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Kevin Durant Trade Officially Completed As Four-Team Deal

February 9th, 2023 at 5:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Durant has officially been traded from Brooklyn to Phoenix, according to press releases from the Suns and Nets.

The blockbuster trade has been combined with the three-team trade agreement involving the Bucks, Nets, and Pacers that sends Jae Crowder to Milwaukee, turning the two deals into a single four-team transaction.

It breaks down as follows:

Suns acquire Durant and T.J. Warren.
Nets acquire Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, the Suns’ 2023 first-round pick (unprotected), the Suns’ 2025 first-round pick (unprotected), the Suns’ 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), the Suns’ 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), the right to swap first-round picks with the Suns in 2028, the Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick, the Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick, and the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet (from Pacers).
Bucks acquire Crowder.
Pacers acquire Jordan Nwora, George Hill, Serge Ibaka, either the Bucks’ 2023 second-round pick or the least favorable of the Cavaliers’ and Warriors’ 2023 second-round picks (whichever is most favorable), the Bucks’ 2024 second-round pick, their own 2025 second-round pick (from Bucks; it was traded away in a prior deal), and cash (from Nets).

“Today is a transformative day for this organization,” new Suns owner Mat Ishbia said in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome Kevin and T.J. to the Valley as we build a championship culture both on and off the court.

“Not only is Kevin one of the greatest and most accomplished players in the history of the sport, but his character also embodies the world class commitment to excellence we are instilling across every facet of this organization. T.J. is a natural leader whose work ethic and commitment to getting better every day make him an important addition to the team as he returns to the Valley. Phoenix will be one of the best organizations in all of sports and we are so excited to start our journey with this incredibly dynamic team.”

Nets general manager Sean Marks offered a statement of his own in Brooklyn’s press release:

“After thorough evaluation of the best path forward, we believe making this trade now positions the franchise for long-term success. Mikal and Cam are elite, ascending, versatile wings, plus the draft capital provides us additional avenues to continue to acquire talent. We remain steadfast in our commitment to building the team Brooklyn deserves. We are excited to welcome Mikal, Cam and their families to Brooklyn and thank Kevin for the moments and memories he delivered our fanbase.”

As expected, the Pacers waived Goga Bitadze and Terry Taylor to accommodate their new additions. The team also waived veteran forward James Johnson, per a press release. All three players will become unrestricted free agents if they clear waivers this weekend. Indiana will also cut Ibaka, as we previously relayed.

Because they no longer have to take on Crowder’s salary, the Nets will create a trade exception worth $18MM+ for Durant instead of $8MM, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

For more details on the trade, be sure to read our previous stories breaking down the Durant and Crowder trades.

Lakers, Nuggets, Magic, Clippers Roll Three Trade Agreements Into Single Deal

February 9th, 2023 at 5:35pm CST by Luke Adams

5:35pm: The four-team trade is now official, according to a press release from the Magic.

4:46pm: The Lakers, Nuggets, Magic, and Clippers will combine three separately reported trade agreements into a single four-team trade, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links).

As Price explains, the Patrick Beverley/Mohamed Bamba swap between the Lakers and Magic, the deal sending Bones Hyland from the Nuggets to the Clippers, and the Nuggets’ acquisition of Thomas Bryant from the Lakers are the trades affected. The new-look deal is as follows:

Lakers to acquire Bamba, Davon Reed, the Clippers’ 2024 second-round pick, and the Clippers’ 2025 second-round pick.
Magic to acquire Beverley, the Nuggets’ 2024 second-round pick, and cash.
Clippers to acquire Hyland.
Nuggets to acquire Bryant.

The original terms of the trades called for the Clippers to send their 2024 and 2025 second-round picks to Denver for Hyland, with the Nuggets sending their own 2025, 2026, and 2029 second-rounders to the Lakers for Bryant and the Lakers sending an unspecified second-round pick to the Magic in the Beverley/Bamba swap.

Under the new terms of the deal, the two Clippers picks will be rerouted from the Nuggets (for Hyland) to the Lakers (for Bryant). Denver will keep its 2025, 2028, and 2029 second-rounders. The third pick the Nuggets are sending out for Bryant is now Denver’s 2024 second-rounder — it will be flipped from the Lakers to the Magic for Bamba.

The Magic won’t require Beverley to report to the team, according to Price, which is a strong signal they intend to buy him out or simply waive him.

Raptors Granted Disabled Player Exception

February 9th, 2023 at 5:20pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have been granted a disabled player exception due to Otto Porter‘s season-ending foot surgery, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.

A disabled player exception grants an over-the-cap team some extra spending power when it loses a player to an injury deemed more likely than not to sideline him through at least June 15.

The exception is worth either half the injured player’s salary or the value of the mid-level exception, whichever is lesser. In this case, Porter’s salary for 2022/23 is $6MM so Toronto’s DPE will be worth $3MM.

As we explain in our glossary entry, the disabled player exception can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade. The exception can only be used on a single player and can only accommodate a player on a one-year deal. A free agent signee can’t get a multiyear contract, and any trade or waiver target must be in the final year of his contract.

Although the disabled player exception gives a team extra cap flexibility, it doesn’t open up an extra spot on the 15-man roster. The club must have a roster spot available to use the DPE to add a player.

Teams had until January 15 to apply for disabled player exceptions, so if a player suffers a season-ending injury anytime between now and the end of the season, a DPE won’t be available for his club. Porter underwent surgery on January 10, so obviously Toronto applied for the DPE before the deadline.

The Raptors – and any other team with a disabled player exception – will have until March 10 to use their DPE.

Stephen Curry To Be Reassessed After All-Star Break

February 9th, 2023 at 4:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry has been out since February 4 after injuring his left leg against the Mavericks. Imaging after the game, a 119-113 Warriors win, revealed that the 6’2″ vet incurred a lower left leg contusion and partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane.

Curry will be reevaluated following the league’s All-Star Weekend festivities next week, the Warriors announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Thus, he will not have an opportunity to suit up for his ninth All-Star appearance in Salt Lake City. He had been voted in as a Western Conference starter. A timeline for his return may be established more clearly after All-Star weekend.

The reigning 2022 NBA Finals MVP had been enjoying a stellar 2022/23 campaign. Through his 38 healthy games, the 34-year-old has been averaging 29.4 PPG on .495/.427/.922 shooting splits. He’s also contributing 6.4 APG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.0 SPG.

Golden State could certainly use him sooner rather than later. The club has more or less treaded water across the 17 contests Curry has missed thus far, going 8-9 in those games.

Trail Blazers To Waive Greg Brown III

February 9th, 2023 at 4:48pm CST by Rory Maher

The Trail Blazers intend to waive Greg Brown III, a source tells Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

Portland was very active ahead of the trade deadline, and while the team had an open roster spot, it is acquiring three players for one as part of the Josh Hart deal, so Brown will be the odd man out.

Still just 21 years old, Brown was the 43rd overall pick in 2021 after spending one college season at Texas. The raw, athletic forward has only made 16 appearances for a total of 93 minutes in 2022/23.

Brown was a highly touted prospect entering college, but hasn’t found much success in the pros in his first two seasons. He holds career averages of 4.0 PPG and 2.4 RPG on .422/.294/.636 shooting in 64 games (11.5 MPG).

Brown will receive his full $1.54MM salary for ’22/23, but his deal was non-guaranteed next season, so waiving him will only affect Portland’s cap for this season.

Boban Marjanovic To Be Waived, Re-Signed By Rockets

February 9th, 2023 at 4:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets intend to waive and then re-sign Boban Marjanovic, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).

Houston is receiving two players as part of the Eric Gordon trade and needs to release one from its current roster to finalize the deal, and Marjanovic will temporarily be the odd man out, Feigen writes.

However, assuming he goes through the waiver wire without getting claimed (which is a formality, as he makes $3.5MM and seldom plays), the Rockets will re-sign Marjanovic to a minimum-salary contract and retain his Bird rights, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Feigen.

The 34-year-old backup center will earn an additional $1MM this season as part of the moves, Feigen adds. Marjanovic has only appeared in 17 games for a total of 72 minutes this season, but he’s held in high regard as a locker room presence.

Bucks Acquire Jae Crowder In Three-Team Deal

February 9th, 2023 at 4:24pm CST by Rory Maher

[UPDATE: This trade was folded into the Durant blockbuster and turned into a four-team deal. It’s now official.]

4:24pm: Eric Nehm of The Athletic has the details on the second-round picks the Bucks are trading in the three-team deal. They are as follows:

To the Pacers:

Either the Bucks’ own 2023 second-round pick or the least favorable of the Cavaliers’ and Warriors’ 2023 second-round pick.
- Note: If the season ended today, the Bucks would get the Cavaliers’ second-round pick (which is less favorable than the Warriors’ pick) and then would send the Cavs’ pick to Indiana, since it’s more favorable than Milwaukee’s second-rounder.
The Bucks’ own 2024 second-round pick.
The Pacers’ 2025 second-round pick (which was traded to Milwaukee in a prior deal).

To the Nets:

The Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick.
The Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick.

As we relayed in a separate story, Terry Taylor is also being waived by the Pacers to help accommodate the incoming players.

11:05am: Veteran forward Jae Crowder is being traded to the Bucks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that the Nets have agreed to a trade that will send Crowder to Milwaukee, with the Bucks giving up a total of five second-round picks.

Sources tell Charania (via Twitter) that it will be a three-team trade, with Bucks forward Jordan Nwora and two second-round picks (via the Bucks) heading to the Pacers. Indiana is waiving reserve center Goga Bitadze to make room for Nwora, Charania adds (Twitter link).

In addition, the Pacers will receive guard George Hill, an Indianapolis native who had a previous five-year stint with Indiana, and a third second-round pick, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter). Center Serge Ibaka will also be heading to the Pacers, per Charania (Twitter link). Both players were previously on the Bucks.

Here’s the deal as we know it so far, with bits and pieces coming in over time:

Bucks receive Crowder ($10.18MM)
Nets receive two second-round picks via Milwaukee (not confirmed), save a ton of money toward the luxury tax
Pacers receive Nwora ($3MM), Hill ($4MM), Ibaka ($2.9MM salary, $1.8MM cap hit) and three second-rounders (not confirmed) via Milwaukee; will waive Bitadze.

The Pacers are one of only two NBA teams with cap space available — the Spurs are the other — so they can take on money without having to worry about matching salaries. As the deal stands, Indiana will have to waive two more players and its cap space is down to $1.9MM, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Only Nwora is under contract beyond this season — Hill and Ibaka are on expiring deals.

Crowder, 32, has sat out the entire 2022/23 season while awaiting a trade. He was sent to the Nets as part of the blockbuster trade that will send Kevin Durant to Phoenix, and now will be rerouted to Milwaukee.

The Bucks had been linked to Crowder for months in trade rumors — they were recently granted permission to speak with him, and now they are finally acquiring him.

In 67 games (28.1 MPG) with Phoenix in ’21/22, Crowder averaged 9.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.4 SPG on .399/.348/.789 shooting. He makes $10.18MM in the final year of his contract.

According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link), Suns head coach Monty Williams spoke to Crowder over the summer to inform him that Cameron Johnson (who was also sent to the Nets in the Durant deal) would be the starting power forward in ’22/23.

Crowder responded by saying he would prefer a contract extension or a trade. Evidently Williams found the 3-and-D specialist “too difficult to manage” and preferred to have him away from the team, per Gambadoro.

Bitadze is earning $4.77MM in the final season of his rookie scale contract. The former 18th overall pick has only appeared in 21 games for an average of 9.6 minutes per contest this season. He will become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers.

Nwora, meanwhile, was the 45th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He re-signed with the Bucks on a two-year, $6.2MM contract in the offseason, but hasn’t played much, appearing in 38 games with averages of 6.0 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 15.7 MPG.

The 24-year-old has some offensive upside — he has converted 37.6% of his career three-pointers, including 39.2% this season. However, he’s a subpar defender and obviously wasn’t in the Bucks’ long-term plans. The Pacers will be taking a flyer on him in addition to adding a trio of second-rounders.

Ibaka seems likely to be bought out or waived by the Pacers and headed elsewhere as a free agent. Hill is less certain — as previously mentioned, he likely he has fans in the organization due to his previous run with the team.

Spurs Release Dewayne Dedmon

February 9th, 2023 at 4:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

4:20pm: The Spurs have officially waived Dedmon, according to a press release from the team.

4:17pm: Veteran journeyman center Dewayne Dedmon will be waived by the Spurs just days after San Antonio acquired him via trade, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Heat flipped a 2028 second-round draft pick to the Spurs to get off of Dedmon’s money earlier this week, while the Spurs sent Miami back $110K.

The 33-year-old seven-footer was in the midst of his third season with the Heat after inking a two-year, $9MM free agent deal to return in 2022. He had been squeezed out of the rotation by the emergence of two-way big Orlando Robinson in recent weeks. A minutes-related squabble on the bench prompted Miami to take the extreme step of suspending Dedmon for a game.

Provided Dedmon clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent, and be free to latch on with any team besides the Heat.

Across his 30 games behind All-Star Heat center Bam Adebayo this season, Dedmon averaged 5.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG, while posting shooting splits of .496/.297/.727.

Wizards Working On Buyout For Will Barton

February 9th, 2023 at 4:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards are in the process of negotiating a contract buyout for veteran swingman Will Barton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Barton was identified last month as a potential buyout candidate if he remained in Washington through the trade deadline, so it’s not a surprise to see this news emerge just hours after the deadline passed.

After being packaged with Monte Morris in the offseason trade that sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver, Barton had a disappointing season for his hometown team in D.C., averaging just 7.7 points per game on 38.7% shooting in 40 appearances (19.6 MPG).

Barton’s three-point shooting remained solid (38.0%) this season and he had several good years with the Nuggets before last summer’s trade, so he should garner some interest as a low-cost free agent addition if he and the Wizards officially complete a buyout agreement.

Pacers To Waive Serge Ibaka, Terry Taylor

February 9th, 2023 at 3:44pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pacers will waive veteran big man Serge Ibaka, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link) first reported that Indiana was expected to cut Ibaka.

Indiana is also expected to waive second-year forward Terry Taylor, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

The Pacers are acquiring Ibaka as part of the three-team deal that is sending Jae Crowder to the Bucks, but he will never officially suit up for Indiana. Assuming he clears waivers, Ibaka might find some suitors amongst the contenders, though he was just on one of the best teams in the league and struggled to receive playing time.

The 33-year-old unfortunately hasn’t looked the same after having back surgery a couple years ago. He appeared in 16 games for the Bucks this season, averaging 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per contest.

After going undrafted out of Austin Peay in 2021, Taylor had a solid rookie season once he cracked Indiana’s rotation, averaging 9.2 points and 5.2 boards while shooting 61.4% from the field in 33 games (21.6 minutes). However, he hasn’t played much in year two, averaging just 8.8 minutes per night across 26 games in 2022/23.

Taylor’s deal for next season is non-guaranteed, so waiving him will only affect this season’s cap.

If our math is correct, the Pacers will still need to waive one more player as part of the trade with the Bucks — they’re adding three players, but had a full 15-man roster, and only two from the pre-trade roster (Taylor and Goga Bitadze) will reportedly be released. The team has to open up a spot for all three incoming players even though Ibaka will be waived.