The NBA season is now a couple of weeks old, but there are a plethora of rumors already swirling around the league. Even though the trade deadline is still over three months away, several players already find themselves on the trade block - or at least rumored to be. Here are the latest NBA rumors you need to know:
Celtics not interested in DeMarcus Cousins
The Boston Celtics have been linked to DeMarcus Cousins throughout the past year, but the Sacramento Kings were not interested in dealing their troubled All-Star big man. Now that the Kings are willing to listen to offers for Cousins, ESPN's Zach Lowe reports that the Celtics are not interested:
"A year ago, six months ago, I would have said yes," Lowe replied. "And what's interesting to me -- look, everyone knows the Celtics have the goods to make a real offer, although ... maybe that Nets pick isn't the golden ticket we thought it was going to be. We'll see. I think the Nets will regress, long story short. So I think (Celtics president of basketball operations) Danny (Ainge) would gamble. I don't think that is the majority view of the organization, including the coach.
"I don't think Brad Stevens wants to touch DeMarcus Cousins with a 10-foot pole. And that carries a lot of weight there. Not only that, they just signed a center. And they think Al Horford is a center, and will play more center as pieces come and go in Boston. And so I don't know what that does to Boston's hunger to acquire a superstar big man who is going to be a locker room question mark.
"Right now I would lean Danny Ainge is a maybe, the Celtics overall are a no."
Cousins is averaging 26.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game so far this season.
Hayward won't commit to re-signing with Jazz
Gordon Hayward has been the face of the Utah Jazz since being drafted six years ago, and is the key reason why they're expected to end a four season drought and return to the playoffs. The Jazz are hoping that's enough for Hayward to want to re-sign with the team as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, but according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Hayward isn't committing to that yet:
The Jazz hope they've given Hayward plenty of reasons to stay in Salt Lake City for the long term. They plan for him to be the centerpiece of a franchise that snaps a five-year playoff drought with a multiyear run of postseason appearances.
Hayward is happy, if not satisfied, in Utah. He's not ready to commit to re-signing with the Jazz, but that's partially because he doesn't want to clutter his mind with business when the Jazz finally seem primed to make the playoffs again.
"For me, I realized from that first year that anything can happen and anything can change," Hayward said. "Really, as a basketball player in this business, when you start to worry about where you're going to be in the future and what's going to happen the next couple of years, that's when you start to get distracted and you start to not play as well and things start to slip away. I've always been told to control what I can control. For me this year, that's helping the Jazz win as many basketball games as I can, and that's honestly what my focus is on.
"As far as what's going to happen in the future, I don't have a magic lamp or anything to say what the future holds. For me, I'm here right now and happy to be in Salt Lake, happy to play for the Jazz and excited for our upcoming season."
Hayward is averaging 22.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game so far this season.
Hornets to avoid staying at Trump hotels on road trips
The Charlotte Hornets are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference with a 7-3 record early in the season, which has put them in headlines for the first time in a while. However, the Hornets are briefly making headlines off the court as well.
Several teams are avoiding staying at President-elect Donald Trump-branded hotels, and according to Erik Spanberg of the Charlotte Business Journal, the Hornets also plan to stay elsewhere on road trips.
Three NBA teams have opted against staying at hotels branded by President-elect Donald Trump on future road trips in response to the Republican’s divisive language on race and his embrace of an adviser supported by white nationalists as one of his top White House executives. The Charlotte Hornets won’t be staying at any Trump properties on future road trips, either, but the decision to stay elsewhere had already been made before a handful of teams opted out over politics, among other factors.
A Hornets team spokesman told me Wednesday the team has stayed at Trump-brand hotels “in the past at various times” but is not scheduled to do so in the future. He did not elaborate.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks have also said they will not stay in Trump hotels while on road trips to Chicago and New York City.
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