June, 14, 2010
Jun 14
12:53
PM ET
By Chad Ford
The draft is now only a week and a half away and here's all we know for sure --
John Wall will be the No. 1 pick on June 24. We've been writing for weeks that the
Washington Wizards' taking a Wall with the No. 1 was a done deal. Multiple team sources, off the record of course, have been telling us for weeks Wall is their man.
Now, it looks even more official. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that
Evan Turner wouldn't even be working out for the Wizards and was conceding the No. 1 spot to him. Interesting considering that Wall has a workout.
Why don't the Wizards just go ahead and end the ruse and start plastering Wall posters all over Verizon Center? The league actually strongly discourages teams from disclosing their picks before the draft, so don't expect the Wiz to make it official, but there is no mystery at No. 1.
[h3]Here comes the intrigue[/h3]
Things are less cut and dry at the No. 2 pick. Turner is in for his one and only workout with the
Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. However, the Sixers aren't stopping there. Turner will be followed a day later by
DeMarcus Cousins and
Derrick Favors and then on Saturday
Wesley Johnson will be in the house. All of the workouts leads to the inevitable question: "Why are they working out those guys if Turner is a sure thing?"
While Sixers' sources continue to insist that Turner is GM Ed Stefanski's man and will be taken No. 2, there are other sources that insist that head coach Doug Collins has a say in the pick and he prefers to land a big -- preferably Favors.
Sources also continue to insist that the Sixers are open to a trade if they can get the right combination of talent and cap relief. To get the most value for the pick, the team needs to project that it's taking Turner at No. 2.
Stefanski has said the team isn't shopping the pick, but if you read what he says closely, it's mostly semantics. "We're listening to anybody who calls, but we have not shopped the No. 2 pick whatsoever," Stefanski said. "We don't shut our phones off, but it would take a blockbuster for us to consider moving the pick."
Yes, the Sixers aren't giving the second pick away and don't need to shop it. But they aren't wedded to it the way the Wizards are wedded to Wall. You hear zero talk around the league about the Wizards being open to trading No. 1.
[h3]Jersey's boys[/h3]
Things aren't much clearer in New Jersey at the moment. The
New Jersey Nets would take Turner if he is on the board. If he isn't? It's a standoff between Favors and Cousins. The team won't be getting Turner for a workout, but they'll have Favors and Cousins going head-to-head June 21.
The Nets do have a bit of a dilemma at No. 3 if it's Favors and Cousins on the board. I think from a talent standpoint, Cousins has the edge. However, the team will pursue
Chris Bosh,
Amare Stoudemire and
Carlos Boozer via free agency. You don't draft Cousins to play him 10 minutes a night. He's the most NBA-ready big man in the draft. However, Favors is raw and you could bring him along more slowly.
If the Nets are confident they will be getting Bosh, Stoudemire or Boozer, it might make sense for them to swap picks with a team like the Pistons. They could get another critical piece of the puzzle at the 3 and still have a high pick to draft a backup big.
[h3]Movin' on up?[/h3]
The
Minnesota Timberwolves are exploring ways of moving up to No. 2 to get their hands on Turner. However, if they stay at No. 4, and Turner and Favors are off the board, I think you can expect to hear Johnson's name called here. We've had Johnson at No. 4 in the mock draft since May and think he's a lock to go here if Turner and Favors are off the board.
In fact, Cousins won't even come in to work out with the team, his agent John Greig told me. However Greig, along with a league source, disputes a report that Cousins wasn't invited to Minnesota. Greig says that he believes Minnesota is already locked into Johnson at No. 4 and wants to keep Cousins focused on places he could realistically go.
[h3]Kings for a day[/h3]
The
Sacramento Kings had a series of big workouts last week. The team had
Greg Monroe in June 6.
Cole Aldrich,
Daniel Orton,
Ekpe Udoh,
Hassan Whiteside and
Ryan Richards on June 8. And it was topped off on Saturday when Favors and Cousins came in to work out.
Monroe worked out by himself and Favors and Cousins didn't actually become the heavyweight bout we thought it would be. The players didn't actually play one-on-one against each other per a request from Favors' agent. Despite the less than ideal workout circumstances, the Kings got a chance to see most of the players they are seriously considering at No. 5.
After speaking with a source on Saturday evening, the following seems clear:
1. Ideally the Kings would like a big.
2. GM Geoff Petrie would prefer a player who, like
Tyreke Evans, is capable of making an immediate impact in Sacramento.
3. The Kings don't think Favors will be there at No. 5. If he's not, it looks like Johnson, Monroe and Cousins are battling it out for the spot.
Most likely, Johnson won't be there at No. 5. As we've been reporting since our first mock draft in May, the Wolves are high on Johnson and less so on Cousins.
Sources say Petrie has been high on Monroe all year and before the Cousins workout, felt that Monroe was the safer pick. However, Cousins' size and superior talent have put him seriously in the mix at No. 5.
Cousins had a phenomenal workout in Sacramento on Saturday according to multiple sources. He took around 200 shots, all of which the Kings logged, and he hit 78 percent of them -- the best clip they've had in the 40 players who've come into town.
Cousins also is getting into better shape. He's down to 13 percent body fat from the 16.4 percent number he logged in Chicago. He still needs to drop another 10 pounds, but he's getting there. At this point it looks like the team is split between two players. But now Cousins has two legs up on Monroe. Not only did Cousins have a better season, he also had a better workout.
Also don't be surprised if the Kings end up trading the pick for a veteran who can help the team improve immediately. With young players like Evans,
Omri Casspi,
Spencer Hawes and
Donte Greene already on team, the Kings would like to add some experience.
[h3]"Into the Great Wide Open"[/h3]
After the Kings select at No. 5, the draft opens up pretty wide.
With the team for sale, Don Nelson in limbo and Larry Reilly apparently sending lots of mixed signals, it's hard to find anyone with a good handle on what's going to happen with the
Golden State Warriors.
If Cousins slides, he would seem like a no-brainer. The team is also very high on Johnson, should he fall. But I've also heard
Al-Farouq Aminu,
Xavier Henry,
Patrick Patterson and Monroe mentioned here.
The Pistons, meanwhile, are playing a wait-and-see game. They've explored trading up to get their hands on Cousins or Favors, but nothing seems to be happening right now.
The Clippers and Pacers are also exploring all sorts of options including moving up, moving back and even moving out of the draft entirely.
The Jazz, at No. 9, are hoping Monroe slides. If he doesn't, they like both
Luke Babbitt and Henry.
[h3]Late-round buzz[/h3]
The Nets sponsored workouts last week with a number of first-round bubble players and second-round picks. Representatives from 23 teams showed up, but the quality of talent at the workouts couldn't keep all of them for the entire three days.
While no one dramatically improved his draft stock, a few players seemed to have helped themselves a bit according to NBA execs and scouts that were in the gym. Here's a look at who got some buzz, both good and bad.
Dexter Pittman
Pittman has always been a favorite of GMs. He has a ton of talent, soft hands and is a pretty good athlete. The question has always been his conditioning. In New Jersey, he drew repeated praise for how hard he worked and that he finished the workout. I get the sense that GMs want to find a way to take this guy. If they get him in the right conditioning program he could be a monster down the road.
Jon Scheyer
Scheyer had missed the past few weeks (including the draft combine) battling mono. So, despite being a four-year senior, he was a fresh face for many NBA GMs on the workout circuit. He didn't disappoint. Scheyer, unsurprisingly, shot the lights out and showed to be a better athlete than he's given credit for. I still doubt that he'll crack the first round, but there are enough GMs that like him that I think he'll hear his name called somewhere in the second round.
Darington Hobson
Hobson wasn't loved by everyone there, but a number of NBA GMs seem to think he could be an unusual player in the league. An Internet report over the weekend claiming Hobson had multiple promises in the first round is not true according to his agent Michael Hodges. But Hobson does have a real shot at the first round if he finds the right team.
Ben Uzoh
The Tulsa combo guard didn't get an invite to the combine, but he has played well in workouts and repeated that performance in the New Jersey workout. Said one NBA exec at the workouts, "He's got the athleticism to make it and I think he's got some real toughness to him. He's very intriguing as a second-round pick."
Sherron Collins
Collins has been battling injuries to his groin and his hand since the combine. That's limited what he can do, and as a result he seems to have fallen badly out of shape. Collins weighed 217 pounds at the combine, which is already a lot for a player that doesn't crack 6-feet. But in New Jersey he weighed a whopping 229. He gained 12 pounds in the course of under three weeks. Collins struggled with weight issues his whole college career and it's going to hurt his draft stock. Every GM in the league thinks he has talent, but all of them are concerned he'll lack the discipline to keep himself in the shape he needs to excel in the league. If he were 6-10 like Pittman, I think GMs would look the other way. But at 5-10, I'm not sure.
Stanley Robinson
We
chronicled in May how nerves sometimes get the best of Robinson. That's been a recurring theme in workouts. While teams love his physical tools, it sounds like Robinson has been struggling with his nerves and his jump shot. It may not be fatal to his draft stock, given his explosive athletic ability and the fact that he's a very good kid and a hard worker. But he's yet to really help himself either.
[h3]The injury bug[/h3]
It's that time of year when players doing multiple workouts a week start getting injured. The latest to fall was
Avery Bradley. Bradley sprained his left ankle in a workout in Oklahoma City on Sunday, according to his agent, Mitch Butler.
Bradley was doing a 3-on-3 drill and he was going up for an offensive rebound and he stepped on a player's foot coming down. X-Rays and an MRI given by the Thunder were negative. While the sprain is considered mild to a soft medium, the injury was bad enough that it's ending Bradley's workouts.
Butler indicated that they believe the ankle will be healed in time for the NBA's summer league.
The Pacers and Raptors had been looking at Bradley as a potential lottery pick. Several other teams in the first round including the Heat and Thunder were also giving him a serious look. It's unclear how the injury will ultimately affect his draft stock, though the timing couldn't be worse. Bradley was scheduled to come in and do a second workout with the Raptors (who may have been the team highest on him) this week.
Bradley had already worked out for the Pistons, Raptors, Heat, Celtics, Pacers, Clippers, Jazz, Thunder and Rockets. The injury will force him to miss workouts with the Grizzlies, Bucks, Spurs and Bulls, in addition to that second workout with Raptors.
[h3]International deadline[/h3]
Finally, the deadline to withdraw from the draft is at 5 p.m. on Monday. The NCAA set a date of May 8 for college underclassmen, so this deadline really only applies to international players.
Here's a list of international players who have declared for the draft:
Pablo Aguilar, SF, Spain
Andrew Albicy, PG, France
Robin Benzing, F, Germany
Bojan Bogdanovic, F, Serbia
Stefan Bircevic, Serbia
Sarra Camara, France
Antoine Diot, G, France
Bangaly Fofana, France
Miralem Halilovic, Bosnia
Thomas Heurtel, France
Edwin Jackson, G, France
Dusan Korac, Montenegro
Mindaugas Kuzminskas, F, Lithuania
Luc Louves, SF, France
Uros Lukovic, Serbia
Donatas Motiejunas, F, Lithuania
Tomasz Nowakowski, PF, Poland
Tibor Pleiss, C, Germany
Xavier Rabaseda, Spain
Fernando Raposo, PF, France
Ryan Richards, F/C, England
Kevin Seraphin, PF, France
Semen Shashkov, SF, Russia
Most of these players will withdraw from the draft.
Donatas Motiejunas -- the only international player ranked as a potential lottery pick -- announced several weeks ago that he'd withdraw.
Two key international players -- big man Kevin Seraphin and point guard Thomas Heurtel -- will remain in the draft their agent, Bouna N'diaye, told ESPN.com.
Seraphin is considered a mid- to late-first-round pick by most GMs. A knee injury limited his ability to work out, but several teams in the 20s including the Thunder, Blazers, Wolves and Grizzlies are looking at him. Heurtel is a point guard who recently walked away with MVP honors at the Adidas Eurocamp. Heurtel is projected as a potential second-round pick.
Two of N'diaye's other clients, Antoine Diot and Fernando Raposo will withdraw from the draft.
English big man Ryan Richards is also staying in the draft according to his agent, Herb Rudoy. The 19-year-old took the combine by storm with his athletic ability at his size. He's had a series of strong workouts and Rudoy thinks he has a good shot of sliding into the first round. However Rudoy stressed that Richards did not have a first-round guarantee. So why stay in the draft? "He wants to play in the NBA next year," Rudoy told ESPN.com. "He's not a guy that a team stashes over in Europe. I think for him to take the next step as a player, he needs to come over now."
Teams love his size and athleticism, but they worry about his relative lack of game experience since he hasn't played at a high level in Europe.
Several other key players were still on the fence as of late Sunday night, including Robin Benzig and Tibor Pleiss. Pleiss is a German big man who has caught the attention of a few teams. He needs to add strength and isn't ready to come to the NBA now, but he could be a good prospect to stash overseas for a few years.
Benzig was leaning toward withdrawing from the draft after the Eurocamp but if he stays in the draft, he has the type of size and shooting ability at the small forward position to intrigue someone in the late first or early second.
By Chad Ford
Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer
