NBA Trade Rumors Everywhere: Updates on Amar’e, Jamison, Camby, the Blazers, and more
Travis Outlaw (photo. Bethany Gilbert)
With a day off in between the All-Star Game and the continuation of the NBA schedule, Monday was a time for trades, post-trade fallout, and trade rumors … As we wrote this column, the Blazers and Clippers were reportedly very close to closing a deal that would send Marcus Camby to Portland for Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. The Blazers have to do something to cover the hole left at center by Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla‘s injuries, because going into the playoffs with Juwan Howard starting in the middle is just asking for a first-round exit. Thanks to the emergence of Martell Webster and Jerryd Bayless as legit NBA players this season, Outlaw and Blake are expendable, so this would work out well for them. The Blazers’ slower-paced system is based on valuing possessions and keeping the opponents’ score low, and a rebounder/shot-blocker like Camby would help preserve possessions and protect the rim on D … Following the Caron Butler trade, the Wizards may not be done blowing up their operation. Antawn Jamison is still popular in trade rumors, with the Cavs looking like the most likely destination in exchange for Big Z and J.J. Hickson. But according to some reports, Jamison is only a last-resort for Cleveland in case they can’t get Amar’e Stoudemire for that same Ilgauskas/Hickson package. If you’re running the Cavs and you can make either move, you have to do it, but it kind of sucks that Ilgauskas has given everything to the franchise and now won’t be around when/if they finally win a championship … Troy Murphy could also wind up in Cleveland as a last-last resort, but reportedly the Pacers would want more than just Z and Hickson, and Corey Maggette‘s name has also been tied to the Cavs. Part of us wants to see Maggette sharing the court with LeBron, just to see if he’d still pull his same “I’m obviously the best player on the court” act when any sane person would know he’s not … A lot of people figured Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince would have been traded way before February, but it seems neither of them is leaving Detroit, and now Ben Wallace is the one drawing interest. The Nuggets are said to be the main suitor. Yeah, Big Ben basically an older, shorter Birdman, but he’s actually been better than Birdman this year. Plus he brings the championship experience and the chemistry with Chauncey. Denver is also in the market for Tyrus Thomas, which would make them officially the NBA’s scariest “Getting off the bus in a ritzy neighborhood” team ever … Nate Robinson is a name we heard thrown around in trade rumors over the All-Star break, but the New York Daily News is saying Nate (who has to agree to any trade this year) would only approve of a deal that sent him to a contender: Boston, Orlando, the Lakers, etc. Would any of those teams even be interested in a 5-8 version of J.R. Smith? … Serious question: Doesn’t Nate now have to be in the discussion as one of the greatest dunkers of all-time? We’re not saying he’s ‘Nique or even Drexler, but Nate is the only player with three dunk contest titles. It’s like if you’re ranking the best home-run hitters of all-time, you have to include Sammy Sosa. Maybe you think he was on ‘roids, maybe you think he used a corked bat more than once, maybe his numbers were inflated due to the small ballpark/juiced ball era, but it says right there in the record book that Sosa is 6th all-time with 609 homers … We’re out like Hickson …
-->
February 16th, 2010 at 5:00 am
s says:
Cavs will get Z back within 30 days when his rights are renounced, no matter who gets him.
Book it.
February 16th, 2010 at 5:23 am
budz says:
if cavs get amare, look out east!
February 16th, 2010 at 5:23 am
YW says:
what about knicks trading away two first rounders and jordan hill for lebron and bosh, i mean, t-mac? any truth to that?
February 16th, 2010 at 5:27 am
That's What's Up says:
Nate and “greatest” only belong in the same sentence if there are other words like “jacker”, “selfish” or “numbskull” involved
February 16th, 2010 at 5:36 am
bdiddit says:
cavs should go for amare or iggy only. i like antwan, but his contract is to much for them to take on… ditto with murphy even tho he has one year left, is that really gonna be the guy that keeps lebron a cav?? lebron may be wanting jamieson now… but he’s 33 and how’s he gonna be in 2 years time… big guys don’t age well in the nba… just ask shawn kemp
February 16th, 2010 at 6:52 am
bdiddit says:
and if they cavs get maggette… lebron will walk over the summer i reckon
February 16th, 2010 at 6:57 am
s says:
you sure that pic is of Travis Outlaw? Looks like Starvin’ Marvin off Southpark…
February 16th, 2010 at 7:01 am
jheck says:
I hope they wont let Z out of the Q…that dude give everything on that franchise…but anyways sacrifice is part of the the called journey…
February 16th, 2010 at 7:08 am
wathelmet says:
the only reason why nate’s got 3 dunk contests is the fact the nba kept letting him participate in these dunk contests.
everybody else just won one, and then didn’t have to prove themselves. or in some cases, went back to defend their title.
nate’s like participated in 5 now?
you think if vince carter repeated his same dunks in the next 5 years of dunk contests he wouldn’t have won all of them?
February 16th, 2010 at 7:27 am
alf (from melmak) says:
If I were a GM,which is wishful thinking, I would not dare touch Amare with a 10 foot pole. He is softer than Boozer and Okur combined on defense.
My meal allowance sure is glad the All Star Games is over. Let us get back to the real thing. By the way, would the Pacquiao crowd even remotely come close to 100,000 on March 13?
February 16th, 2010 at 7:49 am
sh!tfaced says:
^^^ That’s possible. Because Manny has acquired like 50,000 freeloading “relatives” since he became a boxing superstar. LOL. If you all thought Bosh and Deron had ticket problems… Ugh…
February 16th, 2010 at 7:54 am
mules says:
As far as I’m concerned, Nate’s only won one dunk contest. Iggy had the best dunks in ’08 and Howard did last year. It’s like the judges like rewarding him because he’s charismatic and under 6′.
February 16th, 2010 at 8:38 am
Coop says:
In-game dunking is what counts, the contests are just a cherry. Nate Robinson, therefore, is not even close to being an all-time great.
February 16th, 2010 at 8:39 am
ab_40 says:
mules it’s fan voting everybody is wow a littel guy who can dunk. He isn’t as superhuman as dwight. and I’m with you dwight won last year and Iggy won before that. Nate was fun for one year and he’s gonna compete again next year… UGH. Amar’e to cleveland is scary. Z will be back later in the season but so will leon powe who was great for boston and will be great for cleveland. Dude is a work horse. Washington is a mess they’ll be down and out for years to come. And houston please don’t trade Tmac but just release him after the 18th you don’t need al harington and weak ass jordan hill. Build on what you have get cap relief and yao next summer.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:00 am
patrick says:
I hope Z ends up back in cleveland after he gets waived. He actually helps that team where he would only slow the suns down. Not that the suns would do much more winning without amare. Of course Big Ben is putting up decent rebounding numbers in detroit. No one else even tries to rebound on that team. He is fighting for boards with charlie v and jonas jerebko.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Chicagorilla says:
Ah yes Nate is a all-time great dunker. contest or no contest, he’s 5’8. five foot freaking eight! And he’s banging like he’s 6’6.
Troy Murphy = best fit for Clevland.
Jamison = 2nd best fit
Amare = 3rd best fit
Tyrus Thomas to Denver for who? If it ain’t Nene then the Bulls don’t need to make that deal.
Nate McMillian = COTY
February 16th, 2010 at 9:15 am
mavs all the way says:
all star dunk contest means really nothing.if they only included all the great dunkers to compete then we’re talking. not hating on nate, but no he’s not one of the greatest dunkers of all time. love the showmanship though.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Mike Honcho says:
Nate gets respect for being the best small dunker of all time, but that’s as far as I’m taking it…I agree with Chicagorilla’s rankings, Murphy or Jamison would give the Cavs what they really need since they already have Shaq clogging the lane…no need to add Amare to the situation down low
February 16th, 2010 at 9:17 am
Guitar Hero says:
Will the Knicks give up Hill just to offload Jeffries?
If they are able to sign 2 max players next summer, say Bosh and JJ, Donnie Walsh will be a genius.
But if they don’t…
Anyways, how would that leave D Lee and T-Mac.
Would it be possible for the Knicks to accomodate Bosh,JJ and Lee,T-Mac at the same time? Of course not…
February 16th, 2010 at 9:21 am
AdvancedMind says:
Actually all Cleveland needs is Lebron to become a big GIRL and get his 275lb frame into the post every third trip down court and him and the CAVS become unstoppable.
Nate is hands down a top 5 dunker of all time, everybody talks about dunkers of the past, but if you look back at the old dunk contests, the shit lacked alot of creativity.
Nique doing a windmill every five second was cool to me when i was like 8, but what Nate and Vince can do are amazing.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Ric_Hardwood says:
Nate deserves a mention in top dunkers… he’s 5 foot freaking 8… Spud Webb didn’t dunk in games like Nate would…
February 16th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Chicagorilla says:
@Mike Honcho and everyone who doesn’t agree with Nate as a all-time great dunker
Aight think about this, great dunks are measured by style and degree of difficulty right? At least that’s the way I measure them. If that’s the case, shouldn’t being 5’8 (possibly shorter) count as being the highest degree of difficulty? Not to mention Nate puts a lot of style into his dunks. Going between the legs at 5’8 is sick in it’s own right. Then he tried it with a reverse from under the rim. Not only that, but he JUMPED over Dwight Howard! Spring board style or not, he still has to make the dunk on the biggest stage he’ll ever be on.
I agree that while his lack of height is a slight advantage on the scorers card, he is at a MAJOR disadvantage athletically compared to guys nearly a foot taller (and in Dwight’s case a foot and a half).
He may not be the best dunker ever, but he’s in the top 10-15 area.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:40 am
duke_blue says:
i know this might be a lil bit off topic but, Lebron got one of the ugliest nose i’ve ever seen in my life!
February 16th, 2010 at 10:01 am
mules says:
what’s up with the changed title…did Missy’s people get at you?
February 16th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Sanssasin says:
Nate is NOT considered one of the greatest dunkers! The greatest dunkers get the job done on the first attempt and don’t jump off someone’s back! That jumping off someone’s back from last year still pisses me off. There are 12 yr olds doing that all over the country and he pulls that off in a professional dunk contest. No matter how many dunk contest he has won, jumping off someone’s back takes at least one away.
In my book he still hasn’t won a dunk contest! Demar had the better dunks, Nate just had the better LAST dunk. Last year, Dwight won in my mind and the whole AI2 thing I won’t even go there…..
February 16th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Paul Wall says:
Tyrus Thomas for NENE? Yeah right, we would never do that. Your probably going to get back a Ronaldo Balkman or Malik Allen. A nobody for a nobody.
February 16th, 2010 at 10:11 am
Paul Wall says:
Dime whats up with the page again? It’s slow time with no news and the page is still messed up? Stuggling.
February 16th, 2010 at 10:17 am
DavMat says:
Whats with you people automatically assuming that Bosh will be leaving TO?!! Bosh ain’t going nowhere!!! Why would Bosh or even LeBron go to NY? What? so they can just have to start over again? Great city flashing lights but shitty team and nuff pressure, media all over yo ass! give me a break. TO is a perfect city for Bosh right now. The man rules the town and he still gets his props. (I’d rather be underrated than overrated!) BUT! watching the all star game and seeing Wade, James and Bosh on the court at the same time, couldn’t help but thinking! DAMM!!! That team would be killah!!
February 16th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Chicagorilla says:
@Sansassin
Didn’t Demar jump off Sonny Weems back? Yes he did. So how did he have “the better dunks”. Everything Demar did has been done before. He did nothing special. Nate at 5’8 still managed to come up with some dunks that hadn’t been done before.
my honest opinion: The entier contest should have been canceled. Pick it up again in 4 years.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:10 am
GABRIEL BROGDEN says:
If I’m Cleveland, TROY is the only PF worth trading for.
He can shoot the triple, the mid range, grabs boards like all the time, motor’s always on.
You need floor spacing, Murph’s that dude for you.
Don’t get me wrong, Stat and Jamison could be fine additions at the PF spot but they’re not as versatile as Murph or Captain Dooby or whatever you call him.
Stat’s not really committed to defense.
He’s a beast down low but he won’t venture ’round the perimeter. And on D, do you really want to rely on this guy’s help?? Nah. In addition, if you need Stat to follow Rashard to the 3line, Lebron’s eyeing Vince and Shaq’s down low – you KNOW Rashard can get past those creaky knees. We seen what happened with KG.
And if you lettin’ Rashard BLOW BY then it’s time to GO BYE before we even SAY HI.
Now, Jamison. A very different option. 3 main diffs to be exact:
Antawn is undersized.
Has a lil’ more versatile offensive game but still is limited.
A lil’ more active in ALL areas of the game, on O and D.
Personally, I wouldn’t do this trade because Hickson is giving you the EXACT same thing. JJ’s young, more energetic, and has a better chemistry with Bron for the simple fact they have more ‘time in’ with one another.
The only nod Jamison gets here is his bastetball IQ and his experience which are intricately linked — by the way, Jamison is CRAPPIN’ on JJ in this area.
Lastly, Cavaliers may need another 2 guard too.
I mean AP is an old fart who can’t put the ball on the floor. Only thing he can do, besides D, is occasionally hit his jumper.
West, an undersized 2 or combo 1, is going on trial for packin’ burners on a motobike while cuttin’ off the cops.
So, you know, when it’s all said and done, maybe the Cavs really only have ONE HALF of a shooting guard. Paging Iggy.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:12 am
srb says:
no college mentions?
February 16th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Sanssasin says:
@chicagorilla
tell me one dunk that nate did that had never been done before?
at least demar’s off the side – windmill was original.
but please don’t read into this too much. i agree the dunk contest was lame and no one deserved to win that.
when i am talking about nate jumping off someone’s back, last year he had someone get down on all fours and he ran and jumped off their back. it’s the stuff we have all done when we were 12. demar’s jump over weems was not even close to the same thing. take a look at nate’s dunks last year… you’ll see what i am talking about.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:32 am
LakeShow84 says:
I agree with Brodgen..
Murphy is their best option.. Throw Amare out there and there defense sinks that much more and the Cavs have always been a defensive team.. but who knows Amare would get away with a lot more so he might MAGICALLY develope some solid D..
Jamison?? cant see him helping a contender being an undersized PF who has such an awkward game.. i can see him disappearing and reappearing every now and then.. like he already does..
February 16th, 2010 at 11:36 am
LakeShow84 says:
And lets just call Nate a “dunk contest legend”..
You say “top 10 greatest dunker” and everyone would assume IN GAME dunker and Nate rarely dunks in games, and if he does its a regular yam..
February 16th, 2010 at 11:49 am
DavMat says:
@LakeShow84
Good comment. Nate has had 3, that’s right 3 in game dunks all year.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Chicagorilla says:
@lakeshow,
Jamison was pretty good for Dallas when he was there.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Oo says:
Yeah that’s what, like five years ago in dallas…
February 16th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
JAY says:
I don’t understand why Cleveland is trying to land Amare. The Shaq-Amare experiment did not work last year. I don’t think it will work in Cleveland either. Neither of them play good defense and both clog the lane. IMO, Murphy and/or Jamison compliment the team better than Amare does.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
JAY says:
@ Lakeshow.
I think Jamison fits the Cavs team very well. He’ll run the floor with Lebron. Arguably top 10 at his position to run the floor. IMO, his “awkward” game is one of the reasons why he’s attracting attention. He shots are borderline unblockable because he shoots from the hip.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ JAY
The Shaq-Amare experiment did work. The Terry Porter ‘Change the style of play’ experiment did not work. Please don’t forget Amare missed the 2nd half of last season and the Sun still almost made the playoffs.
Is Nate a all-time top ten dunker?
Kobe
Let’s actually break it down.
I agree with what Lakeshow wrote. Nate is an dunk contest great cuz he has won it three times, no matter how he won em.
Only one way to do this IMO
1) Dr. J
2) David Thompson
3) Air
4) The Glyde
5) Shawn Kemp
6) Vince
7) Human Highlight Film
9) Chocolate Thunder
10) Shaq
That’s my top ten. Is Nate really a better dunker than Steve Francis, Kevin Johnson, J-Rich, Connie Hawkins, Josh Smith, Larry Nance, Orlando Woolridge, Larry Johnson, David Robinson etc?
And I got no hate on Nate. He’s got crazy hops and comes with the power, but I seen Will Bynum throw down vicious dunks in games this season and he’s barely 5’10…
February 16th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ JAY
No his #’s are attracting all the attention.. but aye dude that was all IMO.. dont trip..
And hes still undersized..
February 16th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
K Dizzle says:
Before the haters swarm, I didn’t put a happy face beside Kobe’s name. It’s the 8 and the ) lol
#2) I didn’t put in anybody who came in the league after 2000.
So dudes like Amare, Bron, Wade etc who would be on the list before Nate aren’t on it either
Lookin forward to see if I missed anyone in my top ten list…
February 16th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Mr. BBall says:
Wow, I can’t really vote on folks like Dr. J although I do think he belogs up there with Vince, Jordan, & Nique. But that being said Vince may not but up there in calaiber of play but Dunks. In Games, Dunk Contest….I have to give it to Vince no question. Since he did some of the best in game and dunk contest dunks. Where I’d have to say one area Vince may trail by a little bit is break away dunks. Jordan may have got him there. In players I seen I’d have to go 1. Vince, 2. MJ, 3. Nique.
February 16th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
stupid says:
I think nate is overrated. He gets a plus because of his height while doing mediocre dunks, he’s a great leaper though, no doubt about that.
Jamison is a better fit for cleveland, than Amar’e and Troy, because he possess both an outside and an inside game, and he can create his own shot. All three of them would be a liability on defense Amar’e more so than antawn and troy
February 16th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
LakeShow84 says:
If Jamison went to the Cavs the Lakers wouldnt really be sweating it.. Same for Amare, plus we’re familiar with him..
Murphy’s bombed a couple of times.. especially with that bullshit tip in last year..
February 16th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ KDizzle
Yeah the smiley face looks bad you damn Laker fan!! lol
February 16th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
ben says:
amare is a good option for cleveland simply because they can trade him to get someone of value in return. amare won’t opt out i don’t think as he won’t get the money…he pretty much has already said as much