Luke Ridnour is being shopped by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a league source told SheridanHoops.com “there is a good chance” the 10th-year point guard will be dealt before the Feb. 21 trade deadline.
With Ricky Rubio back from an injury that wiped out the first half of his season, the T-Wolves have a glut at the position with J.J. Berea also under contract (for this season plus two more). Ridnour has a reasonable contract ($4 million this season, $4.3 million next season) and is a steady playmaker who has spent the majority of his career with bad teams, having appeared in the playoffs just twice.
A second source said the Timberwolves and Jazz had discussed a trade involving Utah guard Alec Burks, but said those talks had been tabled. Utah is in the market for a point guard with Mo Williams out until late March or early April and Earl Watson day to day with a foot injury. As reported on SheridanHoops.com yesterday, a point guard — Patty Mills or Nando de Colo — would be made available to them as part of a larger package that would send center Al Jefferson to San Antonio.
Jefferson (along with Utah forward Paul Millsap) is in the final year of an expiring contract, and the Jazz would be inclined to move him if they don’t want to risk losing him with nothing in return in free agency. Given that the Jazz have a capable young replacement in Enes Kanter ready to replace Jefferson, they find themselves the rare team willing to trade big for small.
And with their need for a point guard so acute (the Jazz currently reside in seventh place in the West with a record six games above .500), Ridnour would be an immediate upgrade.
So with the trade deadline now two weeks away, I have my top three spots filled on the Most Likely To Be Traded List:
1. Will Bynum of the Pistons, as discussed in this item.
2. Jefferson.
3. Ridnour.
More on the prospective trades, and other NBA news, in this chat with CineSport’s Noah Coslov:
hi, are you the legendary chris “cheap shot” sheridan who ko’ed that guy by faking a glove touch?
The Jazz are not stupid, as a small market team that has made the playoffs more often than not for the last score of years, they can’t afford to make major personnel mistakes. In each of the scenarios you’ve mentioned they are getting pennies on the dollar in terms of value for their pieces. Why would they trade Burks on a rookie scale contract for Ridnour? He is playing fairly well now and has a great deal of potential as opposed to Ridnour who will be lucky to be in the league after his contract expires. The Jazz have shown they are patient in terms of waiting for the right deal. They let Boozer become a free agent instead of taking less through a mid year trade, and ended up with Big Al. They waited nearly 5 years for the Knicks pick instead of unloading earlier for a short term gain and they ended up with Hayward. The Jazz are in no rush to send producing bigs out the door and have demonstrated that through past actions. I realize you need readers and visitors for cash flow, but don’t take shots at a very well run organization with these ridiculous suppositions to drive those numbers. I know you will hate to hear this being a Big Apple guy, but the Jazz have run a much better franchise then your beloved Knicks and aren’t the classic country bumpkins your portray them to be with these ridiculous proposed deals. Just keep to the excellent writing of facts or realistic scenarios that led me to admire you as a journalist in the first place.