Welcome to the Trade Deadline Central here at Sixerdelphia, where we report all of the trades that go down during the week leading up to the trade deadline, which is this Thursday, February 18th at 3pm. While there are plenty of teams jocking for playoff position, looking for some of them to make moves to secure a spot. Otherwise, expect teams that aren't in contention to trade assets to try and compile young talent and picks. Here's what has happened so far…
Feb. 18 (1:24pm): According to Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post, the Nuggets have traded Randy Foye to Oklahoma City. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the Thunder will send DJ Augustin, Steve Novak and two second round picks to Denver for Foye.
Feb. 18 (12:42pm): The Utah Jazz have acquired Shelvin Mack from the Hawks for a second round pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Mack is averaging 3.9 points and 1.6 assists per game. Woj later mentions that a source indicated the Hawks have shut down talks about Jeff Teague
Feb. 18 (12:30pm): The Pistons are getting Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton from the Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. In exchange, Houston gets Joel Anthony and a protected first-round pick, Wojnarowski adds on Twitter. The pick is a top-eight protected this year and then top-10 protected the next two years.
Feb. 18 (11:45am): The Cavs are set to land Channing Frye from the Orlando Magic, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. As for part of the deal, Cleveland is sending Anderson Varejao to the Trail Blazers, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. The Magic will receive Jared Cunningham, who is expected to be waived, and a second round pick, tweets Marc J. Spears. Adrian Wojnorawski reports that Portland will likely waive Varejao.
To take on Varejao's deal, the pick that Cleveland sends to Portland will be a 2018 first-round pick, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Feb 18 (11:15am): The Heat are sending Jarnell Stokes to the Pelicans in exchange for a highly-protected second round pick and about 700K in cash, according to Ira Wilderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Feb. 16 (3:52pm): Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that the Grizzlies are planning to trade Courtney Lee to the Hornets. Lee's contract expires at the end of the season. The Hornets will send PJ Hairston and two second round picks to Memphis, tweets Wojnarowski, and Brian Roberts to the Heat. Miami will send two future second-round picks to Memphis, one of which is heavily protected, according to Wojnarowski, who also mentions that Chris Andersen is heading from Miami to Memphis. All four players are on expiring contracts.
The picks that Charlotte is sending to Memphis are their own second rounder in 2018 and the Nets 2019 second-round pick, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The means the Grizzlies will receive a total of four second round picks in the deal, the two from Charlotte and now to from the Heat.
Feb. 16 (2:30pm): ESPN's Chris Broussard reports that the Magic and Pistons have agreed to a deal that'll send Tobias Harris to Detroit in exchange for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova. Hoopsrumors.com mentions that the deal represents a nearly even exchange of salaries for this season, with Harris’ $16MM going to the Pistons and $16,244,497 headed to Orlando, but a long-term cost savings for the Magic, since Jennings is on an expiring deal and Ilyasova is guaranteed only $400K for next season.
The Magic (23-29) sit 3.5 games behind the Hornets for the final playoff spot in the East. Though Brandon Jennings, 26, is still making his way back from an Achillies injury, he could prove to be an asset for Orlando this season even though his contract expires. He's played in 23 games this season and is averaging 6.8 points and three assists per game. Meanwhile, Ilyasova, 28 has started all 52 games for Detroit, averaging 11.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Both Jennings and Ilyasova provide the Magic with some nice veteran leadership
Detroit (27-27) is just a half game out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and will get a big boost from Harris, 23, who averages 13.7 points and seven rebounds per game. The 23-year-old Harris was selected 19th overall in the 2011 draft by Charlotte.
