HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

One prominent rumor has the Mavericks taking part in a three-team trade that would land Harris back in Dallas, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov in New Jersey and presumably land at least Troy Murphy in Denver. The Nets, though, are in talks with several other teams about Harris, including the Portland Trail Blazers, who are eager to move Andre Miller. In that deal, Murphy goes to Portland along with Harris, while Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla land in New Jersey. That’s just one of many scenarios that would possibly head off the proposed three-team deal involving Dallas.

Of course, this all comes in the wake of the news that Caron Butler is hoping to be back before the end of the regular season, a scenario that seemed extremely unlikely when it was first announced that he was out for the season. This is a contract year for Butler, who was having one of his best pro seasons when he went down, and it would be beneficial for him to return and have an active role in a deep playoff run. Whether he can return or not, Butler’s ending deal is the Mavericks’ most attractive trade piece, and is likely to be included in any moves the Mavs decide to make.

As for Harris, as great as it would be to see him back with the team he helped lead to the 2006 NBA Finals, he doesn’t make a great deal of sense for the team as it’s currently constructed. Roddy Beaubois returned before the All-Star break and looked good considering the amount of time he missed. He’s expected to spend a lot of time at point guard over the last third of the season. Jason Kidd starts, of course, and JJ Barea has been a huge impact player for Dallas, getting plenty of minutes, as well. Harris would likely be ahead of Barea in the pecking order (though you never know with Rick Carlisle), but that still leaves him as the second or third option at the point. Harris would receive a hero’s welcome from the fan base in Dallas, but he doesn’t really seem to fill a need for the Mavs at this point.

Frankly, while the Mavericks still lack a legitimate second All-Star scoring option to compete with the San Antonio Spurs or the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game series, they did enter the break as one of the hottest teams in the league. As no All-Star options appear available at the moment, the best bet in Dallas is likely to stand pat and see how far this team can go.

For more on the wide array of teams looking to make some moves between now and Thursday’s trade deadline, be sure and check the rundown by HOOPSWORLD’s Lang Greene, which can be found here!

Conflicting Reports on Gallinari

As HOOPSWORLD’s Eric Pincus reported this morning, the Denver Nuggets have had some level of discussion with a number of teams regarding a possible trade of the newly-acquired Danilo Gallinari. The Los Angeles Clippers and New Jersey Nets, in particular, would love to land his services should the Nuggets make him available. The problem is, there are conflicting reports coming out of Denver as to whether or not the Nuggets will keep Gallinari to fill the roster spot vacated by Carmelo Anthony, or deal him in a subsequent trade.

Either way, the Clippers’ offer seems highly unlikely to interest Denver, as they’re hoping to land Gallo in what amounts to a salary dump involving draft picks. Meanwhile, the Nets recognize they’re a long, long way from getting back to the playoffs and see Gallo as a possible consolation prize after they missed out on Carmelo. The Nets, though, appear to be flailing at the moment, making offers for just about anything that isn’t nailed down. They’ve also expressed interest in Andre Miller, Raymond Felton, Caron Butler’s expiring contract, and a half dozen or so other players. 

One of the concerns about Gallo is the fact that his numbers may be a bit inflated because of the system he was a part of under Mike D’Antoni. It remains to be seen whether or not he can be a 16-18 points-per-game player in another system. That’s likely the reason why we’re hearing so many conflicting reports about his future in Denver. A quick scan of the usual suspects shows NBA.com’s David Aldridge quote Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri as saying they acquired Gallo to play for the Nuggets, yet ESPN is running a story saying the Nuggets are very much interested in trading Gallo, and that Cleveland, Toronto and the LA Clippers are possible landing places.

One thing that is definitely clear is that the Nuggets are not finished dealing . . .not by a long shot.

Nene And The Rockets

Speaking of conflicting reports, Denver Nuggets center Nene has been waist-deep in them for weeks, though now the picture is becoming clearer. The Nuggets are still very much in a state of flux, looking to make at least one more deal and perhaps several before the deadline, but one player they don’t seem to be interested in moving is their highly sought-after center.

{AUTHOR_BOX}The Houston Rockets are at the front of a very long line regarding a potential Nene deal, a line that is said to include perhaps as many as 10 interested teams. Houston is offering Yao Ming’s expiring contract and basically whatever else is of interest to the Nuggets in an effort to land a legitimate, starter-quality center. Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger are among the prominent names being discussed in connection to the Nuggets, though it seems unlikely the Nuggets cut a deal at this point. Multiple reports out of Denver suggest the Nuggets will either sign Nene to a contract extension now or revisit the situation closer to the draft. Either way, it seems the Rockets will have to find their big man elsewhere.

Houston has also been involved in a number of other discussions, including talks that would send Courtney Lee to the Chicago Bulls and Shane Battier to the Boston Celtics. That would be a classy move by the Rockets, who would give Battier a chance to compete for a championship, though it’s unclear what Houston would gain in return. The obvious piece is Kendrick Perkins, but given the shaky status of both Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal is seems highly unlikely the Celtics deal Perkins.

The reality is, if the Nuggets are serious about not moving Nene the Rockets may be out of luck in their quest to acquire an impact front court player before the deadline. That also means their chances of making the playoffs are somewhere between slim and none.

What To Watch For

There is one team that’s not getting a lot of mention that seems to have found a significant move and that’s the Cleveland Cavaliers. A number of NBA execs are mentioning the Cavaliers being involved in a deal, though none seem to have specific knowledge of what that deal might be.