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Playing Fact or Fiction With Latest NBA News, Rumors – Bleacher Report
The James Harden-Los Angeles Clippers trade is still sending waves throughout the NBA world.
What will the Philadelphia 76ers do with their new draft picks and players? What stars could become available next? Could the Chicago Bulls emerge as a potential trade partner following a 2-5 start to the season?
It’s time to play fact or fiction with the latest NBA news and rumors, much of which revolves around the aftermath of the Harden trade.
At some point Chicago will be forced to look itself in the mirror and admit that this core simply doesn’t work together without Lonzo Ball.
Not enough was done in the offseason to address the point guard position, Patrick Williams has taken a step backward, and the defense is off to a 23rd-ranked start.
Instead of the iconic bull-head logo, Chicago is perhaps better represented by a hamster running on a wheel. Things are technically happening, but no progress is actually being made.
If a rebuild is to happen, it may or may not include Zach LaVine. The Bulls reportedly have “no intention” of trading the 28-year-old, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Of course, this is exactly the message a front office would want advertised even if it did want to trade a player, attempting to drive up what little value they may have.
LaVine is a terrific scorer, although he’s long been a flawed defender who hasn’t impacted winning the way a multi-time All-Star should. Now in his 10th season, he has only finished with a positive swing rating twice in his career, with the Bulls currently getting beat by 6.7 points per 100 possessions with their star guard on the floor.
Given his contract, the market for the 28-year-old isn’t going to be strong.
Now in the second season of a five-year, $215 million deal, LaVine will average $46 million from 2024 to 2027.
While he could theoretically fill a role on the post-Harden 76ers, Philly’s plan to keep cap space open next summer would be ruined by taking on this kind of money.
The Bulls would be smart to shop LaVine immediately, even if it means swapping him for salary relief and one first-round pick.
Fact or Fiction: Fiction. Chicago should be doing everything it can to begin a rebuild and get off LaVine’s contract. His return won’t be great, though.
James Harden’s trade value has shrunk considerably with each request to be moved, starting from his sky-high value going from the Houston Rockets to the Brooklyn Nets to the role players and draft picks the Los Angeles Clippers got him for now.
While he’s getting older (34) with a considerable amount of mileage on the tires (already 68th all-time in regular-season and playoff minutes), could he already be on the last leg of his career?
Former Phoenix Suns general manager Ryan McDonough thinks so, noting the lack of teams lining up to acquire Harden in his latest trade saga.
“I think for Harden, individually, there’s not a lot of interest. The majority of teams do not want him at any price, even a non-guaranteed minimum, where he’d have to earn it,” he told SiriusXM NBA Radio. “I think it has to work in L.A.—if it doesn’t work, I think there’s a chance that he’s out of the league next year.”
There’s no doubt that interest in Harden has waned in recent years, although signing a player to a minimum contract is far different than having to give up multiple first-round picks and players for him.
The 10-time All-Star still led the NBA in assists last season (10.7), averaged over 20 points per game for the 11th straight season and had some monster playoff performances (40-plus points in two games against the Boston Celtics).
If all Harden costs next summer is the mid-level exception, there should still be a number of asset-strapped contenders (Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns) that should welcome him to their core.
Even if things with the Clippers go south, it’s unfathomable to think that Harden wouldn’t even get a contract offer from one of the 30 teams next year.
Fact or Fiction: Fiction. Harden’s value has severely decreased, but he’d still find a home on a contender as a free agent.
While the Bulls figure out exactly what the hell they’re doing this season, the future of DeMar DeRozan will take center stage. A free agent next summer, there’s no reason for the forward to re-sign if Chicago begins a rebuild.
This is probably the 34-year-old’s last chance to get one more hefty contract given his age, even if he’s still playing at a high level.
When asked about his lack of a contract extension, however, the six-time All-Star gave a surprising answer.
“I honestly don’t think about it at all. I never have. It doesn’t worry me or stress me out. Again, I control what I can control. And in due time, let it speak for itself,” DeRozan told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
Good for DeRozan if this is the truth. Having already made over a quarter of a billion dollars in salary alone throughout his career ($256.4 million by the end of this year), perhaps money is no longer the worry that it likely once was.
Overall, he seems like one of the more loyal players in the NBA, sticking through a bad situation with the San Antonio Spurs following his trade from the Toronto Raptors and now doing all he can to try to get a subpar Bulls roster back to the playoffs without a whisper of a trade request.
For most players, we’d call BS on not thinking about a contract. For DeRozan, though, we actually believe him.
Fact or Fiction: Fact. DeRozan has made enough money in his career that he should be quite comfortable, with his focus entirely on basketball instead.
As the Philadelphia 76ers canvas the league to see which stars become available, two Eastern Conference rivals are particularly interesting.
According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, the 76ers “will monitor” Donovan Mitchell’s situation in Cleveland while OG Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors “is loved” by current Sixers and former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.
Mitchell is clearly in a tier by himself here, an All-Star starter last season who leads the NBA in scoring at 32.5 points per game. He’s under contract for this year and next, with only a complete collapse of a season by the Cavs leading to any sort of potential trade.
Anunoby is a far more realistic target, though. The question becomes whether Philly tries to trade for the two-way star before the deadline or waits until the summer of 2024 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
The Sixers could have $55.6 million in cap space following the James Harden trade, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, giving them room to sign Anunoby outright while still having significant space leftover. Of course, this would mean not having the 2022-23 All-Defensive team member available for a 2024 playoff run.
Expect Philly to make a run at Anunoby at the deadline if the Raptors begin to fall out of the playoff picture, with Mitchell still a pipe dream at this point.
Fact or Fiction: Fact that the Sixers can get Anunoby before the deadline, fiction that Mitchell becomes available this season.
