Draft Updates: Saturday
We've already covered a few draft rumors today, and Zach Links went in-depth on West Virginia power forward Kevin Jones in our latest Prospect Profile. There's plenty more going on as the draft approaches, including news from John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the Sixers put point guard Marquis Teague through an "exhaustive" individual workout this morning. Bookmark this post for the rest of the day's draft news, with latest on top.
- Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star has an article on the Pacers' scouting staff as they prepare to pick 26th overall in Thursday's draft.
- Kurt Helin of NBC Sports looks at several players with the potential to become the second-best talents in the draft.
- Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News suggests Meyers Leonard as a possible fit for the Warriors.
- The Lakers are in talks to acquire a first-round pick, and could be after the Heat's selection at No. 27, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer offers his thoughts on the implications of a rumored swap of the second and fourth picks by the Bobcats and Cavs.
- Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group thinks the Warriors could trade down from No. 7 and still get the player they want, unless it's Damian Lillard or Dion Waiters. He also believes the team will give serious consideration to Andre Drummond (Twitter links).
- We have the latest from Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com in a separate post.
Earlier updates:
Lakers Notes: Kobe, Draft
For the second consecutive year, the Lakers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. Now, they will look to vault back into title contention this summer. They do not have a pick in the first round currently, having traded Dallas' and their own at the March trade deadline. Here are a few news updates on the Lakers:
Odds & Ends: Freeland, Thunder, Knicks, Bulls
Joel Freeland will talk to the Trail Blazers this weekend and could agree to a contract before the Olympics, according to Ian Whittell of the Wardle Whittell Agency (Twitter links). Freeland, who was drafted by the Blazers in the first round in 2006, is "open to offers" and will have four Portland execs watching him play Lithuania at an Olympic warm-up in Houston tomorrow, says Whittell (Twitter link).
Here are a few more Friday afternoon odds and ends, including items on the top player on the market, the Western Conference champs, and the NBPA's latest victory….
Amico On Cavs, Bobcats, Lakers, Rockets, Gasol
It was SI.com's Sam Amick, not Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio, that first reported yesterday that the Cavaliers and Bobcats could explore a trade involving the second and fourth picks in the draft. But the FOX scribe confirmed Amick's rumor last night, tweeting that the Cavs are trying to pry away the No. 2 pick from the Bobcats. He added (Twitter link) that it appears Cleveland is targeting Bradley Beal, which makes sense. Although I think the Cavs would do well to land Beal, Harrison Barnes, or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, if the team truly covets Beal, trading up may be necessary — I don't think the Florida product gets past the Wizards at No. 3.
Here are a few more notes from Amico, via Twitter:
Odds & Ends: Heat, Deng, Lakers, Mullens
Congratulations are in order for the Heat, who beat the Thunder 121-106 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals tonight to clinch the 2011/12 NBA championship. LeBron James put up a triple-double, and was the unanimous choice for Finals MVP. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert took to Twitter and stopped short of recognizing James and the Heat, instead congratulating the Heat and Thunder for "an exciting Finals" (hat tip to Mary Schmitt Boyer and Jodie Valade of the Plain Dealer). With the season now at its end, the real fun begins, as full attention can be paid to next week's draft and the start of free agency soon thereafter. Here's some early offseason chatter:
Draft Updates: Wednesday
With eight days left until June 28th, mock drafts continue to roll in, with the latest coming from Tom Zeller of SBNation.com, who projects surprisingly high selections for Kendall Marshall and Evan Fournier, among others. You can find Hoops Rumors' mock draft right here, and you can follow today's draft notes in this post, with the newest updates added up top throughout the day….
- The Nuggets are expected to work out Michael Eric, Evan Fournier, John Jenkins, Doron Lamb, Ramone Moore, and Izzet Turkyilmaz on Thursday, tweets FoxSports.com's Chris Tomasson.
- Mike Tokito from The Oregonian highlights a few prospects that worked out at the Trail Blazer's facility today, including Austin Rivers and Kendall Marshall.
Kyler’s Latest: Sullinger, Waiters, Lillard, Gasol
We're tracking the majority of today's draft updates in a single post right here, but Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld tweeted out a number of draft-related rumors this afternoon that are worthy of their own post. Here's the latest from Kyler on Jared Sullinger, Dion Waiters, Damian Lillard, and more, along with one non-draft item….
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….
Buss: Lakers Not Expecting Major Moves
Since the Lakers were bounced in the second round of the playoffs by the Thunder, chatter in Los Angeles has centered around speculation that a shake-up is coming, perhaps involving a Pau Gasol trade. However, speaking to T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times, Lakers vice president of player personnel Jim Buss said the odds are "very good" that Gasol, Kobe Bryant, and Andrew Bynum will all be wearing Lakers uniforms in the fall.