Jimmy Butler’s trade situation has sucked the air out of the room in regards to other trade conversations, but expect that to change — regardless of what happens with Butler — as we move closer to the trade deadline.
Lakers not trading Knecht, Hachimura
The Lakers are not done exploring the trade market, focusing on landing a traditional center who can play next to Anthony Davis (and fill some of the minutes AD rests).
However, the Lakers are not going to give up Rui Hachimura or rookie Dalton Knecht to do so, front office people from other teams told Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. That duo joins the list of names already off the table — LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Bronny James — plus the Lakers cannot aggregate the salaries of Dorian Finney-Smith or Shake Milton in any deal. (To be fair, the Lakers would trade anyone but LeBron or AD for a big enough star in return, but that’s highly unlikely to happen at the deadline; Knecht isn’t being thrown in a trade just to get a rotation big.)
That leaves Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, and a couple of minimum-salary guys (Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes) as the matching salary the Lakers would offer in a trade, although the real prize would likely be a future draft pick.
Grizzlies offer Kennard, Konchar in trades
Memphis has been told not to get into the Jimmy Butler trade game (not that they were that interested before), but the team is looking for an upgrade and is offering Luke Kennard, John Konchar and picks to get a deal done, Jake Fischer says at The Stein Line.
Konchar has fans in front offices around the league, while every team in the league could use more shooing and Kennard is second in the NBA this season in 3-point percentage this season hitting 45.9% of his shots (trailing only Nikola Jokic, which is insane for the big man but a different topic). Don’t be shocked if Memphis pulls off a trade on the margins.
Warriors not targeting Zion Williamson
Golden State has not been subtle about its desire for another star to complement Stephen Curry. Zion Williamson is unquestionably a star and an elite offensive force when healthy. Now that Zion is back on the court, are the Warriors interested?
No.
He’s “not on their radar,” was how Andscape’s Marc Spears put it.
Good. The Warriors should not be interested in Zion because of his extensive injury history and legitimate questions about how well he and Draymond Green would fit together (both are really fours).
Jusuf Nurkic on how players deal with rumors
Jusuf Nurkic has been sent to the bench in Phoenix, and his name has been mentioned in trade rumors, often as salary ballast in a 3+ team trade to bring Butler to Phoenix (good luck with that). When asked about it, Nurkick’s response to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic sums up how veteran players handle this time of year.
“[Ownership/management] were completely transparent that they not looking to shop us or whatever, but also, we’re not kids. We understand that this is part of the job. There’s nothing you can do, at least in my situation. I don’t control those things, but understand this happens almost every day, every year, especially this time of the season. You can see any name, not just myself. Might not necessarily be a bad thing or a good thing. I believe they will handle it properly and be honest about it, but even if it happens the way we don’t want it to happen, fine, it’s business. Ain’t no hard feelings.”
Is Beal move to the bench a trade strategy?
It wasn’t just Nurkic, Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer took Bradley Beal out of the starting lineup and moved him to the bench. That has sparked further speculation about Beal being traded, possibly in a multi-team deal that brings Jimmy Butler to Phoenix (Miami does not want Beal and his $100+ million owed over the two seasons after this one on its books, Beal would need to go to a third team). One big challenge in any Beal trade is he has a no-trade clause, so he can reject any trade destination he doesn’t like. The speculation is that moving Beal to the bench is part of a plan to make him unhappy enough to waive that no-trade clause if/when the 3- or 4-team trade comes together. We’ll see. Beal is not a rookie who is easily manipulated.
Beal said he has not been approached about any of this. “If so, I need to be addressed because I hold the cards. So, until I’m addressed and somebody says something differently, then I’ll be a Sun.”
Trade market “stiff”
This is the first year that the full force of the latest NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) kicked in — the one where the other owners made sure there were a lot of new restrictions to reign in owners such as Joe Lacob of the Warriors and Steve Ballmer with the Clippers. Other owners didn’t want to match what they spent.
Those same restrictions have left the trade market “stiff,” to borrow a good phrasing from Tim Bontemps of ESPN, who explains the entire situation well.
“Every conversation I’ve had with scouts, executives, agents and league personnel for months has been centered around how stiff the trade market is due to the combination of money on teams’ books, the lack of draft capital among contenders and, most importantly, the collective bargaining agreement coming fully online this season.”
Fans love trades and player movement. The owners pushed hard for this new CBA to put the brakes on big spending owners, which included closing trade “loopholes.” The rich guys are winning and the fans, not so much.
Nets’ Cameron Johnson continues to draw interest
Cameron Johnson — Brooklyn’s 6’8″ forward averaging 19.5 points a game, shooting 43.6% from 3, and is a plus defender — is the most widely coveted player on the trade market.
There’s a lot of interest in him, with the Lakers, Grizzlies, Kings, Thunder, and Pacers toward the front of the line. The buzz has been that the price is two first-round picks, although one source told Nets Daily that much of what has been written about Johnson is “completely incorrect.” That is vague but interesting.
Raptors’ Chris Boucher drawing interest
With numerous teams looking for affordable frontcourt help, an interesting name has emerged: Toronto forward Chris Boucher. “Several teams have Boucher on their radar,” and that starts with the Denver Nuggets, reports Ian Begley of SNY.net.
Boucher, 31, has played well this season, averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in about 17 minutes a night off the bench for Toronto, although his role has shrunk of late (for a team more focused on the future now than the present). He could plug into just about any team as a rotation player, and he is making $10.8 million in the final year of his contract (a very movable salary). Just a name to watch as we head toward the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
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