NBA AM: It’s Trade Deadline Day!

Suns Not Making It Easy

In trade negotiations, there is always a little gamesmanship. One team tries to angle a little more value out of the other team and the back and forth that makes or breaks a deal is often about compromise.

The Phoenix Suns opened the phones on guard Goran Dragic yesterday and fielded a lot of interest. The interest was exactly what they were hoping for when Dragic informed the team he would not be willing to sign a new deal and that he wanted to be traded.

The key suitors for Dragic from the Phoenix side have been the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets. All three are offering packages built around young, promising players and a draft pick or two.

The problem is none of those teams are on the list of teams Dragic’s representatives supplied the Suns with.

Dragic’s camp wants him traded to a team he’d ultimately sign a lucrative long-term deal with and while Boston, Houston and even Sacramento are decent enough situations, they all present problems for Dragic and his agent.

The Suns’ stance is simply that they are going to make the best deal they can make for themselves and are not at all interested in what Dragic may or may not want. However, as word has leaked of serious talks with “non-list” teams, Dragic’s camp is making it clear in the loudest of terms that a “non-list” team trading for Dragic needs to understand he’s not re-signing there.

There is a sense among league sources that Suns owner Robert Sarver was less than happy to have terms dictated to him by Dragic and his agents, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out with the deadline less than six hours away.

No Kevin Martin, But Maybe KG?

There had been reports suggesting that if the Minnesota Timberwolves could not find a trade for shooting guard Kevin Martin, that he might be a prime candidate for a contract buyout.

Yesterday, Wolves sources sort of shot that notion down, saying not only was Martin unlikely to be bought out, there was a sense that he might not even be on the trade market.

Both Martin and the Wolves like the situation together and while Martin might fetch something in trade, there is a growing sense that Wolves president and head coach Flip Saunders wants to keep Martin around as a veteran influence on his young core.

The notion of a strong veteran influence is likely why the Wolves are said to be at the Brooklyn Nets regarding forward Kevin Garnett.

There have been a couple of reports suggesting the Wolves were offering Thaddeus Young to the Nets in exchange for Garnett, in hopes of bringing him back to the team that drafted him and let him finish out his career where it started.

Garnett is one of a handful of players with a defined No-Trade clause in his contract so he would have to agree to the move, but there is a sense that a deal sending Garnett back to the Wolves could drop today, the Wolves seem like it’s something they’d like to do.

Not Happy With Lawson

The Denver Nuggets have been fielding offers on point guard Ty Lawson, the issue there is the Nuggets are asking for a ton in return for Lawson and may not get close enough to trigger a deal.

Lawson has struggled with his situation under the current leadership in Denver, with one league source suggesting that Lawson has asked to be traded on more than one occasion.

Lawson was a no-show at Nuggets practice yesterday after spending the All-Star break in Las Vegas. Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw told Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post, that no one on the team had heard from Lawson and that his absence was unexcused.

Lawson took to social media to explain that his travel plans got “derailed” trying to get back in time for practice. However, two hours later he posted pictures of himself on a private plane.

The Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics are said to be the two teams most actively engaged with the Nuggets about a Lawson deal, with Pacers guard George Hill said to be one of the chips the Nuggets covet as part of a deal.

Lawson isn’t the only Denver player said to be available today; it’s expected that both guards Arron Afflalo and Wilson Chandler will be moved, with Chandler drawing attention from both the Portland Trail Blazers and the LA Clippers. Afflalo is also on the Blazers’ wish list, but is also a candidate for the Chicago Bulls and the Charlotte Hornets.

The Nuggets also have big man JaVale McGee on the market as well as veteran point guard Jameer Nelson.

Today looks to be a busy day for the Nuggets; they seem to have a lot of things in the proverbial fire today.

Lakers and Knicks Dropping Back

There was a sense Monday that both the Lakers and Knicks were going to be aggressive in trying to land a couple of the players they have eyes on in free agency, mainly to obtain their Bird Rights and the possibility of lower cap holds.

As the market has started churning, there is a belief that neither team has the assets to really make a splashy move happen and the idea of leveraging young guys or future draft assets to get a guy they could sign in July is unfavorable.

Both teams are still involved in talks, according to sources close to the process, but neither team seems to be close to a deal. However, that can change quickly at the deadline.

The 2015 NBA Trade Deadline is at 3 p.m. EST. All agreed trades must be submitted to the NBA prior to to the deadline, however final approval of a deal can happen after 3 p.m. assuming the details of a trade are submitted to the league prior.

All trades have to be made official by a “trade call” in which all parties review and finalize the terms of a trade with the league.

For the very latest on the 2015 NBA Trade Deadline, make sure to check out the 2015 NBA Trade Deadline Diary, it will be updated throughout the day with the latest news and notes.

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