Luc Mbah a Moute

Cavs Officially Acquire Kevin Love

August 23rd, 2014 at 1:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers have officially acquired Kevin Love in a three-team deal that’s the blockbuster trade of the summer, the Wolves announced. The Wolves receive Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and Thaddeus Young from the Sixers as part of the deal, while Philadelphia comes away with Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved from Minnesota and the Heat’s 2015 first-round pick from Cleveland. The agreement has reportedly been in place for weeks, but the inclusion of Wiggins kept it from becoming official until today. That’s because Wiggins, this year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, couldn’t be traded within 30 days after the Cavs signed him to his rookie scale contract on July 24th.

Love is the only asset going Cleveland’s way in the deal, but the Second-Team All-NBA power forward is the centerpiece of the trade. He joins LeBron James as the marquee additions for Cleveland in a landmark offseason, one that’s left them the favorites to win the Eastern Conference championship after four straight seasons outside the playoffs. Love is expected to opt out of his contract next summer after making more than $15.7MM this season, but the Cavs will have his Bird Rights and are heavy favorites to re-sign him, just as they are with James, who also possesses a player option for 2015/16. Love’s ability to hit free agency in 2015 helped precipitate the trade, as he’s made it clear that he had no intention of staying with Minnesota beyond the coming season.

The Warriors, Bulls, Celtics, Nuggets, Lakers, Kings, Knicks, Rockets, Wizards and Suns have all been linked to Love in various reports at one point or another since mid-May, when the Wolves ramped up their efforts to trade him. It appeared even before James decided to sign with Cleveland that Love would like to join the Cavs if it meant he could play with James, and James reportedly reached out to Love to reciprocate his interest in becoming teammates. The Warriors appeared to come closest to beating out Cleveland for Love, but Golden State’s unwillingness to include Klay Thompson left the sides at a stalemate, particularly once the Cavs relented to Minnesota’s insistence that Wiggins be part of any deal that would ship Love to Cleveland.

Still, others made strong pushes, including the Celtics, particularly in the wake of Love’s weekend visit to Boston around the beginning of June, but the Wolves showed disinterest in dealing with the C’s. The Suns reportedly made a call Friday to see if Minnesota would send Love their way in a sign-and-trade arrangement involving Eric Bledsoe, but the Wolves were unmoved.

Wiggins is the marquee attraction for Minnesota, and he joins Chris Webber as the only No. 1 overall picks since the merger to change teams before playing a single regular season game for the franchises that drafted them. Wiggins had a somewhat disappointing season at Kansas after having been the consensus favorite a year ago to become the top pick, creating doubt that lingered almost until the draft began about whether he, fellow Jayhawk Joel Embiid, or Jabari Parker would go No. 1 overall. Still, Wiggins possesses superstar potential, some of which he put on display in the summer league last month, when he showed off his athleticism as part of Cleveland’s squad.

There were conflicting reports about whether Bennett would join Wiggins in heading to Minnesota or be rerouted to Philadelphia, but it became clear on Thursday that Bennett would become a Timberwolf. Bennett’s performance as a rookie was thoroughly underwhelming and he’ll have a tough time living up to having been the No. 1 overall pick in 2013. Still, there’s hope that he can become a key component on a winning team after having been widely projected as a mid-lottery selection before the Cavs surprisingly took him with the top pick.

The Wolves have reportedly been enamored with Young for a while, and they’ll have a chance to plug him into the starting lineup as Love’s replacement at power forward for at least one season. Young, like Love, can opt out of his contract and become a free agent next summer, but he probably wouldn’t draw nearly as many suitors, and he’s never expressed unwillingness to play in Minnesota. Young will make more than $9.4MM this season, and if he opts in, he’ll receive almost $10MM in 2015/16.

The Sixers, having shed other well-paid veterans in an aggressive rebuilding effort over the past 15 months or so, had reportedly sought a future first-round pick for Young in advance of the trade deadline in February, so this deal facilitates that apparent desire. The Heat’s 2015 first-round pick that’s coming from the Cavs is protected for the top 10 picks the next two years, but it would become unprotected for 2017, according to RealGM. In a coincidental twist, the Heat originally traded that pick to Cleveland in the sign-and-trade that brought LeBron to Miami in 2010.

Philadelphia also reaps Mbah a Moute, who’s already close with Embiid, whom the Sixers drafted third overall in June. Mbah a Moute has mentored Embiid, a fellow native of Cameroon. Mbah a Moute is on the books at nearly $4.4MM for the upcoming season, but he, like Shved, who’ll make nearly $3.3MM, is on an expiring contract, ensuring the Sixers won’t be stuck with their salaries past next summer. That wouldn’t have been the case with Young, who might have opted in.

The Wolves had sought to unload Mbah a Moute, Shved, as well as J.J. Barea, all of whom are on fairly player-friendly deals. Minnesota can create a trade exception worth $4,644,503 as part of the transaction, with the figure equivalent to the difference between Love’s salary and the combined salaries of Wiggins and Bennett. The trade appears to leave the Wolves with a haul that’s about as impressive as possible for a team that’s surrendering the only established superstar in the deal, and most Hoops Rumors readers gave the team high marks for the package it’s receiving.

The move drops Cleveland’s roster count by one, to 17, while the Sixers net one more player to reach a total of 15. Still, Philadelphia is carrying only seven players on fully guaranteed contracts, fewer than every other team in the league. Minnesota remains at 15 players, all of whom have fully guaranteed deals, meaning the Wolves are no closer to creating an opening for second-round pick Glenn Robinson III, as they’ve hoped to do, or finding a spot for Dante Cunningham, with whom talks have picked up.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports originally reported that Cleveland and Minnesota had an agreement in principle. Mark Perner of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote of the Sixers’ involvement in the swap and Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune nailed down the final structure of the trade. Wojnarowski also noted Minnesota’s interest in unloading Mbah a Moute, Shved and Barea. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links), Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter links), Dan Barreiro of KFAN Sports Radio (Twitter link) and Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link) provided additional detail.

Cavs To Acquire Kevin Love

August 23rd, 2014 at 12:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

AUGUST 23RD, 12:40pm: The teams have completed their trade call with the league, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), so an official announcement is expected to come shortly.

10:28am: A source close to Stein says the teams will make it one three-way swap rather than two separate trades, as long as there aren’t any last-minute changes (Twitter link).

AUGUST 22ND, 8:48am: The latest dispatch from Marc Stein of ESPN.com indicates that the arrangement could turn out to be two separate deals after all, and Wojnarowski appears to suggest the same in his story. Sam Amick of USA Today casts it as one three-team swap, however, which puts him in accordance with Zgoda’s report from late Thursday. In any case, it appears clear that Love will end up in Cleveland, Wiggins, Bennett and Young will head to Minnesota, and Mbah a Moute, Shved and the Heat’s 2015 first-round pick are destined for Philadelphia.

11:08pm: The three-team deal will be finalized on Saturday, the day the 30-day restriction on trading Wiggins expires, Zgoda reports. Zgoda confirms the previously-reported specifics of the deal and adds that the Wolves will also receive a trade exception believed to be worth at least $4 million. The deal will be announced on Saturday after the completion of a call with the league office.

3:08pm: It’ll go down as a three-team deal, rather than one separate transaction involving Love and another involving Young, as Dan Barreiro of KFAN Sports Radio and Krawczynski both expect (Twitter link). Based on the most recent reports, that wound send Love to the Cavs, while the Wolves would get Young, Wiggins and Bennett, with the Sixers set to receive Mbah a Moute, Shved, and the 2015 first-round draft pick that Cleveland had acquired from the Heat.

2:40pm: The Wolves are in line to send Mbah a Moute and Shved to the Sixers, according to Zgoda (Twitter link). The Star Tribune scribe wrote a few weeks ago that the Wolves wanted to send Barea to Philadelphia, but Zgoda clarifies today that Barea isn’t part of the arrangement. Zgoda also speculated earlier this month that Shabazz Muhammad could be a part of the deal, but it’s “highly unlikely” that Muhammad will be involved, Wolfson tweets.

12:09pm: Three sources tell Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun that Young will go to the Wolves but Bennett won’t be heading to the Sixers, advancing the earlier reports (Twitter links).

12:00pm: The belief around the league is that Young will wind up with Minnesota, according to Wolfson (Twitter link).

AUGUST 21ST, 8:46am: Sixers GM Sam Hinkie wants to acquire the first-rounder that the Cavs are shipping out in the deal, Zgoda tweets. Zgoda wrote a few weeks ago that the Wolves hoped to send that pick, likely the Heat’s 2015 first-round selection as we noted below, to Philly as part of a package for Young, so it seems a fair bet that the pick winds up with the Sixers.

AUGUST 20TH: Zgoda casts doubt on the notion that Bennett will end up with the Sixers as part of the deal (Twitter link). That would suggest that Bennett isn’t heading to Philadelphia any time soon as part of a separate transaction, as I explained.

AUGUST 8TH: 2:22pm: Young says the Sixers haven’t given him or agent Jim Tanner any notification that he’ll be traded, as Lynam writes in her full piece.

10:54am: Young tells Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com that, “I have not been traded,” though that could be a matter of semantics, as no trade is yet official (Twitter link).

9:16am: Fellow Daily News scribe Bob Cooney seconds the news that Young is headed to Minnesota and Bennett will go to Philadelphia, but he suggests the move will take place as a separate transaction (Twitter link). Still, it would make more sense if it were part of the Love trade, since the salaries in a standalone Young-Bennett swap wouldn’t meet the NBA’s salary-matching requirements.

FRIDAY, 8:08am: The Sixers will indeed be a part of the deal, as they’ll acquire Bennett from the Cavs and send Young to the Wolves, a source tells Mark Perner of the Philadelphia Daily News. Bennett will give Philadelphia three of the top 11 picks from the 2013 draft, joining Nerlens Noel and reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams. Young figures to slide in as Love’s replacement at power forward in Minnesota, though he has the chance to opt out and hit free agency in 2015, just like Love.

THURSDAY, 2:58pm: John Lucas III, whom the Cavs acquired from the Jazz last month, isn’t a part of the Love trade as it stands, but there’s a decent chance Cleveland will send him out in the deal with the Wolves, tweets USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt.

12:51pm: The potential that a third team becomes involved still exists, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune suggested earlier today that the possibility remained in play. The Wolves continue to work with the Sixers, Krawczynski also tweets, and Zgoda outlined what Minnesota would want to accomplish in a arrangement that would net them Thaddeus Young, as we passed along.

12:35pm: The protected 2015 first-rounder going to Minnesota will likely be the Heat’s pick, Wojnarowski tweets. Miami owes that selection to the Cavs from the LeBron James sign-and-trade in 2010, according to RealGM.

11:56am: There’s no agreement regarding a new max deal for Love, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Berger hears from two sources who suggest that Love will wait to see what James does with his ability to hit free agency next summer.

8:26am: The Wolves and Cavs have reached an agreement in principle on a deal that will send Kevin Love to the Cavs for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a protected 2015 first-round pick, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Cleveland is doing the deal with a firm commitment from Love that he will opt out of his contract next summer and re-sign with the team for the max, Wojnarowski adds. Surprisingly, there’s no third team involved, in spite of a string of rumors indicating that the Wolves were high on acquiring Thaddeus Young from the Sixers. The swap can’t become official until August 23rd, the first day following the 30-day period in which the Cavs are barred from trading Wiggins after signing him to his rookie scale contract.

The teams had agreed to the precise terms weeks ago, but the Cavs and Wolves are staying silent until they can formalize the trade, sources tell Wojnarowski. The Cavs feared the Bulls would instead trade for Love and block the path to the Eastern Conference title, and that helped prompt Cleveland to close on the deal, Wojnarowski hears. That’s in spite of Chicago’s last formal offer having come before the draft in June, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). That conflicts with a report from late July that indicated that the Bulls had offered Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott. Chicago stayed in contact with the Wolves, but the Bulls understood that when the Cavs made Wiggins available, it would have required them to make too strong an offer to compete, Johnson adds (on Twitter).

Cavs officials were also cognizant that it would be difficult for them to clear the cap space necessary to sign Love as a free agent next summer without his Bird rights, according to Wojnarowski. The trade will allow Cleveland to have those Bird rights, which will let the team exceed the cap to re-sign him.

The Wolves had sought to unload some of their player-friendly contracts in a Love trade, and they still hold out hope of parting with J.J. Barea, Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved in subsequent moves, according to Wojnarowski. Minnesota is also still trying to acquire Young from the Sixers, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, but it’s unclear if the efforts are related at this point.

The agreement ends more than two months of intense Love-related rumors after Love made it clear to the Wolves that he would hit free agency next summer and Minnesota began to seriously consider trades. The Bulls and Warriors appeared at the top of Love’s list of preferred destinations at that point. Golden State remained a prime contender for weeks, but their decision against including Klay Thompson in a deal appears to have scuttled any chance Love would end up in the Bay Area. Love made a high-profile visit to Boston around the first of June, but Minnesota wasn’t interested in any assets the Celtics had to offer.

Love reportedly made Cleveland his top choice following the return of LeBron James to the Cavs, and even before the four-time MVP left Miami, Love indicated that he would be 100% on board with joining the Cavs if James were also on the team. James reportedly reached out to Love to tell him he’d like for them to play together in Cleveland and appeared to signal to Cavs management that he wanted them to trade for the All-Star power forward. James conspicuously left Wiggins’ name out of the essay he co-authored with Lee Jenkins of SI.com when he announced his decision to return to Cleveland.

The addition of Love, a 25-year-old three-time All-Star, puts the Cavs squarely in the title race this season. Just as the trade can’t be finalized until August 23rd, Love’s commitment to sign a five-year max contract with the team next summer can’t be official until next July, so much of the arrangement relies on everyone involved keeping their word. James can opt out of his deal with the Cavs and hit free agency next summer, too, so there are few concrete certainties. Still, it appears the Cavs are well-positioned for the future even as they relinquish consecutive No. 1 overall draft selections in Wiggins and Bennett. Wiggins, in particular, makes parting with Love easier to swallow for Minnesota, and his vast potential means there’s a decent chance the Wolves will ultimately emerge with a better return for having traded a superstar than any other team to have done so.

The Nuggets, Suns, Lakers, Rockets, Kings, Knicks, and Wizards were among the other teams connected to Love throughout the process, but the Cavs had emerged as clear front-runners in recent weeks. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com suggested in a radio appearance a few days ago that Cleveland and Minnesota had a handshake agreement in place. The vast majority of Hoops Rumors readers who voted in our poll even before Windhorst’s comments believed Love would be with the Cavaliers by the start of the season.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.

And-Ones: Raptors, Sixers, Wolves, Marion

August 21st, 2014 at 9:18pm CST by Alex Lee

Based upon the initial reaction in the Toronto media, it seems like Raptors CEO Tim Leiweke will be missed after news broke this week that he will eventually leave the organization. Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun partially credits Leiweke with landing current GM Masai Ujiri, who last season built the first Raptors team to make the playoffs in six years. Wolstat also points to the 2016 All Star Game, which Toronto will host, and the team’s new practice facility as coups that have Leiweke’s fingerprints all over them. Meanwhile, Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post lauds the CEO for cultivating the organization’s relationship with hip hop star Drake and also writes that Leiweke played a role in retaining star guard Kyle Lowry.

Let’s see what else is going on around the NBA on Thursday evening:

As Tom Moore of Calkins Media points out (via Twitter), Luc Mbah a Moute is slated to make about $4.4MM for the Sixers in 2014/15 while Alexey Shved will make about $3.2MM. Meanwhile, Thaddeus Young will earn around $9.2MM this season for the Timberwolves and has a $9.7MM player option for 2015/16.
Assuming the trade is finalized as reported, Moore reminds us that Jason Richardson, still recovering from a knee injury, and Arnett Moultrie are now the longest tenured Sixers, appearing in 92 games combined. Hollis Thompson, who has played 77 games in Philly, will have the most time on the court (Twitter link).
Appearing on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas on Thursday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban discussed Shawn Marion‘s decision to sign with the Cavaliers. “He wanted to go to somebody that he thought, and this was all prior to signing Chandler Parsons and everything, that he thought was closer to a ring particularly in the Eastern Conference. He decided to go that route and we wish him nothing but the best,” Cuban said. (quote via The Dallas Morning News)

Poll: Grade Wolves’ Haul For Love

August 21st, 2014 at 8:18pm CST by Alex Lee

With the pieces of the Kevin Love trade on the verge of becoming official, we can finally begin to think about what this deal means for some of the less-publicized parties involved. We know what it signifies for the Cavaliers, who will acquire their second superstar of the offseason to go with a promising young point guard in Kyrie Irving. I think we can all agree that morphing from the team drafting first in June into the NBA favorite by August is an A-plus offseason any way you slice it.

But how did Minnesota make out in this deal? When all the dust settles on this three-way trade — assuming it’s finalized as is currently being reported — the Timberwolves will have ultimately moved Love, Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (via Twitter), it’s hard to imagine team president Flip Saunders could have acquired a better package for a star player he was probably a year away from losing for nothing. Do you agree?

History has shown us that trading superstars in their prime is risky business in the NBA. Sometimes the package is led by one prized asset and ancillary pieces with upside, as was the case in the deals for Charles Barkley (Jeff Hornacek), Ray Allen (Jeff Green), Kevin Garnett (Al Jefferson) and Chris Paul (Eric Gordon). Other times we see star-for-star swaps, like Tracy McGrady for Steve Francis or Jason Kidd for Stephon Marbury. And occasionally teams are forced to trade their studs for pennies on the dollar, as we saw with Shaquille O’Neal (traded to the Heat) and Vince Carter (traded to the Nets).

What we don’t usually see is a fair return for a superstar player — if it even exists — which leads us back to Minnesota’s haul for Love. In Wiggins, the Wolves will land the first overall pick in a loaded draft before he plays a minute in a regular season NBA game. In Bennett, they’ll land a guy who is a year removed from also being selected at the top of the draft. And finally, in Young, they’ll land a veteran who seems destined to be a tremendous role player on a contender.

With all of that in consideration, what grade would you assign Saunders and the Timberwolves for the Love deal? Feel free to justify your grade in the comments section.

Fallout From Kevin Love Trade Agreement

August 7th, 2014 at 1:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

The time between now and August 23rd, when the Kevin Love trade agreement can become an official transaction, makes it possible that the deal could fall apart, but the Cavs and Wolves are under “enormous pressure” to honor the pact, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. A source tells Berger that Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders would listen if the Warriors decided to offer Klay Thompson, but Golden State has been steadfastly against doing so. The Warriors haven’t spoken with Minnesota for weeks, according to Berger, and Sam Amick of USA Today hears that Golden State doesn’t intend to jump back into the fray (Twitter link). Here are more aftershocks from the Love deal:

Even if the Warriors did offer up Thompson to Minnesota, it wouldn’t cause the Cavs deal to come apart, as the Wolves prefer what Cleveland is set to send them, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.

Earlier updates:

The Wolves gave the Cavs permission more than two weeks ago to negotiate with Love about a long-term future with the Cavs, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. There are conflicting reports about whether Love has committed to signing a max deal with Cleveland next summer.
Minnesota maintains interest in Thaddeus Young, but the Wolves wouldn’t end up sending Anthony Bennett to Philadelphia if such a deal materializes, Zgoda writes in the same piece. Minnesota hopes instead to ship the 2015 first-rounder it’s acquiring from Cleveland in the Love trade to the Sixers for Young, Zgoda writes. The Wolves would also like to shed J.J. Barea and Luc Mbah a Moute in a deal for Young, according to Zgoda, who speculates that Minnesota might include Shabazz Muhammad, too.
Kevin Martin was in plenty of Love rumors, but there’s no indication that the Wolves are looking to trade him or Corey Brewer, Zgoda tweets.
Most around the league believe that the addition of Love will convince Ray Allen to sign with Cleveland at some point before camp, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweets that he heard weeks ago that Allen would come aboard if the Cavs traded for Love. Still, Allen has dismissed similar rumors and his criteria for signing with a team appear to exclude the Cavs, as I explained Wednesday.
The Cavs aren’t looking to trade Dion Waiters, who was one of the first within the Cavs organization to whom LeBron James spoke after he made his decision to return from the Heat, Amico writes in his piece.
Cleveland is targeting big men, but the team has faith that Brendan Haywood can contribute, as Amico also notes.

Odds & Ends: David Griffin, Deng, Mbah a Moute

February 11th, 2014 at 9:41pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Since drafting Kyrie Irving in 2011, ex-Cavaliers GM Chris Grant made one draft mistake after another in the following years and spent his final months in Cleveland offering overvalued young players in lopsided proposals for LaMarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis, and Andre Drummond, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Eventually, Wojnarowski says, few NBA executives had the inclination to listen to Grant’s one-sided offers.

Now that the Cavs have elevated David Griffin into the role of interim GM, the team may have a chance to make some improvements through trades based on Griffin’s superior standing with other executives from around the league. Wojnarowski reports that until the deadline, Griffin will be working the phones with a mandate to keep pushing for the playoffs.

You can find tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes below, including more from the above piece:

Though one Eastern Conference executive views Griffin’s current situation as an opportunity to impress Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, Wojnarowski writes that Gilbert’s plan nevertheless is to search the NBA landscape for Grant’s replacement.
Wojnarowski says that in order to keep Luol Deng in Cleveland after this season, the Cavs would likely have to exceed his market value; letting him walk would be too embarrassing after paying such a steep price to acquire him, the Yahoo! scribe adds.
Timberwolves forward Luc Mbah a Moute could be the most likely to be dealt from Minnesota right now, says Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter).
Knicks head coach Mike Woodson said on ESPN 98.7 FM’s “The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show” that if New York makes a deal between now and the trade deadline, he expects to be involved in the discussion: “I would like to think that if something goes down, I’m sure they will include me…It’s been that way since I’ve been here and I don’t see that changing. We just have to let it play out and see what happens” (Ian Begley of ESPN New York). Woodson’s job security has been a hot topic as of late on Hoops Rumors, and multiple reports over the last week suggest that his days in New York could be numbered.
Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders outlines several potential trading partners and scenarios for the Knicks if they were to trade Carmelo Anthony.

Odds & Ends: Asik, Gasol, Wolves, Mirotic

December 17th, 2013 at 9:45pm CST by Alex Lee

With December 15th in our rearview and the trade deadline two months ahead of us, things should start to heat up quickly, as our Luke Adams noted in his Trade Season Primer. Here are some trade-related rumors as well as some odds and ends from around the league on Tuesday night:

With two days remaining until the Rockets self-imposed December 19th deadline, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets that there is a consensus expectation that Omer Asik will be moved in a three-team deal in which he ends up in Boston or Philly.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports adds the Cavs and the Hawks to Stein’s list and says that there is a fifth mystery team in the mix for the center’s services. (Twitter links)
Meanwhile, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that he is hearing that an Asik deal may go down on Wednesday, though he cautions that nothing is definite.
Kennedy also writes about the possibility of the Lakers finally pulling the trigger on a deal to send the disgruntled Pau Gasol out of Los Angeles, opining that while the team has overvalued the Spaniard in the past, the combination of his contract, his struggles this season and his issues with Mike D’Antoni may finally be enough for the Lakers to move him.
As Tim Faklis of Canis Hoopus writes, the Timberwolves don’t have the assets to complete another significant trade this season. Faklis concludes that any deal could only involve some combination of Dante Cunningham, Luc Mbah a Moute, Alexey Shved and/or Shabazz Muhammad. Referencing Faklis’ story, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that the Wolves are limited in their flexibility and that he is told to expect “status quo” in Minnesota for now.
We know that not only have the Bulls met with Nikola Mirotic, but that they’re aggressively trying to bring him over from Spain for next season. Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago tweets that the Bulls “love” Mirotic and that if they get him stateside this summer that it should be considered their big offseason move. To put that into context, Friedell adds that the Bulls consider Mirotic more valuable than the top-10 protected first round pick of the Bobcats that they own. (Twitter links)

Pacific Notes: Williams, Kings, Lakers

November 29th, 2013 at 7:13pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee characterizes the Kings’ move for Derrick Williams as “playing a hunch” – a hope that a new situation will help the former second-overall pick tap into his potential. With the franchise in rebuilding mode, Voisin writes that outside of DeMarcus Cousins, Ben McLemore, and Isaiah Thomas, pretty much everyone else is up for grabs on the trading block. Here’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:

Mark Deeks of the Score evaluates the Williams-Luc Mbah a Moute swap for both Sacramento and Minnesota. Keeping Williams’ potential in mind, Deeks writes that the Kings took a gamble that was nearly “impossible to pass up,” whereas the Timberwolves appeared to have created a logjam at the wing with Dante Cunningham‘s minutes to account for as well as the eventual return of Chase Budinger.
According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni “hated” that Elias Harris had to be cut today. Both Bresnahan and Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News report that the team isn’t expected to fill in their 15th roster spot anytime soon (Twitter links).
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel says the Lakers dropped the ball in sacrificing future financial flexibility in order to reward Kobe Bryant with a generous extension. The Los Angeles Times relayed a handful of fan reactions this afternoon regarding the deal, and most didn’t seem to be enthused either.

Fallout From Wolves/Kings Trade

November 26th, 2013 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves and Kings finalized a trade today that sent Luc Mbah a Moute to Minnesota straight up for 2011’s second overall pick, Derrick Williams. Because Williams is making a little more money this year than Mbah a Moute, the Wolves obtained a trade exception worth $428,576, which will almost certainly go unused. While that TPE may not be noteworthy, a few of today’s quotes out of Minnesota and Sacramento were, so let’s round them up….

Sources tell Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld that the acquisition of D-Will isn’t the only trade the Kings have discussed. According to Kyler, there’s a belief that the Kings have “one or two more deals up their sleeves.”
Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro cited Williams’ untapped potential in explaining to Sam Amick of USA Today why the team decided to acquire him. D’Alessandro adds within the same piece that he feels like the Kings owe it to their fans to be aggressive in exploring roster moves.
Wolves president Flip Saunders tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link) that Minnesota talked about acquiring Mbah a Moute over the summer when the team put together the deal that sent Luke Ridnour to the Bucks.
Reports yesterday indicated that Mbah a Moute would have to undergo a physical before the swap become official, due to concerns about knee issues. However, according to Saunders, that physical has yet to happen — the Wolves were confident enough in their research that they were comfortable completing the deal without it (Twitter link via Zgoda).
More from Flip: Asked about the possibility of sending Shabazz Muhammad and/or Robbie Hummel to the D-League, Saunders said the notion that they won’t see any playing time with the Wolves isn’t necessarily true (Twitter link via Zgoda).
Interestingly, while Saunders suggested to Zgoda (Twitter link) that he and Rick Adelman concluded Williams couldn’t play small forward in the Wolves’ system, D’Alessandro says the initial plan for D-Will in Sacramento is to start him at the three (Twitter link via Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld).
Alexey Shved was rumored to be available as well, but he hopes to remain with the Wolves, as he tells Phil Ervin of FOX Sports North.

Kings Acquire Derrick Williams

November 26th, 2013 at 11:08am CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 11:08am: The deal has become official, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter).

MONDAY, 6:49pm: The Kings are set to acquire Derrick Williams from the T’Wolves for Luc Mbah a Moute, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The deal is pending a physical for Mbah a Moute, who has knee troubles, but a source says that it would have to be really bad for the Wolves to nix the trade (link).

Williams, the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft, has reportedly been on the block for more than a year now and while former GM David Kahn couldn’t find a home for him, new team president Flip Saunders may be on the cusp of doing just that. Williams might have been able to change the new regime’s impression of him with a hot start this season, but 4.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG through eleven games hasn’t helped his stock. Earlier today, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reported that a Williams trade seemed imminent.

The Kings have been aggressively pursuing trades and are reportedly targeting a solution at small forward. Mbah a Moute, a summer pickup, was supposed to be the answer, but he’s more of a role player than a starting three. As the UCLA product averages career-lows in points, rebounds, and minutes per game, Williams could represent an upgrade, even though small forward isn’t his natural position. The T’Wolves gave serious thought to moving Williams to the three – even having him drop from 250 pounds down to ~235 – but he never seemed to get the hang of it in training camp.

If completed, the trade would give Williams a fresh start while reuniting Mbah a Moute with former UCLA teammate Kevin Love. Mbah a Moute will be a defensive upgrade for Minnesota as he and Corey Brewer figure to frustrate opponents on a nightly basis.

Mbah a Moute, 27, is set to earn $4.58MM this season and $4.38MM in 2014/15. Williams, 22, will make $5.29MM this season and $6.68MM next season before reaching restricted free agency.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) first reported that the two sides were in advanced talks on a swap of Mbah a Moute and Williams.

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