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Kennedy On Trade Deadline Winners

February 21st, 2013 at 8:17pm CST by Sean Highkin

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld posted a new column examining the reasoning why many teams opted to stand pat at the trade deadline rather than make any major deals. He also wrote that, although the trade deadline was relatively uneventful, it could set up an exciting summer of trades and free-agent signings.

Kennedy also ran down the teams he thought improved with deadline deals:

Kennedy thinks J.J. Redick will be valuable to the Bucks as they push for a playoff spot.
The Thunder added Ronnie Brewer at little cost, and Kennedy believes he will form a formidable perimeter defense tandem with Thabo Sefolosha.
Kennedy praises Rockets GM Daryl Morey for acquiring the fifth pick in the 2012 draft, and believes Thomas Robinson will flourish in a better situation than the one he was in with the Kings.
The Raptors picked up Sebastian Telfair, giving them a serviceable backup for Kyle Lowry at little cost, Kennedy writes, also noting that Telfair has strong relationships with several players already on the team.
Kennedy praises the Blazers for acquiring much-needed bench help in Eric Maynor.

Recap Of Deadline Trades

February 21st, 2013 at 7:44pm CST by Sean Highkin

A complete recap of trades that were completed before Thursday's trade deadline:

The Houston Rockets traded Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns and Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, and Toney Douglas to the Sacramento Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt, and a future second-round pick.
The Miami Heat traded Dexter Pittman and a future second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for the rights to Ricky Sanchez and cash considerations.
The Washington Wizards traded Jordan Crawford to the Boston Celtics for Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.
The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers for a trade exception and the rights to Georgios Printezis. The Blazers waived Ronnie Price to clear a roster spot for Maynor.
The Thunder also acquired Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks for a future second-round pick.
The Atlanta Hawks traded Anthony Morrow to the Dallas Mavericks for Dahntay Jones.
The Suns traded Sebastian Telfair to the Toronto Raptors for Hamed Haddadi and a future second-round pick.
The Orlando Magic traded J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon, and Ishmael Smith to the Milwaukee Bucks for Beno Udrih, Tobias Harris, and Doron Lamb.
In a separate deal, the Magic traded Josh McRoberts to the Charlotte Bobcats for Hakim Warrick.
The Golden State Warriors traded Jeremy Tyler to the Hawks for a second-round pick. They also traded Charles Jenkins to the Philadelphia 76ers for an additional second-round pick.

Trade Rumors: Knicks, Lakers, Pierce, Pistons

February 21st, 2013 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

With so many trade rumors swirling around in the hours leading up to the deadline, we're scrambling to keep tabs on them all. Here's the latest:

The Knicks won't make a major move, but they're exploring make a trade to clear a roster spot for an eventual free agent pickup, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times is fairly confident the Lakers won't make a move today (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

Although the Celtics continue to discuss Paul Pierce, they're seeking a big package of expiring contracts and draft picks, which is unlikely, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. The Nets are "on the outside looking in" when it comes to Pierce, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
TNT's David Aldridge was told unequivocally that the Rockets won't flip Thomas Robinson in a second trade. Houston "loves" Robinson, according to Aldridge (Twitter link).
"Nothing at all" is happening on the trade front for the Pistons, reports Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, though he notes there's still some time for that to change (Twitter links).
The Warriors and Suns are on Eric Gordon's list of desired destinations, tweets Amick. While there's a chance Gordon is moved today, a deal down the road, perhaps this summer, is more likely — Gordon isn't even eligible to be traded to Phoenix until July.
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News is hearing that the consensus is the Spurs' asking price for DeJuan Blair remains too high.

Rockets Send Morris To Suns, Get Kings’ Robinson

February 21st, 2013 at 11:55am CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have finalized a pair of deals they agreed upon Wednesday night, sending Marcus Morris to the Suns for a second-round pick and trading Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich, Toney Douglas and $1MM to the Kings for Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt. The second-rounder heading to Houston is Phoenix's own 2013 selection. The Suns, who were at the roster limit of 15 players going into the trade, waived Luke Zeller to make room for Morris.

Houston was reportedly deciding between a pair of deals for Morris, whom the Rockets held out of their win against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. With Houston's top two power forwards gone, it looks like a pair of rookies, in Robinson and Terrence Jones, will man the position as the team fights to hold on to the final playoff spot in the West. One of the motivations to trade Morris was to free up time for Jones, according to HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler.

As Grantland's Zach Lowe points out via Twitter, the pair of moves will save Houston approximately $1.6MM for next season if they decline their option on Garcia. Lowe surmised earlier that Houston would look to cut between $1.5MM and $2MM to clear room for a max deal to land Dwight Howard, who'll be a free agent this summer. The Rockets also get the No. 5 overall pick from this past June's draft in Robinson, who's seen just 15.9 minutes per game as a reserve for the Kings this year. Nonetheless, Robinson is grabbing 4.7 rebounds in his limited action, which would extrapolate to 10.6 rebounds per 36 minutes.

Sacramento had appeared unlikely to make a deal as their ownership situation remains in limbo, but they flipped Robinson for two expiring deals and Patterson, who will enter the final season of his rookie contract next year. The move was all about cost-cutting and not something the Kings current management wished to do, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Chris Hansen/Howard Ballmer group from Seattle that has a deal in place to buy the Kings was briefed on the trade before it went down, according to fellow Yahoo! Sports scribe Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It's unclear exactly where the directive to make the trade came from, though SB Nation's Tom Ziller indicated Wednesday night that co-owner Gavin Maloof and Geoff Petrie are the driving forces in the Kings front office at the moment.

The Suns considered trading a first-round pick for Morris when the Rockets drafted him 14th overall in 2011, but wound up nabbing him for a second-rounder, currently projected to be the 35th overall selection. Now the power forward will reunite with his twin brother, Markieff Morris, whom the Suns took 13th overall in 2011. With the next pick that year, the Rockets drafted Marcus.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (All Twitter links) initially broke the news of both trades. Sam Amick of USA Today (All Twitter links) and TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link) contributed additional details.

Amick On Warriors, Shumpert, Lillard, Kings

January 3rd, 2013 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

In his Thursday morning edition of A to Z at USA Today, Sam Amick speaks to Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob about his team's first-half success and looks into the Kings' decision to pass on Damian Lillard last June, among other topics. Let's dive right in and check out what Amick has for us….

Asked about the possibility of making a trade to further upgrade the Warriors' lineup, Lacob tells Amick that the club is taking things one game at a time for now, and that if Andrew Bogut comes back healthy before the deadline, "it's sort of like you made a trade." Still, Golden State intends to be opportunistic, so if a potential deal arises, the team will certainly consider it.
Lacob also praised the work of GM Bob Myers, singling out the signings of Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry as moves that have made a big impact so far.
Lacob expects it'll be another year and a half before the Warriors "get all the approvals" for their eventual move to San Francisco.
While the Knicks are happy to have Amare Stoudemire back in the rotation, Amick suggests Iman Shumpert is the player New York needs more right now. The young guard tells Amick that he expects to return in "January or February."
According to Amick, one reason why the Kings drafted Thomas Robinson over Lillard at No. 5 overall last June was the front office's uncertainty about whether ownership would be willing to pony up the money for a long-term deal for Jason Thompson. While Sacramento was happy to land Robinson, who was viewed as a safe selection, there was also "strong support" for Lillard among the front office and scouting staff.
Amick notes that the Celtics and Jazz are two teams worth keeping an eye on as the trade deadline approaches. In the past, Boston has been aggressive about adding future pieces even when the team has been winning, which it's not doing right now. As for Utah, the Jazz have a number of expiring contracts and other assets and could be sellers if they continue to play sub-.500 ball.

Odds & Ends: Bynum, Seattle, Suns, Beal

October 7th, 2012 at 4:40pm CST by Michael Pina

Here are a few pieces of news from around the league.

Philly.com's John Mitchell writes that the fact that players on the Sixers think Andrew Bynum is better than Dwight Howard is good for the team's future.
David Stern says "if everything works perfectly" that the city of Seattle should have an NBA team and new stadium within five years, according to the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn. (Sulia link)
When the Suns acquired several players from last year's Rockets roster, they also took on the team's offensive strategy, writes AZCentral.com's Paul Coro.
The Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones has a piece detailing rookie Thomas Robinson's possible role at the small forward position.
Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal isn't nervous for his preseason debut against fellow rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee.
DeseretNews.com's Randy Hollis writes about newly signed guard Randy Foye, and how he's fitting in nicely with the Jazz.
The Hawks are in search of a consistent small forward to fill in the void left by Marvin Williams, writes HoopsWorld.com's Lang Greene.
The Chicago Sun-Times' Seth Gruen has a nice feature on Bulls second year forward Jimmy Butler, and how he's ready to fill in for the departed Ronnie Brewer.
ESPNNewYork's Jared Zwerling on Timberwolves forward Andrei Kirilenko, and why he didn't sign with the Nets.
Injuries throughout the league could be a huge positive for would-be D-League players fighting for roster spots on NBA teams, writes Gino Pilato on Ridiculous Upside.
Stephen Brotherston from Hoopsworld.com writes that Cavaliers forward Jon Leuer is searching for a spot in the team's starting rotation.

Kings Sign Thomas Robinson

July 9th, 2012 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have officially signed first-round pick Thomas Robinson to a rookie scale contract, the team announced today. Sacramento selected the Kansas power forward fifth overall.

The rookie scale amount for pick No. 5 is $2,812,200, but Robinson figures to sign for the maximum 120% permitted — that would mean a first-year salary of $3,374,640 for the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year.

Draft Rumors: Thursday

June 28th, 2012 at 5:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Well, we're here. After weeks of following draft rumors and speculating on which player will be picked by which team, we're just hours away from the 2012 draft. Before things get underway tonight though, we're sure to hear plenty more draft rumors, so be sure to follow this page for the latest updates throughout the day. And to fully immerse yourself in tonight's draft, you can also check out our most recent mock draft, the complete draft order, our Prospect Profiles series, and all the rest of our draft content. Here are today's updates, with the latest up top:

The Kings and Warriors will make decisions on whether to trade their picks while they're on the clock, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports says (Twitter link).
It's highly unlikely the Grizzlies use the 25th pick on a point guard, the Memphis Commercial Appeal tweets.
The Grizzlies, Rockets and Celtics are all interested in Royce White, says Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Warriors may trade up from No. 30 to land him, Rothstein also tweets.
The Bobcats are "getting closer" to trading the No. 2 pick, tweets ESPN.com's Andy Katz (hat tip to Tom Ziller of SBNation).

Earlier updates:

Draft Rumors: Wednesday

June 27th, 2012 at 10:59pm CST by Luke Adams

With draft night fast approaching, our Tuesday draft rumors post seemed to go on forever, and we're expecting things to be just as busy today. Earlier this morning, we published our second and final mock draft, but given the amount of trade chatter around the league, it wouldn't be surprising if some of our predictions were rendered moot within a matter of hours. We'll follow today's draft-related news and rumors right here, with the latest updates added to the top of the page throughout the day….

ESPN's Andy Katz tweets that Dion Waiters could now be a possibility for the Cavaliers at the 4th pick. If Waiters lands in the top 5, his draft stock will have shot up boards over the past few months in historical fashion.

Wizards’ Lottery Pick Drawing Trade Interest

June 27th, 2012 at 12:09am CST by Luke Adams

Immediately after the Wizards landed the third overall pick in the 2012 draft lottery, owner Ted Leonsis adamantly stated the team wouldn't be trading the pick. But it seems that hasn't stopped rival clubs from inquiring on its availability, just in case. According to Michael Lee of the Washington Post, the Wizards have been fielding calls this week from teams interested in moving up to No. 3, possibly to select Thomas Robinson.