Draft Rumors: Tuesday

With two days remaining until the 2012 draft, we've seen a first-round pick change hands for the first time this offseason, as the Timberwolves agreed to send the 18th overall pick to Houston in exchange for Chase Budinger and the rights to Lior Eliyahu. The general consensus is that the move is the precursor to a bigger deal for the Rockets, and Houston isn't the only team rumored to be shopping picks. Here are today's draft-related rumors, with the newest updates added to the top of the page throughout the day….

• Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweeted that the Bucks are looking to move into the top 10, and are supposedly targeting John Henson. 
• Kennedy says that the Rockets are still trying to acquire another first round pick, most recently in discussions with the Hornets about the 10th pick before talks broke down (Twitter link). He also tweeted that the Lakers and Nets are both looking to acquire a first rounder.  

Earlier updates:

• The Bulls are looking to add perimeter help in the form of a combo guard and shooter, says K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. John Jenkins, Will Barton, and Tony Wroten are possible targets.  
• Michael Hunt of the Journal Sentinel believes that the Bucks need to start adding talent instead of looking to add more veterans. Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel says that the team could consider taking a guard with their pick.
• Michael Lee of the Washington Post documented Jay Bilas' thoughts on Harrison Barnes, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Bradley Beal. He believes that Beal is the second best prospect of this draft, discusses Barnes' outstanding athleticism, and marvels at Kidd-Gilchrist's versatility and ability to guard multiple positions. 
• Doug Smith of The Star explores the many different directions in which the Raptors could go on draft night, even hearing that GM Bryan Colangelo remains undecided on what he wants to do. 
• Keith Langlois of Pistons.com views the second round as a chance to find perimeter depth and highlights the team's possible targets with their 39th and 44th picks. Among those mentioned are Darius Miller, Kevin Murphy, Kim English, Jae Crowder, Will Barton, and Jared Cunningham. 
• Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area examines the draft's shooting guard options for the Warriors.
• Chad Ford of ESPN.com lists the 10 biggest questions heading into draft night (Insiders only).
• Morley Quatroche of WEEI.com takes a look at J'Covan Brown as a possible second round target for the Celtics. 
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiled Jefferey Taylor and the impact that the three-time SEC All-Defensive team selection wants to make in the league.
• Jonathan Abrams of Grantland provides an outside-the-lines perspective of Royce White and the first-round hopeful's battle with anxiety disorder. 
• Jimmy Smith of the Times-Picayune produced a mock draft of his own, focusing solely on the top-14. 
• Sean Meagher of Oregon Live performed a link roundup of Damian Lillard, who appears to be a realistic target for the Trail Blazers on draft night. 
• Jay Bilas projects Fab Melo as the 30th best available player in the draft (Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel provided a Sulia link). While he sees the 7-foot center as a good rebounder and improved shot blocker, Bilas thinks that Melo's less-than-ideal mobility was offset by playing zone defense at Syracuse and could struggle guarding the pick and roll at the NBA level.
• 76ers GM Rod Thorn feels content with having the 15th pick and doesn't see a situation where he tries to move up (Dei Lynam of CSN Philly reports). Thorn would like to add an athletic big man and believes he will have about two or three of his targets available by the time Philadelphia is on the clock. It should be no surprise that he mentioned Jared Sullinger as one of those targets (Tom Moore of Philly Blurbs tweets). 
• Tim Kawakami of Mercury News tweeted that the Warriors have not made any definitive judgments after the meetings/workouts with Andre Drummond and Harrison Barnes. In another tweet, Kawakami added that Golden State could consider trading down depending on who gets drafted ahead of their slot. 
• In his latest mock draft for Yahoo! Sports, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com shares a number of tidbits. Among them: He's hearing that the Cavaliers are more likely to takeMichael Kidd-Gilchrist than Harrison Barnes if Bradley Beal is off the board at No. 4.
• Warriors GM Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob flew to New York to watch Harrison Barnes and Andre Drummond in private workouts on Monday, according to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com.
• A pair of sources who witnessed Damian Lillard's individual workouts for the Blazers earlier this month raved to Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com about the point guard's performance. Lillard is a strong candidate for Portland's No. 6 pick.
• SI.com's Seth Davis has a ton of interesting quotes from scouts and executives on this year's top prospects, while Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld spoke to execs who believe the best values in the draft could be found in the picks in the teens.
• The Warriors don't appear to have the assets to move up and may simply opt to take the best player available at No. 7, says Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Damian Lillard and Dion Waiters are top contenders for the Warriors' pick.
• Tim Bontemps of the New York Post thinks the Nets will draft a European player to stash overseas with their No. 57 pick.
• A swap involving the Bobcats' No. 2 pick and the Cavs' No. 4 pick could have enough momentum to get done, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com in a piece that includes a handful of other draft tidbits.
• Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times wonders whether the Bucks will consider drafting Fab Melo if Meyers Leonard and Tyler Zeller are off the board at No. 12.
• Draymond Green is working out for the Pacers for a second time today and is a candidate to be picked at No. 26, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. However, another player working out for Indiana today, Will Barton, figures to be the team's pick if he's still on the board at 26, says Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (Twitter link).
• ESPN The Magazine (Insider link) has released its annual players-only mock draft, in which a player representative from each team plays GM and makes his team's picks. Somewhat bizarrely, the players let Bradley Beal slip to J.J. Redick and the Magic at No. 19.
• Washington guard Tony Wroten is drawing interest from a pair of teams with picks in the 20s. Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says Wroten has piqued the Grizzlies' interest, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com says the Hawks have become "enamored" of Wroten.
• Within the same mock draft, Ford says the Hornets offered the Rockets the No. 10 pick for Nos. 14 and 16 last week, but that Houston turned them down.
• The Warriors' No. 7 pick could be in play for the Rockets as they look to line up a big offer for Dwight Howard, tweets Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.
• It appears unlikely the Raptors will trade the eighth overall pick, according to Eric Koreen of the National Post.
• 76ers president Rod Thorn doesn't expect the team to trade up from No. 15, tweets Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com.
• The Suns' interest in Arnett Moultrie is intensifying, says Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
• There's a decent chance that the Kings will draft a player that didn't work out for the team, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.

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