NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Austin Rivers, Jordan Farmar and More
The 2014-15 NBA season is gearing up to pass the halfway mark, which means buyers are jockeying for position in the trade market and sellers are weighing their options.
By this point in the season, most organizations have a realistic feel for how the season is going to play out. While teams in the Western Conference try to put themselves in position for a playoff run in the cutthroat conference, others are looking to deal key assets in order to build for the future.
That inevitably leaves a ton of action in the rumor mill. We've already seen a handful of sizable deals between contenders and rebuilding clubs, but as the trade deadline looms, plenty of work is left to be done.
Let's take a look at the latest rumors to trickle out.
Austin Rivers
Like father, like son.
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has been searching through the trade market for an addition at shooting guard, and he may not even have to look outside of his family line to do so. As Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported on Tuesday, a deal between the Celtics and Clippers is all but done:
It's already been an up-and-down week for Austin Rivers, to say the least. On Monday, he was traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to Boston in a three-team deal that put him on a team in full-on rebuilding mode.
A young, high-potential player like Rivers fits the bill for what the Celtics need in their rebuild, but a stockpile of players at his position could lead to his arrival in L.A. ESPN's Marc Stein reported earlier this week that a move to the Clippers looked to be inevitable:
Rivers entered the 2014-15 season as a third-year player looking to make the leap after a tempered start to his career, but he didn't make the strides New Orleans had hoped. He is shooting 38.7 percent form the field and averaging 6.8 points, both of which are down from his sophomore year in the league.
His struggles, combined with the presence of two established shooting guards in Jamal Crawford and J.J. Redick, make Rivers' potential arrival in Los Angeles one that may not pack much of a punch. Then again, perhaps having his father as coach will help him to make the leaps he hasn't thus far in two-plus seasons.
He could emerge as the replacement to Clippers guard Jordan Farmar, as ESPN's Arash Markazi noted:
And that brings us to our next point.
Jordan Farmar
When Jordan Farmar left one Los Angeles basketball club to join another this offseason, it looked to be the right move for a myriad of reasons.
Farmar was able to exit a Lakers team that was inevitably due for more struggles in 2014-15, and that much has become apparent. He finds himself on a Clippers team that's built for a playoff run, but carving out a role is proving elusive.
As Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported, the Clippers are already looking for Farmar suitors, as they hope to pass his torch to Austin Rivers:
Farmar hasn't had too much trouble securing playing time with the Clippers, even despite his struggles. He's averaging 14.7 minutes per game and has played at least a dozen minutes in each of his last nine appearances.
His impact, however, just hasn't been there. He's shooting a career-worst 38.6 percent from the field. His 4.6 points per game are his lowest since his rookie season and are less than half of his scoring average in each of the last three seasons.
In the cutthroat West, there's no time for the Clippers to play it coy and hope for Farmar to turn a corner.
Arron Afflalo and Wilson Chandler
Few players in the NBA find themselves in as precarious of a situation as Denver Nuggets swingmen Arron Afflalo and Wilson Chandler.
With an 18-20 record, it's hard to see these Nuggets doing much to contend in the Western Conference. Having already traded center Timofey Mozgov to the Cavaliers for draft picks, it's becoming increasingly apparent that Denver is entering the season's second half as sellers.
Where does that leave Afflalo and Chandler? On the block, as ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported:
Of course, the Nuggets aren't just dangling two of their best players out there for anyone to have at a discounted price. Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw made that clear publicly, per The Denver Post's Christopher Dempsey:
"I just have to try to do a good job of assuring them that I'm not, and we're not, actively shopping them and putting them out there. Obviously calls come in, and we field calls. But we're not saying, 'Hey, we're trying to get rid of Arron, we're trying to get rid of Wilson.' That's not the case at all. That's all we can really tell them.
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Even players on a team straddling between contending and rebuilding have to keep in perspective the fact that the NBA is indeed still a business.
Yes, the Nuggets made an aggressive move to acquire Afflalo this offseason and have rebuffed numerous overtures for Chandler over the years. But in today's NBA, if you're not either moving aggressively to field a championship contender or building for one in the future, you're falling behind.
With so much talent on the roster and a lack of results, don't be surprised if the Nuggets continue to see some of their best players floated around in the rumor mill.
