NBA Rumors: Last-Minute Trade Reports Before 2016 Deadline
Hours sit between the NBA trade deadline and a possible reshaping of the Association's landscape.
This is the most volatile period of the process. Contenders panic looking for help, pretenders post a garage sale of assets and liars who wanted to incite bidding wars finally get down to the real business.
With names like Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and much more floating around, why not kick back and watch the chaos unfold?
Let's do so below by running through some last-minute rumblings in the waning moments before the deadline passes. Best not to blink, because all it takes is one phone call to alter a franchise, if not a conference.
Ty Lawson's Fate
It almost seems like yesterday that Ty Lawson was one of the league's hottest commodities.
Lawson looked great as a rather young point guard with the Denver Nuggets, at one point averaging 17.6 points per game as a score-first option before joining the Houston Rockets.
Now the Rockets appear to want to distance themselves from the 28-year-old guard. Thursday, ESPN's Marc Stein revealed that the Rockets had been in contact with the Utah Jazz about Lawson, though the front office might have had an insurance policy if talks fell through:
The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski followed with a note about the conversations:
It's hard to know where things go from here. What is widely known, though, is the fact that the Rockets wouldn't mind moving a guy who over 23.4 minutes per game on average has posted a career-low 6.3 points per game.
According to Spotrac, Lawson has a cap hit north of $12 million this year and it's a number that climbs to more than $13 million next season, so buying him out might not be the most realistic option.
This is especially the case for a franchise perhaps hoping to make other moves and be in a strong cap situation going into the summer. As the deadline nears, expect the Rockets to at least continue entertaining the idea of dumping Lawson.
Sacramento's Big Plans
When one looks at the Sacramento Kings, 10th in the Western Conference at 22-31, it's easy to see a team ready to sell some assets and continue building
With Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins playing well together, it only makes sense for the Kings to make a few moves to either clear space or grab forward-looking pieces.
Or not.
According to a note by Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee, the Kings might be looking more toward a win-now approach with interest in the Chicago Bulls' Gasol and the Cleveland Cavaliers' Iman Shumpert:
"As for the trade deadline, league sources said the Kings are aggressively pursuing Chicago center Pau Gasol.
Sacramento is also interested in acquiring Cleveland shooting guard Iman Shumpert, a good defender, but that would be contingent upon the Kings’ willingness to part with third-year guard Ben McLemore and center Kosta Koufos.
"
It's an interesting development, to say the least. Gasol, though 35, averages a double-double at 17.0 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, which would make for a formidable twin-towers look with Cousins underneath the basket.
Considering the Kings aren't getting much in the way of defense from sharpshooter Ben McLemore, Marco Belinelli and others, making a move for a defensive specialist such as Shumpert makes sense, too.
According to a later note by Jones, though, the idea of Shumpert coming to town seems dead:
As for the Gasol chatter, David Aldridge of NBA.com noted that the rumblings might have been a tad lopsided:
Maybe so, but it's clear the Kings seem content to walk the tightrope between building for the future and contending now as the deadline nears.
If the Kings can land a big fish such as Gasol, a run in the conference isn't so outlandish to imagine. Realistically, though, moving a specialist such as McLemore to a contender for future assets might be the most one can expect from the Kings.
Dwight Howard Update
The chatter around the Rockets doesn't limit itself to Lawson, of course.
No, Howard is the biggest fish of them all before the deadline. He's had a quiet season from a team-chemistry standpoint, though he often finds himself in technical trouble with officials. Alas, he's now 30 and averaging a 14.6/12.0/1.5 slash line and isn't exactly the reason the Rockets have fallen apart and already chewed up and spit out a head coach.
So far, only one team has revealed itself as major candidates for Howard—the Charlotte Hornets.
According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, though, the Rockets didn't like what the Hornets had to offer:
Long story short, the Rockets probably wouldn't mind Jefferson, a 31-year-old center who averages 12.5 points and 6.1 boards on just 25.2 minutes per night. Neither would they mind Spencer Hawes, 27, a stretch forward who has hit on 35 percent of his attempts from deep this year.
But it's not enough. The Rockets wouldn't swap out one of the league's most dominant players for a veteran guy who can't handle starter minutes and a niche player who would space the floor for that guy.
No, Houston understands its predicament—Howard will surely opt out this summer and chase more money, and perhaps a change of scenery after this train wreck of a season, too. But that doesn't mean the front office will settle for an iffy deal.
Now the framework for acquiring Howard isn't a secret. It's going to take a guy who can come in and play as a starter right now, plus future assets such as a first-round pick to help make up the difference down the road.
Which team ends up biting the bullet, if any, is a different conversation entirely.
All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
