With about 48 hours until the NBA trade deadline and the February 8th 3:00 PM ET buzzer rapidly gearing up to make a move, here are some of the latest rumors and reports. do.
Will the Warriors trade Andrew Wiggins?
During Shyam Charania, The Athletic On Monday’s episode of FanDuel’s “Run It Back,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob reported that there is “no order” for the team to take a pay cut, but the team can at least still use Andrew Wiggins. It seems like there are very few suitors interested (emphasis mine):
“They have a player-to-player contract with Wiggins and don’t need to move a draft pick to release him.”, but will the returning players be better than Wiggins? Do they make sense for this group with Stephen Curry and the rest? I’ve heard that the Mavericks and Pacers are both interested in Wiggins. I’ll keep an eye on it, but I don’t think they’re going to just move players and move players…I think it’s a lot of wait-and-see for the Warriors right now. If a team came along and made a crazy offer for one of their players, I think they would have to consider it, but right now they don’t have anything on the table that would really move the needle. . ”
As Shams points out, and as our own Joe Belay states: Breakdown for the Golden State of Mind — Wiggins has been playing better lately. However, in the case of the Warriors, Leads the league in salaries And while leaving Wiggins’ three years and roughly $84 million salary beyond this season on the books going forward could mean he could face a huge luxury tax penalty, they really brought the whole band together. However, do they want to continue sitting in 12th place in the conference at 22-25? ? Probably, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they go in a different direction by Thursday.?
However, one team that is unlikely to fully recover by Thursday is likely the Chicago Bulls.
DeMar DeRozan is unlikely to be traded, but an extension is possible
As we covered yesterday with Alex Caruso, the Bulls don’t seem to be in a hurry to blow up teams in play-in contention. But while Caruso would likely be one of the hottest players on the market if acquired, DeRozan, a 34-year-old with an expiring $28.6 million contract, appears to have less interest leaguewide.
Chris Haynes of Turner Sports reported the latest on DeRozan, who shares an agent with Damian Lillard. Latest episode of his podcast “#thisleague UNCUT” with fellow Insider Marc Stein:
“I haven’t heard anything specific regarding a trade for DeMar DeRozan, so I believe he’ll stay until the deadline and I think both sides will get back to the table and start talking about an extension.” …Bulls and DeMar DeRozan, and his agent Aaron Goodwin, they had contact early in the season, but the two sides were far apart. That’s still the case, but I think once the deadline passes they’ll go back to the table and see if they can deliver something. Because, as you mentioned with Stein, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent, so they risk losing him for years. there is nothing. ”
For the Bulls to extend DeRozan would be their strongest commitment to mediocrity…basically doing the same thing. Retained Nikola Vucevic last summer, which means it’s also completely predictable. At some point, a real winner will have to free my AC from this directionless organization. Oh, and hopefully next trade deadline.
But for them, the team had to make a bid for them to sign…
Will the Lakers actually trade D’Angelo Russell?
D’Angelo Russell is one of the most frequently used names There have been a lot of rumors going around this season, and it’s partly because of his choices. waive the no-trade clause When re-signing with lakers Last summer, as Los Angeles looked to improve at the deadline, Russell served as something of an anomaly in a personnel trade that many believed was a marriage of convenience for both sides.
russell bristly There were trade rumors earlier this year, but his option to waive his implied no-trade clause was also automatically available when he re-signed with his current team using Bird’s rights, 1 The fact that it was a one-year contract also had an effect. That’s at least something to be thankful for, because it’s one of the funniest follow-ups to the clichéd “I control what I can control” coach speech by an athlete in NBA history on Monday night. .
D’Angelo Russell: “You can’t control whether your contract makes sense to get traded, so just play.”
When asked about waiving the implied no-trade clause this summer, he said: …I know what the requirements are to be successful here. ”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 6, 2024
But with Russell shine in the chaos These days, there are reasons to question whether trading him for the Lakers’ only currently tradeable first-round pick (2029 draft) would result in a meaningful enough upgrade to make it worth moving him. be. Still, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin says that didn’t stop the Lakers from shopping around. reported on Tuesday:
Russell’s name has been mentioned in trade talks. brooklyn nets, toronto raptors and atlanta hawks The point guard has been playing some of the best basketball of his career in recent weeks, sources told ESPN.
The Hawks (with Dejounte Murray) and Nets (as third-team candidates in Murray negotiations) have been known for some time, but to my knowledge this is the first time Russell has been explicitly linked to the Raptors, which is interesting. The most logical candidate there is Bruce Brown, a member of the 2024 All-Trade Mechanical Team, but this is the first time we’ve explicitly heard that Russell will be paid there. His $17.3 million salary would work relatively easily with Brown’s $22 million in the trade machine (and a one-for-one mid-season swap is always the easiest), but the Lakers’ $17.3 million salary could work relatively easily with Brown’s $22 million in the trade machine (and a mid-season one-for-one swap is always the easiest), but the is not the only player who could be traded for him. For example, Rui Hachimura also works legally.
The Raptors already boast ball-handling Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley (plus Dennis Schroder off the bench), and Russell doesn’t make much sense on the court, but maybe they’ll pursue a deal with the Lakers. Probably only. That might not matter since he was drafted anyway.
Still, is Brown enough to upgrade Russell, or even at all? — Given DLo’s recent play, it’s worth the Lakers adding a first-round pick to his salary I wonder? I’m a skeptic, but perhaps that logical skepticism is part of why Russell feels so at ease despite the rumors.
But finally, speaking of the constantly rumored name of the trading machine, there’s one more potential transfer to deal with…
Suns still trying to trade Miles Bridge
Hours before Bridges scored a career-high 41 points. When the Hornets lost to the Lakers monday night, jake fisher yahoo sports report it is phoenix suns He remains a “strong suitor” for Bridges on the trade market, and detailed not only what the Hornets are looking for on the market, but also what the Suns are willing to part with.
Phoenix continues to be mentioned as a possible suitor for Charlotte forward Miles Bridges, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. The Suns believe Bridges from Michigan State would be a good fit for their big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. But the Suns only have money to play for in the second round of the draft. And while Phoenix has expressed interest in adding Josh Okogie in a package that includes Nasir Little and two second-round picks for Bridges, sources say Charlotte will receive a first-round pick in exchange for Bridges. He continues to hope that he can do it.
But while Suns owner Matt Ishbia, who also comes from Michigan State, may view Bridges as a “very good fit” basketball-wise, why are they pushing him so hard? It is also necessary to point out that it appears that the team is Bridges is currently awaiting a Feb. 20 court date on charges, among other things, of violating a domestic violence protection order granted to the mother of his children. reportedly “He threw a billiard ball at the car with the children in it, smashing the windshield and leaving a dent in the car,” and “threatened that if he told the police, he would take everything away and withhold child support.” be done. “Allowed his current girlfriend to scream, scream, and kick the victim’s car while the children were inside.”
Of course, this was issued after the reasons for the protection order. I promise not to fight He was charged with felony domestic violence for assaulting the same woman in front of her children.
One would think that would be enough to make Bridges radioactive against any team, but the NBA only handed him a very soft 10-game suspension (although the first (The 20 games will be applied retroactively to the time he missed while he was a restricted free agent and unsigned after the incident.) What we should note is that this is not a suspension, but rather that the team chose not to sign him due to his abhorrent conduct) and the Hornets, by scoring a ton of points throughout the year. , who has allowed his reputation to be tarnished among people who don’t care about such issues, Sands, who has no real trading assets, ignores any moral compass they have and tries hard to It looks like he’s swallowing it and hoping Bridges can help him win the title.
That’s not a choice I’d want my favorite team to make, but certainly my favorite team, the Lakers, definitely do. their own history of doing something like that — but given all the buzz surrounding this trade, it seems like it’s something the Suns could get done before the deadline.
