FRIDAY, 1:26am: The trade is official, the Rockets announced (on Twitter).
THURSDAY, 11:05pm: The Wolves have agreed to send the No. 53 pick to the Rockets in exchange for cash, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Italian shooting guard Alessandro Gentile is the selection, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (on Twitter).
Here’s the latest from the Western Conference as the draft gets underway:
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
6:21pm: The Cavs turned down Philly’s offer of picks Nos. 3, 10 and 32, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
5:43pm: All signs point to the Cavs taking Wiggins with the top pick, a source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
4:54pm: The Cavs are set to keep the pick and choose between Parker and Wiggins, unless a last-minute offer comes around, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
3:58pm: Nothing is expected to happen with the Kings outside of a multiple team deal, Amico tweets. Meanwhile, the Celtics want the top pick, but they lack the parts to get a deal done.
3:53pm: The Cavs are talking with the Kings, Celtics, and Sixers about the No. 1 pick but not the Wolves or Magic at this stage, tweets Amico.
2:56pm: Nothing is close in terms of a deal for the No. 1 pick, but the Cavs expect it all to come down to the wire, tweets Amico.
2:06pm: The asking price for the No. 1 pick is as high as picks Nos. 3, 10, and 32 from the Sixers, Tom Moore of the Courier Times tweets. If Philly stays at No. 3, meanwhile, Dante Exum will likely be their choice.
Technically speaking, we are past the 1pm CT deadline where teams can officially trade picks, but the Cavs can draft someone for the Sixers or another club to complete a trade.
1:15pm: The Cavs know who they’re selecting with the first pick in the draft and there’s no great internal debate going on today, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. The club still has multiple trade opportunities in front of them, however.
12:44pm: A league source tells Bob Cooney of the Daily News (on Twitter) that the Sixers are in full court press mode with Cleveland to get the No. 1 pick. “They really, really, really want Wiggins,” the source said.
10:47am: There’s a lot of skepticism that the Cavs are at all serious about trading the No. 1 pick, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
9:44am: The two sides have exchanged proposals on the No. 1 pick, but there’s nothing that has gained traction, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
9:35am: The Cavs and Magic aren’t anywhere close to a deal for the No. 1 pick, team sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
8:15am: Buckle up, this is going to be one crazy day leading up to the draft. As we learned yesterday, the Cavs are still split on whether to take Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins with the No. 1 overall pick. General Manager David Griffin and other execs are pushing for Parker while outspoken owner Dan Gilbert wants to take Wiggins. Of course, they might not keep the pick at all.
Sources tell Chad Ford of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that the Cavs have been calling teams and offering up the Magic’s picks at No. 4 and No. 12 for different players. The Magic would take Parker with the No. 1 overall pick but the Cavs were just gauging the value of those picks and a deal is not yet completed, Ford tweets. The Sixers are also upping their offer for the top pick.
Meanwhile, sources out of Orlando tell Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter) that the Cavs have inquired about Magic guard Victor Oladipo during their exploratory trade talks.
In an interview with SiriusXM, Warriors star Andre Iguodala said that he doesn’t believe teammate Klay Thompson should be traded as part of a deal for Minnesota’s Kevin Love, writes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. “That’s not going to happen,” Iguodala said. “I want to clear that up right now. We should not trade Klay Thompson. I tell Klay this every day. I text Klay and say, ‘Don’t worry. I’m your man. I’m going to make sure you get paid. I’m going to get you the max (contract). You’ll be taken care of. Don’t stress.’” Here’s more out of the West..
It’s been a busy day around the league, and things could get even crazier tomorrow. Here’s a roundup of the night’s notes:
7:35pm: The talks between Minnesota and Golden State are not dead, Chad Ford of ESPN.com said as a guest on ESPN 710 LA (transcription via Basketball Insiders). A trade built around Love, Lee, and Thompson could still be worked out prior to free agency, since the Warriors would likely see themselves as credible suitors for LeBron James with a Stephen Curry/Love foundation.
3:57pm: The formal structure of a deal was never in place between the Cavs and Wolves, but Cleveland had been “fiercely determined” to trade for Love, Wojnarowski writes. Wojnarowski suggests that the No. 1 pick was a part of the talks, even if there was no offer, per se. Cleveland’s pursuit ended when agent Jeff Schwartz warned that Love wouldn’t re-sign, according to Wojnarowski. Love’s wish list is narrow, and Saunders has put trade discussions involving him “in neutral,” Wojnarowski hears.
2:33pm: Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that the negotiations between Cleveland and Minnesota have been exploratory and “not yet serious enough to kill” (Twitter link).
2:00pm: The Cavs have yet to offer the top pick for Love, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press hears. Still, Krawczynski suggests there’s a decent chance that Love indeed made it clear he wouldn’t remain in Cleveland if traded there, discouraging the Cavs from making such an offer (Twitter links).
1:06pm: One day out from the draft, and Kevin Love trade discussions appear to be slow-going, at best. The Cavs made a push to deal the No. 1 pick for Love, but he would refuse to re-sign with Cleveland, and that’s halted those talks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). At least one member of the Warriors braintrust wouldn’t be on board with a one-for-one trade of Love for Klay Thompson if it were a possibility, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. The prevailing logic within the Warriors front office is that an upgrade at power forward over David Lee that would break up the backcourt of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry isn’t worth it, the Bay Area News Group scribe adds.
Minnesota meanwhile has an eye toward waiting to see the offers from teams who miss out on Carmelo Anthony this summer, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders would prefer to try to convince Love to stay rather than take a trade offer that’s less than ideal, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Saunders is optimistic that his team will improve this coming season, but even “strong improvement” wouldn’t be enough to convince Love to stay, Bulpett hears.
The Wolves are wary of Boston’s reported proposal of Kelly Olynyk, picks Nos. 6 and 17 in this year’s draft, and a future first-round pick since it would require the Wolves to take back additional, likely player-friendly, contracts to make the salaries match, Bulpett writes. The Celtics are willing to discuss including the first-round picks the Nets owe them, according to Bulpett.
7:18pm: While the Wolves do have interest in LaVine, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press tweets that there is no evidence a draft promise has been made.
3:15pm: Sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that they believe the Wolves have given former UCLA guard Zach LaVine a promise to draft him with the 13th overall pick (Twitter link). Such promises aren’t binding, but it does appear to indicate that Minnesota isn’t planning to use the pick in a trade involving Kevin Love.
LaVine is among the players the Wolves have worked out in advance of the draft. He’s No. 13 in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and No. 14 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com, so it seems he’s right in line for Minnesota.
Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors suggested that the club that ends up with LaVine wouldn’t be getting a finished product and must show patience, given LaVine’s raw ability. That would seem to conflict with the desire of Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders to compete immediately.
The Clippers engaged the Magic in discussions about trading for Arron Afflalo this past spring, but were rebuffed after Orlando didn’t find L.A.’s trade offers enticing enough, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. However, there was some sense that the two clubs could later re-visit talks if they managed to get a third team involved in discussions. The Clips have been eyeing Afflalo for quite some time and came close to landing the former UCLA shooting guard last summer, according to Shelburne, who also mentions that Donald Sterling eventually nixed the negotiations.
You can find more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes below:
In Jeff Goodman’s latest mock draft for ESPN (Insiders only), Elfrid Payton gets selected by the Timberwolves at No. 13. In response to that projection, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN said that Minnesota doesn’t have any interest in drafting the former Louisiana Lafayette guard with that pick. It probably won’t matter anyway, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe hears that Payton has been greatly impressive in workouts and won’t slip past the top 10 on draft night (Twitter links).
With that aside, we’ll keep tabs on this evening’s draft-related news here:
Earlier updates:
Ray Allen is leaning toward returning for a 19th season in the NBA and has a desire to continue playing alongside LeBron James, sources told Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Back in February, the sharpshooting veteran said that he wouldn’t be retiring this summer, and today’s report echoes a similar sentiment passed along last week. Allen just completed the second of a two-year, $6.32MM deal with the Heat and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Dwyane Wade‘s contract status and whether or not he’ll decide to opt out, the 32-year-old guard didn’t have any updates today. “No news here yet.”
You can find more of tonight’s rumblings out of the Eastern Conference below: