4:05pm: The Kings would receive some sort of draft compensation from the Cavs in the proposed deal for Hill, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Meanwhile, Frye would likely become a buyout candidate if he’s dealt to Sacramento, Stein adds.
If a deal happens and the Kings and Cavs agree on a second-round pick rather than a first-rounder, it would have to change hands sometime down the road — Cleveland has traded its next three second-round selections, though the club does hold Miami’s 2020 second-rounder.
3:32pm: The Cavaliers’ reported interest in Kings guard George Hill is “real,” according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that the Cavs appear more open to taking on money beyond 2017/18 than they were two months ago. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Cleveland and Sacramento continue to talk about a possible deal involving Hill, with Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye among the probable outgoing pieces for the Cavs.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (video link) also hears that Cleveland has made legit progress in talks on Hill, suggesting today during an appearance on The Jump that the two teams are “way down the road” on a potential trade. It’s at the “one-yard line,” according to Windhorst.
Of course, the last time we heard that sort of NFL-inspired metaphor applied to NBA trade talks was in an offseason report suggesting that the Rockets were getting close to acquiring Carmelo Anthony — obviously, that swap didn’t pan out. Still, it appears that the Cavs are in position to potentially pull the trigger on a deal for Hill before the February 8 deadline, if they so choose.
Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link) hears that the Kings – who have a full 15-man roster – are looking to move a player or two to clear the roster space necessary to complete an unbalanced trade. According to Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, a deal for Hill could include Derrick Rose in addition to Shumpert and Frye, in which case Sacramento would need to open up two roster spots.
A trade along those lines would make sense for both clubs. Shumpert, Frye, and Rose have a combined cap hit of $19.23MM this season, which nearly matches Hill’s $20MM cap charge. Both Frye and Rose are on expiring contracts, which would appeal to the rebuilding Kings, who would subsequently be on the hook for Shumpert’s $11MM player option for 2018/19 instead of Hill’s fully guaranteed $19MM salary. The Cavs, meanwhile, would add a reliable veteran guard who has had a down year but would be a very good fit in their rotation if he can recapture his previous form.