NBA Rumors Roundup: Chris Paul to Knicks, Caron Butler to Bulls and More

We've had lots of trade rumors involving some of the biggest stars in the game and lots of "well maybe nots" to go along with it in the first few days since agents have been allowed to talk to teams.

We've also had free-agent rumors, and some less talked about trade rumors. Here's the daily roundup of all the talk. 

Where will Dwight Howard end up? What about Paul and Williams? Who will be the new shooting guard in Chicago?

More in the slides ahead.

Rashard Lewis Won't Get Amnesty

In one of the big surprises, no movement is the news. Many figured the Wizards would be using their amnesty on Rashard Lewis, but apparently they aren't, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:

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The agent for Rashard Lewis(notes) said the Washington Wizards told him they don’t plan to use the league’s amnesty clause on the forward.

Lewis is the NBA’s second highest-paid player, trailing only Kobe Bryant(notes) with a $21.1 million salary this season and $22.7 million in 2012-13. The proposed amnesty rule in the new labor agreement would allow the Wizards to waive Lewis and remove the money owed him from the team salary for cap and tax purposes.

Lewis averaged 11.7 points and 5.1 rebounds for Washington and Orlando last season.

“It’s not going to happen,” Dutt said. “I spoke to them [Wednesday] afternoon. They see him as a big part of what they hope to do going forward, not only as a player but a leader.”

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The man for whom the amnesty clause was almost named won't receive it. 

Jamal Crawford to New Jersey?

Jamal Crawford is getting interest from a lot of teams, including Indiana, New Jersey, Portland, Phoenix, New Orleans and Chicago according to Yahoo! Sports. 

Some of those places seem a lot more realistic than others, but the one that jumps out the most at me here is New Jersey. The Nets are determined to lure Williams to stay. Adding a scorer to the team would certainly be a step in that direction.

Williams has never really had a pure scorer with him. 

Josh Smith Wants a Trade

If you're a Hawks fan, you might be conflicted today. On the one hand, Josh Smith wants out. He's tired of getting the blame for the Hawks' inability to get to the next level. If you're one of the ones blaming him, you might be happy about that. 

However, if you learned that he lost 30 pounds getting into better shape, that might have you reconsidering. If you learned that he's on the list of players that Dwight Howard would like to play with, that might have you thinking even more. 

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Sources close to the situation in Orlando told HOOPSWORLD recently that Dwight Howard had composed a list of players he would like to play with going forward, and included on that list were New Jersey Nets All-Star point guard Deron Williams . . .and Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith.

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So now the Hawks are left with a dilemma. Do they try and trade away Smith or try and trade for Howard?

Either way, Hawk fans have something to be watching for.  

Tayshaun Prince to Clippers

The Clippers are interested in signing Tayshaun Prince. There is some speculation though that they might work out a sign-and-trade with the Pistons, sending Chris Kaman to Detroit. 

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At 31, this is likely the last long-term deal Prince will sign, and he won't command the $11.1 million he made with the Pistons last season, the final season of a five-year deal he signed in 2005.

The ideal candidate in a sign-and-trade is Kaman.

Kaman, 29, who attended Central Michigan from 2000-03, went through an injury-plagued season last year with the Clippers, averaging 12.4 points and seven rebounds. The season before, when he played 76 games, he averaged a career-high 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds.

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This seems to me to be more wishful thinking than anything by the Pistons. Prince isn't likely to command a contract either in terms of money or years to necessitate a sign and trade, so there doesn't seem to be much reason for the Clippers to essentially give away Kaman, especially since he could be an important trade piece in their desire to land Dwight Howard. 

Caron Butler to Chicago

Caron Butler is making some of the more surprising news, saying he would be willing to take less to play in Chicago. In fact, he's already worked out for the Bulls. Privately he told friends after the work out, "I hope I don't have to leave." 

Butler has also indicated that he would be willing to play for the Bulls for the mid-level exception. 

While there are other teams, including the Spurs and the Heat, it's clear that the Bulls are at the top of Butler's list. 

Having two Butlers on a team that really "cleans up" on the boards seems be almost as good a fit as having a Brewer and a Boozer on the same team. 

Chris Paul to New York? Not so Fast

Yesterday afternoon Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Chris Paul had directed his agent to let the Hornets know that he wanted to be traded to the New York Knicks. Today, however, there are at least two reports that maybe that's not the case. 

This is really hard to know what to make of. What does Paul have to say?

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You can't control it. It's always going to happen. It's part of the game, I'm just happy to be back with my team. I don't think about it, to tell you the truth, I'm just ready to get out here and compete and hoop. This is what I do. I love it.

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Of course what Paul says in public and what he says in private might be two different things. At this point it is looking like Paul to New York is a bit less of a foregone conclusion than it was after Wojnarowski's report initially came out. 

Dwight Howard to Everywhere

Just about everyone wants to think they have a shot at the best center in the league. So far there have been reports about the LA Lakers, the LA Clippers, the Knicks and the Hawks. In short, it seems like anyone who has two players and a draft pick is ready to throw their hat in the ring. 

The big news isn't where so much as when. This might not be a "Carmelo Anthony" situation where the thing gets belabored and stretched out until the trade deadline. 

ESPN's Mark Stein tweeted late last night: "A growing number of execs starting to believe that Magic will indeed give strong consideration to doing Dwight deal before season starts."  

While the Paul trade seems like it may take a while to take shape, it looks like someone is getting a new center for Christmas. It just remains to be seen who.