NBA Rewind Trade Edition: Breaking down deadline week

Key Players Cooling Down

Even though some names have been seen as sure-fire components of possible trades, these players may not be on the move after all. In particular, the stars who everyone enjoyed speculating would be on the move.

Rudy Gay is still a highly productive, athletic and talented small forward. He has his flaws due to the tendency of taking too many long twos and he’s never lived up to his defensive potential, but that doesn’t take away from the rate at which he can rebound and create his own shot.

James Ham of CSN Bay Area has reported that Gay isn’t on the trade block, but that won’t necessarily stop them from moving him if (as aways) they receive a good enough offer:

"Sources have confirmed to CSN California there is plenty of interest around the league for multiple players on the Kings roster, but the Kings have yet to set up shop as sellers. In fact, they would love to be buyers if the right deal walked in the door. Gay’s name has been mentioned most often as a potential target, but the current rumors are no different than the ones that surfaced two weeks ago. We continue to hear Gay is not on the block. That does of course come with a caveat. If Vlade Divac and the Kings brass believe they can make the team marketably better through trade, be it Gay or anyone else, they will listen."

There are multiple teams that would like to acquire Gay to resolve their small forwards problems, with notable teams like the Heat and Clippers coming to mind. Whether or not they have the assets to offer the Kings in return is another matter. If Sacramento aren’t actively shopping him, he could stay put.

Brook Lopez, theoretically, could be a major piece in the Nets executing a trade to start blowing up their roster and improve their 14-40 record. This season is even more disheartening for them as despite all their loss and struggle, they don’t even get to reap the rewards of a high draft pick. The Celtics have the rights to that, which means the Nets are far from making anything happen either in the draft or through trades. They simply lack assets and Lopez is one of the premier low-post centers in the NBA, making him a potential candidate to bring in a couple of talented players in return.

It looked as though the Nets would consider trading him as various rumors emerged, but Howard Beck of Bleacher Report has relayed that owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to keep Lopez.

Recently, Beck reported again that Prokhorov isn’t completely against dealing Lopez, although he’s reluctant to do so.

When considering the top players who could be on the move, Lopez looks like one of the least likely, given this continued uncertainty.

Hassan Whiteside has remained almost unheard of in NBA trade rumors recently, despite being viewed as a player who could well be on the move by February 18. He has his flaws of consistent effort, limited offensive ability and the trait of getting block-happy by leaving his man to bait players into driving, but he’s still going to pick up a huge contract this summer. Ultimately, he has immense potential and he’s still leading the league by a large margin with 3.9 blocks per game.

However, despite hardly seeing his name appear in trade talks, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has now reported that there’s a sense in the Heat organization that a trade may be their best option after all:

"There is plenty of conjecture about Hassan Whiteside as Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trading deadline approaches, and plenty of truths. There is a sense inside the organization that a parting might be best, while Whiteside’s circle is not expecting a deal."

Bobby Marks of Yahoo! Sports has also made an interesting comment, that teams around the league are supposedly cautious of taking on Whiteside, given his impending free agent status:

"Teams are also leery to take on Whiteside, knowing they will inherit the same contract issues Miami could face this summer."

There’s no way we can know how strong this “sense” in the organization is, and Marks makes a key point that other teams will be concerned about his impending free agent status. There are pros and cons to the Heat’s dilemma of either trying to re-sign Whiteside or dealing him away, although until we hear any more this week, he isn’t one of the players with the highest chance of being dealt.

Blake Griffin was never going to be traded by the Clippers. Yet, thanks to overreactions to the team’s hot play without him and his altercation with a staff member, he’s gone from superstar to trade asset almost over night. It seems near impossible that the Clippers would actually trade Griffin, and after Doc Rivers adamantly saying “he’s going to stay ours”, he addressed what could have been a concern for many fans.

Could there be any chance this changes by the deadline, though? According to Stephen A. Smith, L.A. are trying to get rid of Griffin, but that certainly sounds a little dramatic.

However, he isn’t alone. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News has also reported that Griffin is available:

"The Clippers are making Blake Griffin available even though the injured forward is recovering from a second surgical procedure to his right (punching) hand and may not play again this season, especially if he’s traded to a team out of the playoff race."

Despite what these reports say, it’s hard to think the Clippers are really this keen to trade Griffin. Perhaps they’re listening to offers, and that in itself says a lot about how they might not see him as completely off the table. That being said, when considering the obvious fact that they are not better off without him, it doesn’t look like Doc will be foolish enough to join the bandwagon saying he needs to be traded.

Next: Under-the-radar Players To Watch At The Deadline