NBA Rumors: Buzz Surrounding Roy Hibbert Trade, Jeremy Lin and More

After a whirlwind three days of open negotiations between teams and free agents, just about every landscape-altering player on the market has agreed to terms with a new (or old) franchise.

The teams that have clearly lost out on free agency—chief among them being the Los Angeles Lakers, which have gobs of money to spend but no one to spend it on—are left picking at scraps, bargaining for lower-tier players who might do one or two things well but won't change the course of a franchise. For some teams, that will be left to the draft picks.

Still, there are a few solid contributors whose names keep popping up in the rumor mill—plus the sagas of some potential signings may not yet be entirely finished.

Here's a look at some of the latest NBA rumors coming down the pipeline.


Roy Hibbert Trade

Not long after DeAndre Jordan reportedly agreed to a four-year, $80 million-plus contract with the Dallas Mavericks, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon, his name is popping up again in the rumor mill. 

This appears to be a result of the machinations of the Indiana Pacers, which are looking to offload expensive center Roy Hibbert, per the Los Angeles Times' Brad Turner:

It's easy to see why the Los Angeles Clippers and the Pacers would be interested in a deal like this. The Pacers offload Hibbert's $15.5 million contract that has one year left, per Spotrac, leaving them with wiggle room to pursue less expensive free agents after hopefully signing Monta Ellis—per ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein—and without a nasty cap hold for next season.

The Clippers are without a viable center, now that Jordan is headed to the Mavs; this trade gives them a one-year trial with Hibbert—who, despite his offensive ineptitude, remains a solid rim protector.

RPG	BPG	DFG%	Opp FG% at Rim	DRtg
7.1	1.6	.414	.426	101

With Lance Stephenson and Paul Pierce already in place, Hibbert could be the final piece that makes the team a championship threat again in the West. ESPN.com's Arash Markazi noted the Clips might also be pursuing Kendrick Perkins, which is perhaps their plan B if this trade doesn't work out:

What the Mavericks get out of this is tougher to suss out, unless the Clippers or Pacers are willing to throw some extra firepower their way in the deal. Dallas can sign Jordan outright, something that has made the franchise a happy camp, indeed.

"We think he is going to be our best player for years to come," Mavs owner Mark Cuban told Stein and MacMahon. "A franchise player for the rest of his career."

The Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner and Ben Bolch laid out one possible trade route for the Clippers but did call a Hibbert deal unlikely:

"The Clippers could pursue a separate trade with the Pacers for Hibbert involving Jamal Crawford, whose $5.6 million contract for next season recently became guaranteed, but the Clippers would need to include additional players to satisfy trade salary requirements."

It's an intriguing scenario, but unless Indiana and Los Angeles can somehow sweeten the pot, it might be difficult to get all parties to agree, especially when it seems that Dallas holds all the cards in this potential blockbuster.

Kosta Koufos

Brandon Dill/Associated Press

So Jordan is presumably headed to the Mavs, Hibbert is still on the Pacers for now and even Bismack Biyombo reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with the Toronto Raptors, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

What's a team in need of a veteran center to do this summer? The idea of Perkins could be percolating in some teams' minds, but one remaining option is Kosta Koufos, an unrestricted free agent of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Koufos is a solid defensive center, averaging 5.3 boards and 0.8 blocks in 16.6 minutes per game last season, while racking up 2.5 defensive win shares in limited time, per Basketball-Reference.com. Koufos has also proved to be a durable, dependable backup, playing in at least 80 games in each of the last three seasons.

His offense leaves much to be desired, but he's a valuable piece at around $3 million—his salary for the past three seasons with Memphis, per Spotrac.

Broussard reported Saturday that the two Los Angeles teams are interested:

The Grizzlies would be smart to squeeze some value out of center-starved teams like the Lakers or Clippers. The Clippers would appear to be better trading partners than the Lakers, with expendable players like C.J. Wilcox and Jamal Crawford in the fold.

The Lakers roster appears rather barren, lest they think offering up the likes of Ryan Kelly or Tarik Black might swing a deal. Depending on the level of desperation in Tinseltown, both the Lakers and Clippers could try to sign Koufos outright. The Lakers, with all of their unused cap space, would have a distinct advantage in such a bidding war.

Jeremy Lin

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

With Koufos serving as an example of a player possibly heading to Los Angeles, Lakers free-agent guard Jeremy Lin might be a case of player on his way out.

According to Stein, the Mavericks could be interested in signing Lin:

Lin took plenty of heat during a tumultuous Lakers campaign for his uneven, ineffectual play. While he might never reach the same transcendent level of basketball he achieved with the New York Knicks in the 2011-12 season, he's a solid change-of-pace option at this point.

With Dallas looking to establish an offense around the capabilities of Jordan, Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki, Lin could battle for the starting point guard role alongside Raymond Felton and Devin Harris. Lin averaged 4.6 assists per game last year.

Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal considered Dallas to be Lin's best landing spot this offseason:

"

If for no reason other than sheer opportunity, this has to be the best destination for the Linsanity star. He may not be the first choice for Dallas, but that doesn't matter here. He'd get to play, and he'd get to play a lot. 

Right now, there's not another location that would be forced into handing him heaps of offensive responsibility.

"

The Los Angeles Daily News' Mark Medina reported Wednesday that several teams were interested in Lin, including the two Los Angeles squads, the San Antonio Spurs and even the Chicago Bulls, which could use insurance at point guard, should Derrick Rose's body fail him once again.

The financial opportunities would be greater outside of Dallas—including with the Lakers, which need to pull the trigger on someone eventually—but the chance to lead a team (a contender, at that) with little competition could be too tempting for Lin to pass up as he enters his prime years.