Draft Notes: Friday
Now that the 2012 draft is officially a thing of the past, we shouldn't require multiple posts to round up all the day's draft-related content, like we did on Thursday. But even with the draft over, a few updates continue to trickle in. We'll round up today's leftover draft notes here, adding any new items to the top throughout the day….
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News offers grades for each team's draft, and The Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat shares his list of winners and losers.
Earlier updates:
NBA Finals Notes: Heat, Thunder
On Thursday, the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 to clinch their second NBA championship in franchise history. Here are the latest news and notes surrounding both 2012 NBA Finals teams on Saturday evening:
Northwest Rumors: Harden, Mohammed, Jazz
Thunder coach Scott Brooks will sit down with the team in the next few days to discuss his return, as we heard earlier. Though a dozen Thunder players already have guaranteed contracts for next season, re-signing the coach isn't the only item on GM Sam Presti's offseason agenda. There are possible extensions to negotiate with James Harden and Serge Ibaka, and the team must decide what it wants to do with backup center Nazr Mohammed, who fell out of the rotation in the playoffs and is now an unrestricted free agent. Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor has plenty of work to do as well, and we have news about both teams.
Odds & Ends: Magic, Wizards, Riley, Lin
Thunder Rumors: Harden, Ibaka, Vorontsevich
Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals will get underway in a little over seven hours, and it's essentially a must-win game for the Thunder. No team in Finals history has ever come back from a 3-1 defecit to win the series.
According to John Hollinger of ESPN.com (Insider link), the key to the game for Oklahoma City will be its big-man rotation. Hollinger argues that some of Kendrick Perkins' minutes should be allotted to Nick Collison and Serge Ibaka. As Scott Brooks and his team prepare for tonight's contest, let's round up a few more Thunder-related items….
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: Noel, Spurs Prospects, Thunder
It has been extremely rare for a college basketball team to deliver a number one pick in consecutive years. However, with incoming freshman Nerlens Noel already being touted as the top selection of the 2013 NBA Draft, Kentucky could be the first program to do it since 1955 and 1956, when Duquesne’s Dick Ricketts and Sihugo Green were each selected number one overall on draft day in those respective years. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld provides some background on Noel, from his early beginnings as strictly a defensive minded player to now, a time when some marvel at the possibility of him being the NBA’s next great big man.
Here's more of what we've heard this evening, including two possible international gems whose draft rights are owned by the Spurs, an offseason dilemma for the Thunder, and some insight on two former Dream Team members looking for work in the NBA…
Odds & Ends: Bosh, Battier, Harden, Sixers
One of the most highly anticipated NBA Finals in recent history doesn't kick off until tomorrow night, but here are a few links relating to both teams involved—as well as some that, unfortunately for them, are not.
Kyler On Draft, Olshey, Harden, Celtics
While most mock drafters simply forecast the first 30 picks, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld doesn't stop after the first round — in his latest mock, he predicts all 60 selections, from Anthony Davis at No. 1 to Kris Joseph at No. 60. He also shares a few more items of interest in his NBA AM column and via Twitter. Here are a few highlights:
Odds & Ends: Raptors, Bobcats, Wroten
With the eighth, 37th, and 56th selections in this upcoming NBA Draft, the Raptors could potentially draft three rookies in addition to bringing last year's draft pick, Jonas Valanciunas, into the fold for next season. Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld spoke with GM Bryan Colangelo, who is looking to explore multiple scenarios with his second round picks. Colangelo admits that bringing in three rookies may not be the best scenario, and that he will consider packaging picks in order to move up the draft board or possibly make a second round selection with the intention of developing that prospect in Europe for a few years. Here's more of what we're hearing from around the league this evening, including an update of the Bobcats head coaching search.