CONTINUED..................
Another day, another list
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I am using the pics and formatting to make these posts better than plain text posts. However, sometimes it takes two posts to get it all in because of this.
sunsfn.
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On Wednesday, Insider obtained the "physical only" list -- players invited to Chicago to take the league's physical and be officially weighed and measured, despite not taking part in the actual pre-draft camp. It's typically a very good indicator of which players the NBA believes are first round locks.
Thursday, the league released an even more important list -- the players invited to Saturday's NBA Draft media session. Typically the players invited are considered by the NBA to be locks for the lottery. Here's a look at who got the invite:
Andris Biedrins, Latvia
Josh Childress, Stanford
Luol Deng, Duke
Ben Gordon, UConn
Devin Harris, Wisconsin
Dwight Howard, SW Christian Academy (Atlanta, Ga.)
Andre Iguodala, Arizona
Shaun Livingston, Peoria (Ill.)
Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's
Emeka Okafor, UConn
Josh Smith, Oak Hill Academy (Va.)
J.R. Smith, St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)
There were only two real surprises: J.R. Smith's appearance on a second big list by the NBA means he's probably going in the lottery. There are teams that really like him and believe he can be a superstar. After a couple of poor workout performances, we had dropped him to No. 18 on our mock draft. It looks like he won't be on the board that long.
Inviting Jameer Nelson is less of a surprise. I don't think this is indicative of his draft position as much as it's an acknowledgement that he's the college player of the year and the only senior in the room.
T-Mac holding up No. 1 pick
The fate of the No. 1 pick is still in flux, in part because the Magic still are waiting to hear what Tracy McGrady intends to do after next season. Contrary to printed reports, McGrady has not informed the Magic whether he plans to opt out of his contract next summer and play the free-agent market.
[size=-1]Tracy McGrady[/size]
[size=-2]Shooting Guard
Orlando Magic
[/size]
[size=-2]Profile
[/size]2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
McGrady's decision dramatically alters what the Magic will do on draft night. If McGrady is committed to staying, they'll either try to move the pick for a veteran or take Emeka Okafor, the one guy in the draft who could help them immediately. If McGrady wants out, the Magic will hang on to the pick, take a serious look at high school players like Dwight Howard and Shaun Livingston, and start exploring various trade opportunities involving McGrady.
Magic owner Rich DeVos will meet personally with McGrady next week, along with club president Bob Vander Weide, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
"We want to look Tracy in the eyes and say, 'What do you want to do?' No matter what the agent is suggesting or not suggesting as to options for the kid," Vander Weide told the paper. "At the end of the day, I think it's really important that both Rich and myself say, 'Tracy, tell us where your heart is, and we can work through it, whatever it is.'
"Going into draft week, we really want to have a feeling about where he is. ... We're not going to make any decisions until we know where Tracy the person is. The pieces are very much tied together.
"We can't go through what we did with Shaq ... in the 11th hour, being in the last year of the contract. We have to know between now and the 24th whether Tracy's in or whether he's out ... knowing that we'd love to rebuild through and around him.
"He needs to know that. He needs to feel that. But he also needs to understand if his frustration is real and genuine. ... We are at a point where we can only change so much. We all know we can't be the same team. We got to be different, we got to be better."
Houston, Indiana, Detroit, San Antonio and both L.A. teams have been mentioned as possible trading partners for the Magic if T-Mac decides to leave. The Rockets are dangling Steve Francis. The Pacers likely would offer anything on their roster besides Jermaine O'Neal or Ron Artest. The Pistons have enough cap room to swallow a big deal and also could offer Richard Hamilton, Mehmet Okur (in a sign-and-trade) and even Darko Milicic in return. The Clippers could offer Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson (in a sign-and-trade) and the No. 2 pick in the draft.
Nets, Blazers talking trade?
[size=-1]Shareef Abdur-Rahim[/size]
[size=-2]Power Forward
Portland Trail Blazers
[/size]
[size=-2]Profile
[/size]2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
The most interesting rumor coming out of Chicago on Thursday, repeated by several sources, has the Nets and Blazers discussing a possible trade of Kerry Kittles and Aaron Williams for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
It's no secret the Blazers have been trying to move Abdur-Rahim. He didn't fit in with the team last season and is attractive trade bait because his contract comes off the books after next year. The Blazers have been trying to pry Ray Allen from the Sonics, but so far Seattle isn't biting.
While there's talk that the Sonics aren't averse to moving Allen -- which may explain why they've been working out several top shooting guard prospects -- apparently they want more than just Abdur-Rahim in the deal.
Kittles, like Abdur-Rahim, has just one year left on his contract. The trade would be very interesting for the Nets and could be a sign they still aren't sold on re-signing Kenyon Martin, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer.
Sonics not married to their pick
Add the Sonics to the list of teams that don't seem to be in love with their position in the lottery.
"We're not married to keeping our pick this year," Sonics GM Rick Sund told Insider. "I think we've got a young team and that, for the right deal, adding a veteran to the roster will help us more."
Sund believes the draft is deep but doesn't see many impact players at No. 12.
"In two or three years, many of the players in the draft are going to be helping teams," Sund said. "But I think a team can only develop so many young players at a time. We got Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour last year, and we like them both. We just need to surround them with guys who already know how to play."
The Sonics aren't the only team that feels that way. Bulls GM John Paxson told me something almost identical last week. The Wizards are in the same boat and looking to move out. The Suns and Clippers would prefer to add a veteran free-agent point guard like Steve Nash instead of a rookie. Sources claim the Cavaliers also are talking to several teams about swapping their pick for a veteran. "There's a lot of talk going on right now," one veteran GM who wished not to be identified told Insider. "The veteran teams like the younger players and want to start to replenish the roster. The lottery teams want veterans. I wouldn't be shocked if the draft ends up getting turned upside down."
Another day, another list
---------------------------------------------------------
I am using the pics and formatting to make these posts better than plain text posts. However, sometimes it takes two posts to get it all in because of this.
sunsfn.
----------------------------------------------------
On Wednesday, Insider obtained the "physical only" list -- players invited to Chicago to take the league's physical and be officially weighed and measured, despite not taking part in the actual pre-draft camp. It's typically a very good indicator of which players the NBA believes are first round locks.
Thursday, the league released an even more important list -- the players invited to Saturday's NBA Draft media session. Typically the players invited are considered by the NBA to be locks for the lottery. Here's a look at who got the invite:
Andris Biedrins, Latvia
Josh Childress, Stanford
Luol Deng, Duke
Ben Gordon, UConn
Devin Harris, Wisconsin
Dwight Howard, SW Christian Academy (Atlanta, Ga.)
Andre Iguodala, Arizona
Shaun Livingston, Peoria (Ill.)
Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's
Emeka Okafor, UConn
Josh Smith, Oak Hill Academy (Va.)
J.R. Smith, St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)
There were only two real surprises: J.R. Smith's appearance on a second big list by the NBA means he's probably going in the lottery. There are teams that really like him and believe he can be a superstar. After a couple of poor workout performances, we had dropped him to No. 18 on our mock draft. It looks like he won't be on the board that long.
Inviting Jameer Nelson is less of a surprise. I don't think this is indicative of his draft position as much as it's an acknowledgement that he's the college player of the year and the only senior in the room.
T-Mac holding up No. 1 pick
The fate of the No. 1 pick is still in flux, in part because the Magic still are waiting to hear what Tracy McGrady intends to do after next season. Contrary to printed reports, McGrady has not informed the Magic whether he plans to opt out of his contract next summer and play the free-agent market.
[size=-1]Tracy McGrady[/size]
[size=-2]Shooting Guard
Orlando Magic
[/size]
You must be registered for see images attach
[size=-2]Profile
[/size]2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
McGrady's decision dramatically alters what the Magic will do on draft night. If McGrady is committed to staying, they'll either try to move the pick for a veteran or take Emeka Okafor, the one guy in the draft who could help them immediately. If McGrady wants out, the Magic will hang on to the pick, take a serious look at high school players like Dwight Howard and Shaun Livingston, and start exploring various trade opportunities involving McGrady.
Magic owner Rich DeVos will meet personally with McGrady next week, along with club president Bob Vander Weide, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
"We want to look Tracy in the eyes and say, 'What do you want to do?' No matter what the agent is suggesting or not suggesting as to options for the kid," Vander Weide told the paper. "At the end of the day, I think it's really important that both Rich and myself say, 'Tracy, tell us where your heart is, and we can work through it, whatever it is.'
"Going into draft week, we really want to have a feeling about where he is. ... We're not going to make any decisions until we know where Tracy the person is. The pieces are very much tied together.
"We can't go through what we did with Shaq ... in the 11th hour, being in the last year of the contract. We have to know between now and the 24th whether Tracy's in or whether he's out ... knowing that we'd love to rebuild through and around him.
"He needs to know that. He needs to feel that. But he also needs to understand if his frustration is real and genuine. ... We are at a point where we can only change so much. We all know we can't be the same team. We got to be different, we got to be better."
Houston, Indiana, Detroit, San Antonio and both L.A. teams have been mentioned as possible trading partners for the Magic if T-Mac decides to leave. The Rockets are dangling Steve Francis. The Pacers likely would offer anything on their roster besides Jermaine O'Neal or Ron Artest. The Pistons have enough cap room to swallow a big deal and also could offer Richard Hamilton, Mehmet Okur (in a sign-and-trade) and even Darko Milicic in return. The Clippers could offer Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson (in a sign-and-trade) and the No. 2 pick in the draft.
Nets, Blazers talking trade?
[size=-1]Shareef Abdur-Rahim[/size]
[size=-2]Power Forward
Portland Trail Blazers
[/size]
You must be registered for see images attach
[size=-2]Profile
[/size]2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
The most interesting rumor coming out of Chicago on Thursday, repeated by several sources, has the Nets and Blazers discussing a possible trade of Kerry Kittles and Aaron Williams for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
It's no secret the Blazers have been trying to move Abdur-Rahim. He didn't fit in with the team last season and is attractive trade bait because his contract comes off the books after next year. The Blazers have been trying to pry Ray Allen from the Sonics, but so far Seattle isn't biting.
While there's talk that the Sonics aren't averse to moving Allen -- which may explain why they've been working out several top shooting guard prospects -- apparently they want more than just Abdur-Rahim in the deal.
Kittles, like Abdur-Rahim, has just one year left on his contract. The trade would be very interesting for the Nets and could be a sign they still aren't sold on re-signing Kenyon Martin, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer.
Sonics not married to their pick
Add the Sonics to the list of teams that don't seem to be in love with their position in the lottery.
"We're not married to keeping our pick this year," Sonics GM Rick Sund told Insider. "I think we've got a young team and that, for the right deal, adding a veteran to the roster will help us more."
Sund believes the draft is deep but doesn't see many impact players at No. 12.
"In two or three years, many of the players in the draft are going to be helping teams," Sund said. "But I think a team can only develop so many young players at a time. We got Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour last year, and we like them both. We just need to surround them with guys who already know how to play."
The Sonics aren't the only team that feels that way. Bulls GM John Paxson told me something almost identical last week. The Wizards are in the same boat and looking to move out. The Suns and Clippers would prefer to add a veteran free-agent point guard like Steve Nash instead of a rookie. Sources claim the Cavaliers also are talking to several teams about swapping their pick for a veteran. "There's a lot of talk going on right now," one veteran GM who wished not to be identified told Insider. "The veteran teams like the younger players and want to start to replenish the roster. The lottery teams want veterans. I wouldn't be shocked if the draft ends up getting turned upside down."
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