Brian Windhorst and a team of ESPN's Insiders sort out life and the news from in and around the NBA world, including potential trade season limbo in Phoenix, a polarizing player in Memphis and the rising play of a Dallas big man.
The Phoenix Suns are operating in an unusual world, interested in making a trade for needed depth in an environment with three quasi-owners at the moment.
Current owner Robert Sarver is suspended, selling the team and, even though he's barred from communicating with anyone, still in control of any trades that surpass a certain agreed-upon dollar amount.
Acting governor Sam Garvin is in charge of the day-to-day and said he has a sign-off on trades, but only to a certain point. And Mat Ishbia has an agreement to buy the team and is preparing for a midseason takeover, but it's not expected he will be through the vetting process before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
To understand why the Suns haven't yet been able to find a deal for disgruntled forward Jae Crowder as injuries have ravaged the team and disrupted a 20-18 start, Phoenix's ownership morass is a contributing factor.
When NBA commissioner Adam Silver suspended Sarver in September, the league office laid out a series of rules regarding his involvement with the team for the next year. Some of these provisions, particularly those preventing changes to top positions on the business side of the operation without Sarver's approval, have been reported on extensively by ESPN's Baxter Holmes.
But one key provision has given Sarver a remaining piece of power.
Sarver still has to give personal sign-off on any deal for a player with a salary that is more than the current "average player salary," multiple league sources confirmed to ESPN. This would include any luxury tax payments, which the Suns are currently projected to pay.
The current average player salary is $10.8 million. Crowder's salary is $10.2 million. And the Suns, according to sources, have had talks about various multiplayer trades over the past few months that would all likely have to end up on Sarver's desk.
This is a rare circumstance within the NBA, having to negotiate trades without talking directly to the person who must approve it. There are other provisions that the acting leadership of the Suns cannot do without his permission, sources said, such as attempting to relocate the franchise or change the lease for the arena. But the trade approval aspect is perhaps the most relevant to the way the team is handling basketball business in this period.
Occasionally, NBA lawyers have created such one-off arrangements to manage unique situations. A decade ago when Phil Jackson was named president of the New York Knicks and then-fiancée Jeanie Buss was president of the Los Angeles Lakers, the league had an arrangement in which the league office had oversight on any dealings between the franchises to prevent perceived conflicts of interest.
Garvin, for his part, acknowledged Sarver still had some say in trades in an interview with the Arizona Republic in December. Though, Garvin might've undersold just to what level Sarver could still have approval power.
"If we wanted to do a massive trade that would be for three max contracts and bring on say $150 million in payroll beyond the $150 million we have? He's still the majority shareholder," Garvin told the newspaper. "He owns 30% of the shares, and he's managing the sale.
"So for super extraordinary items like that, I have the ability to consult with him and get his opinion on it, but day-to-day stuff -- regular trades, business decisions, all business and basketball matters -- I'm the final say."
The threshold, in reality, is way less than a max player. Just about any trade for Crowder would likely have to pass through Garvin to Sarver. It should be noted that Garvin promoted James Jones to president of basketball operations without Sarver's sign-off, Garvin said.
Ishbia has shown interest in buying teams in the past and has been a known entity to the league. The belief is the league will eventually sign off and send the sale to vote amongst the owners. But even the quickest approvals for ownership transfers take 60 to 90 days, and Ishbia's agreement with Sarver came just before the holidays while the league is also engaged in collective bargaining talks.
That means the team might still be in this limbo in early February. But if Ishbia is nearing the finish line of getting control, his influence might loom larger than other ownership voices.
This all doesn't mean the team can't or won't make a trade in the short-term. The team started the season 15-6 despite a heel injury to star point guard Chris Paul. But they are just 5-12 since, as injuries to Devin Booker, Cameron Johnson and Cameron Payne have zapped their momentum while Crowder remains away from the team waiting to be moved.
Anything Phoenix does seems like it could take quite a process.
As the Dallas Mavericks stay hot, Tim MacMahon looks at how the team might manage a major contributor's contract situation:
Is Christian Wood a Mavs cornerstone or trade candidate?
The Mavericks have taken a cautious approach, to say the least, when it comes to Wood's role in their long-term plans.
"We'll have to do a little bit of showing him, and he'll have to do a little bit of showing us," Dallas general manager Nico Harrison said days after sending four end-of-the-bench players and a late first-round pick to the Houston Rockets to acquire Wood, a talented big man who has bounced around the league.
The Mavs haven't exactly made it a priority to woo Wood. Coach Jason Kidd didn't have a direct conversation with Wood about coming off the bench until after confirming that was the plan on media day. Kidd was also reluctant to use Wood in closing situations. After an Oct. 29 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kidd went out of his way to note he gave Wood a chance to close -- "and it didn't go well on either end" -- when the Mavs blew a 16-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation. Wood grumbled a bit, both privately and publicly, about wanting a bigger role.
To Wood's credit, he has seized the opportunity after recently becoming a starter, a move made in large part due to the ineffectiveness (JaVale McGee) and injury (Maxi Kleber) of other Mavs big men. Wood is averaging an efficient 19.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game as a starter. Dallas is 7-1 when Wood starts alongside superstar Luka Doncic.
That period coincides with the most dominant run of Doncic's career and a soft stretch of schedule. But Wood has paired well with Doncic by scoring in a variety of ways and earning praise from Kidd for his effort and attention to detail on defense, the primary reason the Mavs were reluctant to rely on him too much.
Those concerns still exist, and there are doubts about how Wood will fare as a defensive anchor in the playoffs. Dallas has allowed 119.8 points per 100 possessions when Wood plays as the lone big man in lineups with Doncic, according to data from pbpstats.com. The flip side: Those lineups have lit it up, scoring 121.9 points per 100 possessions.
The Mavs have a little more than a month to figure out whether Wood fits long-term or if they're willing to risk losing their second best scorer for nothing for the second consecutive summer, on the heels of Jalen Brunson's free agency departure to the Knicks.
Wood is now eligible to sign a four-year, $77 million extension, an idea that brings a smile to his face.
"I'm happy to be here. That's what I'll say," Wood told ESPN after his 30-point performance in a Christmas win against the Lakers. "The vibe is good. ... I'm open to it."
Sources told ESPN the Mavs have interest in a two-year extension, which would be for a maximum of $36 million. That would give Wood security and preserve long-term flexibility for the Mavs, who could have significant salary-cap space in the summer of 2025.
Asked if he needed a four-year commitment, Wood laughed and said, "I can't answer that."
If his answer is ultimately no, the Mavs' front office will have some difficult questions to answer before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
One of those could be: What's the trade market for Wood?
Here's Tim Bontemps on Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks after a remarkable conversation last week in Toronto:
Grizzlies know Brooks' true impact on winning
The question posed to Grizzlies star Ja Morant started as an inquiry into Brooks' sometimes questionable shot selection.
"We don't care," Morant said with a smile after Memphis' 119-106 win against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
The question evolved into whether Brooks is misunderstood as a player. And Morant was equally defiant in his response.
"One hundred percent," he said.
Morant is the face of the franchise and the engine driving the Grizzlies toward a third straight playoff berth. His thoughts on Brooks notwithstanding, there are few players more polarizing than the Grizzlies' sixth-year forward.
Brooks' physical defense and boisterous personality are part of the bedrock of what the Grizzlies have built over the past few seasons as they've remade themselves into a contender behind their new-age Big Three of Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. Yet Brooks is one of the most foul-prone players in the league who never hesitates to let shots fly.
"He's the head of the snake on the defensive end for us," Morant said. "Guards the best player, takes on that challenge every single day.
"Obviously when he's out there, being Dillon, he gives us a lot of energy. And then once he goes to the offensive end and makes shots, it's hard for teams to guard us."
When the shots go in -- like in Thursday's win, during which he poured in 25 points on 7-for-14 shooting and 4-for-7 from 3-point range just a few miles from his hometown in the Toronto suburbs -- Brooks is lauded as the jolt Memphis needs to contend in the Western Conference.
When the shots aren't falling -- like during Memphis' second-round exit to the Golden State Warriors, when he shot 31.6% on more than 15 shots per game during the series -- Brooks is criticized as a weak link of one of the league's most explosive offenses.
"I don't really care about what the analysts think," Brooks said after the win over the Raptors, looking out at the assembled reporters for his news conference behind a pair of sunglasses. "Because I guard my ass off every single night. I give my heart out every single night. My guys can live with some of the shots I take."
Then, on cue, Brooks delivered a classic line.
"My coaches be on me about being more of a playmaker tonight," he said.
"Six assists tonight. Kudos to me."
And here's front-office insider Bobby Marks on the newest trick in salary-cap management:
Are teams using a two-way loophole for roster building?
An under-the-radar trend continues to develop when it comes to how teams are subtracting and adding to their rosters.
Instead of targeting Jan. 5, the first day 10-day contracts can be signed, teams have taken advantage of the two-way contract rule. Here is how it has worked so far:
Because a two-way player does not count toward the 15-man roster and, more importantly, not included in team salary, there's been a rotating door of players added this season.
The Miami Heat have an open roster spot but are only $192,895 below the luxury tax. As a result, five players have signed a total of seven two-way contracts since the offseason started.
A good example is Orlando Robinson, who signed a two-way in mid-November, was waived 12 days later and then signed another two-way Dec. 11. Robinson had a career high of 15 points and 13 rebounds in a recent Heat win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the past week, the Mavericks, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers all waived (Tyler Dorsey, Braxton Key and Saben Lee) and then immediately signed players (A.J. Lawson, Jared Rhoden, Louis King).
The 76ers could have signed King to their open roster but did not because it would have cost an additional $27,000 per day in salary and tax.
Even with the 10-day window opening Jan. 5, this should only continue because eight of the eleven teams with open roster spots (the Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Heat, 76ers and Suns) are either in the luxury tax or right at the threshold.
Teams also rely on roster flexibility heading into the Feb. 9 trade deadline. Approximately 84% of players that have signed 10-day contracts in the last three seasons agreed to terms after the deadline.
Speaking of roster spots, keep an eye on Jan. 7, the date when 29 contracts become guaranteed.
This will not affect the New Orleans Pelicans' Jose Alvarado or Brooklyn Nets' Yuta Watanabe, but teams like the Knicks (Svi Mykhailiuk and Ryan Arcidiacono) and the Boston Celtics (Justin Jackson) which could have an eye toward opening a roster spot as the trade deadline approaches.