Silly Season Is Here! Official 2022-23 NBA Trade Deadline & Buyout Market Discussion Thread

[Morethan1]

 

[Morethan1]

 

[Morethan1]

 

[tremonthustler1]

You never know. I could see a team like Portland talking themselves into taking a flyer on him.

Not if they wanna re-up Grant

 

[FAH1223]

We need Masai.

 

[FAH1223]

The action has begun! Until Monday, there had been only one trade since the 2022-23 season started: Boston sending Noah Vonleh and cash to San Antonio on Jan. 5 so the Celtics could shave $7 million off their luxury-tax bill. Now we have a real trade to dissect with the Lakers’ acquisition of Rui Hachimura from Washington for three future second-round picks and Kendrick Nunn’s expiring contract … with 17 more days left in this trade season. The first swap that really got last season's deadline humming — Portland shipping Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the LA Clippers — didn’t materialize until six days away from the 2022 deadline on Feb. 4.

The Lakers have been hammered incessantly about roster construction for months, but this trade looks like smart business. At a minimal cost, L.A. has upgraded its frontcourt rotation by adding Hachimura, giving LeBron James and Lakers fans what they were clamoring for and swinging a long-awaited deal without having to surrender either of their last two remaining prized assets — those highly coveted future first-round picks in 2027 and 2029. The Lakers have gone a surprising 10-9 since Dec. 16 without the injured Anthony Davis and, with Davis returning soon and Hachimura on the way, there is some genuine optimism bubbling in Lakerland. This team, after all, awoke Monday only 2½ games behind No. 5 Dallas in the West. And while Hachimura’s arrival will certainly cut into the Lakers’ projected salary-cap space this offseason, it has been assumed for some time that pursuing trades was the Lakers’ most likely route to improving the roster around James and Davis rather than banking on free agency. The Lakers likely could have traded for the Knicks’ Cam Reddish for a similar package that they sent to Washington but opted for Hachimura, who was drafted ninth overall by the Wizards in 2019.

League sources say that the Wizards’ willingness to trade Hachimura in the name of down-the-road financial flexibility is indeed a reflection of their increasing confidence when it comes to re-signing Kyle Kuzma this summer. Kuzma intends to decline his $13 million player option for next season to become a free agent on June 30. Washington continues to tell rival teams that it plans to re-sign Kuzma as well as Kristaps Porziņģis, who can also become a free agent this summer if he declines his $36 million player option for next season. One source close to the situation said declining the option and becoming a free agent is indeed a prime option Porziņģis is considering, but I’m told he likes his situation in the nation’s capital.

In late December, I reported that Washington had pursued Phoenix's Jae Crowder with a trade offer believed to include Hachimura. Sources say that the Suns, determined at the time to acquire a player unequivocally regarded as a starter in exchange for Crowder, brushed aside that pitch. One source told me over the weekend that Hachimura subsequently reached a point this month that he requested a trade away from the Wizards. And the fourth-year forward didn’t deny it after scoring a career-high-tying 30 points in Saturday's win over Orlando. Asked about it by The Athletic’s Josh Robbins in the video below, Hachimura offered only a "no comment." Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer, meanwhile, reported Monday night that the Suns were back in the Hachimura mix at the finish line in a potential three-team deal that would have landed Jae Crowder in Milwaukee until Washington decided that it preferred to swap him for the Lakers’ offer.

Chris Paul is back for Phoenix after missing seven games with a hip injury, but the 37-year-old has played in only 27 of the Suns' 48 games this season, having missed 14 games earlier due to a heel injury. Word is that those realities have prompted the Suns to start assessing their post-Paul future and thus identify Charlotte's Terry Rozier, New York's Immanuel Quickley and Toronto's Fred VanVleet as potential trade targets. The latest signals from the Knicks, as I reported on Jan. 14, indicate that Quickley will not be made available at this deadline. Rozier, though, is widely perceived as attainable given the Hornets' slide into Victor Wembanyama territory, while VanVleet's future with Canada's team remains unclear given the 21-27 Raptors' struggles and VanVleet's desire for a lucrative new contract in the offseason.

While the Clippers continue to explore their trade options for upgrades in both the frontcourt and the backcourt, league sources say that they likewise continue to swat away external interest in Terance Mann.

Rival teams in need of size are monitoring Kings center Richaun Holmes as a potential buyout candidate in the event that Sacramento is unable to trade him before the deadline, sources say.

It was reassuring to see an unreserved apology Monday morning from Fox Sports' Shannon Sharpe after the embarrassing scenes Friday night at (the place I still like to call) Staples Center. Even if the Grizzlies chirp too much for your liking, as I certainly contend, Sharpe has to get most of the blame for those bizarre confrontations with several members of the Grizzlies in Los Angeles. Members of the media — and, yes, Sharpe is one of us now even if the show he appears on is considered more entertainment and punditry than actual journalism — don't go to games and heckle players on the teams we cover. That’s a pretty uncrossable line.

 

[Youhadasparkwhenustarted]

We need Masai.

I don't get the Wizards and how they're run, I really don't.

 

[Anerdyblackguy]

Watching Leon Rose stay still knowing the Knicks are sliding and nothing is being done about it

 

[ALonelyDad]

 

[NatiboyB]

It won’t happen but should the suns consider swapping Paul for Russell? Paul has at most 2 seasons left. Russell while clearly not as good as Paul will be around longer however he is expiring.

Paul helps get the twolves a vet team leader PG who can get others involved and it’s obvious he’s in the twilight of his career. Paul is locked in I want to say 2-3 more years and that is just long enough to ride with the gobert experiment and if they decide to transition on from Kat within the next 2-3 seasons. The suns may not be as good of a team if they did this trade however.

Russell is younger and can light it up has good court vision and shoots the 3 at a good clip also is younger and from what I understand is good with Devin Booker.

I would just gauge a swap. I know the money doesn’t completely match up but it’s extremely close if not able to be a straight swap.

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

So the wiz turned down a 3 team trade that would’ve sent Rui to the suns, crowder to the bucks and wiz getting 3 2nd rounders and salary fillers? Lmaoooo

 

[FAH1223]

I don't get the Wizards and how they're run, I really don't.

 

[VegetasHairline]

 

[Rigby.]

It won’t happen but should the suns consider swapping Paul for Russell? Paul has at most 2 seasons left. Russell while clearly not as good as Paul will be around longer however he is expiring.

Paul helps get the twolves a vet team leader PG who can get others involved and it’s obvious he’s in the twilight of his career. Paul is locked in I want to say 2-3 more years and that is just long enough to ride with the gobert experiment and if they decide to transition on from Kat within the next 2-3 seasons. The suns may not be as good of a team if they did this trade however.

Russell is younger and can light it up has good court vision and shoots the 3 at a good clip also is younger and from what I understand is good with Devin Booker.

I would just gauge a swap. I know the money doesn’t completely match up but it’s extremely close if not able to be a straight swap.

He’d at least temporarily assuage Booker. Whatever you feel for his placement in relation to Ant (needing to defer to a much better wing player and not always doing that in a constructive way on the court) would apply doubly in Phoenix

 

[NatiboyB]

So the wiz turned down a 3 team trade that would’ve sent Rui to the suns, crowder to the bucks and wiz getting 3 2nd rounders and salary fillers? Lmaoooo

Isn’t that equivalent to what they got and they shipped the dude to the west? Do you think maybe they talked to Rui and he wanted to go to the Lakers?