Updated: February 15, 2010, 4:26 PM ET
[h2]Trade Buzz: Who's making a move?[/h2]
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By Chad Ford
ESPN.com
Archive
ESPN.com IllustrationWhat will happen to Kirk Hinrich, Andre Iguodala and Monta Ellis at Thursday's trade deadline?
With the NBA's trade deadline on Thursday, trade talk is flying around the league.
The
Dallas Mavericks' acquisition of
Caron Butler and
Brendan Haywood from Washington for
Josh Howard has prompted other teams to focus their efforts to make deals, especially with the deadline looming.
[h4]WHAT ABOUT THE CAVS?[/h4]
For Chad Ford's report on what the Cavs are likely to do, click
here.
If the much-discussed swap of
Amare Stoudemire for
J.J. Hicksonhappens between Phoenix and Cleveland, that will mean several majorassets are apparently no longer available by trade: Stoudemire, Butler,Haywood, Howard and Hickson.
Still, that would leave at least 10 teams interested in making moves.
Here's our rundown of which teams might be buying and which might be selling this week:
[h3]The Buyers[/h3]
Teams willing to increase their long-term payroll
BOSTON CELTICS
Assets: Ray Allen's $18.8 million expiring contract; other, smaller contracts
Celtics president
Danny Aingehas said it's "unlikely" that his team will pull off a deal before thedeadline. But numerous GMs around the league say Boston has been activein trying to make things happen.
To quote one general manager who spoke with Ainge in the past 48 hours, "I get the feeling Boston's getting desperate."
Withthe Celtics looking more like an NBA Legends team than a serious titlecontender at the moment, Ainge has a difficult decision to make.
Ifhe believes that a tweak of the roster will put the Celtics intocontention, then Ainge has a number of smaller contracts he could useto land a player.
If Ainge believes a bigger change is in order,now is the time to make a move. If he doesn't trade Allen now, hishands could be tied until the summer of 2012, unless he wants toconsider trading
Paul Pierce (whose contract expires in 2011) or
Kevin Garnett (whose contract expires in 2012) at some point.
What could Ainge get for Allen? The Celtics have looked into the possibility of acquiring
Andre Iguodala,
Kirk Hinrich,
Kevin Martin or
Monta Ellis.Each would be expensive over the long haul, and it's not clear thatBoston has what it takes to get Iguodala, Martin or Ellis. Given that,Hinrich, the least expensive of the four, might be Ainge's best bet,but he's also the oldest and least desirable of the foursome.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Assets: Derek Fisher's expiring contract;
Adam Morrison's expiring contract
L.A.has been hesitant in years past to make a trade-deadline deal. Lakerscoach Phil Jackson's offense isn't easy to pick up on the fly and theteam has preferred to make moves in the summer. Yes, the Lakers tradedfor
Pau Gasol two years ago, but that deal was a no-brainer.
The Lakers' point guard play of late has raised concerns. Derek Fisher has lost another step, especially defensively.
Jordan Farmar has been solid, but the Lakers believe they may need more than "solid" to get past teams like the Nuggets and Mavs.
If the Lakers want to get a point guard, they face two big issues:
First,there aren't a lot of great point guards available right now. TheBulls' Kirk Hinrich has been the name most associated with the Lakers'trade rumors, and L.A. has explored smaller deals, such as one for thePacers'
Earl Watson.
[h4]NBA Trade Machine[/h4]
Put on your GM hat and make your own trades and deals.
Trade Machine
Second,a deal could be costly. The Lakers already have the highest payroll inthe league and would prefer to avoid adding more long-term commitments.
Here's one potential solution: The word out of the All-Star Game late Sunday had the Lakers recruiting the
Portland Trail Blazersas a third team in trade talks with the Bulls. According to one sourcefamiliar with the discussions, the Lakers would get Hinrich, the Bullswould get Adam Morrison,
Steve Blake,
Travis Outlaw and
Juwan Howard, and the Blazers would land
Tyrus Thomas and
Sasha Vujacic. Such a deal would lessen the amount of money the Lakers would be adding to their payroll next season.
MIAMI HEAT
Assets: Michael Beasley;
Jermaine O'Neal's expiring contract;
Udonis Haslem's expiring contract
TheHeat are in a precarious situation and are trying to hedge their bets.While on paper Miami is an ideal destination, there is no guarantee theHeat can get any of the marquee free agents this summer. If
LeBron James and
Chris Bosh decide to stay with their current teams or go somewhere other than Miami, Wade might see it as a signal that he should walk.
That'sled the Heat to explore making a deal now, while they can control theirfate a little more, and they've focused most of their energy onacquiring Stoudemire. The thinking: If the Heat add Stoudemire now,they can (1) still have the flexibility to re-sign him and add anothersignificant free agent and (2) persuade Wade to stay.
The problemis that Cleveland now looks like the front-runner to land Stoudemire.If the Heat can't get him, my guess is that they sit tight and hopethey make a major coup in free agency.
HOUSTON ROCKETS
Asset: Tracy McGrady's $22.5 million expiring contract
Houstonis in an interesting position. The Rockets could let McGrady's dealexpire and pursue a free agent this summer, or upgrade the team now andavoid gambling on free agency.
Without committing to either strategy, the team has been exploring McGrady trades for weeks to no avail. In particular, the
Philadelphia 76ers and
New York Knicks have emerged as potential trade partners.
The Rockets would like to get Andre Iguodala from the Sixers and would accept
Samuel Dalembert in that trade, but Philly wants some young talent beyond McGrady in return.
Meanwhile, the Knicks remain interested in McGrady, but the Rockets won't take either of the players New York wants to move:
Jared Jeffries and
Eddy Curry.While the Knicks have a number of expiring contracts they could swapfor McGrady, it's not clear why Houston would want to make such a dealwithout the Knicks including a young asset.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Assets: Ersan Ilyasova; potential lottery pick; expiring contracts of
Luke Ridnour,
Joe Alexander and
Kurt Thomas
Justmonths ago, the Bucks appeared to be conducting a fire sale. Now, tothe surprise of other teams, Bucks GM John Hammond has been outaggressively looking to move expiring contracts to get back a powerforward or a dynamic 2-guard to play alongside
Andrew Bogut and
Brandon Jennings.
Reportedly, the Bucks have talked to the Wizards about
Antawn Jamison and to the Pacers about
Troy Murphy, and have shown interest in the Bulls' Tyrus Thomas.
Milwaukeewill have to be patient, because other teams might have better offersto make to Washington, Indiana and Chicago. But if the Bucks arewilling to throw their first-round pick into a deal, they might be ableto trump other teams. As the deadline approaches, don't be surprised tosee Milwaukee scoop up someone.
[h3]The Sellers[/h3]
Teams hoping to decrease their long-term payroll
INDIANA PACERS
Asset: Troy Murphy
With their playoff hopes dashed, the Pacers have moved into serious rebuilding mode. Their efforts to move
Jeff Foster were stymied when Foster underwent back surgery, so now they are focused on moving Murphy.
Whilehe's overpaid, he's one of the few big men who can grab 10 boards andshoot 40 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, making him one of the"stretch 4s" coveted around the league.
The Cavs, Bucks, andKings have shown interest in Murphy. In exchange, the Pacers want caprelief plus at least one young asset or first-round pick. Cleveland hasbeen reluctant to give up Hickson for Murphy, and the Bucks have beenunwilling to give their first-round pick to Indiana.
With similar parameters, Indiana would also move
T.J. Ford or
Mike Dunleavy, according to several GMs who have had conversations with the Pacers.
ForPacers fans, this has become a long road back to contention. But with ahigh lottery pick coming and the opportunity for significant cap spacein the summer of 2011, the team is showing signs of recovering from thedifficulties of the
Ron Artest era.
CHICAGO BULLS
Assets: Kirk Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas and
John Salmons
The Bulls are proactively looking to get further under the cap this summer.
Theproblem is that Hinrich's contract has two more seasons on it afterthis one, at a total of $17 million. Given the uncertainties about thefinancial climate in 2011-12, teams such as the Lakers are reluctant totake on his contract.
As noted above, the Lakers are trying tomitigate the damage by insisting the Bulls (or a third party) takeVujacic, who has $5 million coming to him next season.
DETROIT PISTONS
Assets: Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton
After six consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals, Detroit is in free fall.
While Pistons president
Joe Dumarswould prefer to move Hamilton, his contract is almost impossible totrade, with three years of guaranteed money remaining after thisseason. So Dumars has reluctantly made Prince available, and not justfor cap relief. According to sources close to the talks, the Pistonsare looking for a big man. While Detroit would trade Prince to the Jazzfor
Carlos Boozer, Utah is reluctant, given its current success, to make a deal.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Asset: Andre Iguodala
Rightnow the Sixers are difficult to peg, with a number of teams saying thatPhilly general manager Ed Stefanski has been vague in trade talks.
But with a payroll bloated by huge contracts for Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert and
Elton Brand,the 76ers appear to be willing to move a cornerstone piece, Iguodala,provided they can move Dalembert (and his contract) in the same trade.But they also want young assets in return, which has thwarted tradetalks so far, particularly with Houston and Phoenix.
SACRAMENTO KINGS
Assets: Kevin Martin;
Andres Nocioni;
Kenny Thomas' expiring contract
TheKings could be both buyers and sellers, as they have explored usingThomas' contract to acquire a veteran such as Murphy or Dalembert.Simultaneously, they've tried to get Nocioni off the books by finding ateam interested in the tough-nosed forward.
The big question is this: Would they move Kevin Martin? While they have maintained that they want to see whether Martin and
Tyreke Evanscan coexist, teams around the league remain skeptical. We'll know bythe end of Thursday whether a team was willing to offer enough in theform of assets, draft picks and/or expiring contracts to get the Kingsto the table.
