Trade winds blow at full gale already
NEW ORLEANS — Jahlil Okafor viewed New Orleans during All-Star weekend with a different lens than usual because he thought there might be a chance it would be his next home. That’s life in the rumor mill.
Welcome to trade season. It’s already under way and will ramp up even more until the Thursday afternoon deadline. All-Star DeMarcus Cousins is changing his address from Sacramento to New Orleans, Serge Ibaka was sent last week from Orlando to Toronto — and the next few days likely will see Carmelo Anthony, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Reggie Jackson and many more discussed by various teams.
“Here we go again,” said Okafor, the Philadelphia 76ers forward who missed two games before the break amid looming trade speculation.
The motivations are many, and obvious in most cases.
Some teams will look to add pieces with hopes of enhancing their postseason hopes; others are looking to build toward the future by shedding expiring contracts or collecting draft picks.
The jostling is underway, and the Cousins move would be huge for New Orleans — if the Pelicans can convince him to sign an extension this summer. Ibaka figures to bolster the Raptors’ chances in the East, and Cleveland moved the injured Chris Andersen to Charlotte to open a roster spot in case the Cavaliers have a chance to add a piece that might help LeBron James when it’s time to defend their title.
Even Cleveland is looking to get better. And, of course, teams are looking for ways to improve enough to beat the defending champs.
With Cousins now moved, the next huge domino to fall may be Anthony, who has a no-trade clause — but is going through times trying enough with the New York Knicks that he might be persuaded to drop that clause.
The Knicks were tied for fourth in the East in midDecember; they’re now 12th, having lost 21 of their past 28 games, and, if that wasn’t enough, also dealing with fallout related to cryptic tweets by team president Phil Jackson and the Charles Oakley incident where he was dragged from Madison Square Garden and arrested.
Anthony, at All-Star weekend, said he was bolstered by support from fellow stars.
“For me, it’s good to see the support from my peers despite everything I have been having to deal with,” Anthony said. “When you have your peers who understand it, they’re the ones who are actually going through similar situations and can relate to those types of situations because they’re in it.
“So to have my peers speak up and talk about that, it means a lot to me.”
But does he expect to move this week?
“I did not come here to talk about no-trade talk,” Anthony said.
Others have no choice. The Bulls might lose Gibson in free agency this summer, and Boston — which easily could have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft thanks to a past deal with the Brooklyn Nets — is believed to be a potential landing spot for Butler if Chicago elects to go into a full rebuilding mode.
If that happens, the Bulls likely would not be expecting Dwyane Wade to stay this summer either.