NBA Rumors: Bad News for Lakers, Warriors, Others on Top Target

Heading into the trade deadline early this month, one of the key questions on the NBA rumor mill was what, exactly, the Pelicans were planning todo with star wing Trey Murphy and, to a lesser extent, their other wing, Herb Jones. Both were top targets for teams around the league, with the Lakers and Warriors among the pursuants.

The Pelicans told teams in January, though, that they were not dealing either Jones or Murphy (or Zion Williamson, whose market is different altogether because of his injury history). That did not stop teams from continuing to pry the Pelicans’ young veterans off the roster, and there was some glimmer of hope that perhaps Joe Dumars was smoke-screening in NOLA.

But no. He meant it–the Pelicans kept their young players and at least as of now, the plan is to get point guard Dejounte Murray back from an Achilles tendon surgery, let rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen continue to improve and go into next year with a chance to improve.

That means the Pelicans are likely to disappoint the Lakers, Warriors and others again in a few months.

“They could change course but they were pretty clear that they want to build on what they have and not tear it down,” one Eastern Conference exec said. “A lot of teams made good offers for Trey Murphy, and I don’t think the offers are necessarily going to get better in the future. So if they did not trade him in February, I don’t think they will all of a sudden in June.”

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Celtics, Nikola Vucevic Could Have a Future

It is true that the Celtics will be open to re-signing center Nikola Vucevic in the summer, but that is not considered their first choice. Vucevic is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $21 million this year, and obviously, he is not going to get something in that range in Boston. The Celtics ducked under the luxury tax at the trade deadline and intend to stay there, so whatever they offer Vucevic will be modest–in the $10 million AAV range.

But the bigger question is whether the Celtics can simply upgrade the center position in general. Vucevic and Neemias Queta have held down the fort at the spot this season, but there’s a sense that is not a championship-caliber combo when Jayson Tatum is back and healthy.

There are not a ton of names on the block, whether in a trade or in free agency, so the options are limited. But the Celtics would like a much better defensive center in the mix.

 

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Clock Ticking on Warriors’ Draymond Green

An interesting quote cropped up from some NBA rumor reporting on Draymond Green and the Warriors, after Green suggested he might still want to play two-to-four more years in the NBA.

He probably won’t be doing it in Golden State, where the Warriors would like to turn the page on the Green Era.

As one Western Conference executive put it: “He could stay on a small deal, a $6 million deal, something like that. As a player, his game never relied on health or springy steps or all that, so you can live with him not being 100%.  He can still so some things. But you can’t live with him shooting  from the 3-point line, you can’t live with him being less and less useful on defense and you can’t live without his contract getting cut in half, maybe more.”

Green is on the books for $27.5 million in 2026-27.

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NBA Rumors on Walker Kessler and Lakers: Do Not Count Out the Bulls

We also wrote in the past week about Walker Kessler, and among the media, the focus appears to be on whether the Lakers can knock him free from the Jazz, who have his rights as a restricted free agent and can match any contract Kessler gets.

But the focus on the Lakers there ignores the fact that the Bulls, too, will be making a strong push for Kessler, and can start a deal with him at about $30 million. Yes, the Lakers see Kessler as the ideal fit with Luka Doncic. The Bulls, though, have a few guards on their roster that could use a big man.

As one NBA exec said, Kessler’s future is very much undetermined: “You’ve got teams with needs and cap space, ready to give a big offer, you have got the Jazz trying to manage their own situation. So it’s really wide open.”

 

 

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney