NBA Trade Rumors: Rounding Up Latest Buzz on David Lee, Draft Movement and More
While the Golden State Warriors celebrate and the city of Cleveland collectively gnaws its nails, with a few major players perhaps ready to hit free agency, the NBA trade rumor mill continues to spit out droves of information.
Trades are the backbone of the Association right now. Teams want to wheel and deal draft picks to jockey for position in the order. Front offices across the nation would also like to ship away or add players, whether it's to fill a hole or just dump cap space on somebody else.
It makes for one of the more interesting sections of the offseason, this predraft craze where front offices almost seem to get bored and make a move just to do so.
This period is otherwise known as a great time for fans, so let's take a look at the latest rumblings making the rounds.
Clippers on the Block
Right now, the Los Angeles Clippers stand as one of the league's more confusing teams. The future of impending free agent DeAndre Jordan remains in the air, all the while the front office explores trades.
Oh, and remember, the team is now the proud owner of a new guard, Lance Stephenson.
Don't expect coach Doc Rivers and the front office to stop there—it sounds like the objective now is a trade of Jamal Crawford. ESPN.com's Arash Markazi provides the details:
"The Clippers are also exploring trade options for Jamal Crawford, according to sources, and one possibility is trading Crawford and C.J. Wilcox, the team’s 2014 first round pick, to the Denver Nuggets for Wilson Chandler. The Clippers inquired about Chandler last season but nothing materialized.
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It's a simple numbers game, as there's nothing wrong with having the 35-year-old Crawford around, not after he averaged 15.8 points on 26.6 minutes last year. Add in Stephenson and J.J. Redick, though, and things are a little too crowded.
The good news is that the Clippers shouldn't have any problems finding suitors for Crawford. Wilson Chandler fits the bill of what the team should look for, too, as a forward who can excel on defense and knock down threes remains a weak point on the roster.
The Knicks and No. 4
The New York Knicks and president Phil Jackson can go many ways in the top five, so long as it means helping Carmelo Anthony and turning around a ship much worse off than most thought going into last season.
"Help" may include trading down, believe it or not. For a long time now, it's been Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor or bust when it comes to the thinking around the Knicks, a description that may now include Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell.
Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com offers the scoop:
"At No. 4, Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks are infatuated with Okafor, Towns and Russell and will take any of them if they fall. But they won’t. My sources tell me that the Knicks instead will look to trade this pick and accumulate more assets. Based on the names I’m hearing most often, I think the Knicks are targeting a mobile big that can face the basket, such as Porzingis, whom we will have more on later this week.
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There's no shame in trading down. In fact, it's the smart thing to do as opposed to reaching on a player the organization likes. If the front office believes a player will fall a few spots and can find a trade partner, it still gets the coveted player and gains future assets in the transaction.
It's interesting to hear Kristaps Porzingis' name. The Latvia native remains one of the hottest rising prospects in the class thanks to his size (6'11", 220 pounds) and ability to stretch the floor by converting from deep.
If it's the skill set Jackson desires to complement Anthony, the Knicks will have a few chances to reel in such a prospect.
Golden State's David Lee Dilemma
Remember David Lee?
The former elite forward didn't play a huge role in the Warriors' championship run, posting just 38 minutes over the six games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. At 32 years old and after averaging 18.2 points and 9.3 boards two years ago when in the rotation for a notable amount of minutes, there are teams sure to have an interest.
It just so happens the Warriors want to do right by Lee, too, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein:
If it comes to fruition, it's a nice gesture by the organization. Coach Steve Kerr doesn't need Lee around given the team's youthful depth already, and the organization wouldn't mind getting rid of a cap hit next year north of $15 million, per Spotrac.
Then again, it will be interesting to see if and where Lee wants to move, as the contender status-playing time ratio isn't the easiest thing to figure out on a player-to-player basis.
Regardless, it's clear big changes rest ahead for the defending champions, beginning with a marquee bench player who may fetch a nice price on the trade block. As was the case all year, the Warriors remain the team to watch.
All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
