This June's NBA draft will take place at the Prudential Center, but it appears the May draft lottery will be moving from New Jersey to New York. Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports that the venue for the draft lottery will switch locations for the first time since 1994. We'll see if the new location turns out to be a good-luck charm for the Bobcats, Wizards, Hornets, or another club on May 30th. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on our tentative 2012 draft order to follow the latest odds on which lottery team will land that first overall pick.
Here are few more draft-related updates:
- Sophomore Meyers Leonard will forgo his final two years at Illinois and enter the draft, the team announced (hat tip to Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com). The 7'1" center is expected to be selected in the first round, with ESPN.com's latest mock draft slotting him at 20th overall.
- Point guard Damian Lillard will leave Weber State a year early. We heard last month that the junior was expected to declare his intent, and Martin Renzhofer of the Salt Lake Tribune says Lillard made the decision official today. The 6'3" Lillard is considered perhaps the top available point guard in this year's draft, and could be a lottery pick.
- Washington freshman Tony Wroten will hire an agent and enter the draft, the school announced today. Said Wroten: "I love the University of Washington, but I just feel that it's best for me to make the jump." The 6'5" guard is expected to be a first-round pick, ranking 19th among ESPN.com's top 100 prospects and 23rd on DraftExpress.com's list.
- ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider link) talks to scouts and GMs to get an idea of which players helped or hurt their stocks in the Final Four.
- Wizards point guard John Wall spoke to Michael Lee of the Washington Post about the possibility of Washington landing Anthony Davis in the draft.