Also, don’t expect a Zion Williamson trade because the return would be far too low.
With a couple of Dec. 15 trades in the rearview mirror, the NBA trade rumor mill is picking up steam heading toward the Feb. 6 deadline. Here is the latest talk around the league.
Nuggets eyeing Zach LaVine to help Jokic
Denver’s ugly loss at home to Portland Thursday perfectly encapsulates why they are looking for a trade: Nikola Jokic continued to look like an MVP with 34 points and eight assists, and Jamal Murray added 24 points and 10 assists, but that wasn’t enough. The team needs more scoring options (and better defense last night).
Denver is in the market for a dynamic scorer to help Jokic, the Athletic reports. At the top of their list is the Bulls’ Zach LaVine, a proven bucket-getter of the highest order who dropped 36 on a good Celtics defense last night and for the season is averaging 21.7 points a game on 42.8% shooting from 3 (but is making $43 million this year with two years, $94 million guaranteed after this season, and a lengthy injury history, which has given teams pause).
LaVine, who has been in trade rumors for much of his career, is good at tuning all the noise out.
“I’m not the one controlling that,” LaVine said this week. “That’s what has been so good about my mindset. I can control what my mood is and my mindset going into each game. Outside of that, it’s out of my control.”
The only logical way to make this trade work would be to send Michael Porter Jr. to Chicago. Does that make the Nuggets that much better? LaVine is a better shot creator but is more of a defensive liability that opposing teams could target. How does that play out in the postseason?
The Nuggets are not just considering LaVine; Brandon Ingram is also on the list (although his severe ankle injury and recovery history will give Denver pause). Also reportedly under consideration are Jordan Poole, Jordan Clarkson, De’Andre Hunter, and Cam Johnson.
Zion would net just one first-round pick in trade
“Just trade him!” Write anything about Zion Williamson and this sentiment shows up a lot in the comments and on social media. All reports are the Pelicans have zero plan to do that, but if they explored it what would they get?
One first-round pick, plus matching expiring contracts, something Bobby Marks wrote at ESPN that echoes the talk around the league. It’s simply a matter of three years, $126.4 million left on his contract that gives teams pause. Zion COULD be waived after this season for not meeting games played requirements, but that appears highly unlikely at this point, the Pelicans aren’t ready to just walk away from that potential).
At that price point, the Pelicans will just hold on to Zion and hope something changes where he starts to stay healthy.
Hottest position on trade market: Centers. Starting with Valanciunas.
The Lakers want a center to put next to Anthony Davis. The Bucks, Knicks and Clippers are looking for backup bigs to complement quality starting centers. New Orleans wanted a center, although their dreadfully slow start may change things.
All of that demand has made centers the hottest position on the trade market, something Jake Fischer got into at The Stein Line. At the top of the list is Jonas Valanciunas, a solid veteran big who can stretch the floor, a player the Lakers have had preliminary conversations with the Wizards about. Another name to watch closely is Clint Capela, who the Hawks have been open to trading for a year. The Bulls are trying to find a taker for Nikola Vucevic.
Other centers to watch include Walker Kessler (but Utah is asking a high price), Robert Williams III, Kevon Looney, Chris Boucher, Day’Ron Sharpe, Trey Lyles, Nick Richards and Daniel Theis.
Once again: Warriors still looking for star
We have written about this a few times: Dennis Schroder may be the short-term answer to getting more shot creation next to Stephen Curry (like, for the rest of this season), but the longer-term plan is to land another star. Don’t take my word for it, here is what Golden State GM Mike Dunleavy told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“We’re always aggressive. You got to be mindful of what you’re giving up, what you’re getting back, all those things. But anything to do to make the team better, we’re going to do. We’re in a time zone here of maximizing our window with Steph [Curry], Draymond [Green] and Steve [Kerr] as our coach… I want to evaluate and see, but we’ll always be looking at stuff.”
Once again: Lakers not looking to trade LeBron, Davis
It feels like every trade rumor roundup between now and Feb. 6 will have some version of this same note: The Lakers have no plans to trade LeBron James or Anthony Davis, and instead are looking to make moves around them to bolster the roster. This idea has been reported by multiple people (NBC Sports included) but the latest was from the well connected Jovan Buha at the Athletic, if you need even more confirmation.
Clippers, Pelicans, Cavaliers may look to dump salaries
The NBA’s luxury tax line — the line where you pay if you are over it but get money from tax-paying teams if you are under it — is $170.8 million this season.
The struggling Pelicans are $1.6 million above that tax line, while the Clippers are $1.5 million and the Cavaliers $1.2 million over. That has teams around the league thinking those teams will make salary dump trades at the deadline to get below that tax line, reports Eric Pincus at Bleacher Report.
That makes sense for the Pelicans and Clippers, but for a Cavaliers team that wants to prove it’s a contender, they might be more likely to make a deal to add talent (that said, shifting salaries around at the end of the bench is possible).
Watch for the Pistons to take in salary in any of those trades. Detroit’s front office played a little cap game with Paul Reed this week — waiving him and then re-signing him — which gave the team about $3 million more in available cap space. The Pistons are the only NBA team with cap space heading into the trade deadline, $14 million, and that sets them up to be the third team in a larger trade, taking on a troublesome contract and being rewarded with draft pick/picks for their trouble.
