New York Notes: Nets, Knicks, Machado
When the Clippers traded for Chris Paul last season, on the heels of the Lakers' failed deal for the superstar point guard, it made Los Angeles a true two-team city like never before. The clubs battled for first place in the Pacific Division throughout the season, with the Lakers edging the Clippers for the division title, and home court advantage in the playoffs, by one game. Fans without a stake in the matter can only hope for a similarly tight race between the Knicks and Nets this season, both of whom will be playing in the Big Apple this year. Here's the latest out of the city that never sleeps:
- The Nets agreed to add Donte Greene to their impressive free agent haul this week, and those moves plus the trade for Joe Johnson have some in Brooklyn thinking championship right away, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and the team's marketing staff seem to be taking aim at the Knicks, as Bondy observes via Sulia. Yet Carmelo Anthony, who tells Newsday's Roderick Boone he's excited to see the results of Amare Stoudemire's offseason work, and the Knicks don't appear to be fazed. "There's no rivalry between us and Brooklyn right now," Anthony said during his youth camp at St. John's. "It starts on that first game. We'll see what happens with that first game. But as of right now, we are focused on ourselves. We are not really focused on nobody else."
- Former Iona guard Scott Machado drew some second-round consideration before going undrafted in June, and saw some time in the summer league with the Rockets. Now he appears to be drawing interest from overseas, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando indicates.
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:
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:
Draft Updates: Saturday
Earlier updates:
- Syracuse center Fab Melo tells HoopsWorld's Stephen Litel that he is emulating Tim Duncan in his style of play.
- Morley Quatroche of WEEI.com looks at Miles Plumlee as a potential draft target for the Celtics.
- Paul Coro of AZCentral.com says that the Suns are looking to improve their offense in the draft.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel looks at a handful of guards who have worked out for the Bucks recently.
- Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld.com talks to Iona's Scott Machado, who is attempting to raise his profile ahead of the draft.
HoopsWorld on Robinson, Leonard, Barton
Draft Rumors: Hornets, Barnes, Cavs, Bobcats
The Nets may be looking to find a way into the first round of this month's draft, but a number of teams are considering moving their first-rounders. According to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter), every club besides the Cavs that has multiple first-round picks is trying to trade one of them for a young player. The Blazers, Celtics, Warriors, Rockets, and Hornets all fit the bill, with two first-rounders each. Let's round up a few more of today's draft rumors….
- Teams inquiring on the 10th overall pick are being told by the Hornets that taking on a contract like Emeka Okafor's or Trevor Ariza's won't be enough to land the pick, tweets ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
Atlantic Rumors: Nets, Lopez, Young, Sixers, Draft
The Sixers and Celtics are taking the weekend off, but resume their compelling series tied at two games apiece Monday in Boston. Here's what's going on around the Atlantic Division:
- While noting that Pacers center Roy Hibbert is in line for much more, Chris Mannix of SI.com lets fly that the Nets are expecting to pay Brook Lopez somewhere between $8MM and $10MM a year in his next contract (Twitter link). Lopez, who played in just five games this season due to injuries, is a restricted free agent, so the Nets may not have a say in the terms of his deal if he chooses to sign an offer sheet with another team.
- The Sixers locked up Thaddeus Young for five years and $43MM before the season started, and he's making his presence known against the Celtics, as John Finger of CSNPhilly.com examines.
- Four second-round draft prospects — Scott Machado, Zack Rosen, Terrell Stoglin and Maalik Wayns — will work out tomorrow for the Sixers, the team announced. Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com has details.