The NBA season has barely begun, yet if the rumor mill is to be believed, there are plenty of unhappy players, coaches, and organizations. After all, how else do you explain some of the biggest names in the game being associated with trade rumors this early in the year?
It all started on Monday morning, with Boston Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine floating a rumor that Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson was looking to be traded and that the Celtics were a likely landing spot.
The logic? Well it would be a three-team trade to benefit the Warriors who suddenly have no need of Thompson’s obvious skill set…or something like that:
As you can see, the rumored deal that Scalabrine discussed with Frank Isola involved Thompson going to the Celtics in exchange for a packing including Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft as this would help provide Golden State with perimeter defense as well as a draft pick that the team could eventually flip for a young rim protector.
No doubt those are all true things for the Warriors, but three weeks in to the season and suddenly an All-Star type player is expendable?
Naturally, the Warriors denied that any talks about THompson had taken place.
On the Klay Thompson-to-Boston front, Warriors are shooting down the notion that there have been any actual talks. Interesting idea though.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) November 14, 2016
The rumor mill continued to get crazy on the West Coast. That’s because the seemingly annual tradition that is DeMarcus Cousins wanting out of Sacramento started up.
According to The Sporting News’ Sean Deveney, there may actually be some smoke to the fire surrounding the Cousins trade rumors.
“I’d say they have three months, tops,” one Western Conference general manager told Sporting News, requesting anonymity because he is not allowed to speak about other teams’ players. “Probably more like a month, or month-and-a-half, because the closer they get to the (February trade) deadline, the less they’re going to get back. If you’re trying to trade him the week of the deadline, it’s going to be tougher.”
Brace yourselves for a crazy December if these trade rumors are correct.
Alas, the rumor mill isn’t done turning in Sacramento, as fellow big man and Kentucky Wildcat Willie Cauley-Stein is believed to want out of the Kings situation due to his lack of usage under new head coach Dave Joerger.
I guess this is what happens in a world of “me-first” children playing a man’s game of professional basketball.
If this is just the first three weeks of the season, I can’t wait until rumors of Steph Curry wanting out of Oakland due to a “deteriorating relationship” with offseason signing Kevin Durant, only to be followed up by the rumors of Anthony Davis wanting out of New Orleans for “an offense that better showcases his abilities.”
After all, it appears that anything and everything is on the table in this NBA season.
