BREAKING: The Wizards have acquired Markieff Morris, per the tag team champions at The Vertical. They’ll give up Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair, and a protected first-round pick, per Zach Lowe and David Aldridge.
Kirk Hinrich has also been dealt to the Hawks. Hahaha.
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We’re seven hours out from the trade deadline, and we already have a shocker: Woj slept through the night. He hasn’t tweeted since 12:37 a.m., while Marc Stein has been outchea tweeting non-stop through the night. Expect an early-morning WojBomb, or at least his usual buzz column, sometime early this morning.
In the meantime, here’s everything else that’s out there. (Reminder: Tuesday’s roundup is here, and Wednesday’s is here.) This will be updated throughout the day, so check back often.
Oh, thanks Shammgod
The Hawks are intending to keep their core together, after all, according to Woj. That means no Horford for the Raptors and, just as importantly, no Horford for the Celtics.
Or, it’s posturing three hours out.
Raptors still interested in P.J. Tucker
The Raptors remain one of several teams from whom the Suns are fielding offers for Tucker, per Marc Stein of ESPN. I’ve long-maintained he was a 2:55 option, one that stands as a nice addition but one you don’t want to blow your assets early to attain and take yourself out of the running.
But Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic throws some water on that at 1 p.m., saying the Suns have told Tucker he’s staying put.
You can read more about a potential pursuit of Tucker here.
The Nets have a GM
Updating that earlier note, the Nets have hired Sean Marks as their general manager. No word on what his first act may be, but he’ll probably be working the phones a great deal.
Several teams with interest in trading for Brooklyn’s Thaddeus Young already trying to reach Sean Marks to see where Nets stand on him.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) February 18, 2016
The Raptors remain tied to Young from multiple angles, as recently as 11:30 a.m. from Chris Mannix of The Vertical.
Pau Gasol headed West?
The Chicago Bulls may look fundamentally different by the time the Raptors see them on Friday. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports continues to report that the Bulls are shopping Gasol despite the Spaniard’s interest in re-signing this summer, and the Sacramento Kings have emerged as a frontrunner.
The Kings, who are never not in the news, have apparently offered Kosta Koufos, Ben McLemore, and a lessening of the protections on a pick they already owe the Bulls this year in exchange for Gasol and Tony Snell. The Kings would have to toss something Philadelphia’s way in that scenario, as the change in pick protections would have an impact on the Sixers, who have a right to swap picks.
That’s the leading Gasol landing spot, and while that package is a good one for the Bulls, it would make them less of a matchup issue for Toronto in a potential 2-7 playoff series.
For what it’s worth, multiple outlets (Aldridge, Amick) suggest the deal seems somewhat unlikely at the moment. Things change quickly, though.
More on Taj Gibson-Patrick Patterson
There continues to be conflicting information as to how, specifically, a Gibson-Patterson swap came up. Everyone seems to agree that talks happened, but nobody is clear who initiated them. The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson adds that the Bulls asked for the Raptors’ own 2016 first-round pick in the deal, which I’d imagine was the sticking point – a straight swap already gives the Bulls much-needed spacing and enough luxury tax relief that they could conceivably drop below the line with a subsequent move
“I would be surprised, but I understand that it’s a part of the business,” Gibson, a former DeMar DeRozan teammate at USC, told Johnson. “An offer could be made and things could be shaken up. It doesn’t mean they don’t like you or don’t appreciate you. It’s just that it’s a business. I totally understand it.”
Maybe this is something both sides circle back to right at the buzzer if nothing else works out.
In the meantime, the Bulls are busy trying to acquire garbage players.
Chicago and Orlando are discussing a deal for Shabazz Napier, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) February 18, 2016
Channing Frye mess
Instead of dealing Frye to the Clippers, the Magic have sent him to Cleveland, getting back a Portland 2nd-rounder, Jared Cunningham, and some cap flexibility in return. Cleveland, meanwhile, routes Anderson Varejao to Portland, paying them a 1st-rounder in the process and saving themselves some cash. The Blazers get paid a first to pay Varejao money they would have had to pay to reach the salary floor, anyway, giving up a second in the process. The Blazers are expected to waive Varejao.
This is all from a ton of sources, including Woj, Spears, and McMenamin.
This technically makes the Cavs a bit better, but Frye is redundant and doesn’t figure to play a ton of minutes.
Passing on Dwight Howard
Zach Lowe of ESPN reported way back when that the Raptors had little interest in Howard, and ESPN continued to repeat early Thursday that the Raptors were one of the teams the Rockets spoke to about the center.
Michael Grange of Sportsnet reports that the Rockets inquired about Jonas Valanciunas in a swap, to which the Raptors replied “no thanks.”
That says a lot about Howard’s value – he remains an impact defender but giving him the max this summer seems scary – and how high the team remains on the 23-year-old Valanciunas.
Pistons stocking up
Detroit followed up their acquisition of Tobias Harris by landing Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton for Joel Anthony and a protected 2016 first-round pick, per Woj. Depending on the protections, that might be a nice price, as Motiejunas, when healthy, is a nice piece.
Update: Per the excellent Tim Bontemps, the pick is top-eight protected, meaning it’s likely to convey this year. Not a bad win-win if the Pistons can retain Motiejunas, with the Rockets getting a pick in the 10-20 range for a pending RFA who can’t stay healthy and getting further under the tax apron in the process.
Heat doing…something
The Heat further trimmed their tax bill by shipping Jarnell Stokes, a prospect I really like, with cash to New Orleans. They’re a Brian Roberts or Udonis Haslem unload from getting under the tax, though they’ve rendered themselves quite thin in the process (not that any of it matters if Bosh is out for the season).
Chuck Wagon
This one doesn’t have any impact on the Raptors, but Chuck Hayes continues to work out in Houston with the hope of landing somewhere, per Marc Spears of Yahoo. Keep on keeping on, Chuck. I miss imagining doing leg workouts with you.
Sorry, Will
Randy Foye is headed to OKC, per Chris Dempsey. D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak, and two second-round picks are headed the other way, per Woj. Heck of a haul for Foye.
Non-Raptors notes
Some quick hits from around the league, non-Raptors division:
- Chris Bosh said “We gonna be alright” from Snapchat this morning, per Sam Amick. Shout out to Bosh and shout out to king Kendrick.
A weird Clippers-Magic-Cavaliers situation continues to be at a pause. The Clippers could flip Lance Stephenson for Channing Frye, but the Clippers are exploring other deals and the Cavaliers are trying to land Frye, too. All while the Cavaliers are also trying to find a home for Anderson Varejao’s ill-advised contract. This is all per Woj.- Also from Woj, there’s still nothing specific on the Ryan Anderson front, though the Pelicans are shopping him.
- The Pelicans aren’t moving Jrue Holiday, per Spears.
Randy Foye’s still out there for Will Lou, though the Thunder are said to be close to landing him.- Stein gets the sense from around the league that the Jazz are going to roll the dice on Ty Lawson. When trying to concoct three-team scenarios, I often involved the Jazz and routed Cory Joseph there, so this is disappointing for my trade machine endeavors. Later reports suggest this might be dead now.
- UPDATE: The Jazz are getting Shelvin Mack for a second, instead.
- The Sixers have listened to pitches on their young bigs but want a major offer, per Stein and others.
The Nets still don’t have a GM. They’re continuing discussions with Sean Marks and have ramped up their offer, but if that’s not taken care of early this morning, who is handling the reigns on a Thad Young deal?
