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NBA Trade Rumors: John Wall To Celtics, Ricky Rubio To Wizards, And Isaiah Thomas To Timberwolves In Blockbuster Three-Team Deal

By Adrian Lawhorn
Published on: 10:31 PST, Oct 23, 2016

According to the latest NBA trade rumors, the Boston Celtics are still trying to add a star player to their roster. The Celtics have been linked to a number of All-Stars over the past few weeks, and Yibada has opined that Wizards point guard John Wall may be their current trade target. The news website China Topix reports that despite some talk to the contrary, the Minnesota Timberwolves still have point guard Ricky Rubio on the trading block. A fresh trade scenario has surfaced online that does indeed involve John Wall, Ricky Rubio, and the Boston Celtics.

The rumored trade proposal points to a three-team, four-player swap that would bring NBA All-Star John Wall to Beantown. The Washington Wizards would receive Ricky Rubio and a trio of first-round draft choices (one pick in 2018, in addition to a pair of picks in 2019). The Minnesota Timberwolves would come out of this deal with NBA All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas and power forward Jonas Jerebko.

This NBA trade rumor that features three quality point guards switching teams is an interesting one, but there is a problem with the structure of this hypothetical transaction. Boston would be sending out $11.6 million in salary, and due to NBA trade and salary cap rules, their incoming salary would have to closely match this figure. However, John Wall has three years and $51 million remaining on his contract with Washington, so he would count as $17 million in incoming salary in this proposed deal — and that is over $5 million more than the Celtics can accept for the duo of Thomas and Jerebko.

If these trade discussions are actually taking place, it is certainly possible that the exact parameters of the trade can be tweaked if these teams are interested in pursuing a deal such as this. However, the NBA trade rumor that is being debated in cyberspace is not a valid trade, according to league guidelines.

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Additionally, there are other reasons that this creation of the rumor mill isn’t realistic. It is highly unlikely that the Wizards would trade John Wall now, and if they ever do, it would be no sooner than around the NBA trade deadline next February. Wall and backcourt mate Bradley Beal have had a contentious relationship in Washington, which John Wall admitted to in an interview earlier this off-season, per USA Today. If the chemistry between Wall and Beal worsens, one of them could be shopped by the Wizards, but that won’t happen until they have at least half the season to show the team how well (or how poorly) the two mesh on the basketball court.

Ricky Rubio has been mentioned in many NBA trade rumors this summer and early fall, but new information has begun to come forth that perhaps the Timberwolves are no longer looking to trade their starting point guard. NBA.com just published a report that states Minnesota has received multiple offers for Rubio this off-season, but the team is not as interested in trading him as many have believed. Much like the Wall-Beal situation, the Timberwolves want to give it time and see exactly what they have in rookie lead guard Kris Dunn before making a move with Ricky Rubio.

On the surface, this rumored trade proposal is compelling in that each team mentioned would appear to have reasons that this swap could be appealing to them. But, in order for this four-player, three-draft-pick offer to be realistic, it would have to be altered to such a degree that the final “legal” deal would barely resemble the one that is being discussed online. This is an engaging NBA trade rumor for fans to talk about, but it is squarely in the “fantasy” category in terms of its potential authenticity.

Current NBA trade rumors are sending out signals that the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, and Minnesota Timberwolves are involved in trade discussions behind the scenes. If they are indeed talking, anything that comes out of those conversations will not closely resemble the blockbuster deal that is being reported via the internet that includes John Wall, Ricky Rubio, and Isaiah Thomas.

[Featured Image by Nick Wass/AP Images]

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