bench and have been looking for a reliable big man to back up Ivica Zubac.

Jackson had been a focus of the Clippers’ offense since he arrived in L.A. three years ago, but he has seen his role reduced recently. The 32-year-old has an expiring contract worth $11.2MM.

Through 52 games (38 starts, 25.7 minutes) with the Clippers in 2022/23, Jackson was averaging 10.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Knicks, Blazers, Sixers, Hornets Officially Complete Four-Team Trade

February 9th, 2023 at 10:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks, Trail Blazers, Sixers, and Hornets have folded two separate trade agreements into a single four-team trade, with press releases from New York and Portland confirming that the deal is official.

The trade combines the Knicks’ acquisition of Josh Hart from Portland with the three-team trade agreement that sends Matisse Thybulle to the Blazers and Jalen McDaniels to the 76ers. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice first reported (via Twitter) that the two deals would be combined into one.

Here are the full terms of the trade:

Knicks acquire Josh Hart, the draft rights to Bojan Dubljevic (from Trail Blazers), and the draft rights to Daniel Diez (from Trail Blazers).
Trail Blazers acquire Matisse Thybulle, Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, the Knicks’ 2023 first-round pick (top-14 protected), and the draft rights to Ante Tomic (from Knicks).
Sixers acquire Jalen McDaniels, the Knicks’ 2024 second-round pick (from Hornets), and the Trail Blazers’ 2029 second-round pick.
Hornets acquire Svi Mykhailiuk, either the Hornets’, Hawks’, or Nets’ 2023 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Sixers), and either the Pelicans’ or Trail Blazers’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Trail Blazers).

The deal expanded slightly to include the draft rights of three draft-and-stash players, but otherwise looks the same as what was previously reported.

As expected, Portland waived Greg Brown to help open up the necessary roster spots for their incoming players.

For more details on the deal, check out our full stories on the Knicks/Blazers half of the trade, as well as the Blazers/Sixers/Hornets portion.

Eric Gordon To Clippers, Luke Kennard To Grizzlies In Three-Team Trade

February 9th, 2023 at 10:22pm CST by Rory Maher

10:22pm: The trade is now official, according to press releases from the Rockets, Grizzlies, and Clippers.

As first reported by Kelly Iko of The Athletic and confirmed by the Rockets, the swap rights Houston got in the deal are top-six protected. So in the unlikely event that the Thunder’s and Clippers’ picks both land in the top six, the Rockets won’t be able to swap the Bucks’ first-rounder for the least favorable of those two picks.

The Rockets also confirmed that they’ve waived Boban Marjanovic to accommodate the extra incoming player in the deal. They’re expected to re-sign him once he clears waivers and Wall is released.

Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) has the details on the three second-round picks the Clippers acquired from the Grizzlies. They are as follows:

The Raptors’ 2024 second-round pick.
Either the Pacers’ 2024 second-round pick or the least favorable of the Cavaliers’ and Jazz’s 2024 second-round picks (whichever is most favorable).
The Grizzlies’ 2027 second-round pick.

1:20pm: The Clippers have reached an agreement to acquire veteran wing Eric Gordon from the Rockets, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania, the move will be part of a three-team deal that sends Luke Kennard to the Grizzlies, with Clippers guard John Wall headed back to Houston (Twitter links). The Rockets plan to waive Wall, tweets Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

Danny Green will be sent from Memphis to Houston in the trade, according to Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Clippers are getting three second-round picks from the Grizzlies. The Rockets will also acquire the right to swap this year’s Bucks first-round pick with the Clippers’ first-rounder (or the Thunder’s first-rounder, if the Clippers pick is earlier in the draft), tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

It’s an interesting trade from all sides. The Clippers have needed a guard who could drive and shoot from outside while playing decent defense, and Gordon fits that bill when he’s playing well. Gordon has been in trade rumors for years, and now he’s headed back to the Clippers, who drafted him seventh overall back in 2008.

While the Clippers took a risk by potentially losing their own first-round pick, they’ll still be guaranteed to receive the Bucks’ first-rounder and will also get three second-rounders from Memphis, which isn’t bad at all considering they arguably got the best player in the trade. Gordon, 34, makes $19.57MM this season, but his $20.92MM salary for 2023/24 is non-guaranteed.

The Rockets had long been looking for a first-round pick for Gordon, and they’re essentially swapping Milwaukee’s potential late first-round pick (it would be 28th right now) for one with higher upside — the Clippers’ would be 18th right now. The Bucks (37-17) are currently six games ahead of the Clippers (31-27), but there’s still 20-plus games remaining for both teams.

Green has been one of the NBA’s best 3-and-D wings for the better part of a decade, winning three championships with the Spurs, Raptors and Lakers. He holds a 39.9% career mark from behind the arc, but he’s 35 years old and just made his season debut this month after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in last year’s playoffs. Green will be a free agent this summer.

Wall temporarily heading back to Houston after his troubled tenure with the Rockets is an ironic twist, as he’ll be waived by the same team that bought him out in the offseason — that’s how he signed with L.A. in the first place. He didn’t find much success with the Clippers, posting a poor shooting slash line of .408/.303/.681 for a team hoping to contend.

The Grizzlies rank just 24th in the league in 3-point percentage and get one of the league’s best shooters in the 26-year-old Kennard, who holds a career mark of 42.7% on 3s, including 44.7% this season. He is not a strong defensive player, but he’s a decent complementary play-maker.

Dealing away three second-rounders for a player who is nine years younger and on a reasonable long-term contract that will pay him about $45.2MM through 2025 (the final year is a team option) makes sense. Green is a very good, albeit streaker shooter, but Kennard is elite in that regard.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Thunder Trade Mike Muscala To Celtics

February 9th, 2023 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:54pm: The trade sending Muscala to Boston for Jackson and two second-round picks is official, according to a press release from the Thunder.

2:21pm: The Thunder will receive the Celtics’ 2029 second-round pick and the least favorable of Boston’s two 2023 second-round picks, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

The terms dictating which ’23 second-rounder OKC will acquire are complex, but the pick will almost certainly belong to either Dallas, Miami, or Portland.

10:55am: The Celtics will acquire big man Mike Muscala from the Thunder in exchange for Justin Jackson and two second-round picks, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Muscala, 31, has spent the last several seasons in Oklahoma City, playing a relatively consistent role as a solid floor-spacing frontcourt reserve as the team shifted from playoff contention into rebuilding mode.

Since joining the Thunder in 2019, Muscala has averaged 7.0 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 168 total games (14.5 MPG), making 1.5 threes per game at a 39.2% clip. Those numbers are very similar to the ones he has put up in 43 games (14.5 MPG) so far this season — 6.2 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and a .394 3PT%.

While Muscala isn’t exactly an impact player, he’s a good fit for a Celtics team that had been on the hunt for frontcourt insurance behind Robert Williams and Al Horford. The terms of Muscala’s contract give him the ability to veto a trade, but it’s hard to imagine he’d turn down the opportunity to join a legitimate title contender.

Since Jackson is on a minimum-salary contract, his $1.84MM cap hit isn’t enough to match Muscala’s incoming $3.5MM salary, so the Celtics will have to use a trade exception left over from last year’s trade deadline to acquire the big man. The Thunder will take on Jackson using the minimum salary exception, generating a new trade exception equivalent to Muscala’s $3.5MM salary.

Jackson is expected to be waived by the Thunder once the deal is complete, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the deal projects to increase the Celtics’ luxury tax bill from about $58.9MM to $65.3MM.

Spurs Trade Josh Richardson To Pelicans

February 9th, 2023 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

9:47pm: The trade sending Richardson to New Orleans and Graham to San Antonio is now official, the Pelicans announced in a press release.

According to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link), the 2024 second-rounder going to the Spurs will be either the Bulls’ or Pelicans’ pick (whichever is more favorable), while the 2026 second-rounder will be either the Pelicans’ or Trail Blazers’ pick (whichever is less favorable).

The 2028 and 2029 second-round picks headed to San Antonio are New Orleans’ own.

1:30pm: The Spurs and Pelicans are in agreement on a trade that will send veteran swingman Josh Richardson to New Orleans, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). Sources tell Charania that San Antonio will receive guard Devonte’ Graham and four second-round picks in the deal.

The four picks are the Pelicans’ second-rounders in 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2029, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News tweets.

Richardson has bounced around the league in recent years but he provides another versatile two-way option for a Pelicans club that has won three straight after a lengthy losing streak dropped them under the .500 mark.

Richardson has appeared in 41 games, including five starts, for San Antonio this season. He averaged 11.4 points and 3.3 assists in those contests.

The 29-year-old played for the Celtics and San Antonio last season and has also worn the uniforms of the Heat, Sixers and Mavericks during his career. He’s a career 36.5 percent 3-point shooter who has averaged 12 points in 479 NBA games.

Richardson will be an unrestricted free agent after making $12.2MM this season.

Graham is making $11.55MM this season and is signed through the 2024/25 season, though the final year is only partially guaranteed. Graham has been a regular member of New Orleans’ rotation, averaging 5.3 points and 2.2 assists in 15.3 minutes in 53 games.

New Orleans had to surrender draft capital to unload its salary commitment to Graham. San Antonio now has 23 draft picks in the next five drafts, according to McDonald’s count (Twitter link).

Wiseman To Pistons, Bey To Hawks, Payton To Warriors In Four-Team Deal

February 9th, 2023 at 9:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:01pm: The trade is now official, the Hawks announced in a press release. According to Atlanta’s announcement, three of the five second-round picks the team is sending out in the deal are going to Portland, while the other two are going to Golden State. Here’s the breakdown:

To the Blazers:

Either the Hawks’, Nets’, or Hornets’ 2023 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable).
The Hawks’ 2024 second-round pick (the Hawks previously traded this pick to Portland with top-55 protection; those protections are now removed).
The Hawks’ 2025 second-round pick (protected 41-60).
- Note: Portland will receive this pick if it’s between 31-40 and Oklahoma City will receive it if it’s between 41-60 (based on a prior trade).

To the Warriors:

The Hawks’ 2026 second-round pick.
The Hawks’ 2028 second-round pick.

The Blazers are still receiving five second-rounders in total, however. According to the Warriors’ own press release announcing the deal, they’ve sent two other second-round picks to Portland. Those picks are the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-rounder (top-42 protected) and the Warriors’ own 2028 second-rounder.

1:55pm: The trade is being expanded further, according to Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Warriors are sending five second-round picks and Knox to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Gary Payton II.

It’s unclear if those are the same five second-rounders Golden State is getting from the Hawks, but the Warriors are essentially trading out Wiseman and getting back Payton, who was a key rotation player on last season’s championship team.

Interestingly, the Warriors just faced the Blazers last night, getting an up-close look at the defensive stalwart, who will now rejoin Golden State. Payton signed a three-year, $26.1MM deal with Portland in the offseason, but has only appeared in 15 games in 2022/23 — he was slow to recover from abdominal surgery.

In addition to getting back a player they’re very familiar with, the Warriors will also save a good chunk of money toward the luxury tax over the next two seasons, as Payton’s cap hit is smaller than Wiseman’s.

1:34pm: Kevin Knox is headed from Detroit to Golden State in the trade for salary-matching purposes, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Knox isn’t a lock to remain with the Warriors, Woj notes.

1:04pm: The Pistons will acquire James Wiseman from the Warriors in a three-team trade that will send Saddiq Bey to the Hawks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Golden State will get five second-round picks from Atlanta in the deal, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).

Detroit needs to send out another $2.5MM to match salaries, so at least one more player will be involved in the deal, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.

According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), the Warriors also had Wiseman discussions with the Trail Blazers and Spurs. The Pistons and Hawks discussed a separate deal involving John Collins, but sources tell Fischer that those talks have stalled.

Reports that the Pistons and Warriors were discussing a deal involving Wiseman broke earlier this afternoon. Detroit has been interested in the 21-year-old center since the 2020 draft, and Golden State was willing to move on from a player who never lived up to expectations after being the second overall pick.

He has appeared in just 21 games this season after sitting out all of 2021/22 with injuries and has spent a significant portion of the season in the G League. The Warriors picked up Wiseman’s fourth-year option, so he will be under contract for $12.1MM next season. He will be eligible for an extension this summer, but it’s extremely unlikely that the Pistons will want to make that type of commitment.

Bey has been a productive forward for Detroit since being selected 19th overall in 2019. Through 52 games (30 starts, 28.8 MPG) in ’22/23, he’s averaging 14.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.6 APG and 1.0 SPG on .404/.345/.861 shooting.

The 23-year-old is still on his rookie contract, which is very affordable considering he’s been a regular contributor in each of his first three seasons. He’s making $2.96MM this season and will make $4.56MM in ’23/24. Like Wiseman, he will eligible for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Hart, Thybulle, Raptors, Muscala

February 9th, 2023 at 9:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is excited for the new addition of veteran swingman Josh Hart, according to Zach Braziller of The New York Post.

“I have great respect for him,” Thibodeau said. “He’s been a top-flight competitor in the league for a long time, and he brings a lot of intangibles to the game… A lot of respect for him.”

Thibodeau would not offer insight into whether he would start Hart or make his rotation deeper now. In his 51 games for Portland this season, Hart is averaging 9.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 3.9 APG, and 1.1 SPG.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers got close to sending defensive stopper Matisse Thybulle to the Mavericks this year, but Dallas was uninterested in including a first-round draft pick in the offing, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The two-time All-Defensive Teamer was instead shipped out to the Trail Blazers as part of a four-team trade today.
Raptors team president Masai Ujiri explained why, beyond bolstering their frontcourt depth with their deal for center Jakob Poeltl, the team opted to not make any other major moves at the trade deadline, despite attracting significant interest around the league, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. “The way I look at the deadline (is) it’s really not a great place to make long-term decisions,” Ujiri said. “To be fair (to) this team, I think I haven’t done my part for this team to maybe play a little bit better… I think we needed a big like Jak (to) protect the rim, who these guys have confidence in — a really good passer, a big body, one of our own, which I think really fits.”
The Celtics opted to augment their bench depth with sharpshooting forward Mike Muscala at the trade deadline. Jared Weiss of The Athletic unpacks how Muscala will help Boston in some major areas of need for the 2022/23 season’s home stretch.

Suns Trade Saric, Second-Rounder To Thunder For Bazley

February 9th, 2023 at 7:53pm CST by Rory Maher

7:53pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Thunder. Phoenix sent its own 2029 second-round pick and cash to Oklahoma City in the deal.

1:00pm: The Suns are trading forward/center Dario Saric and a second-round pick to the Thunder in exchange for forward/center Darius Bazley, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

As John Hollinger of The Athletic tweets, the deal was possible because of a large traded player exception the Thunder created when they dealt Derrick Favors to Houston before the 2022/23 season started (Favors was subsequently waived).

Both players are impending free agents — Saric will be unrestricted and makes $9.24MM in the final year of his contract, while Bazley is earning $4.26MM and will be a restricted free agent if Phoenix gives him a qualifying offer.

Considering the Suns went all-in in their blockbuster trade to acquire superstar forward Kevin Durant, I’m a little surprised that they’re moving a second-round pick — and perhaps the better player — to save money in this deal. Saric missed all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL and he had a very slow start to ’22/23, but he has played his best basketball as of late, averaging 8.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.3 APG on .485/.438/.800 shooting over the past 15 games (seven starts, 18.5 MPG).

It’s definitely not certain that Saric is a better player than Bazley right now. Both players have been in-and-out of their teams’ rotations, but Bazley (22) is six years younger than Saric (28) and is a superior athlete and defender, while the Crotian veteran has been a better all-around offensive player to this point in their careers.

Perhaps the Suns didn’t want to bring back Saric in free agency, or they were worried about his fit with the new roster. Either way, they will save a significant amount of money toward the luxury tax and get a look at a versatile defensive player who might have some untapped upside in Bazley — his next contract should be relatively affordable, if they choose to re-sign him.

For the Thunder, they add a veteran in the frontcourt after agreeing to trade Mike Muscala to Boston, and add another second-round pick to their ever-growing draft cache. Stylistically, Saric fits well with what the Thunder like to do offensively, as he’s a good screener, passer and play-maker, while Bazley is more limited in that regard.

Hawks, Rockets Finalize Four-Player Swap

February 9th, 2023 at 7:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

7:04pm: The trade is now official, the Rockets and Hawks formally confirmed in a pair of press releases.

1:33pm: The Hawks are trading Justin Holiday and Frank Kaminsky to the Rockets for Garrison Mathews and Bruno Fernando, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

The Rockets are also acquiring two second-round picks that the Thunder owed the Hawks in 2024 and 2025, Kelly Iko of The Athletic tweets.

The trade provides some salary cap relief for Atlanta. Holiday is making approximately $6.3MM and Kaminsky is on a veteran’s minimum deal (approximately $2.46MM). Fernando ($2.7MM) and Mathews ($2MM) have non-guaranteed contracts for next season, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. There’s also a team option on Matthews’ contract for 2024/25.

None of the players in the deal were playing significant minutes. Holiday has played in 28 game this season, averaging 4.5 points in 14.7 minutes. Kaminsky has seen spot duty in 26 games.

Fernando has played 30 games (four starts) this season, averaging 4.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes. Mathews has appeared in 45 games off the bench this season, averaging 4.8 points in 13.4 minutes.

The 34th overall pick in 2019, Fernando spent his first two seasons in Atlanta, so the Hawks are familiar with him as a person and player.

Pacific Notes: Ayton, LeBron, Westbrook, Warriors

February 9th, 2023 at 6:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In case you hadn’t heard, the Suns drastically remade their roster this week, trading several picks and young talent in exchange for one of the greatest players in league history, who is still arguably in his prime. But that doesn’t mean there won’t still be questions about at least one of the team’s other priciest players going forward.

According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, there’s skepticism that Phoenix management truly values Suns starting center Deandre Ayton at his salary of $33MM per year. Fischer suggests that the big man’s long-term future in Phoenix remains “curious.”

Ayton is in the first year of new contract with the Suns, signed only after a maximum offer sheet was tendered by the Pacers this summer. He’s averaging 18.4 PPG on 58.6% shooting from the floor, 10.3 RPG, 2.1 APG and 0.7 BPG.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James will be sidelined by ankle soreness Thursday against the Bucks, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. McMenamin writes that James will be available for a pregame ceremony to commemorate him setting the NBA’s all-time scoring record on Tuesday. L.A. did already celebrate the moment with a mid-game video montage, a presentation from league commissioner Adam Silver and the previous scoring record holder, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and speeches from James and Silver.
The situation with former Lakers reserve point guard Russell Westbrook had devolved so drastically in the last week that L.A.’s coaching staff might have pushed to waive him had he stuck on the roster through the trade deadline, according to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic. The Athletic’s duo cites sources who referred to the situation as “toxic.” Westbrook is currently with the Jazz, but is widely expected to be bought out.
At today’s trade deadline, the Warriors essentially flipped 2020 No. 2 draft pick James Wiseman for Gary Payton II in a four-team deal. Payton departed Golden State in free agency last summer, but the Warriors wanted to bring back a reliable veteran who had already proven his mettle with the team during its 2020 title run, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic.