We catch you up on the latest scuttle on trade-deadline week, including new Capela rumors
CAPELA BEING SHOPPED? Rockets big man Clint Capela, averaging 13.9 points and 13.8 rebounds this season on 62.9 percent shooting, has been a major part of Houston's success over the past four seasons. So it was a bit surprising when, in the middle of the Super Bowl, Woj dropped a bomb on us, as he is apt to do, regarding the Rockets and Capela. Houston is shopping their starting center to teams in the East – like Atlanta, for one – in hopes of flipping him for draft assets they could then use to acquire a strong wing player.
Capela is currently in Year-2 of a five-year, $90 million contract, so whoever acquires him is making a big-time commitment and losing a lot of future cap flexibility. At the same time, Capela is one of the better starting centers in the league – extremely productive, capable of blocking shots on defense and producing terror out of the pick-and-roll. (He and Trae Young would be a nasty tandem in those types of sets.) Capela could very well be worth the price.
MORE TRADE SCUTTLE: As we enter trade-deadline week, the rumors are starting to get hot and heavy.
The Timberwolves' asking price for Robert Covington, which we had heard to be quite high, is reportedly two first-rounders. That's... ludicrous. Regardless, Houston and Philadelphia are at the front of the line in the sweepstakes for the talented 3-and-D forward.
Golden State is listening to pitches for D'Angelo Russell, even though many thought they'd wait until the summer to trade him. Could be a smart move for the Warriors, as the Timberwolves have been desperate to land the All-Star guard for a while.
The Clippers are looking around for wing depth, even though they have Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Moe Harkless manning those spots.
Dennis Smith Jr. is drawing interest from the Timberwolves and Magic. Smith is a solid buy-low candidate right now.
The Mavs, who lack wing depth, have kicked the tires on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
KOBE TRIBUTES CONTINUE: From the Super Bowl to the Australian Open, the tributes to fallen legend Kobe Bryant continue.
What's more, Jason Terry, who was supposed to coach against Gianna Bryant's team the day of the accident, talks about how awful that entire ordeal was from his perspective. And Dirk Nowitzki says he'll never get over the fact that we lost Kobe. He's not the only one.
ALL-STAR VOTING: With the release of All-Star player and fan votes every, we get a good glimpse of which players are more popular among their peers as opposed to others. We put together a research on the matter, and, well, Klay Thompson doesn't get much love from other players for some reason.
Oh, also, we ranked the players with the most All-Star fan votes in league history. Needless to say, LeBron is a very popular guy.
PATH TO STARDOM: It was far from an easy journey for Brandon Ingram to go from coveted trade piece to legit All-Star, but he pulled it off, and he deserves a lot of credit for that, as do the Pelicans for putting him in the position to excel.
BUYER'S REMORSE: Al Horford's fit with Philadelphia has been an awkward one, as he should probably be a full-time center at this point in his career, which is impossible while sharing the floor with Joel Embiid. The Sixers are still trying to figure it out with their big offseason signing.
MOMENTOUS OCCASION: San Diego State retired Kawhi Leonard's jersey over the weekend, in what was a nice ceremony that was attended by what looked like most of the Clippers' entire organization.
DISGRUNTLED BIG MAN: Karl-Anthony Towns was not pleased whatsoever with not being named an All-Star this year, saying that he's used to be disrespected since entering the league.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you haven't won a game since November, KAT.
CAVS IN DISARRAY: The Cavaliers have been losing a lot lately, and first-year head coach John Beilein has run out of answers. The constant trade rumors surrounding Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson certainly haven't helped matters.
CRISIS AVERTED: The Nets may have avoided disaster with regards to Kyrie Irving's knee injury. The team announced he'd be out for at least one week with a medial ligament sprain to his knee.
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