Well, we're here. After weeks of following draft rumors and speculating on which player will be picked by which team, we're just hours away from the 2012 draft. Before things get underway tonight though, we're sure to hear plenty more draft rumors, so be sure to follow this page for the latest updates throughout the day. And to fully immerse yourself in tonight's draft, you can also check out our most recent mock draft, the complete draft order, our Prospect Profiles series, and all the rest of our draft content. Here are today's updates, with the latest up top:
- The Kings and Warriors will make decisions on whether to trade their picks while they're on the clock, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports says (Twitter link).
- It's highly unlikely the Grizzlies use the 25th pick on a point guard, the Memphis Commercial Appeal tweets.
- The Grizzlies, Rockets and Celtics are all interested in Royce White, says Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Warriors may trade up from No. 30 to land him, Rothstein also tweets.
- The Bobcats are "getting closer" to trading the No. 2 pick, tweets ESPN.com's Andy Katz (hat tip to Tom Ziller of SBNation).
Earlier updates:
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets the Rockets aren't as close to a deal with the Kings for the fifth pick as an earlier report suggested (see below). Sam Amick of SI.com agrees, as has the Kings taking Harrison Barnes at No. 5 in his latest mock.
- The Warriors will likely keep the No. 7 pick after talks with the Rockets broke down, says Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld, via Twitter.
- Part of the reason the Celtics are trying to move up into the lottery is because they'd like to draft Austin Rivers, son of coach Doc Rivers, Sam Amick of SI.com reports (Sulia link). Chad Ford and Marc Stein of ESPN.com say the team is pessimistic about its chances to get Rivers (Twitter link).
- If the Warriors trade down to No. 12 or lower, the team would consider Moe Harkless, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.
- Thomas Robinson appears to be the preferred target of the Kings, who will wait as long as possible to decide whether to trade the No. 5 pick, Marc Stein and Chad Ford of ESPN.com report. If they do trade it, the Rockets are "in position" to acquire that pick, the report says. Stein and Ford suggest that means the Kings are in line to get even more thanKyle Lowry and a package of first-rounders if the deal is done.
- Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group hears the Warriors will take Dion Waiters at No. 7 if he's there.
- Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer passes on the latest on the Cavs' interest in Waiters and more from around the draft.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) and Joe Kotoch of SheridanHoops.com have updated their mock drafts, both of which cover all 60 picks.
- The Warriors are leaning away from Andre Drummond, writes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.
- The Blazers appear to be holding on to the sixth and 11th picks for now, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
- Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley is in the process of selling the team, and he would also like to trade the team's first-round pick, at No. 25, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal's Twitter account. The team's execs, however, like Royce White and John Jenkins.
- There is a "growing expectation" the Bobcats will swap the No. 2 pick, Chris Mannix of SI.com tweets.
- Teams drafting before pick No. 20 have little interest in Jared Sullinger, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Sullinger is "falling like a rock," says Mannix (Twitter link).
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee looks at what the Kings can do to upgrade at small forward through the draft, and speculates via Twitter that the team could trade down to draft a player at another position and re-sign Terrence Williams.
- The Cavs are actively pursuing another lottery pick, says Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Sulia link). Discussions with the Warriors for No. 7 have stalled, but the No. 12 pick, held by the Rockets, is in play. Lloyd speculates it will be tough to trade for a pick that high without including Anderson Varejao in the deal.
- Jared Sullinger's stock was slipping even before word came out about the medical red flag on his back, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
- Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the league's recent small ball trend doesn't mean prospects like Fab Melo and Festus Ezeli won't be highly valued.
- The Nets could bundle Johan Petro and $3MM in cash to try to acquire a second-round pick and clear cap space, according to NetsDaily.com via Twitter.
- Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets that the Blazers are eyeing Damian Lillard and Dion Waiters with the No. 6 pick, with a "hard lean" toward Lillard. Smith also says the Jazz still have hopes of moving into the lottery, and may be targeting a "draft-and-stash" international player in the second round (Sulia link).
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com unveils the site's final top 100 ranking before the draft (Insider only).
- Vin Parise of NBC Sports is hearing that the Bulls intend to draft Tyshawn Taylor at No. 29 (Twitter link).
- Besides liking Thomas Robinson at No. 5, the Kings are also high on Harrison Barnes,tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Sam Amick shares a number of draft tidbits in his latest piece for SI.com, including items onJared Sullinger, the Kings, and the Rockets.
- According to ESPN's Chad Ford, the Cavaliers have narrowed their choices at No. 4 toBradley Beal, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Harrison Barnes. While the team has interest in Dion Waiters (as linked below), that interest doesn't extend to the fourth overall pick, says Ford.
- As for the Cavs' second-round picks, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports says the team has "strong interest" in Turkish forward Furkan Aldemir (Twitter link). Aldemir doesn't have an NBA out clause until 2014.
- Temple center Michael Eric is drawing interest from teams in the second round, including the Warriors, Sixers, and Nuggets, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
- The Kings won't decide whether or not to trade the No. 5 pick until they see who is available, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. According to Spears, the Kings loveThomas Robinson, so if he slips past the first four picks, Sacramento is unlikely to trade down.
- While Evan Fournier has long been considered the only international player that will go in the first round, interest in Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou is intensifying. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Heat and Thunder are considering Papanikolaou with their late-first-round picks, and Al Iannazzone of Newsday says theKnicks could try to acquire another pick to draft him.
- Wojnarowski's piece also includes a few other updates, including the Bucks seriously considering Terrence Jones at No. 14, and Andrew Nicholson drawing interest from the Rockets and Nuggets.
- Perry Jones III may have a knee issue that's causing his slide down draft boards, reportsESPN.com's Chad Ford.
- The Bobcats have five "legit offers" for the second overall pick that they're considering, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.
- Rumblings that the Cavaliers are seriously considering Dion Waiters at No. 4 continue to gain momentum. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Cavs are losing interest in dealing with the Bobcats if taking Tyrus Thomas is a requirement in any trade, and are leaning toward Waiters if Bradley Beal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are off the board at No. 4.
- According to Wojnarowski, the Raptors are also looking into trading up for Waiters, and there's plenty of members of the Warriors' front office that like him a lot too.
- The Grizzlies have talked to a number of teams about trading the No. 25 pick, according toRonald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. However, Tillery tweets that there's a major internal push for Memphis to select John Jenkins or Royce White.
- ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Insider link) has released version 10.0 of his 2012 mock draft. Ford also heard from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who explained to the ESPN.com draft expert why he shouldn't be down on Austin Rivers.
- In a pair of tweets, Ford reports that the Pistons conducted a last-minute workout withAndre Drummond and that Detroit would likely take the big man if he slips to them at No. 9.
- Marc Berman of the New York Post has the details on the players the Knicks are eyeing with their second-round pick.
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