RUMOR ROUND-UP: Smoke rises but fires hard to find as deadline looms

When Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks spoke last night in preparation for today’s podcast, little was said about the current talks because none of them had yet led to real agreements. Since then, things have started to happen with the Pistons landing Simone Fonteccio and the celts acquired Xavier Tillman, both for picks, and the Timberwolves traded for Monte Morris, sending Shake Milton and Troy Brown Jr. to the Motor City. The trades basically confirm what the two have said repeatedly about the likely trade landscape this season: trades for players who are between the seventh and ninth spots in teams’ rotations.

The podcast is most valuable not for Nets news (there wasn’t any) but for Nets history. Woj and Marks talked about past deadlines, particularly the first Dwightmares and how the trade that sent Jason Kidd to Dallas came to fruition. But that was then and this is now.

So what’s the latest news? Lots of smoke, but fire, not so much.

• It appears that two teams in the Midwest, one of whose planes will land in New York tonight, may be ready to pick up something and leave something behind after tomorrow night’s game at Barclays Center.

Chris Fedor, the veteran Cleveland Knights Beat writer writes Wednesday that the Nets’ two 3-and-D specialists, Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale, are still in the Cavs’ sights, as is Lonnie Walker IV. (Jake Fischer wrote Tuesday that the Celtics are also interested in the 25-year-old who is on a one-year veteran’s minimum contract.)

Nets forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale are also still on the Cavs’ radar, while Nets guard Lonnie Walker and Grizzlies wing John Konchar are among the other potential targets worth paying attention to.

Fedor was ambiguous about who the Cavs might offer in return, but previously reported that the Nets have been interested in Dean Wade, the Cavs’ 27-year-old, 6’9″ 3-D guy. Wade is considerably cheaper and younger than both Nets. While DFS will earn $13.9 million this season and nearly $30 million, including a player option beyond this season, O’Neale is expiring and Wade will earn $5.6 million, the first year of a three-year, $18 million contract.

There’s also Caris LeVert, who the Cavs are reportedly willing to deal with. LeVert, who played three years with the Nets before being traded, is in the first year of a two-year, $32 million contract split nearly evenly. LeVert is now 29 years old.

As for the other team that is apparently still talking to the Nets, they are the milwaukee dollars, according to Brian Windhorst. They are also interested in DFS and it would seem that if the reports are true and multiple teams are pursuing the veteran big, could portends a bidding war closer to the 3:00 pm ET deadline. Teams do not agree on a bidding war and often deal directly with multiple teams, without notifying the other team. And although nothing has evolved yet, Windy said it’s not because they haven’t been talking on the phone.

“Brooklyn has been involved in a lot of different conversations,” Windhorst told ESPN colleague Tim Bontemps (at 47:10 in the Aro Collective). “They have been in conversations where they sell pieces and they have been in conversations where they buy people. Spencer Dinwiddie is the most available player if they are shopping; Maybe they put something on it to attract it. If they are selling, the question is whether they sell Royce O’Neale or Dorian Finney-Smith. The asking price for both has been quite high, but those are some actors who could be interesting.”

Speaking on ESPN earlier in the night, Windhorst said that IF the Nets decide to sell, look at Nic Claxton because he is an unrestricted free agent, but he did not indicate that they are 1) selling or 2) selling Claxton.

• Later that afternoon, after NetsDaily reported that it had heard Spencer Dinwiddie could be bought out if a market didn’t emerge for him, Dinwiddie responded with a denial…

Then, in response to fan comments, he hinted at what many have believed, that he’s not happy with his minutes, his spot in the rotation…

He also said he wanted to clear the air about another recent controversy. Zach Lowe in a column last month, wrote this: “It almost seems like Dinwiddie is on some kind of strike,” implying that he is not doing his best. (NetsDaily wrote this in response to Lowe.)

Dinwiddie also attributed the recent reports to the team’s string of losses, going from 13-10 at the beginning to 20-30 now.

In fact, people close to Dinwiddie have suggested that the Nets veteran is unhappy with Jacque Vaughn.

Keeping either of the two expiring ones would be a “bad deal,” as one league insider told NetsDaily. Unless they plan to re-sign both in the summer, which seems highly unlikely considering their luxury tax concerns, they would be losing assets. Of course, that same source said there is “no market” for Dinwiddie, who for some reason is having his worst statistical year since he was first hired by Brooklyn in 2016-17.

• Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports in his daily update echoed what Shams Charania has reported three times: that the Lakers may be interested in Dinwiddie, Finney-Smith and O’Neale.

One of the most consistent reports across the league has been Los Angeles’ interest in several Brooklyn Nets players. It appears that Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie are the two Nets who offer the Lakers the most intrigue, but Los Angeles has also shown interest in Royce O’Neale, sources said. The Nets also include Lonnie Walker, who fans will remember became a cult hero of the Lakers’ postseason run last spring and has drawn interest from multiple playoff contenders.

However, Woj has been reporting that the Lakers end up quiet and that a trade involving the three Nets, who are rumored to be on the block, would involve $44 million in contracts. That, of course, could not be characterized as “quiet.”

• In other news, The Athletic added another Nets point guard, Dennis Smith Jr. your player list who could be transferred, that is, “available on the market” in Athletic jargon.

There are four Brooklyn Nets players in this edition, with Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Smith Jr. and Spencer Dinwiddie joining Royce O’Neale.

So now we wait. As Woj told Bobby Marks on Tuesday, things start happening around 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday and move at a frenetic pace until the deadline. However, most of those deals will be small.

For the record, O’Neale was preemptively dismissed last night after the game. The Nets will not have shootaround tomorrow and the deadline, as noted, is 3:00 p.m.