With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, rumors have been rampant around the league throughout the day.
Can Cleveland find a taker for Luol Deng? How serious is Sacramento about moving MIP candidate Isaiah Thomas? Will the New York Knicks finally trade Iman Shumpert? Those are some of the many burning questions as general managers try to determine what will be the best course of action for their respective franchises. Some minor deals have already gone down on Wednesday, and plenty more juicy conversations are being had as you will find below:
BROOKLYN NETS ACQUIRE THORNTON AND LOOKING FOR MORE:
With the Jason Terry experiment having failed miserably for much of the season, the Brooklyn Nets will package him with Reggie Evans in a deal with the Sacramento Kings. The Nets are also still hoping to acquire Jordan Hill from the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski (Woj) of Yahoo Sports:
The Sacramento Kings have reached agreement on a deal to send guard Marcus Thornton to the Brooklyn Nets for guard Jason Terry and forward Reggie Evans, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Nets’ deal with Sacramento doesn’t preclude them from also completing a deal for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jordan Hill using the Nets’ Disabled Player Exception, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Brooklyn ownership has expressed a willingness to complete the deal for Hill, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Hill’s $3.5 million contract added to the payroll would require the Nets to pay a staggering $17 million in additional luxury tax.
Thornton’s contract has two years and nearly $17 million remaining through the 2014-15 season. Terry, 36, has $10.7 million left on his deal, including $5.4 million next season.
NEW YORK KNICKS UNSUCCESSFUL IN TRADE TALKS:
The ‘Bockers are looking hard to deal Iman Shumpert, but that will be difficult to do after the guard injured his knee on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans. The team had an extended discussion with the Los Angeles Clippers, but talks have now broken down, from Woj:
After several rounds of negotiations, the Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks have abandoned discussions on a proposed trade centered on guard Iman Shumpert, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Knicks had interest in bringing back Clippers point guard Darren Collison and rookie Reggie Bullock as part of a package, but wanted Los Angeles to accept Raymond Felton in the deal, sources said. The Clippers resisted the Felton element of the deal, and were reluctant to part with Bullock or any draft picks in talks, sources said.
They may look for a simpler deal to be rid of Beno Udrih, from Marc Stein of ESPN:
Latest Knicks buzz: Hearing Knicks’ long-running chase of Kenneth Faried now trending toward simpler swap of Beno Udrih for Jordan Hamilton
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 20, 2014
GOLDEN STATE ACQUIRES BLAKE:
The Warriors have been looking for a suitable backup point guard all season long, and they will finally get one in Steve Blake, from Woj:
The Los Angeles Lakers have traded guard Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Warriors will send the Lakers guards Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks, sources said.
Golden State has been searching for a veteran guard to bolster its backcourt and reached an agreement on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors recently acquired guard Jordan Crawford from the Boston Celtics.
The Lakers are determined to shed salary and veterans for assets between now and Thursday’s trade deadline. They are discussing several trade possibilities involving forward Jordan Hill too.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
- The Orlando Magic may stand pat through the deadline, from Woj: “Orlando strongly inclined to keep Arron Afflalo past trade deadline and revisit deals around NBA Draft in June, league sources tell Yahoo.”
Pages: 1 2
Salaries don’t work in Blake deal. Blake getting 4 Million and Brooks and Bazemore combine for under 2 million. Any idea, Jim, what the missing explanation is that apparently not even Woj knows about? CBA says that for non taxpayers (Warriors) can only receive 150% + $100,000. That means Warriors can only receive about 3.1 million in salary.
However, the trade clearly saves Lakers $, which as long as they find a taker (ATL?) for Kaman using Disabled Player Exception, will get them under the Luxury Tax (71.6 Million).
Billy King already has the OK to take Jordan Hill with the DPE despite cost Prokhorov over $17 million in luxury taxes.
Regarding Reggie Evans being traded from Nets: If only he had listened to my advice instead of “blocking” me on Twitter, he might still be with team. Last year I tweeted that he should be fined by front office if he doesn’t pass the ball within 2 secs of getting a rebound. This year he even found it funny when he was blocked (on court) by various bigs, trying to make reckless drives to basket, and jumping about 3″ off the ground. Apparently Billy King didn’t find it funny. Prokhorov earlier this season compare Reggie to a Russian tank. Last season Reggie led league in 3 sec calls as well as most rebounds taken away from teammates (lol).
@jerry25: Trade was actually made of 3 separate deals. First, Golden State had an $4M traded player exception (TPE) which they used to absorb Blake’s salary. That created TPE for Lakers, which they used to absorb Brooks. That also created a TPE for them equal to the difference between two player’s salaries ($2,789,920), which they can use till February 20th 2015. Third part was Lakers taking Bazemore via the minimum salary exception.
Thanks. You obviously are an insider, unless the Warrior beat writers had the details already (before Woj).
Not sure then why Lakers would take on the additional salary of Brooks and Bazemore, if not necessary, before insuring that they got below the luxury tax (now requires both Hill and Kaman to be traded without taking back salary).
I do know as a Nets fan, that Brooks can still be a mini-Lite Kobe on offense and would do well (on offense) for a team that gives him a chance. Nets (and other teams) have given up on expecting more on defense.
I can only assume he is THAT bad on defense to have gotten less of a chance to play than Kent Bazemore. I saw plenty of him during his rookie season with the Nets so I do know he’s got an offensive game, but if you can’t stop anyone or understand the fundamentals of team defense, it’s gonna be hard to play.
I now see that Mark Deeks (Shamsports) has revealed the details of the complicated trade).