NBA Trade Rumors: Latest on Zach LaVine, Kyle Kuzma, Jalen Green and more

There is officially less than a week until the NBA trade deadline on February 8th. With that in mind, let’s bounce around the latest smoke from the hot stoves cooked by some of the NBA’s most powerful officials on Friday.

Is Zach LaVine going to the Pistons?

The noise occurred for the first time last week. detroit pistons The Chicago Bulls have mentioned a possible trade for Zach LaVine, as the latter continues to shore up the disgruntled and oft-injured All-Star guard (he is expected to be sidelined). at least for another week (due to a recent leg injury). Veteran NBA insider Marc Stein wrote an article on his own Substack about that whisper titled: “What’s the next big NBA trade?”

The dalliance between a star that no one seems to want and a team that could end up with the worst record in NBA history has to make this one of the saddest trade stories of all time But, nevertheless, the latest update on that was made — about 23 minutes into the latest episode of his eponymous podcast, The Lowe Post, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said: stated.

“I think the buzz around Detroit and Zach LaVine is real. If they do that, Bulls fans are going to have to brace for a comeback that blows them away, but we’ll see.”

Given that the original report that started this uproar came from James Edwards III. The Athletiche would have written…

The Chicago Bulls and Pistons have held talks that include Zach LaVine, according to league sources. Chicago appears to be pegged on a package involving Bojan Bogdanovic and LaVine, one of Detroit’s top prospects and his big contract. Once again, the Pistons have no interest in parting with Cunningham, Ivey, Duren or Thompson.

…and all the reports on how to do it too “barren” The LaVine trade market is probably sitting on its back, although it’s hard to imagine what kind of return would truly disappoint Bulls fans at this point.

Mavericks and Kings chasing Kyle Kuzma

It’s not a very sad trade rumor, but dallas mavericks And the Sacramento Kings are looking to upgrade even further. According to Jake Fisher, yahoo sportsKyle Kuzma is the most notable potential (and mutual) target.

Dallas and Sacramento remain the two teams tied with Washington forward Kyle Kuzma in league numbers. The Mavericks appear to be pursuing a much wider range of players than the Kings. Sacramento and Dallas have both expressed interest in Siakam and Grant, league sources told Yahoo Sports. But his relationship with Kuzma aside, the Kings have pursued Kuzma dating back to his time. lakers According to sources, there are currently no other known roster upgrades in the works in Sacramento that would require parting ways with Harrison Barnes, and there is a possibility he will remain in Sacramento past the deadline. It is said that there are enough. Meanwhile, the Mavericks remain connected to other forwards such as Washington, Dorian Finney-Smith and Andrew Wiggins.

Kuzma is at the center of trade rumors. from last seasonHowever, according to the latest information from the Wizards, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported, the Wizards didn’t seem all that keen on moving him. Accepts calls to Kuzma, but offers no counter-proposaland Fisher himself reported Washington signaled last month that it wanted multiple first-round picks for him.

Still, the Mavericks have their own picks in 2026, 2027, and 2028, while the Kings own all their own first-round picks starting next year, meaning Washington could end up buying Kuzma. With a little more access and more picks available, either team could make some high-profile decisions. deadline.

Are the Rockets looking to buy Jaylen Green?

The Rockets may not be championship favorites yet, but after years of bad luck, they’re firmly in play-in contention with a 22-25 record and are (understandably) feeling pretty good about it. It seems like it is.

This record isn’t going to scare the top teams, but they’re good enough now that there’s at least a chance they’ll get excited and try to make a fuss right before the deadline. .They’ve already traded three second-rounders to add depth at center for next year. By acquiring Steven Adamsand michael scott hoop hype report It’s clear they want to get better now, as they were about to make a bid on Mikal Bridges, who the Nets shot down earlier in the week.

It’s unclear if Jaylen Green was included in salary ballast or the overall trade package in that deal, though. Lowe’s latest column on ESPNIt doesn’t seem like the former No. 2 overall pick is by any means an option.

The Rockets have plenty of first-round picks and a ton of talented young players, so even if enough players hit, there’s no viable way to pay them all. They are now aiming to make the playoffs. That’s why Jaylen Green’s name has been in the trade conversation, according to league sources.

As my colleague James Piercey of The Dream Shake puts it: This December column, the Rockets have had better off-court play than Green has had this season. They are currently Outscore teams by 6 points per 100 possessions When he’s on the bench, he’s the best on the team, but when he’s on the floor, he’s 1.6 points per 100 (lowest among starters). He frequently sits on the bench midway through games, and if the Rockets really want to get him off his next contract in exchange for helping them win right now, it’s a team that wants to buy a pedigree scorer on the cheap. might make sense. He showed flashes of potential at times, but he just couldn’t put it all together for long.

Lauri Markkanen, Mikal Bridges, Jarrett Allen, Karl-Anthony Towns unavailable

Submit this as a “natural thing.” However, it is worth keeping an eye on as there is a lot of speculation (in Markkannen’s case, actual report) Although there was talk of trade possibilities for these players, Fisher reports We would like to inform you that all four of the December-January Trade Machine Hall of Famers mentioned above are no longer available to their current teams as the deadline approaches.

But the initial buzz with Utah listening to offers for Lauri Markkanen quickly ended.of brooklyn netsLeague officials told Yahoo Sports that any investigation into Mikal Bridges remains suspended, as HoopsHype reported earlier this week. The same goes for Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen, with the Cavaliers rejecting interest in the All-Star center, not to mention the team’s strong stance on retaining Donovan Mitchell, sources said. Karl-Anthony Towns is also not available in Minnesota, according to league sources.

It seemed unlikely that Markkanen would be moved right away once things started to improve for the Jazz, while the Nets, Cavaliers, and Timberwolves could all make such a big trade during the season. He seemed like an unlikely candidate. These names may resurface in the summer, but it’s probably best not to Photoshop them onto opponents’ jerseys…for now.

Playoff teams still pursuing Alex Caruso, but the Bulls probably won’t move him

LaVine might be the Bulls’ only guard at the deadline. Because Lowe wrote in the same ESPN column quoted above that “several playoff teams have shown strong interest in Caruso” and that he “wouldn’t be shocked” if Caruso It is. The Bulls could land two (protected) first-rounders for a perennial All-Defense candidate, he added on Friday’s podcast. Chicago doesn’t look like they’re going to break away from being 2020 NBA champions just yet:

“We keep hearing from teams around the league, ‘A lot of teams want to link the Bulls to Caruso because everyone wants Caruso,'” Lowe said. “They keep saying the Bulls won’t trade Caruso. They want to stay in the play-in race. They want to stay where they are. They keep saying they don’t want to trade Caruso. “I’m there”

Is that the attitude to start a bidding war? That’s a possibility, but it may be the Bulls’ true stance. Because maybe the Bulls aren’t that smart, they’re not well run as a franchise, and they just want to keep chasing the play-ins.So this is a regime like Reportedly didn’t want Caruso traded. Because he is “probably the system’s biggest success story and the perfect embodiment of the culture this organization wants to project.”

In other words, as someone The Lakers wrote that they made a huge mistake by letting Caruso walk the night he left., There is no denying that he is a great player and a cultural figure. But if signing him is the biggest win for your administration and a reason to make him untouchable… that’s probably the kind of thing that isn’t a great sign. a) other movement qualities, or b) The overall process and reasoning that leads to decisions.

Lakers are (officially) shopping Gabe Vincent

Finally, while the Lakers have been at the center of rumors all season, most of the noise has been about whether anyone actually wants D’Angelo Russell (Apparently not) or how untouchable Austin Reeves is (At first glance very).

The reason his name hasn’t come up much is mainly because he only played in 5 games. During a knee injury that required surgery — Gabe Vincent played 127 minutes and made just two of 17 threes.

And in a not-so-shocking signal that he doesn’t think the Lakers can count on him for reinforcements, Fisher said:

Los Angeles also has injured point guard Gabe Vincent, who played in just five games due to a knee injury, involved in various trade talks, sources said.

In order to accept that sweet offer, the Lakers must have had to beat the team with a stick to avoid them tripping over each other.

But in all seriousness, Dan Wojke of the Los Angeles Times surveyed the league last week to come up with a consensus valuation of the Lakers’ tradeable assets. Vincent’s contract rank…is the lowest.. He has several second-round picks from the Clippers and is projected to be at the tail end of the draft.

So…yeah. I can’t necessarily imagine a team jamming the Lakers’ phone lines trying to acquire an injured guard.

And while Vincent’s $10 million-a-year contract is unlikely to stick with a draft pick attached, the Lakers don’t have many contracts to trade before this deadline (as far as first-round players go). , as long as they can) Move only the first or swap of 2029). So while it’s right for the team to consider whether they can move him as an impact player (and now we officially know they are), the human trade exception I don’t really expect him to get a lot of attention, though.that his contract After this, there are two years of full warranties worth approximately $11 million each.

So despite this news, Russell still appears to be if the Lakers intend to make a trade by next week. Most likely candidate so far.