The official NBA Trade Deadline is on Thursday, at 3:00 P.M., EST. That means the clock is ticking for teams around the league, and rumors continue to circle around Josh Smith and company.
In today’s blog, we’ll get straight to all the rumors, including the ones that appear to be shot down and ones that are still well in discussion. All of this, of course, means plenty of Woj “bombs” and reports are to be expected.
Before we get to all the rumors, here’s a totally unexpected trade that went down between the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings, from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (as promised): “Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings The Houston Rockets acquired Sacramento’s Thomas Robinson, the fifth overall pick in the draft, in a three-way deal on Wednesday night, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Rockets sent Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich to the Kings, and Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns as part of the trade. The Kings give up Robinson, the power forward out of Kansas, Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt and a future second-round pick to the Rockets, sources said. Morris, the 14th overall pick of the 2011 draft, had started 17 games for the Rockets this season, averaging 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds. Morris averaged 21 minutes a game for Houston.”
Now, lets get to the bottom of the juiciest rumors:
The Nets and Celtics are in discussion for a possible deal involving Paul Pierce, from Wojnarowski: “The Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets have discussed a trade for Celtics star Paul Pierce, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Nets’ willingness to a deal centered on forward Kris Humphries, guard MarShon Brooks and a first-round draft pick, but the Celtics want a more substantial package to consider moving Pierce, league sources said. The Celtics still highly value Pierce and it wouldn’t make sense to trade him for that kind of a package if they’re keeping Kevin Garnett,” one league source said. Boston has shown interest in forward Mirza Teletovic and securing another possible first-round pick, but the Nets have shown no inclination to pay that steep of a price for Pierce.”- Boston may be willing to part with Fab Melo, according to Wojnarowski:
J.J. Redick is still drawing plenty of interest from teams, but his asking price will be steep come summer time, from Wojnarowski: “Sources say Redick’s agent, Arn Tellem, will likely start the bidding at four years, $40 million for Redick on the free-agent market… Indiana, Milwaukee, Chicago and Minnesota have expressed interest in trading for Redick, but teams have been reluctant to give up a first-round pick and a good young player for a player who could turn into a rental for the rest of the season. The Philadelphia 76ers could be a real possibility for Redick in free agency, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Redick has a strong relationship with coach Doug Collins, the father of his close friend and Duke assistant coach, Chris Collins.
- DeJuan Blair will likely be traded near the deadline, from Woj: “The San Antonio Spurs will likely move forward DeJuan Blair close to the deadline, ultimately accepting the best final offer for him, sources said. Blair has wanted a trade for more than a year, and clearly will not re-sign with the Spurs as a free agent this summer. The Spurs had tried to canvass the market for a first-round pick, but have relented on that demand. The Spurs could get a second-round pick, or perhaps a player on an expiring deal in return.”
Here are the teams that still have strong interest in Josh Smith, according to our friends Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick over at USA Today: “Several teams have expressed varying degrees of interest in Smith, among them the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards, and the Phoenix Suns. But despite the fact that officials from several involved teams are under the impression that Smith will definitely be traded, a person with knowledge of the Hawks’ strategy said it’s not inconceivable that they hold onto him past the deadline. The person requested anonymity because of the private nature of the plan.
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