News, rumors and buzz around the draft and free agency

[Jingled]

 

[LoPo]

So, you’d turn your back on a player that is as good as any player we can get, who fits in perfectly with this team...

To save face? To be cool?

Nah. No thanks.

At $30+ million, he is not better than Joe Ingles, Donovan Mitchell or even Royce O'Neale.

I would rather trade for....

Ilyasova (pick up a 1st rounder in the process)
Josh Jackson
Meyers Leonard (probably get an asset too)
MKG (probably get an asset too)
Marvin Williams (probably get an asset too)
Some of the Miami guys (probably get an asset too)

No thanks to Hayward.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Pacers are targeting Rubio (per The Ringer), which makes it all the more clear that we're confident we can get someone better.

Really? Because Indy is reportedly our primary competition for Conley. That means they're bowing out of the Conley sweepstakes.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

With the #30 pick some team will take the Bucks up on that Snell deal.

I wouldn't mind if it were us, tbh

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Barnes still get me hard and he’d be perfect in Utah.

Barnes is mine !!

 

[LoPo]

So instead of trying to use their picks to get Conley, the Pacers are trying to trade up because picks are easier to get this year and there are quality players in this draft?

 

[Jingled]

So instead of trying to use their picks to get Conley, the Pacers are trying to trade up because picks are easier to get this year and there are quality players in this draft?

They're reportedly trying to trade for the #4 pick that the Pelicans got from the Lakers.

 

[zyzz]

From Sam Vecenie's final mock

I’m going with [Nas] Little here [Washington] because he fits the biggest positional hole they currently have at the forward spot, and his workout on Monday with Washington is thought to have gone exceedingly well with the entirety of the team’s front office and owner Ted Leonsis looking on.

One of the persistent rumors of the pre-draft cycle from those within the industry is that Rui Hachimura has a promise, and that it’s from the Timberwolves. Maybe that proves to be the case on draft day and I’m overthinking things. But this persistent rumor dates back to the combine, when president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas had been on the job for under two weeks. Call me skeptical that Rosas would have promised a player without going through a pre-draft process, and then continued to go through the pre-draft process by bringing in additional prospects such as Nassir Little and Doumbouya, all the while having assured the Timberwolves draft slot to Hachimura? Something just doesn’t line up there, at all. I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but it would be unlike any other pre-draft process where a promise has been involved that I’ve heard of.

Yeah, the Celtics are a tough one this year, too. The assumption around the league is that they won’t make all three picks, but no one is willing to actually nail down a team they’re negotiating with. The deals that Danny Ainge tends to make are the ones that are done in relative silence.

Again though, I think there is significant potential for Boston to move around the board as it sees fit. They’re also thought to be fans of Tyler Herro, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and potentially even Nassir Little if he were to fall this far.

Bitadze's range is kind of all over the place from No. 10 to 19, but there is thought to be a floor with the Spurs’ pick at 19.

Keldon Johnson's range is something around No. 9 to 20, as he’s considered one of the more complete wings in the class in regard to skillset.

Herro is similar to Johnson, with his range being something like No. 11 to No. 20. He’s had strong workouts with Boston and Indiana, and he fits both of their toughness and confidence cultures perfectly.

NAW's range is thought to be from No. 12 to No. 20 or so around the league.

I’d say that right around [19] is the start of [Samanic's] range, but he’ll likely be taken somewhere in the first round.

OKC's pick is definitely also up for a potential trade as the Thunder try to get closer to the luxury tax line. Having said that though, the impression I’ve gotten is that they’re not necessarily just going to give away the pick along with a long-term deal to get off of money. They’d prefer a player in return that they think could help them next season.

Cavs are thought to be fans [of Kevin Porter Jr], and could look to move up from No. 26.

Sources around the industry have speculated since the NBA Draft Combine that Thybulle has a promise. He skipped that event, and hasn’t done anything in the way of public team workouts so far. Around the industry, sources have tried to figure out who it is just by process of elimination. The thought is Philadelphia makes the most sense. With picks 33 and 34, it’s easy for Philadelphia to mask the promise by bringing in players who could be in the mix at No. 24, as those same players could potentially be in the mix at No. 33. But they also haven’t brought in a ton of players with the potential to be picked ahead of this spot. I wouldn’t call this a certainty by any stretch. I’m not reporting that this is a promise. But teams are in the same boat as everyone else around the industry, trying to narrow down potential outcomes for their opposition.

Okpala's range is pretty wide right now. It’s not impossible he goes in the late teens, and it’s not impossible he falls out of the first round. Why? He’s a polarizing player for executives. Some are believers in the upside, whereas others see something of a low feel player who also struggles on defense.

The Cavaliers are thought to be interested in moving up on draft day from No. 26 to try and take an upside swing on someone.

But people around the league legitimately think there is a chance Bol falls out of the first round. I’m slotting him in the first round given that he’s been invited to the Green Room. But this one is wide open.

That’s the predicament of every big man right now in the 2019 draft. Kabengele has really impressed in workouts and teams have talked about him being one of the more impressive guys they’ve had in. But he’s a center, which automatically gives him a pretty wide range. I’d say that he legitimately will be in the mix all the way up at No. 14, and could fall all the way to No. 30.

Williams is a tough prospect to peg right now. Some really smart teams don’t have him rated as a first-round pick, seriously doubting his ability to shoot it from distance and defend away from the basket due to his mobility. . . . Still, on the whole, it’s no guarantee currently that Williams ends up in the first round. I’d peg his range wide, basically from No. 18 all the way to No. 35 or so.

Jerome is one guy who apparently has not particularly impressed in workouts, with his questionable athleticism levels standing out.

Terence Davis has hid from absolutely zero comers this pre-draft process, and he’s gotten the better of the large majority of them in his workouts. He particularly has impressed in Philadelphia, so I tossed him here. But I’d expect Davis to end up in the top 45, which is a pretty meteoric rise for a player who, again, did not even get an initial G League Elite Camp invite.

It’s not impossible Bazley hears his name at the end of the first round, but my bet is that it’s more likely in the first half of the second round.

Louis King’s draft range is a bit wide at this stage, with a chance for him to go in the first round, but it’s more likely he goes in the top half of the second round.

Lecque is still working out for teams, meaning he doesn’t have a promise that he’s comfortable with, at least.

Roby is a tough guy to figure in this draft. Some teams do legitimately have him as an end of the first-round, early second-round type. But his lack of physicality and strength really worries me, given his size.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

Windhorst said on LeBatard that the Nets still think they can get KD. And if he is still going to New York than Brooklyn makes way more sense.

That frees up Harris for us, and I really think we might be the front runner in that situation...

The time frames with all this stuff really ****s with us.

 

[mdalby]

I’d be disappointed if the Jazz did take him back. This is one the fan base will never forget. Sometimes you just gotta prove a point.

Hayward can never come back to the team. The disrespect he had for the Jazz organization and fans on how he handled FA was classless and showed his contempt for the Utah Jazz.

 

[infection]

Windhorst said on LeBatard that the Nets still think they can get KD. And if he is still going to New York than Brooklyn makes way more sense.

That frees up Harris for us, and I really think we might be the front runner in that situation...

The time frames with all this stuff really ****s with us.

I worry these timelines will come and pass and we'll be all here like:

Seems to happen.

 

[green]

Hayward can never come back to the team. The disrespect he had for the Jazz organization and fans on how he handled FA was classless and showed his contempt for the Utah Jazz.

So, Lindsey telling him he wasn’t a max player was respectful?

When he asked for a trade to Boston the summer before he’s a FA and was told no, that was respectful?

Getting booed when he was drafted was respectful?

What has Utah/Utah fans done to earn his respect?

Good lord.