Celtics Acquire Guard Jordan Crawford From Wizards
The Celtics added some much needed depth to their depleted backcourt prior to Thursday’s trade deadline when they acquired guard Jordan Crawford from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Leandro Barbosa.
Barbosa, who signed a one-year deal with the Celts before the season, has an expiring contract and will not play for the remainder of this season due to a torn ACL he suffered earlier this month…meaning the Celts basically picked up Crawford for nothing. Not a bad deal.
The 24-year old Crawford is averaging just over 13 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds per game off the bench this season. Crawford is signed through the 2014 season and is due to make $2.1 million this season and $3.2 million next year.
View full post on Yardbarker: NBA
NBA Trade Rumors: Teams That Should Try to Acquire Anderson Varejao
Few NBA players have performed as well as Anderson Varejao in the first part of the season. This could make him an interesting trade target in the next few months.
The center currently leads the NBA with an average of 15.1 rebounds per game. This is more than two more per game than the next highest on the list.
In the last seven games, he has totaled at least 15 boards in each.
Unfortunately, the Cleveland Cavaliers have started the year by winning only four of their first 16 games and are unlikely to be in contention this season.
As a result, teams have been interested in acquiring the veteran player, according to Marc Stein of ESPN:
The latest word on the personnel grapevine is that the Cavs won’t discourage offers for the Brazilian, knowing it probably wouldn’t matter anyway after receiving a steady stream of calls from interested teams for the past few years.
Stein also quotes another team’s executive that calls this his “‘get me out of Cleveland’ tour.”
If he wants to leave, these teams should do what it takes to get this talented player for the rest of the season.
Through the first month of the season, the Celtics have the fewest rebounds per game in the NBA.
Brandon Bass has not been as productive as a starting forward as the team could have hoped coming into the year, and rookie Jared Sullinger has not done much better.
General Manager Danny Ainge believes that his team can still improve internally. He told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, ”It’s been shown that it can come from within…It’s focus. It’s effort. It’s five guys doing it. All it takes is one guy to not be doing his job. That’s sort of where we are.”
Of course, adding Varejao would make one less person that you have to worry about doing his job. He would instantly improve the defense and help the team get into the postseason once again.
There are not many teams to which the 30-year-old Varejao would bring an influx of youth, but that would be the case with the Dallas Mavericks.
The current frontcourt for the team consists of Elton Brand, Chris Kaman and Shawn Marion, all of which are older than the Cavs center.
This team also has the lowest rebound differential of any team in the NBA at minus-5.3.
Dallas is off to a poor start at 7-9, but the addition of Varejao could help out a defense that is allowing over 100 points per game.
While Varejao is still young compared to the Mavericks, he would provide some veteran experience for the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets are off to a surprisingly good start after completing rebuilding after last season, but the team might be too young to compete this year with all starters being 26 or younger.
In addition to youth, few players on the roster have any experience as a full-time starter.
Varejao could join the club and help bring the young players along faster than usual. He also could team with Omer Asik to be one of the top frontcourt tandems in the league.
With the Brazilian center on the roster, this would definitely be a playoff team, and it could potentially go deep into the postseason.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
Washington Wizards Acquire A.J. Price, Stash Satoransky in Europe
With Shelvin Mack’s inconsistent play at the point guard position during last season and the NBA Summer League, the Wizards were looking for a backup point guard. A.J. Price played for the Indiana Pacers for the past three years and will be competing with Mack for playing time at point guard.
On the offensive end, Price brings an experienced backup touch that will help run the team effectively. He wont light up the opposition by scoring, but he is enough of a threat from three-point territory that he can keep the defense honest while running the offense.
Mack has done enough in shooting opportunities but has had trouble being the pure point guard that the Wizards need for their reserve unit. He struggled mightily in the Summer League to keep the Wizards offense in check and get them into their sets.
Price will help the Wizards out on offense, but Mack is arguably better defensively. There should be a battle in training camp for the starting job, but at this point it looks like it could be Price. Even though Mack brings consistency on defense, Price’s ability to both score and run the offense should put him over the top.
The other point guard the Wizards had on the roster for Summer League was Tomas Satoransky. Satoransky was taken at pick 32 in the 2012 NBA Draft and was presumed to stay in Europe for at least a year. After coming over to play in the Summer League, Michael Lee of The Washington Post reports that the Wizards will keep him in Spain.
Satoransky has some talent and considerable athleticism, but the Wizards still intend to stick to their plan of stashing the second-round pick in Europe next season, according to a league source with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
The 6’7″ point guard has both great size and athleticism but is too inconsistent as a point guard at this point. In the same piece by Lee, Satoransky expressed his excitement to play for the Wizards. This is a great sign from a foreign player but another year of development in Europe should only make him a more valuable asset.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
Clippers acquire G Willie Green from Atlanta
The Los Angeles Clippers Monday acquired guard Willie Green from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.
A nine-year NBA veteran, Green has averaged 9.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists over his career. In 53 games played for the Atlanta Hawks last season, Green tallied 7.6 points in 17.4 minutes per game.
Green was originally drafted by the Seattle Super Sonics with the 41st overall selection in the 2003 NBA Draft out of the University of Detroit Mercy. He was traded on draft night to the Philadelphia 76ers where he would play for seven seasons before being traded to the New Orleans Hornets prior to the start of the 2010 season. Green spent one season in New Orleans teaming up with Clippers point guard Chris Paul before signing with Atlanta as a free agent prior to the start of the 2011-12 NBA season.
Schortsanitis was drafted by the Clippers with the 34th pick of the 2003 NBA Draft but never played for the team. Schortsanitis most recently played for Panathinaikos Athens in Greece and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
View full post on Yardbarker: NBA
Cavaliers acquire PG Pargo from Grizzlies (Yahoo! Sports)
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cavaliers acquired point guard Jeremy Pargo, a second-round draft pick in 2014, and cash considerations from the Grizzlies in exchange for guard-forward D.J. Kennedy on Wednesday.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NBA News
Timberwolves acquire F Cunningham from Memphis (Yahoo! Sports)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have acquired forward Dante Cunningham from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for guard Wayne Ellington.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NBA News
Wolves acquire forward Cunningham in trade
MINNEAPOLIS In their second roster move in four days, the Timberwolves traded Wayne Ellington to the Memphis Grizzlies for forward Dante Cunningham on Tuesday.Ellington was the 28th pick in the 2009 draft, and he played the first three seasons of his career with the Timberwolves. His numbers were constant throughout he averaged 6.6 points per game in his first two seasons and 6.1 in his third but his playing time fell off in 2011-12.Cunningham, a power forward, was picked five picks after Ellington in 2009 by the Portland Trail Blazers. Since then, he’s played for three teams: Portland, Charlotte and Memphis. He spent the entire 2011-12 season in Memphis, where he averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game. Cunningham came off the bench in all but five of the 64 games in which he played last season, and he’ll likely be used in a similar role in Minnesota.”In Dante Cunningham we are getting a versatile forward who brings a defensive presence and an efficient offensive game to our team,” Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations David Kahn said in a statement. “Also, the addition of Dante helps balance our roster.”That balance is the key to the Cunningham acquisition. This offseason, the Timberwolves lost forwards Anthony Randolph, Michael Beasley and likely Anthony Tolliver. In turn, the already guard-heavy team has signed Brandon Roy and Alexey Shved, so trading Ellington for a forward like Cunningham does make sense.The two players are set to make almost equal salaries next season: Ellington is owed 2.1 million, Cunningham 2.2. Cunningham is the sixth player the Timberwolves have added to their roster this offseason, after Chase Budinger, Robbie Hummel (the second-round draft pick), Brandon Roy, Alexey Shved and Greg Stiemsma. Only Budinger and Hummel have been officially introduced.Follow Joan Niesen on Twitter.
View full post on Yardbarker: NBA
Report: Lakers Still Pushing to Acquire Dwight Howard
The Lakers’ pursuit of Dwight Howard isn’t an entirely new concept, but Los Angeles is making a renewed push to acquire the six-time All-Star, according to ESPN.com. There was reportedly no face-to-face meeting between Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and Magic general manager Rob Hennigan on Tuesday, but L.A. remains committed to pursuing Howard even without assurances he’d sign a long-term extension. ESPN’s Chris Broussard has reported that nothing is imminent between the two teams, but a source familiar with the Lakers’ interest in Howard reportedly told ESPN.com that there is an “ongoing” dialogue between the two teams, even though…
View full post on Yardbarker: NBA
Hawks acquire 3-point shooter Korver from Bulls (Yahoo! Sports)
ATLANTA (AP) — The active Atlanta Hawks improved their long-distance shooting Monday, acquiring small forward Kyle Korver from the Chicago Bulls for a trade exception and cash.
View full post on Yahoo! Sports – NBA News
Report: Sixers Acquire Dorell Wright for Draft Pick
It was just reported from csnphilly.com that the Philadelphia 76ers traded a future draft pick for 6′ 9″ swing-man from the Golden State Warriors, Dorell Wright.
Wright, who is just 26 years old, has been in the league for eight years after being drafted out of high school.
Last season he averaged 10.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. However, he posted career bests in the 2010-2011 season averaging 16.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and three assists per game.
Wright is also a well-regarded shooter averaging 36.5 percent from three point range over his career. He is clearly capable of production. Philadelphia has added yet another true scorer that they did not have prior to this offseason.
Similar to their Nick Young signing, Wright has just one year left on his contract, so this is a nice move for Philadelphia considering it is at low risk and not a lot of commitment.
The Sixers’ front office seems to be trying hard to fill in the absence of recent departures Lou Williams and Jodie Meeks, who each served primarily as shooters.
With the addition of a swing-man, the question of whether or not this hints a future Andre Iguodala deal will continue to be explored.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
