Critical week for the Pacers? Lottery hinges on Kings pick? Devin Harris not available. Bobcats very active on trade front? Hayward selected to attend draft?
http://www.indycornrows.com/2010/6/20/1527089/critical-week-for-indiana-pacers?ref=yahoo
Father’s Day or not, this is no day of rest for the decision-makers at the Fieldhouse.
Instead today begins a critical week which will certainly shape the franchise for next season and may leave a lasting impact for the next few years.
North Carolina’s Ed Davis is reportedly in town today for an individual workout with the Indiana Pacers. The former Tar Heel big man is coming off an unimpressive sophomore campaign hampered by injuries and lots of losses in Chapel Hill which have added some question marks to the talent and upside Davis carries on the court.
Tomorrow, Butler’s Gordon Hayward and Oklahoma State’s James Anderson will be among the players working out as the Pacers continue gathering information for the NBA Draft on Thursday evening. Which players the Pacers will pick and with which pick they end up using will remain in flux until the Pacers pick 10th or a trade involving the pick is made.
As David Morway explained, the draft and trades will be the primary avenues for the Pacers to change their roster.
“At this point I believe the draft and trades will be more of our focus,” says Morway. “We don’t know what the tax will be this year, but in looking at it we believe we’re going to be fairly close to the tax as we enter July 1. Unless we were to make a trade to clear room and created some space to entertain free agents, I think we’ll be more involved in trades as we look to improve this summer.”
Any trade or trades, will determine which players the Pacers select in the draft, although how the draft unfolds may impact which trades are made. While the fluid situation makes for exciting and anxious times, every move is absolutely critical for the Pacers to move forward in a positive direction. Where the roster sits at this time next week will go a long way to determining what type of team the Pacers will have next season and whether Larry Bird’s three-year plan is ripe to bear the tasty fruits of a future full of wins.
After the season, Bird and Morway mentioned their intent to be very active this offseason, looking to improve next year. Based on the Pacers inclusion in so many trade rumors thus far, they’ve lived up to their words. Now it’s time to put those words into action.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=16526
Thursday’s NBA Draft probably won’t get particularly interesting until the Sacramento Kings pick at #5, at least that’s the way it’s starting to look as the first four selections seem more and more settled in the days leading up to the draft.
Washington is taking John Wall with the first overall pick, and Philadelphia is likely to select to Evan Turner next—at least, they’d be crazy not to. That leaves Derrick Favors for the New Jersey Nets at #3, and it’s been said that Minnesota is leaning more and more towards taking Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson.
That leaves Sacramento with the fifth selection, and no definite idea of what they’re actually going to do with it.
Assuming DeMarcus Cousins is still on the board, you’d think he’d be the easy pick. Outside of Wall, no player in this draft is physically more gifted than Cousins. One source at the draft combine in Chicago last month joked that, from the neck down, he’s the best player of the lot. From the neck up, however… Well, we’ve heard about the concerns regarding his potential personality and work ethic problems a thousand times over at this point.
And that’s what Sacramento will have to balance if Cousins is still on the board. If they should decide that he’s not worth the risk, the top option then likely becomes Georgetown’s Greg Monroe, a sleek big guy that can run the floor and make smart decisions out of the post.
Monroe was in Sacramento on Saturday for a second workout with the team, proving that there’s more than just a passing interest in the young man, especially if Cousins should miraculously be gone when the Kings finally get around to picking.
A third option, and one that could make sense from a lineup standpoint now that the team has acquired a legitimate starting NBA center in Sam Dalembert, is to take Al-Farouq Aminu out of Wake Forest. His ability to play either forward position gives the team more depth and could help round out the roster a bit more than selecting another big.
But the Kings have said very publicly that the trade sending out Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes for Dalembert will not affect their draft plans—a subtle hint to suggest they’re still planning to go big. That means it’s likely going to come down to either Monroe or Cousins.
The rest of the lottery hinges on what they end up doing, and if the first three picks end up going as scripted (the only thing that could derail the script is Philly getting creating at #2), then the rest of the top eight or nine picks could be determined by what Sacramento ends up doing. The first real uncertainty begins when the Kings go on the clock.
http://www.realgm.net/src_wiretap_archives/67304/20100620/nets_arent_expected_to_shop_harris/
The Nets are no longer expected to shop point guard Devin Harris.
New Jersey didn’t land the first overall pick in last month’s draft lottery, which would have given them the rights to pick Kentucky point guard John Wall.
During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, coach Avery Johnson made it clear that he expects to have Harris this coming season.
“I’m really excited about us working together again,” Johnson said. “I got to see him grow from a rookie in the NBA to a young man, and we’re going to get Devin playing the type of basketball that I know he’s capable of playing.”
http://www.realgm.net/src_wiretap_archives/67301/20100620/bobcats_very_active_on_trade_front/
The Bobcats are “very active” in trade talks around the NBA, a source told the Charlotte Observer.
The source, which came from within another team’s front office, said the Bobcats seem willing to increase their payroll if they can swing a move that will allow them to significantly improve.
http://twitter.com/Wells222
Butler’s Gordon Hayward has been selected to attend the draft in NYC
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