NBA Trade Deadline: Latest Rumors Involving Marcus Camby, Antawn Jamison And More

The Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t expected to be very active before this year’s NBA trade deadline, but now that the trade deadline has come and gone and the dust has settled, the Thunder look much bigger, and much better as they get ready for the NBA Playoffs.

In addition to adding Kendrick Perkins, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder also picked up Nazr Mohammed from Charlotte, sending Morris Peterson and DJ White to the Bobcats in exchange. It’s a small move compared to the blockbuster that landed Perkins, but it’s another body for the Thunder, a team that desperately needed size, and it also clears Morris Peterson’s contract off the books.

The latest hot NBA trade rumor involves the Houston Rockets talking to the Portland Trail Blazers about a deal involving center Marcus Camby, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports. The Rockets would likely trade Aaron Brooks to the Blazers as part of the package.

Berger reports that the trade may end up involving three teams, with Jonny Flynn ultimately coming to Houston from the Timberwolves. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Blazers like Brooks, but want more back for Camby. They will have to get something else back to make the salaries match.

Cleveland has reportedly been looking for draft picks from teams looking to trade for their veteran players, but given Jamison’s cap burden, the Warriors may be able to pry the forward without giving up an asset beyond Murphy.

For every dollar over the luxury tax threshold of $70 million the Jazz’s payroll sits at season’s end, the team will have to pay $1 into a fund that is then dispersed to team’s under the threshold. Currently, the Jazz are due to pitch $5 million into the fund. The only option to shed payroll after Thursday’s 3 PM Eastern trade deadline is to reach buyout agreements with players, but that will save only a fraction of what Utah would need to cut.

For Jazz trade rumors and analysis, visit SLC Dunk.

There was some talk that the Phoenix Suns might trade small forward Jared Dudley, because they have a high payroll and may need to trim salary. Many contenders called the Suns to ask about Dudley, according to multiple reports, hoping he could provide them bench depth. However, it looks like the Suns have taken Dudley off the market.

David Aldridge of NBA.com has the story:

The Dallas Mavericks need a small forward, and the latest trade rumor has them chasing Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons. The problem, though, is that the Pistons are unwilling to trade Prince. According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, they continue to reject the Mavericks’ trade offers.

Prince and Butler are both in the final year of their contracts, but Butler is injured and would not return until the postseason at the earliest. Essentially, the Pistons would be acquiring a first-round pick for Prince, and the pick is expected to be at the very end of the first round. I can understand why that trade does not appeal much to them.

The Houston Rockets appear to be getting closer to a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves that would give them former lottery pick Jonny Flynn. The trade, as it stands right now, would send Aaron Brooks or Jared Jeffries to the Timberwolves in exchange for Flynn, with draft picks also possibly involved, according to CBS Sports’ Ken Berger.

Flynn has been a disappointment in his two years in the NBA, and the Timberwolves appear to want to move on and admit they made a mistake picking him so high. Trading him for Brooks would provide an upgrade, though Brooks is an impending free agent. If Jeffries is involved, other players would probably have to be involved as well.

But Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com reports that the Warriors are looking to flip Murphy for another pick. Steinmetz reports that because multiple teams are interested in Murphy, contenders might look to work out a trade before the deadline. The Warriors would be looking for picks in those types of deals.

If Murphy isn’t dealt, the Warriors aren’t expected to save much salary. Typically, players agree to buy-outs which allow the old team to withhold any salary paid by a new team that picks the player up. For instance, if Murphy was bought out and signed a minimum contract worth $400,000 after being pro-rated, the Warriors could lop $400,000 off their payments to Murphy.

The Boston Celtics continue to be involved in recent NBA trade rumors, as they are trying to find a backup swingman behind Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. They tried offering Nate Robinson around the league, but teams weren’t interested in acquiring him. Now, they are offering their first-round pick and the expiring contract of injured Marquis Daniels, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports.

The Celtics have been rumored to be interested in a number of players, including Houston’s Shane Battier, Cleveland’s Anthony Parker, Washington’s Josh Howard and several others. They also may be interested in Phoenix’s Jared Dudley if the Suns choose to move him, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. There was a rumor that the Celtics were talking to the Warriors about a trade involving Robinson, but that got shot down yesterday.

It’s unclear what the Rockets would send to the Wolves for Flynn. Houston is also reported to be in talks for 2009 No. 2 pick Hasheem Thabeet.

Troy Murphy will be traded to the Golden State Warriors for Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright, reports Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The New Jersey Nets will also send the Warriors a 2012 second-round pick. Spears says that the trade will be finalized on Thursday. It has been rumored since the weekend, and will save the Nets a few bucks.

If the Warriors buy out Murphy as expected, they could manage to clear a bit of salary. There’s also a possibility that the Warriors could ask Murphy to suit up as Golden State considers a run at the playoffs now that the Jazz have traded Deron Williams and the Nuggets have lost Carmelo Anthony.

Now that Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams are off the market, the latest NBA trade rumors focus on secondary players. One such player is Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, a one-time all-star that nevertheless could be a huge help to a contending team. However, the two teams that reportedly are most interested in acquiring him are the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers, who already have a good young small forward in Nicolas Batum.

The Cavaliers are reportedly looking to acquire Wallace for a first-round draft pick, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.

One of the more interesting recent NBA trade rumors involves Greg Oden, the former No. 1 overall pick that has seen his career fizzle due to a number of serious injuries. The Portland Trail Blazers may finally be moving on from him, if they can. They have offered him in a number of trades, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, has played in just 82 games in his four-year career due to a number of knee surgeries. The Blazers are likely trying to move him in part because he has an $8.8 million qualifying offer that the Blazers must pick up if they wanted to have a chance to keep him long-term. That’s a hefty price for someone with that kind of injury-history, so they are understandably looking to see if anyone else wants him. Given his injury history, it’s not surprising that teams are wary.

Nate Robinson could be headed to the Golden State Warriors in a trade with the Boston Celtics, reports Sam Amick. NBA trade rumors continued to fly after the New Jersey Nets traded for Deron Williams early Wednesday, with teams alternately looking to clear cap space and shore up problem areas in advance of the stretch run and playoffs. It’s unclear what exactly the Celtics are aiming at here, as the Warriors headed to Boston in the proposed deal haven’t been named.

Robinson signed a two-year deal worth $8.7 million before this season. The reserve guard is a prolific per-minute scorer and shooter, and is very intense on defense (fitting the Boston mold). But his size -- he’s the shortest player in the league other than Earl Boykins -- makes his defense hard to tolerate in most match-ups, especially given his lack of playmaking ability, which requires that he either play shooting guard or the point with other ballhandlers on the court with him.

The New Orleans Hornets were very active leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline, and they appear to have made a move to provide more frontcourt depth. They have acquired forward Carl Landry in a trade with the Sacramento Kings for guard Marcus Thornton and forward David Anderson, according to a report by ESPN’s Marc Stein.

The move will provide New Orleans with the interior scoring they seek on the bench while also providing an insurance policy in case David West decides to leave as a free agent over the summer. Landry was an up-and-coming player for the Rockets, but has faltered badly in Sacramento this season, shooting under 50 percent for the first time in his career. Even though he is known as a tough inside player, his rebounding has been mediocre, and has been particularly bad this season.

Marcus Camby joined his Portland Trail Blazers teammates in the NBA trade rumor circuit ahead of Thursday’s deadline. Yahoo!‘s Marc Spears reports that the Blazers are looking to move the ageless center before the NBA trade deadline, along with ageless point guard Andre Miller. Miller has been wed to rumors involving Devin Harris of the New Jersey Nets. Joel Przybilla has also been mentioned in those rumors.

Camby didn’t respond particularly kindly to news that he’s on the block. Via Blazersedge, Camby told reports that had he known he’d be in trade rumors, he wouldn’t have signed an extension with Portland last year. Yikes. (That said, Camby was also reportedly mad when the Los Angeles Clippers traded him to Portland last year. He quickly assimilated and signed that extension.)

Now that the Carmelo Anthony trade to the New York Knicks is finally completed, we can finally focus on what the rest of the teams will do at the NBA Trade Deadline. The Anthony saga was very clearly holding up any potential movement that would occur. Now that it’s over, we can start to consider which teams may be active this week.

Here is Part 5 of a team-by-team breakdown of what we should expect as the NBA Trade Deadline draws near. We already discussed the Atlantic, Central, Southeast and Southwest Divisions. Now, let’s move on to the Northwest, featuring a young team that’s being way too conservative, an older team being too aggressive, a desperate team trying to keep its superstar and, oh yeah, the Nuggets.

Now that the Carmelo Anthony trade to the New York Knicks is finally completed, we can finally focus on what the rest of the teams will do at the NBA Trade Deadline. The Anthony saga was very clearly holding up any potential movement that would occur. Now that it’s over, we can start to consider which teams may be active this week.

Here is Part 4 of a team-by-team breakdown of what we should expect as the NBA Trade Deadline draws near. We already discussed the Atlantic, Central and Southeast divisions, so now let’s move on to the Southwest Division, where four potentially active teams chase the San Antonio Spurs.

Now that the Carmelo Anthony trade to the New York Knicks is finally completed, we can finally focus on what the rest of the teams will do at the NBA Trade Deadline. The Anthony saga was very clearly holding up any potential movement that would occur. Now that it’s over, we can start to consider which teams may be active this week.

Here is Part 2 of a team-by-team breakdown of what we should expect as the NBA Trade Deadline draws near. We already discussed the Atlantic Division, so we now move to the Central Division.

As trade rumors attempt to engulf the New Jersey Nets in fiery brimstone -- ever after the Carmelo Anthony saga has ended -- the team has canceled its Tuesday practice, reports SB Nation New York’s Ryan Jones. The Net don’t play again until Friday, but players had been due back from All-Star Weekend on Tuesday for a practice. Jones reports that the Nets don’t want to put their players back on the court until the front office led by general manager Billy King can work out the details of a potential trade involving Devin Harris.

Other Nets will assuredly pop up in rumors between now and the Thursday NBA trade deadline, but Harris is the big cheese. The veteran point guard has been a disappointment this season under Avery Johnson, who coached Harris when both were with the Dallas Mavericks. Harris made the All-Star Game in his first season as a Net, but the two years since have been dreadful for the point guard and his team.

Here is Part 1 of a team-by-team breakdown of what we should expect as the NBA Trade Deadline draws near. We will start with the Atlantic Division.

Record: 40-14, first in the East.

The Carmelo Anthony trade to the New York Knicks is finally completed, which means that we may finally start to see some action at the NBA Trade Deadline. Many teams were waiting to see what would happen with Anthony before deciding to make some moves of their own. Now that Anthony is finally elsewhere, expect that action to pick up.

There are many more names floating around the rumor mill, and chief among them is New Jersey Nets point guard Devin Harris. Harris was a part of the Nets’ offer for Anthony, but now that’s not a possibility. Instead, the Nets appear focused to move Harris to whoever is interested in his services.