Should be a fun day

Dreams

Rubio/Harden, or
Curry/Harden, or
Without giving up Love or AlJeff

Hopes

Rubio and any player in the top ten, or
Flynn and Harden, or
Thabeet and Curry/Harden/Rubio/Evans, or
Just Rubio, and
Without giving up Love or AlJeff

Fears

Evans and Flynn, or
Holiday and anybody but Curry/Harden/Rubio, or
Hill and anybody but Curry/Harden/Rubio, or
Trading Love or AlJeff to get any combination of Curry/Thabeet/Rubio/Harden/Evans, or
Not using the 2nd round picks wisely

Nightmares

Using 5 or 6 to reach for a player not ranked in the top 10, or
Just Thabeet, or
Just Evans, or
Trading Love or AlJeff to get Thabeet, or
Selling picks other than 28 for cash

draft coverage on ESPN last night. J. Van Gundy said in order to win in the NBA a team needs a superstar(s). He implied that the position was irrelevant. After this player or players are obtained you then surround them woth complementary players. So, yes, I also get trading up if you have identified “the guy”. My take is that this draft has only one guy- BG. Therefore, I’d stay at 5 and 6.

but in that interview with Rubio, where he said “Too cold” about Minnesota, he was chuckling as he said it, and didn’t look remotely serious. Anyway, it looked worse in print, I thought, and I don’t think he has any problems playing here.

He also shot down the Maravich comparisons, saying Pistol was a scorer, and he’s a passer. I think Jefferson would fit in fine with a guy who takes pride in distributing the ball.

That is how every bad deal ever made has started. A team gets excited about a specific target, and goes all in on acquiring him. I would love Rubio, but I’m not going to panic and make a bad deal to get him. #5 and #18 plus a sweetener (cash, 2nd rounder, etc…) are good value for pick #2 or #3. When the time comes, Wallace or Presti will recognize this and deal if they are truly interested in getting value for their pick.

We know Griffin is going #1, and we know Thabeet won’t last past #3. That means by standing pat, we are guaranteed a choice of 2 from Rubio, Curry, Evans, Harden, which I am totally cool with. Harden/Evans is the least ideal, and would necessitate taking a PG at #18.

I’m gonna be online so hope I’ll find some of you here in a couple of hours (also; hope someone will be able to provide a link to watch it online)

My main hope is obtaining Curry, assuming Rubio is unavailable. I would enjoy watching him light it up or doing a pick and roll to “stop n pop” (yikes!). There is beauty in the arc of a nothing-but-net rainbow. With Jefferson doing his thang down low and the heady play of Love, I would find that entertaining basketball—at least at one end of the floor.

Ford’s latest mock

With 1-4 going Griffin, Thabeet, Rubio and Curry is horrifying to me.

He has us taking Evans and Flynn. I don’t like it.

might be trying to pick Kahn’s pocket:

Chad Ford: Watch out for the Houston Rockets. Sources say they have been really active the past 24 hours, having contacted the Grizzlies, Thunder, Kings and Timberwolves about trying to get into the lottery.

It sound like virtually everyone on Houston’s roster is available. Teams report that the Rockets are trying to parlay Tracy McGrady’s expiring contract and Aaron Brooks’ newfound celebrity status into a big upgrade in Houston. Carl Landry and Shane Battier were also mentioned as possible trade pieces.

The Rockets are also among several teams that will be making a run at Amare Stoudemire. With Shaq gone, expect the Stoudemire rumors to start heating up again.

comes from Tom Powers at the PiPress:

All I know is that if Kevin McHale had the No. 5 and the No. 6 picks in the NBA draft tonight, he would wind up making a trade with himself and, somehow, getting screwed.

Based on the DX rumor of us trying to use Pekovic and the #18 to move up, is that the Thunder want to pick Mullens as has bben rumored to be their developing defensive atheltic center. They don’t think Mullens will be available at #18 so they told the Wolves that they’d be willing to trade #3 for #5 and say #15, but not for #5 and #18 as they think Detroit or Chicago is going to take Mullens. They probably aren’t interested in Pekovic for some reason. So I’m thinking that Kahn is doing his best to move up with the #18 and Pekovic so he can flip that pick with #5 to get Rubio at #3.

I could be way off base here, but that is my hunch.

This just in:

Marc Stein: The message coming in from rival executives — while acknowledging that everything is fluid with so much chatter in the air — is that Memphis is looking increasingly likely to keep the No. 2 overall pick unless Minnesota sends No. 5 and No. 6 to the Grizzlies.

The Wolves, by all accounts, still aren’t ready to give up that much.

The latest scenario floated to us is that the Wolves, with those back-to-back picks, are leaning toward taking Stephen Curry and Tyreke Evans. Conventional wisdom, by contrast, suggests that the Wolves would take one guard and one big man if they keep Nos. 5 and 6, especially given their need for someone who can guard the rim.

Yet it also must be acknowledged that the Wolves are at the heart of numerous trade scenarios with the four first-round picks they possess.

In other words? Watch this space.

To be a fan of the most intriguing team on the most intriguing day of the year is something that I am truly enjoying.

But I couldn’t take another day like this one.

Talk about BPA all you want, but if BPA doesn’t fill a need, teams that take them always look to flip them for a need plus extra assets. Knowing this, let’s examine the needs of the teams in front of us.

1. LAC – Blake Griffin…end of story

2. MEM – They have Conley, Mayo, Gay, Gasol, and a gaping need for an athletic PF. Taking Thabeet is not a good fit, as it pushes the unathletic Gasol to the 4 where he would be destroyed on a nightly basis. Jordan Hill was made for them, and would be good value @ #6. This why I think Wallace will eventually agree to send us # 2 for #6, #18, and some combo of sweeteners. One caveat: it is Chris Wallace who has shown no inclination to do sensible things in the past.

3. OKC – They have Westbrook, Durant, and Green as their core. We know Presti coveted an injury prone, expensive Tyson Chandler, so Thabeet is a no-brainer here. There other need is a 2 guard that would complement said core, which is exactly what James Harden would be. If Wallace keeps #2 and misguidedly takes Thabeet, Presti (who is obsessed with getting value for assets) takes Rubio and trades him to us for #5 and #18. He then gets his man Harden @ 5 and maybe Mullens @ 18 to fill the need at Center. I don’t for a moment believe he takes Rubio and keeps him unless Westbrook is headed elsewhere.

4. SAC – Desperately need a pace-pushing, creative PG. Rubio is the perfect fit, and there’s no way they pass on him here. The only thing I believe less than Presti keeping Rubio are the rumors that the Kings don’t want him. I’m certain this is an effort to try and prevent a team (us) to maove and take Ricky.

By the end of the night, I am about 90 % certain we can do a deal for the #2 or #3 and take Rubio. If we deal with MEM, I think we get Harden with our 2nd pick. If we deal with OKC, then they get Harden and we end up with Evans or Curry.

The more I think keeping 5,6, and 18 or 28 are the best move. A player’s value is usually at its highest as a young player (Foye was almost traded for Iverson) because if they’re productive, the sky’s the limit; if they’re not, more excuses can be made for their lack of production. I like the idea of buying low and selling high. Put some resources into player development (more coaches, a few appropriate vets) so the young guys have a good chance of succeeding and then move them before their value peaks. That’s another good way to get a superstar (Shaq, T-Mac, Kareem, Barkley, Kidd).

ESPN reporting the Lakers sold #29 to them.

One last thought. If Rubio falls to third, and I were Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti, I’d select Rubio, and — noting the Timberwolves’ imbalanced roster and mandate for a fresh start — negotiate hard for one of the NBA’s best rookie rebounders ever in Kevin Love. As a fallback you could almost certainly get whoever you would have selected third (James Harden is the dominant theory) and an additional pick.

Abbot makes a good point—OKC is not going to pass on Rubio, when they can get their guy (Harden, presumably) and change, at a minimum, in a trade.

to find out that Kahn’s in his office alone, with a Blu tooth in his ear, and after gettting a trade proposal from a rival, floats it out on the web to see what dorks like us think about it, and then makes his decision based on the comments at sites like these.

REALLY REALLY worried about a Evans.Flynn draft mayn?!?! dat wud be awful mayn, awful awful awful awful

The UK bookie were taking bets on how many of his London concerts would happen. None was raging favorite.

Oh, and Farah Fawcett has passed away also.

Both Ford and DX have us taking Harden, Flynn and passing on Curry

With just hours to go before the NBA draft officially kicks off, there is still plenty of uncertainty regarding who is going where exactly. Oklahoma City is heavily involved in trade talks for the #3 team, but appears to be asking for too much for the rights to Ricky Rubio.

Minnesota appeared to be playing it cool in regards to Rubio early on, but has emerged as a major suitor for his services this evening, which will make things very interesting leading up to the #3 pick. OKC seems to be asking for Al Jefferson right now…will they settle on Kevin Love?

Right now it appears that Oklahoma City is leaning towards picking Rubio and keeping him as a trading chip to potentially use this summer. A few sources we spoke with mentioned that they still expect Rubio to end up in New York when it’s all said and done.

Oklahoma City is also active in trade talk with Phoenix, with their main target appearing to be Robin Lopez. They are reportedly offering Phoenix their 2010 unprotected pick back in return for Lopez, but that seems like a very high price for the Suns to pay.

Sacramento seems to be leaning towards Tyreke Evans from what we’re hearing, and may have even told him as much.

If Minnesota keeps the pick, it looks very likely that they will take Jonny Flynn with one of those picks, with the other pick likely being used on James Harden. Some people think that DeMar DeRozan could be a target, but that seems far-fetched.

A source close to the situation has informed HOOPSWORLD that the Phoenix Suns are now in hot pursuit of Brandon Jennings. The word is the Suns will try to trade up to at least the sixth pick, with Amar’e Stoudemire as the likely bait, as the Golden State Warriors are reportedly interested in taking Jennings at seven so they can trade him.

Feel like renting Amare for 12 months for pick 6? Me neither….

don’t bring Johnny Flynn to the Wolves, as the 5th or 6th pick.

We could lure Khalid El-Amin from the Ukraine, and get a much-better point guard.