Plenty more deals waiting to happen as deadline looms

NEW ORLEANS - Jahlil Okafor viewed New Orleans during All-Star weekend with a different lens than usual, since he thought there was a chance it may have been his next home.

That's life in the rumor mill.

Welcome to trade season, already underway in earnest and will remain so until Thursday afternoon's deadline.

All-Star DeMarcus Cousins is changing his address from Sacramento to New Orleans, Serge Ibaka was sent last week from Orlando to Toronto and the next few days will likely see Carmelo Anthony, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Reggie Jackson and many more all discussed by various teams.

"Here we go again," said Okafor, the Philadelphia 76ers forward who missed two games before the break amid looming trade speculation.

The motivations are many, and obvious in most cases. Some teams will look to add pieces with hopes of enhancing their postseason hopes; others are looking to build toward the future.

The jostling is already well underway, and the Cousins move would be huge for New Orleans if they can convince him to sign an extension this summer. Ibaka figures to bolster the Raptors' chances in the East, and Cleveland moved the injured Chris Andersen to Charlotte to open up a roster spot just in case the Cavs have a chance to add a piece that might help LeBron James when it's time to defend last season's title.

Even the Cavs are looking to get better.

"To know that everyone is trying to build their team or wanting to get their team to try to get to where you are and try to knock you off, it's a motivating factor," said Cleveland captain LeBron James, who's vying to make a seventh consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.

"It's also a humbling factor to know that I've been in this position for so long."

With Cousins now moved, the next huge domino to fall might be Anthony, who has a no-trade clause but has gone through enough trying times with the New York Knicks that he just might be persuaded to drop that stipulation in his contract.

The Knicks were tied for fourth in the East in mid-December; they're now 12th, having lost 21 of their last 28 games.

Anthony said during All-Star weekend that he was bolstered by support from fellow stars.

"For me, it's good to see the support from my peers despite everything I have been having to deal with," Anthony said.

"When you have your peers who understand it, they're the ones who are actually going through similar situations and can relate to those types of situations because they're in it. So to have my peers speak up and talk about that, it means a lot to me."

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls could lose Gibson in free agency this summer, and the Boston Celtics, who could easily have the No 1 pick in this year's draft thanks to a past deal with the Brooklyn Nets, are believed to be a potential landing spot for Butler if the Bulls are ready to go into a full rebuilding mode for the coming years.

Associated Press

All-Star ratings climb

The NBA All-Star game drew an average audience of 7.8 million viewers in the US, making it the most-viewed All-Star broadcast since 2013.

Turner Sports announced the numbers on Monday. The number of viewers peaked at 8.5 million and the total audience was up 3 percent from last year's game.

The hype surrounding the game centered on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook playing on the Western Conference team together.

Durant left Oklahoma City last summer to join Golden State, leaving his longtime teammate behind. Westbrook did not hide his dissatisfaction with Durant, which ramped up the intrigue heading into Sunday's game.

The two shared the court for just 81 seconds, and Oklahoma City posted the highest local market rating with a 10.9.