NBA Draft Rumors

[JoseA]

Portland wants Oden AND Conley:

Twenty-four hours had yet to pass on the draft lottery transformation of the Portland Trail Blazers, and general manager Kevin Pritchard and his staff already had brainstormed a most intriguing idea: If they're going to draft Greg Oden, they should take a hard look at making a trade to get Mike Conley Jr. to come with him.

So the discussion is under way, a source close to the team and Oden said Wednesday night, about trading into the top of the lottery for a second draft pick to secure the franchise center's personal point guard. It would be a brilliant, bold stroke for the Blazers G.M., and here's the thing: Pritchard has the parts and the imagination to make it happen.

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Well it would surely be a smart move on the Trailblazers part, but what do you think of their chance of pulling off a trade?

Oden and Conley have good chemistry together and Portland could be in the process of building a dominating team with Conley's addition too.

Conley, Roy, Aldridge and Oden would look awful nice in a lineup together...

[JoseA]

Smith's column, as usual, is filled with trade and draft rumors, and is worth reading if you're interested. Among other things, he says the Hawks want Al Horford, Mike Conley Jr. will fall to the Bucks at No. 6.

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That is the Hawks only choice, they need a big time rebounder and Horford is the guy. He is not that bad of a scorer too.

As for the Bucks, I don't think Conley would be a good fit, that is if they re-sign Maurice Williams. I think Corey Brewer would be a good fit because the Bucks struggled at SF last season.

[dlb]

I guess this is as good a thread as any to drop this tidbit, but friends of mine who keep close tabs on the Carolina program tell me that Reyshaun Terry could be the steal of this year's draft. He's projected as a 2nd-rounder and his college play doesn't justify anything better, but the insiders say that Reyshaun's biggest problem was that he had pro-style skills and a pro-style mindset that just didn't work on the college level. Give him a couple of years to mature, the story goes, and he'll be a solid starter for whoever picks him, with the potential for an All-star appearance at the peak of his career.

[BravesRule22]

I like Terry alot, the rumors around last year that draft if he entered it that someone might have taken him in the 1st. I see his game tranfering very well to the NBA game

As for the Hawks, if they draft Horford its beyond stupid, IMO.....they just drafted Sheldon Williams and Mavin Williams in back to back drafts while passing on their need @ PG.

If they draft another PF, it should be the final straw with alot of fans, I know it would be with me.

[dlb]

Maybe the 'Hawks can get Kobe.

[BravesRule22]

LOL

I dont know if that was serious or not but just incase it was ( im thinking no )

Kobe is the ONLY player in the NBA with a no trade and his list of teams that he would go to are :

Suns, Knicks and Bulls

Suns arent happening.....so its the latter 2

[dlb]

Yeah, I know. The problem with making a trade for Kobe is that it's a heart transplant. LA is going to want the heart of your team in exchange for the heart of theirs. Given that the Lakers finished 7th in the West, at a puny one game above .500, is he worth it?

For Chicago, I'd have to say no. Kobe is going to cost Deng, Hinrich (or maybe Duhon and something else), plus a draft pick. For that, you get a 30 year old ball-hogging whiner who posts gaudy numbers while your team goes nowhere. The upside is that he should sell tickets, but for how long? And will the bump in sales cover his $82mm salary?

The Knicks just don't have much to give. They only managed to eke out 33 wins last season, so it's hard to make the case that they even have a heart, and they traded away the high-first-rounder that such a performance usually earns.

That leaves Phoenix, who could actually make the deal work and make Kobe part of a winner. Lakers management, however, will not be enthusiastic about helping a Western Conference foe create a championship contender.

My guess is that Kobe stays and the Lakers work the free agent market to get better. For a serviceable PG, Jeff McInnis is available and Steve Blake can't expect too many opportunities for playing time on Allen Iverson's Nuggets. McDyess could offer a little help on the front line. Beyond that, there isn't much, unless they can work something with Rashard Lewis.

[JoseA]

Nuggets want to be a part of the draft too:

The Denver Nuggets do not have a pick in the draft, but team officials say there remains a chance that could change. The Nuggets are looking to trade into the draft.

The Nuggets, who would have had four selections in this year's draft, find themselves without any because of two trades – the J.R. Smith trade last summer and the Allen Iverson trade in December.

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J.R. smith was in a pretty bad accident the past month. Maybe George Karl wants to do the trade so he could draft Kolby Karl, lol (and say his son actually got drafted!).

This year's draft has a lot of depth in , and the Nuggets could easily get a steal in the 2nd round.

[JoseA]

Warriors want Yi:

The Golden State Warriors hold the No. 18 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Word on the street is that the team has more than a passing interest in Chinese power forward Yi Jianlian, who doesn't figure to be around that late.

One rumor has the Warriors offering their pick and players – possibly Jason Richardson – to the Milwaukee Bucks for, at the very least, the sixth overall pick.

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Would not make much sense for the Bucks to do the trade. They need to build for the future and Jason Richardson isn't the healthiest guy.

Yi's stock is going up, and he is being compared to a young Dirk Nowitski because of his shooting ability for a big man.