[Redneck]

Every now and than I talk to a friend of mine who works inside the front office of one of the NBA's 30 teams. When I talk to her I attempt to gather information about trades and what not going on in the NBA. Well yesterday I got a bunch of stuff from her and I thought I'd relay it back here.

The most busy teams a month before the trade deadline are Phoenix, Cleveland, and Portland. All three are looking for different types of deals.

Cleveland is looking for that missing piece. They are shoping Illguaskas and his expiring contract as their main trade bait. They have interest in Washington's Antwan Jamison, and Utah's Andrei Kirilenko.

Phoenix is trying to move salary. They have listened to many offers about Amare Stoudemire. The most serious contender for the all-star forward is the New Jersey Nets; but the Charlotte Bobcats and Portland Trailblazers are interested as well.

Portland, unless they can acquire an all-star, is not interested in moving any of their core pieces. They're looking for parts basically. Which makes a lot of sense with the injury monster setting up home in the Rose Garden.

The economy has forced teams into becoming buyers or salers. A lot of teams fall into the sellers catagory, and here are a few which could make moves around the deadline.

Philadelphia is looking to move pieces; mostly Dalembert. Denver seems to be the biggest suitor for Dalembert, as Denver could give up Kenyon Martin for him.

Milwaukee wants to move Michael Redd. They feel he is no longer needed and he is just too injury prone to keep around.

Detroit's trying to move Hamilton and Prince. They have had some discussion with the Utah Jazz over Carlos Boozer but that has since died down. Detroit could potentially try to get Stoudemire from Phoenix as well.

Sacramento is another team looking to move some players. Kevin Martin's name keeps coming up in trade rumors, as does Kenny Thomas and Andres Nocioni. It's a good bet that both Thomas and Nocioni will not be with the Kings come March. If they can't trade them both will likely be waived.

Washington has publically stated that it's not going to move certain players, but privately almost everyone is available. The Wizards do want fair value in return for everyone but Arena, who could be had for a used hankie, and they wont be lowballed. Arenas does have some suitors out there though. New York seems interested, but probably wont make an offer until the off-season, the Clippers also have some interest.

Buyers.
There are remarkibly a lot of buyers out there, despite the economy.

The Bulls seem to be getting more active as we get closer to the deadline. They want to move Heinrich but want a lot in return for him, which will likely prevent them from moving him. Salmons and Miller are also likely candidates to be moved.

Memphis has become a buyer this year, though they do not understand the concept apparently. They have offered low ball offers to the Jazz for Ronnie Brewer and to the Suns for Channing Frye; both offers were rejected. Memphis will likely use it's cap room to acquire player from teams scared of the luxary tax.

Like Memphis, Oklahoma City is under the cap and is looking to buy. We already seen the Thunder buy Eric Maynor off the Jazz, which also gave the Thunder Matt Harpring. The Thunder plan to try and trade Harpring and their cap to try and land some very good players near the deadline. The Thunder do not want anyone with a contract over 3 years though, which rules our Arenas; though teammates Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler are a possibility.

Up-in-the-air.
Some teams have not really decided weather they are going to buy or sell this trade deadline.

San Antonio may make a move, they may not make a move. If they make a move it's going to be a blockbuster. They have 4 targeted players; Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire, Sacramento's Kevin Martin, Utah's Carlos Boozer, and Los Angeles Lakers' Andrew Bynum. To get any of those guys the Spurs would be willing to part with Manu Ginobili.

Utah, who was a seller early this season, hasn't decided weather it's going to try to get under the cap or attempt to make a deep run into the playoffs. The likely trigger for which way the Jazz go will be their record at the All-star break. If the team is still playing like it is now(4th in the west) look for the Jazz to try and use one of their two trade exceptions to bring in a player like Brendan Haywood or Kenny Thomas, if they are hovering around the 8th seed however look for the Jazz to shed some salaries. The likely pieces the Jazz are to move are Kyle Korver and CJ Miles. There is a very good chance, roughly 90%, that the Jazz do not move Carlos Boozer.

Standing Pat.

The Lakers, Celtics, and Magic are all likely to stand pat and not make a move this year. The Lakers have the highest payroll in the NBA this year and are the defending champions and feel like they have everything they need. Boston is likely going to look to add someone like Kenny Thomas who gets waived. Orlando seems content with their roster.

New Orleans finally got under the luxary tax so don't expect anything out of them.

Wildcard.
Houston is without a doubt the biggest trade deadline wild card the NBA has had in some years. They have a solid team with guys they don't want to trade, but they also have a huge expiring contract of a disgruntled and non-used All-star talent in Tracy McGrady. The Rockets could hold onto T-macs contract and use the cap room to try and lure a big name free agent, or they could part with it to a team trying to drop salary and acquire some high first round draft picks.