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Riley said the team is not looking at players in the $20 million range, instead those between $10-14 million. Though he didn't discuss names, that points to Caron Butler, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson and Tayshaun Prince -- all of whom are being shopped.
Riley said he has talked to all but two teams in the last week, and he plans to meet with many general managers during the All-Star break in Dallas.
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Dirk dances around trade talk
Owner Mark Cuban made it clear that the Mavericks are aggressively seeking trade options.
Is the face of the franchise on board with making a blockbuster move?
"That’s not for me to decide," Dirk Nowitzki said. "I play hard every night. I just work here, and we’ll go from there.
"But I think we showed earlier this season that we got what it takes. We won some big games, won some big games on the road. It’s just that now we’re in a little funk, little hole. We’ve just got to keep on plugging. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s all we can do now. I’m not looking for any help but in this locker room."
Dirk is usually as straight-up a superstar as you'll find, but he's feeding us a bunch of bull here. And wisely so. As sensitive as Josh Howard is, Dirk doesn't need to publicly lobby to get rid of him.
I don't know exactly what Dirk thinks the Mavs should do in the trade market. But I do know that he will be asked for his input on any major move the Mavs make, as was the case before the Jason Kidd deal.
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Bulls could go from marginal to marvelous by playing their cap right
Sources say the team is looking seriously at several trade options that could unleash enough 2010 cap space to sign not one but two marquee free agents. Here's how the math computes: If the Bulls didn't make any trades before the Feb. 18 deadline, kept their first-round pick and let their free agents walk, they'd have about $16.5 million in cap space -– assuming the cap is $52 million, roughly the midpoint of early projections. That's enough to sign one max free agent, and league execs believe Chicago native
Dwyane Wade would be the Bulls' primary target, with
Joe Johnson a close second.
But that figure doesn't include a $14.2 million cap hold for
Tyrus Thomas, space that must be allocated to him that includes the $6.3 million qualifying offer he'll be due as a restricted free agent. That's why league sources believe the Bulls will try to package Thomas in a significant deal for expiring contracts -- such as a proposal under consideration that would also send
Kirk Hinrich to Boston for
Ray Allen's $19.7 million expiring deal -- or in a separate deal to one of several Western Conference contenders that have inquired about Thomas' availability.
If the Bulls could move Hinrich and Thomas -- who has long been attractive to the Celtics -- they'd be looking at more than $20 million of space. If they could find a taker for John Salmons, they'd be closing in on enough money to land two significant free agents. While everyone continues to focus on the Knicks and Nets as potential winners of the free-agent summer of 2010, this scenario would put the Bulls in a position to steal the show.
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Lakers GM Bryant discusses trade speculation
On whether or not he thinks the Lakers need to make a move at the trade deadline:
“No. I love my guys. I love my guys. I love how we’re built and I love what we have and I’d love a chance to repeat with the group that we have here right now. Obviously Mitch (Kupchak) has to do his job and I won’t get in the way of that but from my personal standpoint, I love the group and crew that we have.”
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