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Odds & Ends: Lakers, Blazers, Thorn, Magic

By Zachary Links | at June 12, 2012 10:20 pm

Accomplished Italian coach Ettore Messina told Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com that he'll be leaving his job as a consultant for the Lakers to once again take the helm for CSKA Moscow. Messina's contract will include an out clause if he is presented with an NBA head coaching opportunity, however. The 52-year-old has been linked to a handful of NBA teams in recent years and could be an interesting addition to ongoing searches in Orlando, Charlotte, and possibly Portland. More from around the league after the jump..

0 comments 2012 NBA Draft Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers Portland Trail Blazers Royce White

Draft Rumors: Tuesday

By Luke Adams | at June 12, 2012 3:47 pm

We'll track the day's draft-related news and rumors here, with the newest updates up top:

Jonathon Givony of DraftExpress has measurements from Chicago's draft combine, including max verticals for all the prospects in attendance.
Neither Perry Jones III or Terrence Jones blew away Warriors management when they worked out for Golden State, writes Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. The Warriors continue to hope they can use their lottery pick to upgrade at small forward, and both Joneses project as power forwards.

Neil Olshey Talks Draft, Roster, Trades, Coach

By Luke Adams | at June 12, 2012 2:18 pm

Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey is preparing for this month's draft much differently than he would have with the Blazers, as he pointed out in an interview on Trailblazers.tv yesterday. Whereas the Clippers have a single second-round pick in the draft, the Blazers hold four picks, including two in the lottery. Olshey spoke to the hosts of Trail Blazers Courtside about draft preparation, roster construction, and the team's coaching search, and Casey Holdahl of TrailBlazers.com provides the transcript. Here are some of Olshey's more interesting comments:

On whether the team plans to keep both of its lottery picks:

"We're open to anything right now. Clearly we have a lot of roster flexibility. We have two very valuable picks in what is a deep draft. There are a lot of starters in this draft. I don't know how many superstars there are but there are definitely NBA-caliber starters. We're going to exhaust every resource we have. We're going to be on the phone generating deal flow. I've received some calls and made some calls already, kind of looking at where other teams may be vulnerable or have some hot-button issues they may want to address where we could improve our roster and accelerate our success curve."

On what players or positions the Blazers will target at sixth and 11th overall:

"Well look, it's cliche but it is best player available. I think that the point that this organization is at right now is an asset acquisition phase. We've got to rebuild our assets and at that point, either guys are going to make your team and contribute because they were drafted or you're going to be able to use those assets to generate a deal to bring players in from the outside from other organizations to rebuild the roster…. I think everyone has to look at the draft as a player acquisition vehicle and the more assets you can acquire in this league, the more flexibility you have to build the roster and accelerate the growth to become more successful quicker…. That's really what the draft is about. It's not about filling needs."

On calling other teams to discuss trades:

"I think everybody went to Chicago and you really want to get a feel where other teams are in their process. There are teams looking to go younger and acquire picks, there are teams looking for veterans because they feel like they're closer. You get as much of that information as possible, you come back and meet with your staff and you use that intel to target the goal of your phone call."

On the head coach search:

"I don't think that's right on the priority list right now. I think the guys that are available are still going to be available. But I think it's important to remember, when you do a coaching search, it's very important that you know what kind of a team you're searching for the coach for. We just don't know that right now. The roster composition is in a state of flux. Depending on which way we take this team will dictate what kind of coach we're looking for in order to target the search."

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Draft Rumors: Monday

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 8:12 pm

With the NBA draft just 17 days away, we're guaranteed to be following daily rumors and rumblings for the next two and a half weeks. We'll try to make it as easy as possible to follow the latest updates by including most of our draft-related items in a single daily post. Consider this Monday's post, and check back throughout the day for more draft notes, with the newest additions up top:

In a tweet, AZCentral.com's Paul Coro has wrangled up some news from CBSSports.com's Jeff Goodman and SI.com's Sam Amick. North Carolina teammates Kendall Marshall and John Henson will reportedly work out for the Suns this week.

Earlier updates:

On Tuesday, the Wizards will hold a workout to help decide what direction they want to go with their two second round picks (as of today, the team holds both the 32nd and 46th picks in the draft), tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Some notable names Washington plans to workout are Syracuse's Scoop Jardine, and Duke's Miles Plumlee.
The Trail Blazers will work out North Carolina's John Henson on Tuesday, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick.
Also from Amick, the Kings will work out several players, including North Carolina's Tyler Zeller, on Tuesday. Sacramento currently holds picks 5 and 36.
The Hornets plan on bringing in several point guards and shooting guards when they resume workouts next week, writes Nola.com's John Reid.
After predicting the top 15 picks in the draft last week, TNT's David Aldridge takes a crack at the rest of the first round in this week's NBA.com column.
Royce White and Jordan Taylor are among the six prospects scheduled to work out for the Timberwolves on Tuesday, says Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Pistons are eyeing potential fits for the second round, working out Miles Plumlee and Kyle O'Quinn, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Perry Jones III tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he'd love to play on the Trail Blazers alongside LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Magic will be prepared for the draft no matter how long it takes to hire a GM, but a lengthy GM search could have other negative effects, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
If the Hornets decide to deal their tenth overall pick, gaining future draft assets is more important to them than ditching bad contracts, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Kyler doesn't expect the Hornets to include players like Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza with the pick in a deal that merely creates cap space. According to Kyler, New Orleans could seeking a 2012 second-rounder along with a future first-rounder in any deal.
Within the same piece, Kyler adds that the Warriors and Knicks have expressed some interest in Alabama's Tony Mitchell.
In a pair of tweets, Kyler says Harrison Barnes did not officially meet with the Bulls, and that a brief chat with coach Tom Thibodeau was blown out of proportion.
The Sixers met with Andre Drummond at the draft combine and could be trying to trade up, since Drummond will be long gone at No. 15, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com makes some changes in his latest post-combine mock draft.
The Kings will need some help if they want a shot to land Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.

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0 comments 2012 NBA Draft Chicago Bulls Detroit Pistons Golden State Warriors Minnesota Timberwolves New Orleans Pelicans New York Knicks Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers Phoenix Suns Portland Trail Blazers Sacramento Kings Washington Wizards Andre Drummond Harrison Barnes John Henson Jordan Taylor Kendall Marshall Kyle O'Quinn Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Miles Plumlee Perry Jones III Royce White Scoop Jardine Tony Mitchell (Alabama)Tyler Zeller

Ford’s Latest: Cavs, Bobcats, Waiters, Rivers

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 12:27 pm

We'll be following most of today's draft notes here, but the latest column from ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider link) featured enough items of interest that it required its own post. Here are some of the highlights from ESPN.com's draft guru:

3 comments 2012 NBA Draft Boston Celtics Charlotte Hornets Cleveland Cavaliers Golden State Warriors New Orleans Pelicans Portland Trail Blazers Toronto Raptors Andrew Nicholson Austin Rivers Damian Lillard Dion Waiters Maurice Harkless Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Thomas Robinson

Odds & Ends: Gordon, Austin Rivers, Eurocamp

By Ryan Raroque | at June 9, 2012 10:31 pm

According to an ESPN report via The Associated Press, Eric Gordon has set a high priority on securing a long-term destination this summer as he hits free agency and still considers New Orleans a viable landing spot. The three-year veteran was seen as a key piece in the Chris Paul deal with the Clippers, but only managaged to play nine games this season while dealing with injury. With about three more weeks to go until free agency begins, here's the rest of tonight's news…

0 comments 2012 NBA Draft Dallas Mavericks Milwaukee Bucks New Orleans Pelicans Portland Trail Blazers Austin Rivers Chris Kaman Eric Gordon Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Thomas Robinson

Blazers Draft Rumors: Lillard, Leonard, Barnes

By Chuck Myron | at June 9, 2012 1:48 pm

The Trail Blazers have a pair of first-round picks, at No. 6 and No. 11, and back-to-back second-round picks, at No. 40 and No. 41. Four rookies would be a lot to carry on a roster, but earlier this week we passed along a report from Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com suggesting the Blazers would keep both lottery selections. Yesterday, Haynes tweeted that the Blazers have a workout scheduled with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist that could indicate they're looking to trade up. Haynes echoes that sentiment in a report today, and adds plenty of other draft-related news.

0 comments Portland Trail Blazers Andre Drummond Damian Lillard Harrison Barnes Jeremy Lamb Kendall Marshall Meyers Leonard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Odds & Ends: Magic, Nelson, Blazers, Dunleavy

By Chuck Myron | at June 8, 2012 11:25 pm

Magic point guard Jameer Nelson has a June 15 deadline to decide whether to pick up his $8.6MM option for next season, and "all indications" are that he'll decline it and test free agency, tweets Evan Dunlap of OrlandoPinstripedPost.com. Nelson has expressed a willingness to stay in Orlando for the rest of his career, but doesn't want to be treated as a trade chip in the final year of his deal. Earlier today we heard the Jazz could make a play for him. That's just one of many items of note from around the league on a busy Friday.

3 comments Dallas Mavericks Orlando Magic Portland Trail Blazers Washington Wizards Andre Drummond Bradley Beal Jameer Nelson Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Mike Dunleavy Sr.Thomas Robinson

Latest On Olshey Move, Clippers GM Search

By Chuck Myron | at June 8, 2012 11:04 pm

The Clippers were offering former vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey a one-year contract worth $750K when the Blazers countered with the three-year, $3.6MM offer to become their general manager, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Blazers deal, which Olshey took last week, includes team options for two additional seasons. Olshey had been making $450K per year on a month-to-month deal with the Clippers since August.

0 comments Detroit Pistons Golden State Warriors Los Angeles Clippers Portland Trail Blazers David Morway Gary Sacks Kiki Vandeweghe Neil Olshey Ronnie Lester Scott Perry Tony Ronzone Travis Schlenk

Pacers Intend To Promote Kevin Pritchard To GM

By Luke Adams | at June 8, 2012 6:33 pm

6:33pm: Larry Bird and Pacers owner Herb Simon are expected to meet next week, tweets Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. Bird must finalize a deal to stay with Indiana for Pritchard's promotion to become official.

0 comments Indiana Pacers Orlando Magic Portland Trail Blazers David Morway Donnie Walsh Kevin Pritchard Larry Bird

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