NBA Rumors: Cavs interested in P.J. Washington sign-and-trade
P.J. Washington is the biggest name left unsigned as the NBA free agency period stagnates. Washington desires a long-term deal worth $20 million annually, a request the Charlotte Hornets are unwilling to oblige. His options are running thin, but one contender is reportedly in the mix.
According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Cavaliers are interested in a potential sign-and-trade for Washington. The Cavs don't have the cap space to sign Washington outright. Meanwhile, the Hornets risk losing Washington for nothing in 2024 if he accepts his qualifying offer, a la Miles Bridges. If his exit is inevitable, might as well squeeze assets out of it.
The best-case scenario for Charlotte is probably a package built around Isaac Okoro ($8.9 million) and salary filler. The Hornets would then have Okoro's looming extension to deal with, but he won't demand as much as Washington. Okoro is a hard-nosed defender who could benefit from Charlotte's up-tempo offense and the playmaking acumen of LaMelo Ball.
The Cavs' interest in Washington makes complete sense. A lack of playable wing depth sunk Cleveland in the playoffs. Washington, at 6-foot-8, is a genuine four to five-position defender who can handle physical matchups on the wing and provide complementary scoring on offense. He averaged 15.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 32.6 minutes on .444/.348/.730 splits with Charlotte last season.
The Hornets would be loath to give up a full-time starter for pennies on the dollar, but the arrival of Brandon Miller and the return of Miles Bridges does cut into available playing time on the wing. Plus, any contract approaching Washington's desired annual value of $20 million is steep. He could easily play up to such a contract, but the Hornets are a fickle small market team with no clear direction. Washington risks falling through the cracks.
NBA Rumors: Blazers not talking to Heat about Damian Lillard trade
ESPN insider Brian Windhorst went on the 'Hoop Collective Podcast' to drop the anti-bombshell report of the NBA summer: "I don't think there's any active trade talks in the NBA right now. Not active for Dame Lillard. And I don't think there's anything active for James Harden" (h/t BlazersEdge).
This is bad news for the Miami Heat, Lillard's preferred destination. The All-Star has made his desire to play for Miami abundantly clear, but a recent crackdown from Adam Silver and the league office stymied any momentum toward a Lillard trade to Miami.
It's clear the Blazers don't value what the Heat have to offer in a potential Lillard trade. Tyler Herro and draft capital would be the foundation of any competitive offer. Herro doesn't have a place in Portland's depth chart with Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe already on the roster. Meanwhile, the Blazers have struggled to field competitive offers elsewhere due to Lillard's strong Miami-only messaging and his sizable contract (four years, over $200 million left on the docket).
The 33-year-old Lillard runs the risk of starting the 2023-24 season where he finished last season: in a Blazers uniform. That would certainly make for an awkward reunion. Lillard has been remarkably dedicated to the Blazers organization since he was drafted in 2012, but a summer defined by its youth movement broke Lillard's resolve. One has to imagine Portland doesn't want an unhappy Lillard sulking around the locker room and spoiling a historic relationship between player and franchise, but GM Joe Cronin is running out of time to make a deal happen.
NBA Rumors: Regrading 76ers-Nets James Harden trade
James Harden has requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers and made his displeasure with team president Daryl Morey public. The Sixers are determined to bring Harden into training camp after shutting down trade talks, but it's hard to imagine that going well. Harden can't hold out for more then 30 days without severe consequences, but he's allowed to make life hell on earth for the Sixers as long as he wants.
Joel Embiid has stirred up concern with recent alterations to his Twitter bio and P.J. Tucker is posting public support of Harden to his Instagram, so it's safe to say the Sixers are sprinting headlong toward a deeply uncomfortable training camp. It's not the ideal start to Nick Nurse's tenure, that's for sure.
There's no reason to believe a Harden trade gets done in the immediate future given Daryl Morey's track record. He let Ben Simmons hold out for months so he could make the right trade at the right time. That 'right trade' was the James Harden trade. Philadelphia sent Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and draft picks to Brooklyn in exchange for Harden and Paul Millsap in February of 2022.
At the time, our Ian Levy handed the Nets a 'B+' and the Sixers an 'A-' in the trade grade book. With the benefit of hindsight, let's engage in a brief regrade.
Both teams have probably received less than expected from this trade. The Sixers wanted to break past the second round with Harden and Embiid. No dice. The Nets envisioned Simmons as a the connective tissue that would bind the Durant and Irving-era Nets together. Uh, no dice. Durant and Irving both requested trades and the Nets are now left on the outskirts of NBA contention with Simmons coming off the worst season of his career.
Simmons was plainly terrible for the Nets in his return season: 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists on 55.9 TS% in 26.3 minutes. He appeared in 42 games (33 starts) and missed most of the Nets' stretch run with a lingering back injury. Drummond left after his first half-season with Brooklyn. Curry was largely ineffective in 2022-23 and bolted to join Kyrie Irving in Dallas over the summer.
Harden has been much better for the Sixers. He was one of the best guards in the NBA last season, averaging 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and a league-leading 10.7 assists per game on 60.7 TS%. And yet, the Sixers made two postseason runs with Harden. Both ended with the Sixers' customary second-round exit. Now he's in the final year of his deal asking for a trade, never to return. That's certainly not what Morey hoped for when he passed up Tyrese Haliburton or De'Aaron Fox from Sacramento to reunite with his dear friend from Houston.
With the Harden-Morey bromance dead in the water and the Sixers facing another offseason of controversy and discomfort, it's getting to the point where Embiid's future with the team is genuinely in doubt. The Sixers run the risk of wasting the rest of Embiid's prime if he does stick around, because there's no way Morey lands a star of Harden's caliber via trade.
Philadelphia had to make this trade. It was the 'right' move. No risk, no reward. But it certainly hasn't aged well and Morey probably had better offers on the table in hindsight. Meanwhile, the Nets will hope Simmons can salvage some of his past stardom to make this trade a little more palatable.
It feels like a lose-lose at the moment.
Sixers regrade: C-
Nets regrade: D