On Saturday, word began to trickle out indicating that the Sacramento Kings and the Brooklyn Nets were engaged in trade talks for the services of Nets point guard Deron Williams. At 12-15, the 2014-15 NBA season has been less than ideal for Brooklyn; as such, the team has expressed their interest in cleaning house.
However, while Sacramento is a willing suitor for Williams, there is one hitch holding up a potential deal between the two sides: Mason Plumlee. Per Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:
The Sacramento Kings' insistence on a trade package for Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams that includes center Mason Plumlee has pushed talks into a hiatus, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
After the teams' front office officials again talked on Wednesday, both sides insisted they weren't budging on Plumlee's inclusion into a proposed trade and agreed there was no use discussing the deal further in the near future, league sources said.
"Talks aren't dead, but nothing's going to happen with Plumlee involved," a league source told Yahoo Sports.
After winning a gold medal in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup over the summer with Team USA, Plumlee has been averaging 8.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.0 BPG in 19.6 MPG for the Nets. At 6'11", he'd serve as a nice back-court mate for Kings star DeMarcus Cousins. Though, hopefully there would be no lingering tension between the two after Cousins was cut from the Team USA roster in favor of Plumlee over the summer.
We'll have to wait and see whether Brooklyn buckles on their no-trade stance for the talented, young center. Either way, if the Nets are truly interested in shedding dead-weight like Williams (who is averaging near-career lows in points and assists per game), they'll have to accept the fact that any trade to ship him off from Brooklyn will not be terribly favorable for them.
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