This morning’s headlines:
- Report: Cavs want Anthony-type package for Irving
- Reports: Rose, James working out in Vegas
- Winslow would welcome Irving on Heat
- Report: Pistons move to new arena could be approved soon
- Bucks’ Parker continues to mend from ACL injury
Report: Cavs want Anthony-type package for Irving — When the Denver Nuggets dealt Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks in 2011, New York gave up plenty in a multi-team deal. For the Cavs to part with superstar guard Kyrie Irving, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports that Cleveland is looking for an Anthony-type haul to get him:
So far, these are among the teams who’ve made offers to the Cavaliers for Irving, league sources tell ESPN: The San Antonio Spurs, LA Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. There were approximately 20 teams that inquired with Cleveland upon the news of Irving’s trade request, league sources said, but far fewer have registered legitimate proposals. More loom in the shadows, and many interested simply don’t have the assets to make a deal happen.
The Cavaliers want a package that resembles the 2011 Denver Nuggets-New York Knicks deal for Carmelo Anthony — young players, win-now veterans and draft picks, league sources said. For new general manager Koby Altman, this is a textbook way to open trade discussions. But for now, most Irving suitors are using the Minnesota Timberwolves-Chicago Bulls trade model for Jimmy Butler, a scaled-down model of Melo’s rich return of assets.
Altman has shown himself to be savvy and deft, and his public and private posture has been to inspire belief that the Cavaliers feel no obligation to cave to Irving’s trade request. The Cavaliers haven’t ruled out bringing Irving to training camp. Nor have they ruled out starting the season and reaching the Dec. 15 date when free agents signed in the summer are eligible to be included in trades, league sources said. But most teams are dubious the Cavaliers will let themselves enter the chaotic circus atmosphere of Irving and James reporting to training camp together.
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Truth be told, the Cavaliers trade talks have been buoyed with teams getting back better, if not perfect, reports on Irving’s growth, league sources said. Among the consensus: Irving has a history of late nights and partying, but there’s no trail of missed practices, bloodshot eyes or hungover shootarounds. Most intel has come back that he has curbed those tendencies into his mid-20s, picking his spots more wisely. As a teammate, Irving can be moody, but most agree he’s ultimately invested. He hasn’t always loved deferring to James on the Cavaliers, or Kevin Durant in USA Basketball. This is the Kobe Bryant inside of him, and that’s part of the DNA that can be a blessing and a curse. Teams believe he’s smart, savvy and, above all, they believe he’s a winner.
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Several suitors contend there are two teams with the best ability to make deals for Irving: the Suns and Boston Celtics. So far, the Suns are unwilling to include No. 4 overall pick Josh Jackson in a trade, league sources said. The Celtics are monitoring, but it’s unclear how aggressive they’ll get — and how motivated the Cavaliers would be to make a deal with their fiercest conference rival.
The Miami Heat are willing to part with Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow as centerpieces for an Irving trade, league sources said. With the Cleveland-Miami history, there’s little chance for a deal unless the Heat offered an overwhelming package.
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Indiana had Irving on its board as the No. 1 target for George, league sources said. The Pacers had a willingness to do a deal straight-up, but Cleveland declined several times, league sources said. What did nearly come together was a three-way trade that would’ve sent Kevin Love to the Denver Nuggets, Gary Harris to Indiana and George to the Cavaliers.
Here’s where the deal fell apart, league sources said: Indiana wanted no protections on a future Cavaliers first-round pick. Cleveland balked, insisting the pick have lottery protection — and Indiana moved onto the Oklahoma City package of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
Reports: Rose, James working out in Vegas — It’s not unheard of for teammates (and other players) to workout together in the offseason. According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, LeBron James and new Cavs teammate Derrick Rose are working out in Las Vegas — at a place where other stars are working out, too:
LeBron James and his newest former MVP teammate Derrick Rose are working out together in Las Vegas, sources told cleveland.com
The workouts are actually being run by Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones and two player development staffers. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue attended Thursday’s session at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
But these aren’t Cavalier-centric workouts. Also present are current MVP Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City), Chris Paul (Houston), and Eric Bledsoe (Phoenix).
The workouts, first reported by ESPN, created a buzz because Bledsoe is a rumored trade target of the Cavs, who are looking to trade Kyrie Irving (whom James has said could be an MVP one day). Bledsoe and James are both represented by agent Rich Paul.
Winslow would welcome Irving on Heat — If or when Kyrie Irving gets traded by the Cavs is anyone’s guess. For now, speculation and chatter are running rampant on the topic and NBA players are keeping up with the latest news like everyone else. The Heat have been mentioned as a possible Irving destination and Miami’s Justise Winslow shared his thoughts on the trade talk yesterday, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
Justise Winslow not only said Thursday that he appreciates fellow Duke product Kyrie Irving seeking to broaden his NBA possibilities, but that he would embrace the opportunity to call Irving a Miami Heat teammate.
Appearing at the Heat’s summer camp at Miami-Dade College, Winslow was asked by one of the youths during a question-and-answer session about Irving being linked to the Heat in trade rumors, with the guard apparently intent on moving on from his Cleveland Cavaliers partnership with LeBron James.
“I’m good friends with Kyrie, but it’s not really like free agency. Kyrie doesn’t really have a huge say-so in where he goes,” Winslow said, with Irving under contract for at least two more seasons. “He’s going to get traded. So a lot of it is not in his hands, but I would love to play with Kyrie.”
Winslow made it clear his response merely was an honest attempt to address the youngster’s question.
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Asked later if he “felt” for Irving, who has spent recent seasons in James’ shadow, Winslow said he could appreciate a fellow former Blue Devil seeking to spread his wings.
“I’m not sure if I ‘feel’ for him, but I don’t agree with some of the hate and some of the things that have been thrown his way,” Winslow said of the swirl since last Friday’s revelation that Irving is seeking to move on from the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. “For Kyrie, I know he’s a talented player and he’s done a lot for that team in that role, and I think he’s almost kind of maximized that role. And I think that’s kind of the point that he got to, is that he’s ready to take that next step.
“Some people don’t agree; some people do agree. But for him, I know that he’s been waiting for this moment to have his own team. I’m happy for him.”
Winslow said, like most others, he does not know the full story of the situation in Cleveland, but said Irving deserves the right to attempt to chart the course of his career.
“It’s not the perfect way it’s going down, with all the behind-the-scenes stuff that I don’t even know about,” he said. “But just for him, just knowing him, he’s hit the big shot in the Finals. He’s won a [Olympic] gold medal. He’s won a world championship. He’s been an All-Star. He’s been All-Star MVP. So I think when you go down the list, there’s not much more he can accomplish.
“But I think the thing he’s trying to accomplish is leading his own team, in his own way.”
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Irving has been linked to interest in the Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks, although Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said Wednesday that his expectation is that Irving will be in Cleveland’s training camp.
“He’s going to get the chance, hopefully, we’ll see,” Winslow said of Irving moving on to a team he can lead. “Because I know it’s something that he really wants.”
Report: Pistons’ move to new arena could be approved soon — Next season, the Pistons will play their first season in downtown Detroit since moving to the Palace at Auburn Hills before the 1988-89 season. They’ll take up residency at the new Little Caesars Arena — which they’ll share with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings — but that move must first be approved by NBA owners. According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, that vote could come next week:
The NBA could approve the Detroit Pistons’ move downtown as early as next week.
The NBA’s advisory and finance committee sent a memo to the league’s Board of Governors on Thursday recommending a ‘yes’ vote from the league’s other 29 teams.
Votes are due by Wednesday and approval is expected, a person with firsthand knowledge of the process told the Free Press. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until the vote is official.
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A simple majority of the 30 owners who make up the board is required. Assuming approval by the Board of Governors, the team will continue its preparations to move into the new arena in time for its Oct. 4 home exhibition opener.
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The move is a result of more than a year of negotiations between owner Tom Gores’ Palace Sports & Entertainment and the Ilitch family’s Olympia Entertainment.
The two sides announced in November they had reached agreement to bring the Pistons to the new Little Caesars Arena, which is in the final stages of construction. But it took extensive follow-up work to fully document terms of the agreement in advance of signing.
The lease agreement includes NBA-mandated modifications to the arena necessary for league approval.
Bucks’ Parker says he feels ‘great’ — A banner season stat-wise was halted for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Jabari Parker when he suffered a torn ACL in a February 8 home game against the Heat. Milwaukee went 20-11 without Parker and made the playoffs, but his absence was clearly felt as the postseason wore on. In an interview with ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell, Parker says he’s on the mend and readying for 2017-18:
“I feel great,” Parker told ESPN.com during a promotional appearance in Chicago on Thursday. “I tell myself every day I couldn’t be in a better situation because it’s going to make me a great man at the end of the day. It’s going to make me mentally tough and it’s going to help me for the future.”
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“As of right now, the way I treat my body, it doesn’t have a date,” he said. “I can give you a little piece of information: I’m not the average person with this injury. Obviously I had it once, but I’ve done stuff so far that’s exciting. But most importantly, I want to be able to jump as high, jump higher than I was, be faster than I was. That’s the only way I’ll play again.”
Parker says the mental part of the rehabilitation is more difficult than the physical part.
“It’s definitely mental,” he said. “Especially if it happens to you more than once.
“But actually, me getting hurt the second time has helped me embrace [rehab and recovery] stronger than I did the first one. It gave me that mentality [of] I don’t give a f— no more. Excuse my language, but I just don’t. If it happens [again], it happens. But I’m not going to let that hold me back. And if it happens again, I’m just going to do the same stuff I was before.”
Parker, the second overall pick in the 2014 draft, acknowledged that there was a brief moment when he couldn’t believe the injury occurred again.
“For two seconds,” he said. “When I heard the news. When I read over my MRI with the doctor. Two seconds. After that, I was just like, get back to work.”
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