A second Australian has had their NBA life uprooted in as many days as the league’s trade deadline edges ever closer.
Stay up to date with every trade deal as it happens ahead of the February 6 cut-off.
Watch NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream an average 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs.| New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
FEBRUARY 2 — SECOND AUSSIE VICTIM AS HAWKS DEAL AGAIN
Duop Reath has become the second Aussie in as many days to have their NBA life uprooted, with the big man traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday morning.
Reath, who brings floor-spacing ability as a shooting big, links up with Boomers teammate Dyson Daniels in the Peachtree State.
However, ruled out for the remainder of the season to undergo foot surgery, Reath is every chance of being waived by the Hawks, who could open up two roster spots and eye a bigger-picture trade.
In the deal, shooter Vit Krejci moved to the Blazers, with the Hawks acquiring Reath and two second-round picks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The 29-year-old, who’s of South-Sudanese descent but was raised in Western Australia, played a career-low 8.1 minutes per game this season in Portland, where he’d spent his entire NBA stint to this point.
Prior to his injury, he was stuck behind preferred big men Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams in the Trail Blazers’ rotation.
Reath averaged 9.1 points in an average 17.9 minutes played in the 2023-24 season, with the 206-centimetre paint force — who’s extended his shooting game beyond the three-point arc — hoping for more playing time wherever he ends up.
Portland currently sits ninth in the Western Conference standings at 23-26; right in the thick of the play-in race.
Krejci, meanwhile, is averaging 2.2 three-pointers made per game on 42.3 per cent shooting, which ranks inside the NBA’s top 20, with the move being lauded as “sneaky-smart” by Portland.
It comes after Atlanta — which now has seven future second-rounders at its disposal — cemented its new direction by trading All-Star guard Trae Young just a matter of weeks ago, with the Hawks still teetering in play-in positioning.
FEBRUARY 1 — AUSSIE WAIVED AS PART OF THREE-TEAM SWAP
The first big trade in the days leading up to the February 6 deadline saw the Cleveland Cavaliers send forward De’Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis, with the Chicago Bulls acquiring veteran Dario Saric and two future second-round picks as part of the deal.
The victim in the deal was little-used Australian forward Luke Travers, who was cut as the Cavaliers sought to make roster room for both incoming Kings guards.
The move reportedly freed up around $50 million in salary and luxury tax space for the Cavs, while also allowing them to get under the second apron next season.
Ellis, an impending free agent, was being monitored around the Association ahead of the deadline as an affordable 3-and-D guard with high upside for a contending roster.
Meanwhile, Hunter could still be moved by the Kings, who, sitting in last place in the Western Conference, look to blow up their much-maligned roster that includes declining veterans DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.
But regardless of if he remains in Sacramento past the deadline, the franchise’s fans will hardly be pleased with owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé’s latest dealings.
Hunter, who can shoot and play good defence, is a solid enough piece for Sacramento, but he’s not a needle-mover by any means.
The intriguing Schroeder element is that he’s now been traded a staggering eight times in his career, having in the past rejected an $84m ($120m AUD) extension from the Los Angeles Lakers.
Discussion about this post