NBA Rumors: Hottest Chatter for Week of Feb. 2
It wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if any of five teams in the Eastern Conference or eight teams in the Western Conference made the NBA Finals, which is what makes the upcoming trade deadline (Feb. 19) so intriguing this season.
With so many teams still realistically in the race for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, there are plenty of buyers looking for talent.
That is great news for those teams that are in rebuilding mode with an eye toward the future. Naturally, there are a number of rumors circulating around the Association with the deadline about two weeks away.
Here are a few of them.
Toronto Raptors
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders provided an update on the Toronto Raptors’ plans heading into the trade deadline:
"The Raptors are one of several teams sniffing around for a roster upgrade, specifically at the power forward spot. A few names continue to surface around league sources when talking about Toronto, the biggest being Indiana’s David West, the next is Chicago’s Taj Gibson, then Denver’s Kenneth Faried.
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If Toronto is going to make a trade, it will likely involve at least one of five players with expiring contracts (Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, Chuck Hayes, Lou Williams and Tyler Hansbrough), although it is hard to envision Williams' moving.
The names in the rumor Kyler passed along are more interesting than those Toronto may deal.
While Kenneth Faried and David West are both All-Star-caliber players at their best, the name that immediately jumps out is Taj Gibson. After all, the Chicago Bulls are right in the thick of the same Eastern Conference race that the Raptors are, and trading a major piece like Gibson would be a shocking development.
For what it’s worth regarding Faried and West, Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird recently said, via Candace Buckner of USA Today that his team is still in “win-now mode,” while Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated noted that the Denver Nuggets have “balked” at including Faried in trade discussions already this year.
Neither of those updates seems to indicate that West or Faried is on the way out.
Still, if the Raptors somehow pried Gibson from the Bulls roster, it would both strengthen Toronto and weaken Chicago in one move. That would be a game-changing trade in the Eastern Conference.
Marc Stein of ESPN noted that the Minnesota Timberwolves could entertain trade offers for Mo Williams:
This rumor should really come as no surprise considering the Timberwolves are an abysmal 9-40 on the season and have absolutely zero hope of competing down the stretch in the loaded Western Conference. Even winning every remaining game likely wouldn’t get them into the playoffs.
Williams has actually been a pleasant surprise for the Timberwolves this season. He is averaging 12.5 points and 6.5 assists per game and is hitting 34.6 percent of his three-pointers. However, this is a team trying to rebuild, and the 32-year-old Williams is unlikely to be in the future plans for the franchise.
That is why there is so much emphasis on landing draft considerations in return. There is no better way to build a long-term winner in Minnesota than by stockpiling draft picks, and trading Williams could help the Timberwolves do just that.
Sean Deveney of Sporting News noted that the Indiana Pacers could move Roy Hibbert: “Hibbert has been quietly shopped going back to last summer, but he has a $15.5 million option on his contract next season that makes him a tough sell.”
The Pacers may be a disappointing 18-32 on the season, but they are still within striking distance for the No. 8 seed in the watered-down Eastern Conference. All it would take is a three- or four-game winning streak to put them right back in the playoff discussion.
Even though Hibbert has been inconsistent this season, trading him for draft picks or future assets would likely end any realistic postseason chances for Indiana. Plus, there was Bird's assertion that the Pacers are in win-now mode, and trading away their starting center, who leads the team in rebounds (7.1) and blocks (1.8) per game would run counter to that narrative.
Ultimately, as Deveney mentioned, it is Hibbert’s contract that could prevent any trades from unfolding this year. That is an awful lot of money to pay a 7’2” center to hit 46 percent of his shots from the field.
At the right price, Hibbert would be very attractive to a contender looking for rim protection, but $15.5 million may prove to be too much.
Lance Stephenson
Deveney also had an update regarding one of Hibbert’s former teammates in Indiana: "The [knee] injury to Kemba Walker might give the Hornets pause when considering making a move with Stephenson—a ball-handling combo guard—but make no mistake, if they can unload Stephenson and fill his shoes in the backcourt, the Hornets will do so."
Is it too early to call the Lance Stephenson signing in Charlotte the biggest bust of the offseason, considering the hype and expectations that surrounded the move?
He came off the bench for the Hornets Thursday, even with the Kemba Walker injury, and is hitting a whopping 37.7 percent of his field-goal attempts and 13.6 percent of his three-point attempts on the season. You would figure at some point that Stephenson would just stop shooting threes, but he jacked up a combined 15 in his past four games alone.
Deveney made it crystal clear that Charlotte would love to unload Stephenson, but it does get a bit tricky in the Eastern Conference. After all, the Hornets would be the No. 7 seed if the season ended today—even with a 22-27 record—and they need ball-handlers with Walker injured.
Plus, it is still difficult to watch Stephenson on the floor and not think of the version fans saw in Indiana last season. That Stephenson was a lockdown defender and someone who could light up the scoreboard at a moment's notice. Trading him away would end any chance for him to somehow rediscover that version of himself down the stretch, at least for Charlotte.
Playoff race or not, it seems as if the Hornets have had their fill of Stephenson if the right offer comes around.
Tom Thibodeau
File this update from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune in the panic-now department for Chicago Bulls fans:
"Despite the two seasons left on the four-year extension Thibodeau took several months to sign in the 2012-13 season, several league sources believe Thibodeau's relationship with management is beyond repair.
And while there are no plans to replace Thibodeau during the season, a mutual parting of the ways after this season wouldn't surprise many league personnel familiar with the deteriorating dynamic.
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The Bulls have lost three in a row and four of their last five and currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. We are talking about a team that had championship aspirations coming into the season, but now they are worried about holding off the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 5 spot and the long-term future of their coach.
It is no secret that Chicago has been hammered by injuries this season, including physical short- or long-term setbacks to Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Pau Gasol, Mike Dunleavy, Doug McDermott, Kirk Hinrich and Derrick Rose. That’s not even mentioning the season-ending injuries to Rose in years past that cost Chicago a chance to compete for a title.
Johnson noted that the split between Thibodeau and the front office likely has something to do with the heavy allocation of minutes and practice habits the coach has for this team, which has been burned by injuries before.
Thibodeau commented on that issue in the piece: "The more you practice, the better you practice, the better you're going to play. That's time-tested, age-old, however else you want to describe it. That's what you gotta do if you want to win."
Whether Chicago practices harder or rests certain players as the long regular season progresses, fans at this point would love to just see a healthy roster come playoff time. Perhaps then the Bulls can finally fulfill those preseason expectations.
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