Wondering why everyone is jealous that the Wizards won the #1 overall pick?
As a finisher, he reminds me a lot of Dwyane Wade though it would be nice to see some highlights of his best passes of the season. He is supposed to be a point guard, after all.
There were four great parts of this play: 1) Pierce’s difficult catch, 2) his ability to turn and find Rondo with the pass, 3) Rondo’s catch, and 4) Rondo’s circus shot.
…and they’re willing to part with Ty Lawson to get it, per Chad Ford.
Nuggets GM Mark Warkentein has been calling around trying to gauge interest in teams selling the pick. According to sources Warkentein is offering Ty Lawson for the pick. A Nuggets source said the Nuggets are looking for big man to fill up their front line. Several bigs including Cole Aldrich, Ed Davis, Ekpe Udoh, Patrick Patterson, Daniel Orton and Hassan Whiteside could be there at 10.
If true, this seems like an especially dumb thing to do. In Lawson, the Nuggets have perhaps the fourth or fifth best player from last year’s draft, yet they’re shopping him for a Top 10 pick in a draft that doesn’t appear to be as deep. A top pick is nice, but many players taken in the first 10 picks turn out to be busts. So until they prove themselves in the NBA, a draft pick is an unknown quantity. The Nuggets are try to trade a known quantity (Lawson) for an unknown quantity. Dumb.
Moreover, Chauncey Billups isn’t getting any younger. He’ll be 34 when the season starts, and with the importance of point guard play in the NBA, the Nuggets appear to be willing to trade away their floor leader of the future for a pick.
It would make a lot more sense for a team like the Hornets, who have Chris Paul and Darren Collison, to try to move Collison for some immediate (veteran) help, because Paul is still young and is the franchise cornerstone. Still, I don’t think you move Collison for a Top 10 pick, unless you just fall in love with a guy and think he’ll fill a pressing need (that will help keep Paul in town when his contract expires).
The Pacers are interested in both players, per the Indianapolis Star.
The Pacers are interested in Lawson, according to a source.
The Pacers are willing to give up their pick – No. 10 – in next week’s draft to get player that will help them immediately.
The Pacers wouldn’t be searching for a point guard if they had taken Lawson instead of Tyler Hansbrough last year.
If the Pacers can turn the #10 pick into Lawson or Collison, it would be a coup for the organization.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
It’s been nearly a month since we published our first mock draft, so it’s a good time to take another look and see where certain players are going.
I’ve pulled in the latest mocks from ESPN, DraftExpress, NBADraft.net and FanHouse to come up with a consensus of the first 14 picks.
If a player is picked by two or more sites, they’re the consensus, unless there’s a tie. In that case, I’ll make the pick. The same goes for when there are four different players listed.
A few random thoughts…
– It seems like the top four are starting to settle — John Wall (WAS), Evan Turner (PHI), Derrick Favors (NJ) and Wes Johnson (MIN). I think those are all solid picks for those franchises. DeMarcus Cousins might have the most upside of anyone in the draft, but his proverbial “character issues” are weighing him down. He didn’t test very well athletically, though that doesn’t matter much in my mind, due to his rebounding prowess. A bigger concern is his body fat, which tested pretty high at the combine, but is reportedly coming down. Maybe I’m just a Bucks fan that is gun-shy about fatties that suddenly drop weight after the Robert “Tractor” Traylor debacle.
– Greg Monroe is just a so-so athlete, but he’s a good passer and a good feel for the game. He’d be a great guy to feed in the high post with the idea that he’d be able to hit guys cutting to the basket. It looks like it’s between Monroe and Cousins at #5 right now.
– The Clippers are an interesting pick. They have two good young players at power forward (Blake Griffin) and shooting guard (Eric Gordon), an aging point guard (Baron Davis) and a pretty good center (Chris Kaman) who is in his prime. (Kaman averaged 19-9 last year, believe it or not.) The big hole is at small forward, and the pipe dream has LeBron coming to L.A. As a backup plan (which they’ll no doubt need), the Clips could grab Xavier Henry here, who tested better than expected at the combine. Another small forward option would be Hayward, who is the more polished player at this point. Luke Babbitt is a shotmaker who would space the floor well for Griffin and Kaman down low.
– Speaking of Babbitt, he just seems like a Utah player. If he slips past #9, I’d be surprised, but it’s interesting to see that none of these mocks have him going #11 to New Orleans. The Hornets landed a good shooting guard in Marcus Thornton last year, and Chris Paul could really use another shooter to set up at small forward. Everyone (except Chad Ford) seems to think he’s headed to Memphis.
– I think Patrick Patterson is going to make some late lottery team in need of a good power forward very happy. He tested better than expected at the combine, and along with his tremendous strength and his record of improvement, he should blossom into a fine starter. His detractors point to his rebounding (7.4 rpg), but it’s tough to post eye-popping rebounding numbers when you play alongside a boardmonster like DemMarcus Cousins. He averaged 9.3 in his sophomore year, so he should be fine on the glass.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Kurt Rambis and GM David Kahn traveled to Europe and met with Rubio. Apparently, Rubio and Rambis hit it off, at least according to Kahn, who wants this to work in the worst way.
Ricky Rubio was impressed with Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis when they met for the first time last week, and the 19-year-old point guard told friends that “he can envision playing for Kurt.”
That’s what Wolves Vice President David Kahn said on Friday after returning from a weeklong scouting trip to Europe.
Rubio’s arrival won’t happen for at least another year, but he told the Associated Press in Barcelona, Spain, that he has warmed to the notion of playing in Minnesota: “They have the best possibility because they hold my rights, and they’ve shown me how much they want me,” he said. “And for that, I have to be thankful toward them.”
Rubio still plans to join the NBA after next season. It looks like the chances are pretty good that he eventually plays for the T-Wolves.
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