NBA Trade Rumors |

[DanSchwartzgan]

Another "great insider article" by Fisher. I am just baffled by all the information given in this journalism masterpiece...

https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/ma...esota-swap

LOL, I thought about you when I read that one.

  I just hate this kind of articles. Just looks like he has some kind of quota to fulfill, because there is absolutely no information in it.

I tend to agree with you and 15th.  Not much meat in this particular “story”.  However, it is probably worth noting when Mike posts about a player on multiple occasions.  Thinking through what he’s written the last few years, the vast majority of his scoops have been to shoot down the ideas of others.  There is certainly value there, but it isn’t very fulfilling.  It is pretty easy to go to a source and say “we looking at Player X”?  Source:  “No”.  Post the story.

That’s not to say he hasn’t had a name in advance of an event in the past.  He was right about Jordan.  He was right about Kemba.  So, it appears to me that someone in the Mav’s world did NOT say no when Mike asked about Covington.  They might have gone as far as to say “yeah, we like him”.  I doubt seriously they got into what the structure of a deal might look like.  Bottom line...Mike writing about Covington on multiple occasions has positive implications.  It doesn’t mean a deal will get done.  But it probably confirms interest and confirming interest tells us something about direction.

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BTW, framework of a Covington deal isn’t to hard to imagine.  Covington fits the TPE.  Lee provides an expiring deal that covers Dieng.  The problem is that puts Dallas $3mm over the tax.  Easy fix is to send out Jackson at $3.2mm (probably the GSW #2 also).  Minnesota is then a major player in cap space in 2020 and gets a couple of minor pieces in Jackson and the high #2.

The issue isn’t whether Minnesota will do such a deal.  The issue is competitive offers.