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Kyler On Gordon, Nash, Thunder, Randolph

June 28th, 2012 at 9:19am CST by Luke Adams

In an earlier post, we passed along the latest on the Rockets' pursuit of Dwight Howard, courtesy of HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler. Kyler's NBA AM piece at HoopsWorld has a few other items of note though, including updates on Eric Gordon, Steve Nash, and the Thunder. Let's round up the highlights….

Draft Rumors: Tuesday

June 26th, 2012 at 10:32pm CST by Luke Adams

With two days remaining until the 2012 draft, we've seen a first-round pick change hands for the first time this offseason, as the Timberwolves agreed to send the 18th overall pick to Houston in exchange for Chase Budinger and the rights to Lior Eliyahu. The general consensus is that the move is the precursor to a bigger deal for the Rockets, and Houston isn't the only team rumored to be shopping picks. Here are today's draft-related rumors, with the newest updates added to the top of the page throughout the day….

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweeted that the Bucks are looking to move into the top 10, and are supposedly targeting John Henson.
Kennedy says that the Rockets are still trying to acquire another first round pick, most recently in discussions with the Hornets about the 10th pick before talks broke down (Twitter link). He also tweeted that the Lakers and Nets are both looking to acquire a first rounder.

Earlier updates:

The Bulls are looking to add perimeter help in the form of a combo guard and shooter, says K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. John Jenkins, Will Barton, and Tony Wroten are possible targets.
Michael Hunt of the Journal Sentinel believes that the Bucks need to start adding talent instead of looking to add more veterans. Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel says that the team could consider taking a guard with their pick.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post documented Jay Bilas' thoughts on Harrison Barnes, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Bradley Beal. He believes that Beal is the second best prospect of this draft, discusses Barnes' outstanding athleticism, and marvels at Kidd-Gilchrist's versatility and ability to guard multiple positions.
Doug Smith of The Star explores the many different directions in which the Raptors could go on draft night, even hearing that GM Bryan Colangelo remains undecided on what he wants to do.
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com views the second round as a chance to find perimeter depth and highlights the team's possible targets with their 39th and 44th picks. Among those mentioned are Darius Miller, Kevin Murphy, Kim English, Jae Crowder, Will Barton, and Jared Cunningham.
Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area examines the draft's shooting guard options for the Warriors.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists the 10 biggest questions heading into draft night (Insiders only).
Morley Quatroche of WEEI.com takes a look at J'Covan Brown as a possible second round target for the Celtics.
Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiled Jefferey Taylor and the impact that the three-time SEC All-Defensive team selection wants to make in the league.
Jonathan Abrams of Grantland provides an outside-the-lines perspective of Royce White and the first-round hopeful's battle with anxiety disorder.
Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune produced a mock draft of his own, focusing solely on the top-14.
Sean Meagher of Oregon Live performed a link roundup of Damian Lillard, who appears to be a realistic target for the Trail Blazers on draft night.
Jay Bilas projects Fab Melo as the 30th best available player in the draft (Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel provided a Sulia link). While he sees the 7-foot center as a good rebounder and improved shot blocker, Bilas thinks that Melo's less-than-ideal mobility was offset by playing zone defense at Syracuse and could struggle guarding the pick and roll at the NBA level.
76ers GM Rod Thorn feels content with having the 15th pick and doesn't see a situation where he tries to move up (Dei Lynam of CSN Philly reports). Thorn would like to add an athletic big man and believes he will have about two or three of his targets available by the time Philadelphia is on the clock. It should be no surprise that he mentioned Jared Sullinger as one of those targets (Tom Moore of Philly Blurbs tweets).
Tim Kawakami of Mercury News tweeted that the Warriors have not made any definitive judgments after the meetings/workouts with Andre Drummond and Harrison Barnes. In another tweet, Kawakami added that Golden State could consider trading down depending on who gets drafted ahead of their slot.
In his latest mock draft for Yahoo! Sports, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com shares a number of tidbits. Among them: He's hearing that the Cavaliers are more likely to takeMichael Kidd-Gilchrist than Harrison Barnes if Bradley Beal is off the board at No. 4.
Warriors GM Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob flew to New York to watch Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond in private workouts on Monday, according to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com.
A pair of sources who witnessed Damian Lillard's individual workouts for the Blazers earlier this month raved to Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com about the point guard's performance. Lillard is a strong candidate for Portland's No. 6 pick.
SI.com's Seth Davis has a ton of interesting quotes from scouts and executives on this year's top prospects, while Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld spoke to execs who believe the best values in the draft could be found in the picks in the teens.
The Warriors don't appear to have the assets to move up and may simply opt to take the best player available at No. 7, says Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Damian Lillard and Dion Waiters are top contenders for the Warriors' pick.
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post thinks the Nets will draft a European player to stash overseas with their No. 57 pick.
A swap involving the Bobcats' No. 2 pick and the Cavs' No. 4 pick could have enough momentum to get done, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com in a piece that includes a handful of other draft tidbits.
Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times wonders whether the Bucks will consider drafting Fab Melo if Meyers Leonard and Tyler Zeller are off the board at No. 12.
Draymond Green is working out for the Pacers for a second time today and is a candidate to be picked at No. 26, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. However, another player working out for Indiana today, Will Barton, figures to be the team's pick if he's still on the board at 26, says Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (Twitter link).
ESPN The Magazine (Insider link) has released its annual players-only mock draft, in which a player representative from each team plays GM and makes his team's picks. Somewhat bizarrely, the players let Bradley Beal slip to J.J. Redick and the Magic at No. 19.
Washington guard Tony Wroten is drawing interest from a pair of teams with picks in the 20s. Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says Wroten has piqued the Grizzlies' interest, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com says the Hawks have become "enamored" of Wroten.
Within the same mock draft, Ford says the Hornets offered the Rockets the No. 10 pick for Nos. 14 and 16 last week, but that Houston turned them down.
The Warriors' No. 7 pick could be in play for the Rockets as they look to line up a big offer for Dwight Howard, tweets Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.
It appears unlikely the Raptors will trade the eighth overall pick, according to Eric Koreen of the National Post.
76ers president Rod Thorn doesn't expect the team to trade up from No. 15, tweets Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com.
The Suns' interest in Arnett Moultrie is intensifying, says Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
There's a decent chance that the Kings will draft a player that didn't work out for the team, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.

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Odds & Ends: Hornets, Nash, Magic, Bucks

June 25th, 2012 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The good news keeps coming for the Hornets in what's been a very successful offseason so far. Not only are they set to draft Anthony Davis on Thursday, but they've cleared out their two biggest contracts, and now, according to Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times Picayune, they're set to announce a new TV deal. Smith reports that the Hornets' new deal will be on a cable network called Fox Sports New Orleans, and will pay the team roughly $10MM annually for the next ten years. It could be announced as soon as today, says Smith.

Here are a few more Monday afternoon odds and ends from around the NBA:

Draft Updates: Saturday

June 23rd, 2012 at 8:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

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:

Howard-Cooper On Harkless, Centers, Warriors

June 23rd, 2012 at 4:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

We're tracking most of today's draft updates here, but Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com has a piece that deserves some extra attention. Howard-Cooper also wrote about the pressure on new Warriors GM Bob Myers today, as we noted, and he has more here on potential choices for Golden State at No. 7 and a player whose stock is on the rise.

Hornets Rumors: Gordon, Kaman, FA Targets

June 22nd, 2012 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat officially became the winners of the 2011/12 NBA season last night, but now the focus shifts to the 2012 offseason, and the Hornets have a good chance to turn into the summer's big winners. After landing the No. 1 overall pick in May's draft lottery, the Hornets pulled off the offseason's first trade this week, dumping Emeka Okafor's and Trevor Ariza's big contracts, and even landing a second-round pick in the process. What's the next step for New Orleans? John Reid of the Times Picayune has the latest Hornets rumors right here….

Odds & Ends: Heat, Deng, Lakers, Mullens

June 21st, 2012 at 11:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

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: Thursday

June 21st, 2012 at 11:02pm CST by Luke Adams

All eyes tonight will be on Game 5 of the NBA Finals, as the Thunder look to stave off elimination in Miami, but exactly one week from now, we'll be gearing up for the 2012 draft. The first draft-related trade of the month was finalized yesterday, when the Wizards sent the No. 46 overall pick to the Hornets along with Rashard Lewis as part of a three-player swap. Will we see another deal consummated today? We'll keep track of the day's latest draft news and rumors right here, with the newest items added up top….

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com wonders whether Royce White's decision to pull out of his remaining workout has to do with an injury or his fear of flying instead of a promise from the Celtics (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune pegs White as a candidate to be picked at No. 18 by the Wolves, and lists the second-round hopefuls the team will be working out Friday.
Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal sizes up Andrew Nicholson and the chances he'll go to the Cavs at pick No. 24.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com has tweaked his mock draft in the wake of the latest developments (Insider link).

Earlier updates:

The Celtics appear to have promised Iowa State power forward Royce White that they will draft him at No. 21, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Sam Amick of SI.com tweets that one of his sources is denying the report.
Sean Deveney of The Sporting News

reports that despite being red-flagged by NBA doctors, Jared Sullinger is unlikely to slip out of the first round, and he'll probably go no lower than the Cavs' 24th pick.

The picks between No. 27 and No. 29, held by the Heat, Thunder and Bulls, are "very available" for other teams looking to trade for a late first-round selection, a league executive tells Deveney.
We rounded up news from Sam Amick of SI.com in an earlier post, including word on a potential swap of the second and fourth picks.
Jonathan Feigen says the Rockets are trying to trade the 14th and 16th picks, as we noted earlier, and also gives us his own mock draft.
The Sixers will work out Arnett Moultrie, Tyler Zeller, Perry Jones, John Henson and Andrew Nicholson on Saturday, John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer says via Twitter, and Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets a list of possible second-rounders working out Friday for the Jazz.
Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com has the third version of his mock draft. He opines that the No. 7 pick would be a lot for the Warriors to give up in a rumored deal with the Bulls for Luol Deng (Twitter link).
The Blazers are shopping both of their first-round picks, at No. 6 and No. 11, but no deal is imminent, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Still, new GM Neil Olshey says, "My gut today is that we would keep the picks," according to Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (Twitter link).
The Warriors plan on keeping the seventh pick, and even though they already have two first-round selections, they'd like to add a third, says Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter links).
The Bobcats will work out six players tomorrow, including Thomas Robinson and Andre Drummond, the team announced. Second-round hopefuls Kent Bazemore, Chris Cooper, Ramone Moore and Josh Owens are the other prospects involved.
John Canzano of the Oregonian heard from one GM who believes the Blazers will draft Damian Lillard at No. 6 rather than risk him being taken before their 11th pick (Twitter link). ESPN.com's Chad Ford tweets that he's hearing similar rumblings.
In an Insider piece for ESPN.com, Ford takes a look at how this month's workouts might have affected the draft stock of the top few prospects on the board.
A day after the Times-Picayune's John DeShazier suggested the Emeka Okafor/Trevor Ariza trade could open up the door for the Hornets to draft Tyler Zeller, his colleague John Reid reports that New Orleans is in fact seriously considering Zeller at No. 10.
That Hornets/Wizards deal could also increase the chances of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist falling to the Cavaliers at No. 4, says Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
As Jay Satur of Raptors.com notes, The Raptors have a number of top prospects in town for today's workout, including John Henson, Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones III, and Terrence Jones.
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic explores the Suns' backup plan for the 13th pick if there are no shooting guards they like on the board.
Thomas Robinson and Andre Drummond worked out against each other in Cleveland yesterday, with Robinson clearly coming out on top, tweets Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com.
The Timberwolves will work out six players tomorrow, including Quincy Acy for a second time, the team announced via Twitter.
Baylor's Quincy Miller thinks he'd be a great fit for the Nuggets, according to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.
The Hawks' PR Twitter feed has the details on the team's workouts today (Twitter link).

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Southwest Rumors: Landry, Rockets, Cabezas

June 21st, 2012 at 10:50pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tony Parker is seeking $20MM in a lawsuit against the New York nightclub where he sustained an eye injury during a fight involving singer Chris Brown and members of hip-hop star Drake's entourage, the Associated Press reports (via the New York Daily News). Parker isn't expected to miss any time for the Spurs because of the incident. There's plenty of other off-the-court news happening with Southwest Division teams that figures to have a greater on-court impact, as we detail here.

Amick On Bobcats, Cavs, Kings, Blazers

June 21st, 2012 at 8:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

Our Draft Updates post chronicles the rumors we've been hearing throughout the day, and Sam Amick of SI.com has a piece that warrants its own post. Amick details the latest on Bradley Beal, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Harrison Barnes, Thomas Robinson and Damian Lillard, players who could be taken with picks two through six.