NBA Trade Rumors: Latest from Atlantic Division Teams

In this slideshow, I will break down the most recent trade buzz for each Atlantic Division team. These teams are the Boston Celtics, the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors.

News on the trade front could break as I compose this piece, but for clarity, I will try to discuss one trade rumor (or recent confirmation) per team.

As always, I welcome any feedback/discussion in the comments section below.

Boston Celtics

After having what ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg called “a handshake agreement in place for nearly two weeks now,” the Boston Celtics have officially agreed to terms with Jason Terry.

Boston considered a sign-and-trade with Terry, but the Dallas Mavericks were not cooperating with the Celtics’ plans. Dallas signed O.J. Mayo in free agency; Boston was looking to acquire Mayo.

Terry’s signing becomes even more important for the Celtics now that Ray Allen has moved on to the Miami Heat, and considering Avery Bradley’s recent shoulder issues. The deal is for three years and $15 million.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge used the midlevel exception on Terry. Charlie Zegers of about.com explains what this means:

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“Teams under the luxury tax threshold can offer four-year contracts starting at $5 million, with three percent annual increases. Tax-payers are limited to three-year offers starting at $3 million. The base salaries will increase by three percent every year starting in 2013-14.”

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So, Terry officially returns to the Eastern Conference after leaving the Atlanta Hawks for the Mavericks prior to the 2004-05 NBA season.

Brooklyn Nets

Brook Lopez’ signing effectively squashed all trade rumors surrounding the Brooklyn Nets.

Dwight Howard has still not found a team for 2012-13, but Brooklyn does not have to worry about that anymore. Nets head coach Avery Johnson likes it that way.

According to Stefan Bondy of nydailynews.com, Johnson said this on July 18 about his free agency philosophy:

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“…when we invested time into a guy and he’s really improved significantly, for us, we’re always thinking we want to retain that guy…like Kris Humphries…We didn’t want to invest this type of time into Kris and then allow him to just walk and let him perform well for another team.”

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Brooklyn re-signed Humphries for two years and $24 million. Johnson probably feels the same way about Lopez, who the Nets re-signed for four years and $61 million.

Could the Nets have acquired Dwight Howard and/or Jeremy Lin?

Probably, as owner Mikhail Prokhorov has shown deep pockets, but Brooklyn felt better moving forward with their current roster. That opening night roster looks formidable even without Howard.

Brooklyn will likely put Lopez, Humphries, Gerald Wallace, Deron Williams, and offseason acquisition Joe Johnson on the floor to open up the Barclays Center. Impressive.

New York Knicks

Today, the New York Knicks have a hangover from the Jeremy Lin to Houston Rockets deal.

As far as trades go, there is nothing to report this morning.

On July 16, though, the Knicks traded with the Portland Trail Blazers, and Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com has the details:

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“New York acquired guard Raymond Felton and forward Kurt Thomas from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for forward Jared Jeffries, center Dan Gadzuric, a 2016 second-round pick, the rights to Georgios Printezis and Kostas Papanikolaou, plus cash considerations.”

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The happiest man in the organization has to be Knicks public address announcer Mike Walczewski, who will not have to worry about correctly pronouncing the names of the outgoing players in the near future.

Currently, the opening night roster should be Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and Felton. Not too hard, Mike, right?

I could talk more about Lin here, but he was not traded, and this slideshow is all about trades. Moving on.

Philadelphia 76ers

Will the Philadelphia 76ers ever trade Andre Iguodala?

Ryan Hamilton Jr. of sports.gather.com wrote about a short-lived Iguodala trade rumor as recently as July 17.

The trade would have involved the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hamilton explains why this deal might have not gotten done:

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“While it wasn’t revealed exactly why Minnesota felt that Iguodala was a bad player to trade for, $30 million over the next two years would have been a huge investment for a player they had questions about. This seems to have caused Minnesota to step back from the negotiating tables, possibly never to return again.”

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Menwhile, Iguodala remains focused on winning the gold medal with Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The team also features Timberwolves forward Kevin Love. In light of this recent connection to Minnesota, it will be interesting to see how Iguodala and Love work together on Team USA.

Hamilton suggests this is no longer newsworthy, but until Iguodala actually puts on another NBA uniform, nobody can really know for sure.

Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have shaken up their roster lately.

On July 18, Toronto signed Jonas Valanciunas, the No. 5 overall pick from the 2011 NBA Draft.

On July 16, the Raptors traded James Johnson to the Sacramento Kings for a 2014 second-round draft pick.

On July 11, Toronto signed Landry Fields to a three-year, $18.7 million deal. Also that day, the Raptors acquired Kyle Lowry via trade with the Houston Rockets for a future first-round pick and Gary Forbes.

General manager Bryan Colangelo is not done yet. Toronto appears close to signing John Lucas III, according to many sources including ESPN’s Marc Stein. This move all but puts Jose Calderon on the trade block, now that the Raptors have acquired two point guards in Lucas III and Lowry.

According to Stein:

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“The Raptors, sources say, are open to a trade but want to send Calderon to a team with salary-cap space that can absorb the Spaniard’s $10.6 million salary, thereby creating a trade exception for Toronto and giving them added financial flexibility for future moves.”

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Stein said this on July 12. Since then, Toronto has made moves, but none of them have involved Calderon.

Something is bound to happen, though, so anyone interested should keep an eye out.