Kings acquire Robin Lopez from Bucks, but he won’t play for Sacramento
The Kings made just one move at the NBA trade deadline Thursday, but it won’t do anything to help a team that is coming off its worst loss of the season.
The Kings acquired Robin Lopez and cash considerations from the Milwaukee Bucks, sources told The Sacramento Bee, confirming a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but the veteran center will never suit up for Sacramento. Sources said Lopez is expected to be waived and will become a free agent.
Lopez had some fun on social media after a Kings fan tweeted: “Thanks for all the memories in Sacramento! Kings legend, once a King always a King.”
Lopez quote tweeted the fan’s comment, saying: “I just hope it’s enough to get my number in the rafters I hope I left a legacy there.”
Lopez, a Fresno native who starred at Stanford from 2006-08, is a 16-year NBA veteran. He has played for nine teams, including the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls. The 7-foot-1, 281-pound center has appeared in 16 games this season, averaging career lows of 1.1 points and 0.3 rebounds.
News of the Lopez trade did little to relieve the angst of fans following Wednesday’s 133-120 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Golden 1 Center. The Pistons, who came in with a 6-43 record, were missing three starters, including their two leading scorers, Cade Cunningham and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Kings coach Mike Brown called the loss “unacceptable.” All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis said it was “one of those games we have to win and we have to take accountability for it.”
The Kings (29-20) fell from fifth in the Western Conference to seventh, a half-game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the final automatic playoff berth. If the season ended today, the Kings would be in the play-in tournament after going to the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the West last season.
Warriors trade Cory Joseph to Indiana Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS — The Golden State Warriors made an at-the-buzzer deal to trade backup point guard Cory Joseph and cash to the Indiana Pacers for a 2024 second-round pick, per reports.
Joseph was signed to a one-year, $3.196 million contract in the offseason as a third-string point guard behind future Hall of Famers Steph Curry and Chris Paul. Joseph was lauded for his low assist-to-turnover ratio and good-teammate reputation.
But Joseph is averaging 11.4 minutes per game in 26 games and two-way player Lester Quinones has usurped most of Joseph’s minutes of late. Quinones is on a twoway contract and could be converted to fill the 14th roster spot. Swapping Joseph for Quinones could save the luxury tax-burdened Warriors upwards of $10 million in salary and tax payments.
The 2024 second-round pick gets the Warriors back in the draft game this offseason; they’d given up their 2024 protected first round pick in 2019 to the Memphis Grizzlies in order to hand off Andre Iguodala’s contract and make cap room for D’Angelo Russell in the wake of Kevin Durant’s free agency departure. That pick has since been traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. They don’t own their second-round picks, either.
The Warriors didn’t make any other moves at the deadline despite some of their core players — Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney — coming up in trade rumors. The Joseph move gave the front office an opportunity to shed some financial obligations as they are deep into the luxury tax.
A recent turnaround may have inspired the front office to keep the major shakeups pocketed. The team defense has sharpened since Draymond Green’s return on Jan. 15, flipping a 117.7 defensive rating ranked as one of the league’s worst to a 112.6 defensive rating ranked in the league’s top five over that span.
Green’s return put into place a solid lineup of Steph Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga that boasts a 16.5 net rating, notably a 94.4 defensive rating. While the Warriors may have had some more seismic trades on the table, the organization is comfortable leaning into this momentum for the postseason. They’ve won four of their last five games and are 3-1 on this road trip, now at 23-25 and 11th in the Western Conference.
Sixers trade Patrick Beverley to Bucks in exchange for Cam Payne
PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers have parted ways with Patrick Beverley.
The backup point guard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday in exchange for Cameron Payne and Milwaukee’s 2027 second-round pick. Beverley announced that he’d been traded on the Pat Bev Pod.
Beverley will reunite with former Sixers coach Doc Rivers, who he played for as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. Rivers recently took over the position when Milwaukee fired coach Adrian Griffin.
Payne, also a backup point guard, averaged 6.2 points, 2.3 assists and 14.9 minutes in 47 games with two starts this season in Milwaukee.
Beverley averaged 6.3 points, 3.1 assists and 19.6 minutes in 47 games with five starts. This comes after the Sixers signed him to a one-year, minimum salary contract in July.
At the time, Beverley reunited with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. The 12th-year veteran played his first five NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets while Morey was the team’s general manager.
Sixers land sharpshooter Hield
PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers got Buddy Hield, after all.
One day after sources indicated there was no traction in trade discussions, the Sixers agreed to a deal with Indiana Pacers late Thursday morning for the sharp-shooting guard.
Philly acquired Hield from Indiana in exchange for Marcus Morris Sr., Furkan Korkmaz, three second-round picks and $1.5 million in cash. The Pacers will get the Toronto Raptors’ 2024 second-rounder, the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2029 second-rounder and the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2029 second-rounder.
In another move, the Sixers traded Danuel House Jr. and a 2024 second-round pick via the New York Knicks to the Detroit Pistons. A source says moving House, who makes $4.3 million this season, enables the Sixers to create a Traded Players Exception and some financial flexibility, especially if they have an opportunity to add a player via the buyout market.
With that, this clears the way for the Sixers to go after Charlotte Hornets point guard and former Villanova standout Kyle Lowry in the buyout market.
Lowry, a six-time All-Star, would help take some of the ball handling duties from Tyrese Maxey.
Knicks trade for Bojan Bogdanovic
NEW YORK — A deal has been reached — and it’s a good one.
The Knicks accomplished their goal of bolstering the bench with a trade deadline move with the Detroit Pistons.
New York has traded Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono and a pair of second-round picks to Detroit in exchange for veteran guard Alec Burks and forward Bojan Bogdanovic, according
to ESPN.
It is a move that clearly improves the roster without costing the Knicks’ front office any of its valuable firstround draft pick capital, which the organization is hoarding for an offseason move should a marquee player become available via trade.
The deal will also help the team stay afloat amid worsening injury news.
The Knicks updated OG Anunoby’s right elbow injury from just inflammation to bone spur irritation on Wednesday, a clear signal the star wing’s situation is more severe than initially thought. Anunoby has been ruled out for the sixth consecutive game against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
And with Julius Randle expected to miss an extended period of time after dislocating his right shoulder, the Knicks desperately needed scoring help to take some of the offensive pressure off of Jalen Brunson.
Thursday’s move kills two birds with one stone: It gives Brunson support while the Knicks work through their injuries and bolsters a struggling second unit for when the starters return to good health.
The Knicks’ bench ranked secondto-last in scoring ahead of only the Phoenix Suns following the Dec. 31 Anunoby trade after sending Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Immanuel Quickley and former No. 3 overall pick R.J. Barrett — both of whom captained the second unit pre-trade — to the Toronto Raptors
The bench scoring woes project to change with both Burks and Bogdanovic en route to The Big Apple.
Hornets trade Gordon Hayward to Thunder, source says
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Gordon Hayward Era is officially finished.
Hours after The Observer reported his time was up in Charlotte, the Hornets agreed to send their highest-paid player to Oklahoma City for Tre Mann, Davis Bertans, Vasilije Micic and second-round picks in 2024 and 2025, a league source confirmed.
Signed to the most lucrative deal in franchise history in 2020, Hayward never panned out with the Hornets. His four seasons were mostly a disappointment and marred by myriad injuries, leaving everyone frustrated with his lack of availability. He never played a full season with Charlotte.
Hayward missed the Hornets’ past 22 games nursing a strained left calf, the latest injury in a career filled with them. The 50 games he logged in 202223 were the most during his tenure.
Overall, he was available for just 58.3% of the Hornets’ games, which includes the absences in Charlotte’s two play-in tournament losses, and saw action in only 168 of 288 games.
But he’s gone now and the Hornets will see what they have in Mann and Bertans.