BRACE YOURSELF FOR FLURRY OF NBA TRADES
Champion Raptors expected to stand pat rather than part with their young stars
It’s the time of the NBA season that fans love and players hate. Get out your trade tracker, your cap sheets and your zaniest ideas, because trades can only be made for a short period.
Any deals must be completed and sent to the league by
3 p.m. ET Thursday. Otherwise, teams must wait until the summer (though there will be some buyouts and subsequent pickups over the next couple of weeks).
Expect the squads that fancy themselves to be true title contenders to be the most active.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics are probably feeling the most pressure to get something done to improve.
The Bucks need to at least make the Finals, with Giannis Antetokounmpo growing ever closer to unrestricted free agency. The team let Malcolm Brogdon walk for some assets it could now use to power up.
The Lakers and Clippers could use more shooters and perhaps another forward or playmaker. Both teams are hoping Darren Collison returns to the NBA and joins one of them as an excellent backup point guard.
Philadelphia still has a roster that doesn’t make sense for a variety of reasons, while Boston’s perennially impressive treasure chest of draft picks is starting to wane and now might be the time to get a good big man.
Could Brampton, Ont. native Tristan Thompson be the answer there? Reports out of Cleveland have one of the longest-tenured Cavaliers in team history eager to find a new home after contract extension talks didn’t work out.
The defending champion Raptors were once considered potential sellers, but instead are expected to either stand pat or make a minor addition. Because the team is looking to avoid taking on long-term salary and isn’t eager to trade promising forward OG Anunoby and has seen Norman Powell have a breakout year, it’s hard to see them doing much.
So, which players seem to be the most bandied about in the rumour mill? Minnesota’s Robert Covington, Cleveland’s Thompson and maybe Kevin Love, though it’s hard to see a match because the Cavs want value and other teams are hesitant to take on such a big contract.
Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma, Houston centre Clint Capela, Golden State guard D’angelo Russell, Sacramento centre Dewayne Dedmon, New York forward Marcus Morris and other Knicks, and a host of Pistons players like Andre Drummond and Luke Kennard.
There might even be a surprise deal.
The Houston Rockets made some history last Friday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rockets became the first team to not play a player taller than 6-foot-6 since the New York Knicks in 1963. Unlike the Knicks though, who lost to the Chicago Zephyrs, the Rockets won.
Danuel House Jr. And Thabo Sefolosha, who have both played shooting guard at times during their careers, were the tallest Rockets to see action.
While 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis had his way with his shorter opponents, it wasn’t enough and he didn’t take as many three-pointers as usual, something Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle has said is a key to his team’s success.
“It’s crazy,” Porzingis told reporters. “It’s the NBA of today — a lot of mismatches, a lot of trying to open the floor. It happens, especially with them. They play that way. Everybody is open, and James Harden or (Russell) Westbrook create something, and they kick out the ball. They’re good at what they do.”
Houston is reportedly in talks to deal regular centre Clint Capela.
Don’t look now, but Westbrook might have got the message he’s the one player on Houston that shouldn’t be shooting three-pointers. Westbrook has hit only 23.4 per cent of his three-point attempts this season, but cut his attempts in half in January (2.2 per game), compared to December. Westbrook had attempted a whopping 5.7 threes-per-game in November.
Even with the fewer attempts, Westbrook raised his scoring average from 21.9 points per game when he was chucking at will in November, to 27.1 in December, to 32.5 in a standout January.
Philadelphia is an odd team. As noted above, the pieces don’t fit. The team is 22-2 at home, but 9-18 on the road, and they just gave up a franchise worst 80 second-half points in a loss against Miami.
“We were soft ... Don’t get bullied, fight over screens, get through screens. You’ve gotta knock somebody, knock ’em over,” said all-star guard Ben Simmons. “You’ve gotta hit somebody in the face and knock’ em down, make sure they don’t score, hit ’em in the face.”
Simmons won’t shoot three-pointers, which wastes Joel Embiid’s ability to instil fear in opponents when he operates down low. Plus Simmons wants to attack the paint and does it well, but Embiid is dominant down there.
ESPN has a metric called Real Plus Minus and apparently age isn’t a factor, since Lebron James leads all players in RPB at 10.17. Antetokounmpo is way behind at 7.41, followed by Kawhi Leonard (7.24), Harden (6.05) and first-time all-star Jayson Tatum (5.36). Toronto’s Pascal Siakam ranks eighth, with rookie Terence Davis ahead of him in limited minutes ... The Spurs had a streak of at least one all-star selection for 22 straight years and at least one in 40 of 42 seasons, but there won’t be a 23rd straight selection. Lamarcus Aldridge and Demar Derozan fell short, and the most likely injury replacement if anyone from the Western Conference has to miss the game is Phoenix guard Devin Booker, who was left off.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TOP CANADIANS THIS SEASON:
■ Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets: In a big slump, but Denver keeps on winning.
■ Shai Gilgeous-alexander of the Oklahoma Thunder: Continues to impress.
■ Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves: Will Minny make big deadline changes?
■ R.J. Barrett of the New York Knicks: New York being cautious with its prized rookie.
■ Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers: One of trade deadline’s most-rumoured players.
■ Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies: If the Grizz the make playoffs, Brooks would be a big reason why.
■ Kelly Olynyk of the Miami Heat: Not his most consistent season as minutes shuffle around.
■ Cory Joseph of the Sacramento Kings: His leadership skills are being tested as Sacramento struggles.
■ Brandon Clarke of the Memphis Grizzlies: Shooting 63 per cent from the field, one of league’s top marks.
■ Luguentz Dort of the OKC Thunder: From the G League to the starting lineup for the Montrealer.
■ Chris Boucher of the Toronto Raptors: Thriving again with Marc Gasol injured for second time.
■ Nickeil Alexander-walker of the New Orleans Pelicans: New Orleans too deep for big minutes.
BIG NUMBERS 3
Where Bradley Beal now ranks on the Washington Wizards’ all-time scoring list after he passed Wes Unseld and injured teammate John Wall this season. Only Elvin Hayes and Jeff Malone have scored more for the Bullets/wizards.
8
Games this season where Antetokounmpo has scored at least 30 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and collected five assists for Milwaukee. All of the league’s other players have totalled eight such games.
6
Straight games with at least five three-pointers by Portland’s Damian Lillard. Only Harden and Stephen Curry have managed longer streaks.
4
Missed shots by Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving during his recent 54-point game. Only Wilt Chamberlain has missed fewer shots (three) in a 50-point game.
38
Points by Kristaps Porzingis on Monday night. That’s the most the big Latvian has scored in a game since 2017 and it’s tied for the second-most in his career. He also scored 35 points in a game on Jan. 31, so he appears to be heating up finally.
FIVE SURGING SQUADS 1
Toronto Raptors: Hail to the champs. With two key players out, Toronto has just kept on rolling and has NBA’S third-best record.
2
Milwaukee Bucks: Actually lost a game, but mostly clobbering every opponent in another runaway regular season.
3
Portland Trail Blazers: OK, Damian Lillard. That’s how you feel? The dark horse perennial MVP candidate is rolling like never before.
4
Boston Celtics: Four straight wins powered by a scary good offence. Could use some help up front at deadline though.
5
Golden State Warriors: Two wins in a row by the NBA’S worst team gets them a rare spot on this list for one of the few times this season.
FIVE SLUMPING SQUADS 1
Utah Jazz: Utah had been destroying everyone until Mike Conley Jr. returned. Maybe it’s time to admit he isn’t the fit everyone expected him to be?
2
Chicago Bulls: Sure, some good players are hurt, but this team is awful. They can’t defend anyone (Kris Dunn exempted) and aren’t fooling anyone.
3
Cleveland Cavaliers: Surrendering a historically bad 122.9 points per 100 possessions during four-game losing streak. That championship and all of those Finals appearances feel like ancient history.
4
Philadelphia 76ers: At least they’re giving management time to make a deal or two before Thursday’s deadline. Better to stink it up now then when it’s too late. 5
Charlotte Hornets: On offence they look like a group of players who are new to the game of basketball.