NBA’s trade deadline approaching, so buckle up

The only catch is that they would have to be bought out, waived and re-signed somewhere else by March 1 to be eligible for the playoffs, and they can’t rejoin former teams for a calendar year after they were moved (Lee can’t be bought out in Boston to sign with Golden State, for instance).

This will leave a number of disappointed fans wondering what happened after a relatively quiet deadline Thursday. Who could be available but going unnoticed?

Markieff Morris has been unhappy with the Phoenix Suns ever since they traded his twin brother, Marcus, last off-season.

Just one game behind Charlotte for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons made a move to add a young scorer in Tobias Harris from the Orlando Magic.

In exchange for Gasol and Tony Snell, Sacramento is offering Kosta Koufos, Ben McLemore and a lowering of the lottery protections of this year’s first-round pick owed to the Bulls.

With the trade deadline only a handful of hours away, the Boston Celtics have not budged from their early stance on players like Dwight Howard and Al Horford who can hit free agency this summer, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski. A lot of draft picks, including as many as three first-rounders this year (their own, the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected first-round pick and the Dallas Mavericks’ top-seven protected first-round pick), another in 2017 that could be swapped with Brooklyn’s (which seems likely), and two more in 2018 (their own and, of course, Brooklyn’s).

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the more active teams in the league surrounding the trade deadline, hoping to unload someone from their crowded big man rotation while adding more shooting. “The reality is all of these rumors and all this talk that’s gone on, what 99 percent of it never is going to happen?” Rockets know how to make deals, so it isn’t over.

It’s pretty obvious that things aren’t working between Houston and Dwight Howard at this point.

The NBA trade deadline is set for today at 3:00 p.m. ET. Like Chicago, the Hawks have been a bit disappointing this year and could try to get rid of veterans with value, even if Teague has another year still on his deal. One move that will have a direct impact on the post season is the Thunder choosing to ship out proven veteran back up point guard DJ Augustin, Steve Novak as well as two second round picks to Denver for Randy Foye. If a team had, say, kicked the tires on a Lawson deal, it might want to take a low-risk flier if he’s on the market. Organizations are always trying to improve for the present or the future, although this scenario would hurt in both instances.

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