Latest On Deron Williams
This summer's free agent class has something in common with the draft class — it's not obvious who the second-best available player will be, but everyone knows which guy will be the top choice. In the draft, that's Anthony Davis, while in free agency, it's Deron Williams. We know Davis is ticketed for New Orleans, but where will Williams land? ESPN.com's Chris Broussard shares a few updates on this year's top free agent in his latest Insider-only piece, so let's dive in….
Woelfel On Bucks, Raptors, Ross, Fournier
As teams continue to host players for workouts in the days leading up to the draft, the Bucks are having trouble getting all the prospects they want to see to come to Milwaukee, writes Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. Although the Bucks have worked out a handful of big men that interest them, they haven't been able to host Austin Rivers, Terrence Ross, Dion Waiters, Jeremy Lamb, Damian Lillard, and Jared Sullinger. Woelfel suggests some of these players are confident they'll be drafted by the time Milwaukee picks at No. 12, while others, particularly the guards, don't view the Bucks as a good fit based on the team's current roster.
Here are a few more notes from Woelfel's piece, including additional items on Lamb and Ross….
Draft Updates: Tuesday
In case you missed it yesterday, we published our first 2012 mock draft. Be sure to check out our projected first round and jump into the comments section to tell us which choices you like or dislike. In the meantime, we'll continue tracking the latest draft news and rumors. Tuesday's updates can be found right here, with the newest items added up top throughout the day….
- John Reid of The Times Picayune writes that the Hornets will likely keep their 10th pick. GM Dell Demps says that he hasn't received any offers warranting any serious consideration to trade the pick and believes that they can come away with a good player at that slot.
- Jared Sullinger will work out for the Cavaliers on Friday, writes Bob Finnan of The News-Herald. Fab Melo is also scheduled for a workout this week and could join Sullinger.
Draft Updates: Monday
Earlier this morning, we unveiled the first version of our 2012 mock draft, projecting every pick from No. 1 (Anthony Davis) to No. 30 (Quincy Miller). We'll publish one more mock next week, before draft day, and until then, we'll be keeping tabs on all the latest draft-related news and rumors. Here are today's updates, with the newest items added at the top throughout the day….
- The Pistons have a big workout scheduled for next Monday, with Jared Sullinger, Tyler Zeller, Meyers Leonard, John Henson, Terrence Jones, and Perry Jones III expected to attend, tweets ESPN.com's Chad Ford.
- Harrison Barnes and a pair of possible second-round candidates will work out for the Wizards tomorrow, the team announced.
Brandon Roy Wants To Play In 2012/13
5:30pm: The Oregonian's John Canzano has a new column advising Blazers fans to prepare for Roy's return.
3:26pm: The progress of Roy's recovery will be on display this weekend when he plays in the Jamal Crawford Summer Pro-Am with Nate Robinson, Spencer Hawes, Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas, among others, Kennedy reports (Twitter links).
11:51pm: NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper has a quote from University of Washington guard Tony Wroten, supporting the claim that Roy is in excellent physical condition.
10:43am: Former Blazers shooting guard Brandon Roy is preparing to return to the NBA next season, according to comments he made on the Twitter account of close friend Will Conroy, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reports. Roy has been contemplating a comeback for several months, after repeated knee injuries prompted him to retire before the season.
Odds & Ends: Shaw, Bower, Claver
A handful of tonight's coaching search updates came in the form of tweets. TNT's David Aldridge reported that Brian Shaw had an interview in Charlotte today, but was not offered the job. Yahoo's Marc Spears also confirmed that no offer was made, adding that Portland and Orlando are still on Shaw's radar. Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated, who broke the news about Sloan's withdrawal from Charlotte's head coaching race, thinks the Trail Blazers have a better chance of landing Shaw than the Magic do.
We've got more on Orlando's GM search and highlights from HoopsWorld chats with Mark Nugent and Tommy Beer…
Draft Updates: Thursday
The countdown until the 2012 draft is down to two weeks, and this week has been heavy on workouts and trade speculation. We'll track the latest news and rumors on both fronts, along with a handful of other draft-related items, right here. New updates will be added to the top of the page throughout the day….
- According to their official website, the Pacers will work out Evan Fournier, Ashton Gibbs, Travis Hyman, John Jenkins, Josh Owens, and Tony Wroten Jr. on Friday.
Odds & Ends: Jeffries, D12, Bird, Green, Turiaf
NBATV's "The Dream Team" documentary debuted tonight to mostly positive reviews from NBA writers, and hoops fans may want to savor the film and this year's summer Olympics as much as possible. Commissioner David Stern says there's a 50/50 chance that Olympic basketball will be restricted to players age 23 and younger after this year's games, writes Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com. Still, Sheridan believes discussion of such a rule will be tabled until after the 2016 games.
There's plenty going on stateside as well, with a free agent expressing a desire to return to the Knicks and more news on Dwight Howard.
Blazers Rumors: Allen, Coaches, Freeland, Claver
Blazers owner Paul Allen was among the team executives in attendance for the second of two pre-draft workout sessions today, and got a chance to see Perry Jones III, John Henson and Jared Sullinger, among others, according to tweets from Joe Freeman of The Oregonian and Chris B. Haynes of CSNNW.com. Allen shot down rumors that he's looking to sell the team, as Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge writes, and CSNNW.com has more of the owner's comments to the media in two videos. Blazers beat writers have delivered plenty of news in the last hour, as we round up here. …
- The team hasn't contacted the Warriors about permission to interview assistant coach Michael Malone or the Pacers about assistant Brian Shaw, leading Haynes to surmise that interim coach Kaleb Canales is the frontrunner to take over the job on a permanent basis.
- In the same piece, Haynes also cites an earlier report from fellow CSNNW.com writer Dwight Jaynes that the team hasn't spoken to Jerry Sloan about an interview, either.
- Haynes relays general manager Neil Olshey's comments on the slow search. "Free agent wise, Yeah, I think it affects it a little bit. But, like I said, we're going to have a process here," he said. "We're going to build this thing the right way … We'll find the right coach to coach the roster."
Earlier updates:
Offseason Outlook: Indiana Pacers
Guaranteed Contracts
- Danny Granger ($13,058,606)
- David West ($10,000,000)
- Tyler Hansbrough ($3,055,259)
- Paul George ($2,574,120)
- Darren Collison ($2,319,344)
- Jeff Pendergraph ($1,500,000)