NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Possible Jabari Parker Trade, Austin Rivers and More
Welcome to the 2018-19 version of the NBA's trade season.
We've already had both an exchange that fell apart at the goal line and one that came to fruition. Both involved some of the same moving pieces.
Are you not entertained?
The beauty of the Association is that its entertainment goes so many levels beyond basketball. That point gets hammered home by the latest entries on the rumor mill.
Jazz Interested in Jabari?
Jabari Parker's tenure with the Chicago Bulls fizzled out in near-record time. The Windy City native made his Bulls debut in mid-October, and he was bumped from the rotation less than two months later.
But just because things fell apart in Chicago that doesn't mean Parker was sapped of his NBA value. He is, after all, a 23-year-old former No. 2 pick whose career per-36-minute averages include 18.0 points (on 48.5 percent shooting), 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
Plenty of teams could use a player with his skills. The offensively challenged Utah Jazz (24th in efficiency) are among Parker's suitors, league sources told The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor.
Ever since Donovan Mitchell emerged as the post-Gordon Hayward era preferred scorer, Utah has been scrambling to find its No. 2. When defense-first types like Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio are second and third on the offensive hierarchy, there's a pretty significant scoring shortage.
Parker could help attack that void while benefitting from having far better defenders around him. The challenge is for Utah to come up with something that interests Chicago. The Bulls have a bevy of young bigs, so Derrick Favors-plus-filler isn't going to cut it.
Suns Parting Ways With Rivers?
You know the saying, "life comes at you fast"? Either that was coined by someone in or around the NBA, or the league has an accelerated version of it.
Just ask Austin Rivers.
In the spring, he was a member of the Los Angeles Clippers and one of the more reliable scoring options for their head coach—and his father—Doc Rivers. Come June, Rivers was sent to the Washington Wizards in an attempt to perk up their typically punch-less second team. That hadn't quite gone to plan, but he had engineered the occasional double-digit outburst, including a 14-spot on Dec. 14.
Then the weekend hit, and Rivers was no longer a Wizard. He went with Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Phoenix Suns for Trevor Ariza.
Except, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported, Rivers won't be going to Phoenix:
Again, it's been a whirlwind for Rivers, who's seemingly set to join his fourth different team in 2018.
He didn't do his value any favors in D.C., where he was only shooting 39.2 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from range. But the 26-year-old should have fans among combo guard-needy clubs, as he's a fairly proven commodity as a scorer, shooter and secondary playmaker.
Bulls Undecided on Core?
The Bulls have decided a couple things already this year.
For starters, Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. are all long-term keepers until proved otherwise. Jabari Parker is not.
But that still leaves a big chunk of this prospect collection unaccounted for. That's because they reportedly have yet to decide whether several current players are legitimate puzzle pieces or mere placeholders.
"Sources have indicated the Bulls still are trying to figure out whether [Kris] Dunn will be part of their core moving forward," Joe Cowley wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times. "Markkanen, guard Zach LaVine and rookie big man Wendell Carter Jr. will be, but Dunn, big man Bobby Portis and injured swingman Denzel Valentine have to prove themselves."
Dunn, the fifth overall pick in 2016, hasn't had the smoothest start to his career. He's looked better the past season-plus in Chicago than he did during his first go-round with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but his career averages still include forgettable marks like 7.8 points on .415/.306/.702 shooting and 3.9 assists against 1.9 turnovers in 22.2 minutes.
Portis has occasionally popped as both a scorer and shooter, but a sprained MCL cost him more than a month of this season. The slow start has been extra frustrating with restricted free agency awaiting him at year's end.
Valentine is the least accomplished of the three, though he's enjoyed mild success as a shooter and playmaker. That said, he's had constant trouble with injuries—he'll likely miss the entire season after ankle surgery—and he didn't have much athleticism to spare.
