Trade Chatter From The G-League Showcase

With the NBA’s annual G-League Showcase underway in Mississauga, Ontario this week, there was no shortage of NBA decision makers and executives huddled in two gyms for hours every day. That environment is ripe for chatter and with the annual NBA Trade Deadline just weeks away there was a familiar story from more teams than not – most teams want to add a player, but not very many seem open to giving up one to get something done. That’s the beauty of the deadline; it forces a decision.

Here are some things worth noting:

The Magic Continue to Come Up

Having talked to both sides of the equation, the story from the middle seems to be the same. The Magic are going to be active and want to make changes. The Magic won’t characterize it as blowing the team up, but the teams on the other end of the phone seem to think that.

The Magic have entertained talks on the entire roster, and no one is untouchable for the right return — that’s been said on both sides. The Magic seem to be seeking to shed cap dollars, which will be very tough to make happen in the current NBA landscape as almost no one has the cap space to take something off the books. If the Magic decide to simply shed money, there may be no shortage of ending contracts that can get the current leadership out of deals made by the previous leadership.

The player most teams seem to have interest in is guard Evan Fournier, and there is a sense that both Fournier and big man Nikola Vucevic are growing frustrated with the lack of progress and that both would welcome the chance to get to a winning situation.

The Magic don’t seem to be overly interested in more draft picks, so it will be worth watching to see what the Magic will ultimately do. One thing is clear, the team most likely to radically change themselves at the deadline may be the Magic, the question is can they find the kinds of deals – ending contracts and attractive rookie scale players – that allow them to reset the clock on not only the roster but the salary cap.

The Clippers Expected to Deal

Despite the Clippers surging week, there is still a sense in NBA circles that center DeAndre Jordan is going to be moved before the deadline. The Milwaukee Bucks continue to be the team mentioned as most likely to get a deal done, but sources near the situation say the Clippers still are not sure whether they will pull the trigger. A Bucks deal is said to be centered on center John Henson’s $11.4 million contract and the inclusion of a young roster player and a draft pick. League sources said the Clippers had expressed interest in Malcolm Brogdon, which seems to be a non-starter for the Bucks.

One league source asked bluntly, “How can Milwaukee pay them all?”, suggesting that, even with a new arena on the way, the Milwaukee market was going to limit how much the Bucks could reasonably spend on the payroll without ownership subsidizing things.

The Bucks are facing some tough decisions on the current roster. Jabari Parker is going to hit free agency this summer and demand a hefty increase from his current $6.78 million salary. Adding a player like Jordan would make sense in the short-term, but retaining him for the long term starts to become an expensive math problem.

Sources close to the situation in L.A. say the team isn’t ready to toss in the towel and that they are seeing what they had hoped to see from the team. But that hasn’t stopped league sources from saying they believe the Clippers deal at the deadline.

Sense Of Urgency In Utah

The Utah Jazz has been linked to Chicago big man Nikola Mirotic in a trade that seems more likely than not. The Bulls are said to be seeking a first-round draft pick, something the Jazz seem reluctant to move.

League sources said things in Utah were starting to get contentious and that management and the coaching staff may not be on the same page with the direction of the roster and that change seems necessary.

The Jazz seem to be trying to move Derrick Favors and Joe Johnson, although the market for both may be tied to their ending contracts not necessarily their upside as players.

There is a belief that Johnson will seek a buyout after the trade deadline if he does not land on a playoff-bound roster.

Favors seems to be the salary that will head to Chicago in the Mirotic deal; the question becomes what kind of draft pick is going in the deal.

The Jazz are not the only suitor for Mirotic, so Chicago does have some leverage as the Detroit Pistons are said to be at the table on a Mirotic deal too. League sources still pegged the Jazz at the team that could win it; it just would require a first-round pick.

The wrinkle for the Bulls is that Mirotic does have veto power on a trade, and word is he likes the idea of the Jazz and head coach Quinn Snyder.

Cavaliers Not Sitting It Out

It shouldn’t be surprising to hear that Cleveland is active as the deadline approaches. Word in NBA circles is the Cavs are again trying to move often injured guard Iman Shumpert. The Houston Rockets expressed interest in Shumpert during the summer and are again a team to watch. Shumpert has a Player Option, which makes his value tough to gauge. The belief is Cleveland wants to shed the salary, so it will be interesting to see if the Cavs can pull off anything.

There has also been talk that Cleveland would consider deals involving Jae Crowder if it would return the right roster upgrade piece.

The Cavaliers want to shed Luxury Tax dollars, so they will be an interesting team to watch. However, league sources at the Showcase said they didn’t have anything meaningful on the table and were more likely to make a cap clearing kind of transaction than anything substantive with the roster.

Nuggets Have Roster Parts

This is hardly news, but sources at the Showcase continued to list forward Kenneth Faried as being available from the Denver Nuggets, as is guard Emmanuel Mudiay. League sources said the asking price on one or both isn’t very high, and the Nuggets seem willing to shed the salary for ending contracts. The Nuggets face the task of re-signing Nikola Jokic and Will Barton this summer and are already sitting on a $105 million payroll, with a projected $111 million next season.

With the Luxury Tax looming on the horizon, the Nuggets seem more than motivated to move money. The question is, do any of the players the Nuggets have on the market hold any real value?

Cousins And George Staying Put, For Now

As much as some fans would like to see a major player moved, there isn’t any sense in NBA circles that either Pelicans big man DeMarcus Cousins or Thunder swingman Paul George will get entertained in deals.

Sources at the Showcase were pretty adamant that despite his play on the floor in New Orleans, the toxicity factor around Cousins remains and a team trying to win anything wouldn’t touch him and wouldn’t offer any of value to obtain him, which was sort of the message last year.

One league executive said bluntly, “If it doesn’t work, you’ll get fired. Who is doing that?” The supporting belief is that New Orleans will pay Cousins and his camp knows it and it’s more likely he stays beyond the season, which is one of the reasons the Pelicans seem closed off to the idea.

As for George, there is a sense that a few teams will make an 11th hour run at the Thunder to test their resolve. However, the talk in NBA circles is that even though most felt like George would leave the Thunder in July for the Lakers, no one was going to offer enough value for Sam Presti and company to break up what may be a one year shot at the Conference Finals.

As much as George has tried to say he was happy in Oklahoma City, none of the executives at the showcase were buying the idea of him staying beyond the current season, but they agreed it would be smarter to take a shot rather than pack it in for peanuts on the dollar.

With the NBA Trade Deadline coming before All-Star weekend this season, most league insiders are expecting a noisy deadline, but few were sold that anything major would get done.

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