Tag: Trevor Ariza

Potential trades to help the struggling Celtics

Here are some players the Celtics could pursue with their Traded Player Exception.

February hasn’t been kind to the Boston Celtics. They are 2-4 in games this month, including rough losses to the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. This recent stretch is not representative of this Celtics team, though. They are missing All-Defender Marcus Smart, and Kemba Walker is still getting reintegrated. They won’t lose as many games they’re supposed to win once their core is 100 percent.

While their inevitable All-Stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, have generated plenty of scoring at ease, they’re having a rough time getting points from anyone else, particularly off the bench.

The Celtics also don’t seem to have a definitive answer at center. While their center-by-committee has worked between Tristan Thompson, Daniel Theis, and Robert Williams, no one has particularly stuck out. This could be problematic when they face elite big men in the playoffs.

Boston gave up two second-round draft picks to the Charlotte Hornets to convince them to acquire Gordon Hayward through a sign-and-trade, rather than signing him outright. This allowed the Celtics to generate a $28.5 million traded player exception (TPE). As time goes on, it’s becoming harder to see the Celtics using it on a player as good as Hayward. What makes a deal even more difficult is their lack of assets. The Celtics went from having multiple first-round picks in the last several drafts to just having their own from here on out.

They could make a case to save the TPE until the upcoming offseason for a potential sign-and-trade for a top free agent. That would be difficult, however, since they’re already projected to be right below the hard cap with Tatum’s maximum extension kicking in. They would need to get off a lot of salary to make that work, which could further decimate their already lacking depth. The best time for them to use the TPE is now before the March 25 trade deadline.

Here are some players the Celtics could pursue with their TPE:

3 Thunder questions: How long will OKC wait before trading the veterans?

George Hill, Al Horford and Trevor Ariza are veterans rostered by the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder. Will they be traded this season?

As discussed in the second part of this mini-series, it’s a good thing the Oklahoma City Thunder has veterans such as George Hill and Al Horford on the roster to play the important minutes and help the youngsters develop.

But those two and Trevor Ariza are the three most expensive players on the roster, and it’s not particularly close. An organization that is A) collecting assets and B) dealing with revenue loss should want to trade them at some point this year.

Here’s a breakdown of the top salaries on the Thunder:

  • Al Horford: $27.5 million
  • Trevor Ariza: $12.8 million
  • George Hill: $9.6 million
  • Darius Miller: $7 million
  • Justin Jackson: $5 million
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: $4.1 million

Miller, for what it’s worth, is also a veteran and may end up on the trade block if he can reestablish himself as a knockdown shooter.

With Hill and Ariza on expiring deals, they would be logical trade targets for contenders. Ideally, the veterans would be moved at the deadline, so they get enough time with the team to make an imprint on the young players.

Will general manager Sam Presti pull off more positive deals for the Thunder?

Ariza is an interesting one to watch simply because, as of the latest reports, he has not reported to the team, and there have yet to be public indications about when he will join. Currently missing time for family matters, Ariza can serve as a veteran 3-and-D forward with 16 years of NBA experience.

He has, however, struggled on bad teams over the last two years. The Phoenix Suns signed him in 2018 and traded him midseason to the Washington Wizards, who let him walk in the offseason. He joined the Sacramento Kings on a two-year deal in 2019 and was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers midway through the year, where he played much better than his previous three stops.

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Will he join the Thunder? Will OKC waive him? Will Presti manage to land a second-round pick out of the Los Angeles Lakers (or whichever team does want him) in three months when contenders are rounding out their rosters?

You can add those questions to the general query in this headline.

Hill, meanwhile, has already been lauded as a strong leader in the clubhouse. He’s a candidate to stick around all season, but if the Thunder can either get a return while removing his salary or if they simply want to thank him by trading him to a contender, it’s logical to envision him on the move in March.

Horford’s outlook is foggier. If I had to bet, I’d say he stays for this entire season. With his contract, he would be hard to move midway through a season, and he has some work to do to prove he’s still worth that deal.

But he was the Thunder’s best player in the preseason. With three years left on his contract, he shouldn’t be someone Oklahoma City has to give up assets for to dump, even if they wait for the offseason before moving him to a team that didn’t land one of the prime free agents in the 2021 class.

This is the third of a three-article series heading into the Thunder’s 2020-21 season.

Report: Trevor Ariza not at Thunder training camp due to family matters

Trevor Ariza, who was traded to Oklahoma City from the Pistons, has reportedly not been at Thunder training camp due to family matters.

Trevor Ariza has not been part of Oklahoma City Thunder training camp, according to the Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto.

The forward was acquired from the Detroit Pistons in a three-team deal that also included the Dallas Mavericks.

A team spokesperson told The Oklahoman that the Thunder were “made aware” Ariza would not be available when the trade was made.

“Ariza remains focused on the same family matters that kept him from attending the bubble with the Blazers,” the spokesperson said.

“The Thunder was made aware he would not be available when they acquired him, and remain supportive of Ariza’s indefinite absence given the circumstance.”

Oklahoma City completed the trade anyway to receive the rest of the assets. The team flipped James Johnson for Ariza, Justin Jackson, a 2023 second-round draft pick  that will be the best of either Dallas or Miami and a 2026 second-round Dallas pick.

Ariza is involved in a child custody case, according to ESPN. He opted out of playing in the bubble for the Portland Trail Blazers in favor of having a one-month visitation with his son.

Despite his indefinite absence, Ariza is on the Thunder’s training camp roster.

The wing has bounced around the league since his 2014-2018 stint with the Houston Rockets. Ariza signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix Suns in 2018 with an organizational hope that he would be a veteran leader and help them reach the playoffs, but he was traded midseason to the Washington Wizards.

He signed a two-year contract with the Sacramento Kings that offseason and was traded in the middle of the year to the Blazers.

This offseason, the Blazers traded Ariza to Rockets, who traded him to the Pistons, who traded him to the Thunder.

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Thunder announce full James Johnson trade; includes 2 draft picks

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s return for James Johnson includes two second-round draft picks along with Trevor Ariza and Justin Jackson.

If you didn’t have time to get a James Johnson jersey while he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder, it’s forgivable.

Johnson was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Ricky Rubio deal. He was part of the Thunder for about 20 minutes before he was traded again, this time in a three-team deal involving the Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons.

In return for the forward, the Thunder received Trevor Ariza from the Pistons and Justin Jackson and two second-round draft picks from the Mavericks.

One of the second-round picks will be in 2023. It will be whichever is the best between the Mavericks and the Miami Heat, both of which are owned by Dallas. The other is a 2026 Mavericks pick.

LIST: FUTURE THUNDER DRAFT PICKS

Johnson, now on the Mavericks, has one year left on his contract that will pay him $15.8 million. Ariza is also on the final year of his and is owed $12.8 million. He is also a tradable wing.

Jackson is on the final year of his deal and owed $5 million. He will be a restricted free agent next offseason.

The Pistons received Delon Wright, who has two years remaining that will pay him $9 million this season and $8.5 next.

This move indirectly adds to the haul that the Thunder received in the Chris Paul trade. That deal netted them Rubio, who was shipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with draft picks for the rights to No. 17 pick Aleksej Pokusevski and Johnson. Johnson, in turn, was traded for two players and a pair of second-rounders.

General manager Sam Presti continues to add to his collection.

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Rockets announce exit of Robert Covington, arrival of Christian Wood

The Houston Rockets were finally able to finalize their primary transactions from last week, and they sent out two videos for the occasion.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Houston Rockets finally made all of the transactions official from last week’s wave of trade agreements.

As a refresher, the Rockets agreed to trade Robert Covington to Portland last Monday for Trevor Ariza and first-round picks in 2020 and 2021. However, because teams can’t be without a first-round selection in consecutive years, the deal had to wait until after Portland made the “official” choice at No. 16 overall in last Wednesday’s NBA draft.

Covington averaged 11.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in 33.0 minutes per game with the Rockets last season, and the 6-foot-8 forward was among the team’s best and most versatile defenders.

Then, on Wednesday, the Rockets traded that No. 16 pick and Ariza to Detroit for a protected first-round draft choice in 2021. However, that deal couldn’t be made official until after the first trade, since it involved two of the assets that Houston would be receiving from Portland.

Finally, on Friday, the Rockets agreed to sign free agent center Christian Wood, who happened to play for the Pistons last season. Because Detroit had his “early Bird” contract rights, Wood could get more money by working through the Pistons than simply by signing with the Rockets, who were and are above the league’s salary cap. So the original Ariza trade was expanded to include Wood, who was signed-and-traded to Houston.

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Here’s how the team described Wood’s statistical production:

Wood (6-10, 223) was eligible for the 2015 NBA Draft following his sophomore season at UNLV.  The 25-year-old finished eighth in voting for the Most Improved Player award in 2019-20 while averaging 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 62 games for Detroit.

Over his final 22 games played last season, Wood averaged 19.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg while shooting 56.0% from the floor, 40.3% from 3-point range, and 77.4% from the foul line.  For the season, he joined Enes Kanter (2016-17) as the only players in league history to have averaged at least 13.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg in fewer than 22.0 mpg in a single season.

Contracts involving 2020 free agents could not be made official until this Sunday. Furthermore, teams also typically put newcomers through a physical examination before finalizing their offseason signings. As a result, it took until Tuesday for the entire chain to be completed.

In effect, the Rockets are sending out Covington and have acquired Wood and two protected future first-round draft choices from Detroit and Portland. Here’s what we currently know of the protection terms:

To commemorate Tuesday’s “official” occasion, the Rockets sent out two videos on their official social media channels to thank Covington for his time in Houston and welcome Wood into the fold. Highlight packages of both players can be seen in those embedded video posts.

Training camps for the 2020-21 NBA season open next Tuesday, Dec. 1. Covington will be in Portland, and Wood in Houston. Ariza has since been moved by the Pistons in a separate trade (the third deal involving Ariza in under a week) to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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The Thunder’s trade for Trevor Ariza allowed him to break a record

Oklahoma City Thunder wing Trevor Ariza, part of three trades in the past week, has set an NBA record for the number of times being traded.

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After a whirlwind of a week for Trevor Ariza that included being a part of four different teams, the veteran forward has set a record.

His trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder was the 10th time he has been dealt in his career, which sets a new NBA record, according to Clutch Points.

Three of those have come over the last week, as Ariza was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, shipped to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday and then traded to the Thunder as part of a three-team deal on Saturday.

Here are all the trades throughout his career:

  • February 2006: Traded from New York Knicks to Orlando Magic
  • November 2007: Traded from Magic to Los Angeles Lakers
  • August 2010: Traded from the Rockets to the New Orleans Hornets
  • June 2012: traded from the Hornets to the Washington Wizards
  • July 2015: Traded from the Wizards to the Rockets
  • December 2018: Traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Wizards
  • January 2020: Traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Trail Blazers
  • November 2020 (3): Traded from the Trail Blazers to the Rockets to the Pistons to the Thunder

That’s 10 trades accounting for 11 total teams.

Only a few players have even been traded eight times. Dale Ellis, Chris Gatling, Don MacLean and Billy Owens were all traded eight times, according to SportsCasting, and Gatling was part of nine if you count the draft pick that turned into him was also part of a trade (it doesn’t count).

A handful of other players have been traded seven times, according to HoopsHype, and Quentin Richardson, who was traded six times, tweeted about Ariza’s movement.

Ariza might not have even found his final home this offseason.

The Thunder are going through a massive rebuild and seem intent on trading away all the established players they get their hands on. Ariza is on an expiring contract for $12.8 million.

If a contender needs a wing and has some money to move, the 15-year pro would certainly be an option.

Could move No. 11 be on its way?

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NBA teams won’t stop trading veteran Trevor Ariza this week

Trevor Ariza is the new Luke Ridnour.

Does anyone actually know where Trevor Ariza is set to play basketball right now? Are we even sure Trevor Ariza knows where Trevor Ariza is supposed to play when the season starts?

Honestly, if he doesn’t, no one can blame him. This man has been traded three times already in six days.

On Sunday, he was a Portland Trail Blazer. He was traded on Monday to the Houston Rockets as part of the Robert Covington deal. Then he was traded again to the Pistons on Wednesday night for the 16th overall pick in the draft.

Earlier on Saturday, Ariza was rerouted again. This time to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a 3-team deal that ended up netting OKC Delon Wright.

Now, all of a sudden, Ariza is on the verge of making some really weird history.

One more trade by the end of Saturday and Ariza could become the first player traded four times in a seven day span since Luke Ridnour in 2015. Back in 2015, Ridnour went from 5 teams in 6 days.

If the Thunder can trade Ariza one more time, he’ll have a chance to pull a Ridnour. Of course, NBA fans had their jokes.

Honestly, with the way Oklahoma City has been shifting players around? There’s definitely a non-zero chance that he actually pulls a Ridnour.

Honestly, I have no idea if that’s a good or bad thing at this point. It’s just a thing.

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Thunder agree to trade James Johnson to Mavericks for draft picks

We’ve gotten to the point where reporters are no longer trying to count how many future draft picks the Thunder own.

At this point, Thunder general manager Sam Presti has accumulated so many draft picks, the reporters breaking trade news are apparently no longer trying to keep track of them.

On Friday night — the first day of NBA free agency — Presti was continuing his somewhat unprecedented wheeling and dealing, as the Oklahoma City Thunder agreed to trade newly acquired James Johnson to the Dallas Mavericks in a four-team deal.

In case you didn’t realize that James Johnson was a member of the Thunder, you’re probably not alone. He was included in the deal that saw Ricky Rubio traded from Oklahoma City to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rubio, of course, was one of the primary pieces that the Thunder received from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Chris Paul.

In exchange for Johnson, the Thunder will receive Trevor Ariza, Justin Jackson, and, according to the New York Times’ Marc Stein, draft compensation, the exact identification of which will come at some later point.

The deal was accompanied by a separate trade involving the Thunder in which it agreed to trade Steven Adams to the New Orleans Pelicans.

What’s become clear is that Presti is using every available asset at his disposal to accumulate draft capital. The Thunder are not only embracing the prospect of rebuilding, it is also apparently committing to do it through the draft.

Rockets trade Ariza, No. 16 pick to Detroit for future first rounder

Per reports, Houston believes that this deal will allow it to use the larger mid-level exception (worth ~$9.3 million) in free agency.

The reunion between the Houston Rockets and Trevor Ariza — as well as the concept of making a first-round draft choice — was short-lived.

Two days after acquiring Ariza and the No. 16 pick in the 2020 NBA draft for Robert Covington, Houston is sending both to Detroit for a future first-round pick, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Here’s the explanation from Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:

The Rockets made the move to be able to go into free agency this week with a full mid-level exception [MLE], worth $9.3 million, rather than the tax-payer mid-level, worth $5.7 million, a person with knowledge of the team’s thinking said. The Rockets also preferred a future pick, rather than one this year, in case needed in a trade, he said.

The downside of using the “full” MLE is that it implements a hard salary cap at the luxury tax “apron” level of ~$138.9 million. Without shedding Ariza’s $12.8-million salary, Houston’s team payroll would have almost certainly exceeded the hard cap if using the larger MLE. Thus, Houston would have been forced to use the smaller “taxpayer” MLE.

The Rockets will generate a $12.8-million traded player exception (TPE) in the deal, since Ariza is being absorbed into cap space by Detroit. However, Houston probably can’t use the TPE and the larger MLE this offseason, since using both would likely push them over the hard cap.

Depending on future moves by Rockets GM Rafael Stone that might alter team payroll, that TPE could potentially be used down the line. (The TPE will last until an equivalent point in the 2021 offseason.)

Per James Edwards III of The Athletic, Detroit’s future first-round pick being sent to Houston is top-16 protected for the next four years; top-10 protected in the following two years; and then top-nine protected. If it is not conveyed after seven seasons, it becomes two second-round picks.

For now, Houston continues its streak of not having made a first-round draft selection since 2015 (when the Rockets took Sam Dekker). In drafts since, Houston has often traded its picks for short-term upgrades to bolster the veteran roster around James Harden. Assuming Houston uses the larger MLE, that’s effectively what they are doing here.

In a separate transaction, but potentially related, the Rockets are buying a 2021 second-round pick from the Pistons (via the Lakers) for $4.6 million in cash. A potential motivation of that deal is that it partly compensates the Pistons, financially, for absorbing Ariza’s contract.

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Rockets trade Robert Covington for Trevor Ariza, two first-round picks

Covington is headed to Portland for Ariza, the No. 16 pick in Wednesday’s draft, and a protected first-round pick in 2021.

The Houston Rockets are trading Robert Covington to Portland for veteran forward Trevor Ariza and two first-round draft picks, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The first of the two picks is Portland’s No. 16 overall selection in Wednesday’s 2020 draft. The second is a protected pick in 2021.

Covington, a 6-foot-8 forward, averaged 11.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in 33.0 minutes per game with the Rockets last season. He turns 30 years old next month, and is signed for the next two seasons at approximately $12.5 million per season.

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Ariza previously played in Houston during the 2009-10 season and from 2014-15 through 2017-18. He averaged 8.0 points (37.0% on 3-pointers) and 4.6 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game last season with the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers.

Both Covington and Ariza are well regarded for their defense, versatility, and locker-room presence, but Covington is more than five years younger. Thus, Portland had to pay the premium in draft picks.

Ariza’s $12.8-million contract for the 2020-21 season was a team option, but it is being picked up to facilitate the trade for Covington’s salary, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Ariza also has a strong relationship with Rockets star James Harden from their four previous seasons as teammates, and that could potentially be uuseful as Houston attempts to bring Harden back into the fold after a recent trade request.

The Covington-Ariza swap will not be finalized until after Wednesday’s draft, since the Trail Blazers are not allowed to trade first-round draft picks in consecutive years (Stepien rule). They can, however, make the trade after the 2020 selection is officially a player.

If Houston retains the 2020 pick and does not move it in a subsequent deal, it would effectively be the team’s first selection in the draft’s opening round since Sam Dekker in 2015. (Technically, Portland would be announced as making the No. 16 pick, but Houston would make the call.)

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