NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Possible DeAndre Jordan Trade, LaVar Ball and More
The Los Angeles Clippers' center DeAndre Jordan could be on the move to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For the right price, of course.
According to Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer, the Clippers have their sights set on the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round draft pick acquired from the Boston Celtics in the Kyrie Irving trade.
Problem is, the Cavs have no plans to trade that pick.
In addition to the pick that Cleveland reportedly won't part with, the defending Eastern Conference Champions would also need to send Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye to L.A. in exchange for Jordan for the deal to make sense for the salary cap.
Jordan, who just signed with Kevin Love's agent Jeff Schwartz, is taking home $22 million this season, with a player option for $24 million next year. The Clippers fear he may opt out, leaving them with nothing in return.
Thompson and Frye are making $16.4 million and $7.4 million, respectively.
Since the 29-year old Jordan is no offensive juggernaut, why would the Cavs' want to add him to the mix?
Cleveland is ranked No. 28 in defensive efficiency, allowing 107.2 points per game, which means they need a rim protector to stop opposing players from driving to the cup untouched.
Jordan, who is averaging 11.5 points and shooting a career-high 60 percent from the free throw line, is a two-time All-Defensive First Team selection that can help them shore up some of their shortcomings on the defensive end.
Thompson, the Cavs' balls-to-the-wall energy and effort man in previous seasons, is only averaging 4.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest this year, both career lows.
Jordan is a virtual beast on the boards, pulling down a career-high 15.2 per game this season.
Even though the Cavs are having an up-and-down season, most analysts have them going back to the NBA Finals this year. Maybe by adding Jordan, they'll get the jolt they need to make those predictions a reality.
Should writers' credentials be revoked if they interview LaVar Ball?
Looks like NBA coaches are tired of hearing what LaVar Ball has to say.
Sources told Sam Amico of AmicoHoops that several coaches plan to ask their team's media relations staff to revoke credentials of basketball writers that interview the always-outspoken father of Lonzo Ball.
Leading the anti-LaVar movement is Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle.
Carlisle, the head of the NBA Coaches association, is fed up with the elder Ball's bluster and had a huge problem with his criticism of Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton, according to Chris Walder of The Score.
According to Ball, who was on hand in Lithuania where his two younger sons are making their professional basketball debuts, Walton has lost the locker room.
"Luke doesn't have control of the team no more," Ball told ESPN's Jeff Goodman. "They don't want to play for him."
Carlisle believes Ball has a right to his opinion, but argued that his bombast shouldn't be newsworthy.
"They should look at their sources and do a better job of determining whether they have any merit or any validity or are they just blowhard loudmouths," Carlisle told Steve Popper of NorthJersey.com. "That's what I'm saying."
As for LaVar's comments regarding Walton's loss of the locker room, his own son has a different opinion.
"I'll play for anybody," Lonzo told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN about Walton as his coach. "My job is to play basketball. I don't decide who coaches."
The Lakers just ended a nine-game skid with an impressive 132-113 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night. But the win doesn't mask the fact that the team is in last place in the Western Conference at 12-27, causing many to think that Walton is on the hot seat.
A Lakers source told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN that Walton's job status is "not even a conversation."
Per Youngmisuk, Walton said when asked whether he'd been given assurances by the Lakers hierarchy: "Yeah. We're, I feel, very secure in my job status right now. We talk all the time. They're 100 percent behind and supporting what we're doing."
Coaches across the league are not behind LaVar, though. But will his voice be silenced?
That, according to the No. 2 overall draft pick, might be a tall order.
"He's a grown man," Ball said. "Like I said, he is going to say what he wants to say. I can't [do] nothing about it."
Bulls guarantee contract of David Nwaba
David Nwaba of the Chicago Bulls no longer needs to worry about his previously non-guaranteed contract.
League sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that the Bulls will guarantee the second-year guard's contract for the rest of the season.
Nwaba has turned heads this season, posting 7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game as a significant role player.
Players across the league had to have been waived by 4 p.m. on Sunday if a team wanted to avoid paying their non-guaranteed money.
"I'm not really concerned about that. I actually didn't even know it was Sunday," Nwaba told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "I just work hard, compete and see what I can do to help teams win games."
Nwaba, 24, now stands to collect the entirety of his $1.3 million for the season and has officially gone from a low-risk waiver-wire claim from the Lakers to vital rotation player in the Windy City.
He stands to enter the restricted free agent market this summer as an interesting prospect.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
