Draft Express' latest Word on the Street
I'd quote some of this, but there's way too much to digest. Highlights include James Harden refusing to work out for any team drafting below #5 because he believes either OKC or the Wizards will draft him and the Bobcats reportedly being very interested in Stephen Curry (trade possibility? Gerald Wallace, anyone?).
almost 3 years ago
Mike Prada
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EVERY team drafting between 3 and 7
should show interest in Curry and hope the Knicks panic and trade up. Too bad Isiah isn’t around any more…
Getting buckets since 2003.
by Icantfeelmyface on May 29, 2009 2:07 PM EDT reply actions
James Harden needs to realize this about the draft
He is not a lock top 5. After 3 it is incredibly fluid. And he could easily fall a few spots depending on the deals made starting at 3
"Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home." --- Daffy Duck
by George Templeton on May 29, 2009 2:25 PM EDT reply actions
maybe
but OKC and Washington are likely spots for him. if he falls, he falls to 6 Minnesota or 9/Toronto. There is no guard in this draft with his IQ and scoring ability, and at 19 he’s the most NBA ready. Thats not a package of skills that slips on draft day. Usually I don’t like it when players put limits on these things but clearly he is a top player.
Let's hope Charlotte's interest is real
The Knicks don’t have anyone on their roster that the Wizards can use… except perhaps David Lee (but he will want too much money in Free Agency – - – $9 – $10 Million , too much for a sign-and-trade to be worth it.) David Lee is great on the boards and a good energy guy, but he doesn’t play defense.
I like the idea of getting Gerald Wallace from Charlotte:
This trade works:
Etan Thomas ($6.8M) + DeShawn Stevenson ($3.6 Million) + #5 pick
for
Gerald Wallace ($9.5 Million) + #12 pick
This one works as well (and frees up another roster spot):
Etan Thomas ($6.8M) + Blatche ($2.7M) + DeShawn Stevenson ($3.6 Million) + Pecherov ($1.7M) + #5 pick
for
Gerald Wallace ($9.5M) + Raja Bell ($5M) + #12
Rosters work
Charlotte has only 11 players under contract – IF they tender offers to Felton and Sean May –
Wizards have 14 players under contract ….
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Either one of those trades would be beautiful for us
I haven’t read the article yet, but I hope Charlotte’s interests in trading up are genuine.
Dear Diary, JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!
by Evander holyfield on May 29, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Raja
Prefer adding Raja too. Worth nothing that Mike James played his best ball for Larry Brown in Detroit. The deal works with James swapped for Etan, jic. Maybe they can get the band back together in Charlotte. Although a lot of people assume that role will go to Allen Iverson.
We could still get a top PG at 12.
With Johnson looking to sell the team this deal would get him out from under Wallace’s salary for the 2010-12 seasons totaling 32 Million. He’d be taking back AB and DS’s deals that go beyond 09 but that’s a little over 10M total.
I'd certianly swap Raja for DeShawn as part of a larger package
Raja expires sooner and is a better defender.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Yep .. me too
Although Raja is getting old and breaking down … DeShawn just had a backiotomy
Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It.net and Bullets Forever.
reply skills
are hurting… meant that to be here.
I think Raja is an important part of the deal since Wallace isn’t an all-star, won’t play as many minutes in DC AND we’re taking so much salary back.
Wow, didn't even think about Bob Johnson selling the team
as an implication that they are very likely to be looking to trade away one of their longer contracts…
Wallace is the defensive presence we NEED on the wing, and Raja’s defensive skills and outside shot are big upgrades over Deshawn’s. The only thing is, Johnson might not want to take on Deshawn’s longer contract and back problems in exchange for Raja’s shorter contract.
If that is the case, we just throw in both expirings instead of Deshawn and Pesh.
Blatche, Etan, James, and #5 for Wallace, Raja, and #12
Dear Diary, JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!
by Evander holyfield on May 29, 2009 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I definitely like the idea of getting rid of three dead weight roster spots
At the same time, I don’t know if Raja Bell is worth acquiring. He seems to have fallen off pretty hard. Plus, where would Gerald Wallace play? I feel like he’d be redundant on a team that already has Caron Butler, and I’d hate to see us waste his talent by playing him as a sixth man, especially since he’s a good enough defender that it’d make sense for him to start over Caron in order to cover up for Gil and Antawn’s weaknesses.
by pantslessyoda1 on May 29, 2009 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Also
This allows them to shop Felton as a sign and trade since they don’t seem to want to pay him. James can back Augustine up for a year and they can get a good wing (Nocioni/Mike Miller/Crawford/Maggette) back for Felton.
But what jerks these players are....
Their refusal to work out for other teams hurts the trade value of our 5th pick.
Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It.net and Bullets Forever.
You just hit the nail on the head Truth
If I had had an NCAA disaster like Harden I woud keep my mouth shut and let my game do the talking.
This guy has a LOT to prove and he should not dis any team lest he be traded to one of them.
Maybe he just really wants to go to either OKC or Washington
It’s not the best strategy, but I could understand why he wouldn’t want to go to the other teams picking past 5.
Dear Diary, JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!
by Evander holyfield on May 29, 2009 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions
If money is a major consideration
We could just do DeShawn, Pech and 5 for Raja and 12.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Money will probably be the main factor for any deal the Bobcats make
They are probably in the same boat as the Grizzlies were last year(?) when they were shedding salary to get buyers to bite. Bob Johnson is already having a tough time finding buyers, so that leads me to believe he’s going to have to shed some salary.
If that is indeed the case, I don’t see them taking on Deshawn’s contract, or giving up Raja’s (expiring) contract lightly.
The question I am wondering is should we be willing to take on one of their worse contracts (Radmonovic, Nazr Mohammed, who are both about $6.5 mil through 2010/11) if it could net us Gerald Wallace?
It might screw up our salary cap even more, but we might be able to get a third team involved.
Dear Diary, JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!
by Evander holyfield on May 29, 2009 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Seems like the NBA is no longer in command of their own League events...
"The agents are making a mockery of this process, and it’s making things increasingly difficult on us in terms of making decisions." said one GM
The top seven players …… were all either not in attendance (Ricky Rubio, Brandon Jennings) or declined to compete in the skill-portion of the workouts today.
"DeRozan is not working out with anyone. He isn’t going up against Gerald Henderson or anyone else at this point. He may not even go to Toronto. He won’t fall to 9." – DeRozan’s agent
“The first decision made by Tellem and Bob Myers” (new agents for Tyreke Evans) was to pull him “out of the competitive portion of the Chicago combine”
James Harden for example has elected not to conduct any interviews with teams drafting outside the top five, canceling a scheduled interview at the Westin Hotel with the Cleveland Cavaliers for example. He also reportedly will not be conducting any competitive workouts with anyone anywhere in the draft process. A source close to him tells us he feels very good about the possibility of being selected by Oklahoma City or Washington, and for right now is not planning on visiting the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Is it me, or have the players just become really, really stupid? Of course Agents are going to tell a kid not to participate – they’re in the business of making money off of players. If a player doesn’t show well, it could negatively affect his draft status…
But what about POSITIVELY affecting his draft status?
But, as a player, you can’t take advice from an agent that tells you not to work out for certain teams. What happens if Charlotte, who wants to move up in the draft, makes a trade with Washington…. Now James Harden may be in a position to move DOWN in the draft, because he never worked out for Charlotte; and therefore never had the chance to impress them.
Maybe if Harden works out for the Pistons (for example) – who knows, maybe he impresses Joe Dumars so much that the Pistons move up in the draft to select him… Perhaps even at a higher draft position than #5, which would make Harden more money…..
What happens if the Suns make a trade with the Kings? The Suns could use a running mate for Steve Nash… They could also potentially use an eventual replacement for Steve Nash. If James Harden never works out for the Suns, then he hasn’t maximized his opportunities… The Suns may take a PG, just because they didn’t have a chance see something special in Harden.
Somebody has to tell these guys that they’re NOT GUARANTEED ANYTHING, until they’re actually selected in the Draft.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
At the same time
A lot of players are drafted by teams without a workout. We didn’t work out JaVale last year.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Yep - knew that
And I’m not saying that every player has to work out for every team….. but when you’re talking about the NBA’s own Combine – where all 30 teams have sent either their GM, their Coach or both…. It seems to me that would be the perfect time to show what you’ve got – UNLESS you’ve got something to hide.
Any opportunity to show your skills, in a competitive arena, where a large number of NBA Executives will be in attendance – should be exploited to it’s fullest. Even Blake Griffin should be looking to impress more teams, other than just the Clippers… Who knows, maybe he would impress enough to convince some GM of a contending team to trade for the #1 pick.
But when Harden or DeRozan say that they won’t be working out for anyone -that tells me that they’re worried more about sucking in a workout, rather than maximizing their draft position – or impressing a lower ranked team (read: contender) to trade up to select them.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
Example
How many people here think that DeRozan’s agent just hurt his draft position by those comments?
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For instance....
You think Toronto is still interested in DeRozan (if they ever were)?
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
NO
But teams might move up in the draft to select a player, IF they see something in their workouts they really, really like. Or when they do a one-on-one interview after the workout.
DeRozan is not guaranteed a top-10 spot in the draft.
By refusing to work out for ANY teams, DeRozan is effectively thumbing his nose at all the NBA teams, saying look at my body of work in College (ONE year) because that’s all I’m going to allow you to see. That’s pretty arrogant.
If I’m the GM of an NBA team, I have to question two things:
1. What is he trying to hide?
2. If he’s not hiding anything, then I have to question his intelligence, maturity and decision making skills.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
I do
It might his athleticism seem like the product of anecdotal evidence and easily-impressed high school basketball reporters and scouts. Someone like him who’s kind of stereotyped as this ultra-raw project would actually probably help his stock by showing people that he can dribble the ball and hit a reasonable number of outside shots.
by pantslessyoda1 on May 29, 2009 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions
So Harden should have a private ‘one on zero’ workout for the Detroit Pistons at 16 because that may get them to trade to #3 or 4 to pick him. The Pistons don’t want him enough after 2 years in college to make the same decision? Suns either? I don’t buy that logic at all. Should Thabeet work out for the Spurs just in case? Rubio for the Lakers? These one-on-none and one-on-chair workouts are extremely overrated. NBA executives admit as much. He’s going in the top 5 or 6 picks. If a team wants him that’s where they have to go to get him.
Not necessarily
But – I think that not attending, or not working out at the NBA’s ONE AND ONLY pre-draft event – where ALL 30 TEAMS will be in attendance is a mistake.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
























