NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz and Trade Talk for Week of Dec. 22
Christmas may have passed, but many NBA teams are still hotly pursuing names on their wish lists as we inch closer to the halfway mark of the season.
It's face-the-mirror time, when many teams are figuring out just what they'll be capable of in 2014-15. Around 30 games through the 82-game slate, a sense of urgency is beginning to pick up in the trade market as teams—especially in the West—jockey for playoff position.
With the Spurs struggling in the West and LeBron James' new project in Cleveland in its infancy, the NBA championship is more wide-open than it's been in some time, as shown by the aggressive market activity of some teams.
Let's take a look at what has been going down in the trade market—and in free-agent circles, in one instance—over the Christmas week.
I don't care how much last-second Christmas shopping you did; your week was not crazier than Josh Smith's.
He woke up Monday morning as a free agent, much to the shock of the NBA world, after the Detroit Pistons released him. The sweepstakes quickly started—and ended just as fast when Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that he agreed to join the Houston Rockets and reunite with childhood buddy Dwight Howard.
The Rockets were idle on Christmas day but still couldn't finalize the deal, with ESPN.com's Marc Stein reporting the latest hangup:
So for now, Smith is in limbo as he waits to officially don the red jersey to flashing cameras. But the move is still inevitable, as he even told Fox 26 Houston that "we can definitely do something special" in public comments confirming the reported agreement.
While there's no doubt Smith has experienced quite a whirlwind over recent days, he's gone from an Eastern Conference underachiever to a potential West contender. That's not too bad after all.
Brandan Wright
The Cleveland Cavaliers already seemed to need a center off the bench—then starting center Anderson Varejao tore his Achilles.
That leaves the Cavs desperate as they look for big contributors to take the pressure off Kevin Love and new starter Tristan Thompson. With Brandan Wright's move from Dallas to rebuilding Boston, they may have found their answer.
In reporting Varejao's injury, ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst and Stein also added Wednesday that Cleveland has been talking with Boston about a three-team trade focused on the frontcourt:
"Sources say the Cavs, in recent days, have been in contact with the Boston Celtics about working as a facilitator in three-team trade scenarios. The Celtics, blessed with frontcourt depth in the wake of their recent acquisition of Brandan Wright in the Rajon Rondo deal, have been aggressive recently in their attempts to acquire future draft picks.
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Windhorst and Stein added that Cleveland can't include its 2015 first-rounder due to Boston's already owning the Cavs' 2016 pick, but they have a first-round pick from Memphis they could deal. Considering the Celtics are facing a longer rebuild than expected after dealing Rajon Rondo, picks are most likely the assets Danny Ainge wants.
Rebounding has been an issue for Cleveland throughout James' first season back with the team and could become a liability against a team like Chicago or Washington in the playoffs. Compound that with the loss of Varejao, and a potential deal seems inevitable.
Lance Stephenson
The Hornets brought in Lance Stephenson on a three-year, prove-yourself deal and have quickly decided there could be greener pastures elsewhere for both parties. But finding those pastures has proven elusive.
The Indiana Pacers—his former team—seemed to emerge as a destination due to the team's need for all-around help and their familiarity with him, but the latter has proven to be more of a bad thing for the polarizing Stephenson. Stein reported as much below:
Stephenson has done anything but flourish since arriving in Charlotte, shooting his worst field-goal percentage (.386) since his second season and seeing his points and rebounds down from last year. Expected to be the spark plug for a team with star power on the perimeter (Kemba Walker) and in the post (Al Jefferson), he's instead turned into the scapegoat.
It also doesn't help his cause that he's missed the last four games and previously 6-19 Charlotte won all four—three of them by 16 or more. Still, the polarizing reputation Stephenson has seemingly built up at each of his two stops doesn't negate the type of player he can be.
In the NBA, you are usually who you are after 25 games. Certainly this won't be a poster year for Stephenson. But Charlotte took a chance on him, and with no bites on the bait in the trade market, the Hornets will keep giving him said chance—reluctant as they may be.
Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams and his huge contract have become regular names on the trade market, but the big money owed to him continues to be a stumbling block for the Nets.
Williams was recently linked to the Sacramento Kings in their pursuit of a deal to acquire the former All-Star, but the talks have begun to subside, according to ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard:
"Talks between the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets about a trade involving Nets star Deron Williams have cooled, according to league sources.
Sacramento had recently initiated talks with the Nets, proposing a deal for Williams and second-year forward Mason Plumlee, who was actually the Kings' main target, sources said.
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Don't take this as an end to the talks, however. Broussard added: "One source said he expects talks between the two clubs to continue until the trade deadline in February."
This is the reality of the Nets' floor general—a player brought to Brooklyn as one of the league's best point guards. His team has to consider giving over one of its most important pieces just to get rid of him.
However, Williams would find a more attractive situation in Sacramento along with a team that believes in his abilities perhaps more than most. The Kings already have Darren Collison, who has flourished at the point in 2014-15 and is putting up more points than Williams this season.
In a slugfest just to make the Western Conference playoffs, however, the Kings might opt to stay aggressive and bring over the struggling point guard.
