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2013 NBA Draft

Update On Traded 2013 First-Round Picks

March 6th, 2013 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

Back in January, as the NBA season neared its halfway mark, I examined this year's traded first-round picks with protection, projecting whether or not those selections would end up changing hands. Surprisingly, we didn't see any 2013 first-rounders moved at the trade deadline, so there aren't any additional picks to consider today, but it's still worth checking in to see how our projections may have changed over the last several weeks.

As our tentative 2013 draft order shows, a number of picks we thought were unlikely to change hands remain near-locks to stay put. The Bulls won't be receiving Charlotte's top-12 protected pick this year, and the Kings' top-13 protected pick won't be heading to the Cavaliers. It would take a Heat-esque winning streak by the Pistons for the Bobcats to have a shot at landing Detroit's top-14 protected pick, and the same goes for Dallas — unless the Mavs absolutely catch fire, their top-20 protected pick won't be sent to Oklahoma City.

Similarly, the picks we considered likely to change hands are still on track to do so. The Heat's top-10 protected pick will be sent to the Cavs, while the Grizzlies' top-14 protected pick will go to the Timberwolves. And despite a prolonged slump over the last few weeks, the Warriors are still extremely unlikely to keep their pick, which is only top-six protected. Unless Golden State falls out of the playoffs and then really lucks out in the lottery, that pick will be sent to Utah.

Here are the latest updates on the traded picks we still considered "up in the air" in January:

Team: Raptors (23-38)
Traded pick to: Thunder
Protection: Top-3 and 15-30
Current projection: 10th
Likely outcome: The Thunder should feel fairly confident about acquiring this pick for 2013, since the Raptors' playoff push appears dead in the water. If the season ended today, Toronto would only have about a 4% chance of jumping into the top three and keeping its pick.

Team: 76ers (23-36)
Traded pick to: Heat
Protection: Top-14
Current projection: 11th
Likely outcome: This pick is quickly becoming a lock to stay put for 2013, as the Sixers are currently seven games back of Milwaukee for a playoff spot.

Team: Lakers (30-31)
Traded pick to: Suns/Cavs
Protection: None
Current projection: 14th
Likely outcome: The Lakers are losing this pick either way, but the Suns and Cavaliers have a vested interest in seeing where it lands. Anything between 1-14 would be sent to Phoenix, but if it lands between 15-30, the Cavs will have the chance to swap the Heat's first-rounder for the Lakers pick, leaving the Suns with Miami's pick.

Team: Timberwolves (20-37)
Traded pick to: Suns
Protection: Top-13
Current projection: 8th
Likely outcome: The Wolves have gone just 3-15 since our last update, moving their projected first-rounder from 13th to 8th. Getting some players healthy for the season's last 15 games or so could help Minnesota make a late-season surge, but it's still very unlikely this pick will change hands.

Team: Rockets (33-28)
Traded pick to: Hawks
Protection: Top-14
Current projection: 17th
Likely outcome: The Rockets are currently viewed as stronger bets for the postseason than the Jazz or Warriors, which bodes well for the Hawks. Assuming Houston earns a playoff spot, Atlanta will receive this pick.

Team: Trail Blazers (28-31)
Traded pick to: Bobcats
Protection: Top-12
Current projection: 13th
Likely outcome: Of all our up-in-the-air picks, this one remains the tightest. The Mavericks are currently two games back of Portland in the standings, so if Dallas can pass the Blazers by season's end, Portland will have a great chance at hanging on to this pick.

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Odds & Ends: Ariza, Clippers, Brooks, Cavs, Draft

March 3rd, 2013 at 10:37pm CST by Zachary Links

Trevor Ariza isn't giving much thought to a would-be trade that almost sent him to the Clippers at the deadline, as he tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "Can’t really worry about that kind of stuff," the veteran swingman said. "I really don’t think about it. If it would’ve happened, cool. If it didn’t, even better. I’m not. . . . I like it here. Especially now that I’m playing better and we’re starting to win games. I’m not really worried about anything."  Here's more from around the Association as Sunday turns into Monday..

  • Kings decision maker Geoff Petrie struck out in the 2012 offseason, writes Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.  The Kings gave guard Aaron Brooks a two-year, $6.6MM deal only to buy him out of his deal last week.
  • Speaking of Brooks, the Cavs could conceivably claim him off of waivers after parting ways with Josh Selby earlier today, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.  However, his $3MM+ player option for next season could be enough to dissuade them from the signing (Twitter link).
  • The Cavs may also pass on Brooks in order to give Dion Waiters room to grow as a guard, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
  • Some NBA scouts like to downplay the talent in the draft each year, but a vast number are steadfast in terming this year's class as the worst in several decades, according to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (on Sulia).  At this stage, there's consensus No. 1 pick and no real distinction between the first tier of talent and the second.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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Odds & Ends: Davis, Cavs, Gibson, Heat, Saunders

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

It looked like we might have had an early commitment for the NBA draft yesterday, when UCLA coach Ben Howland said there was no doubt shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad would leave the Bruins after his freshman year. But Muhammad said he isn't ready to commit one way or another, as Peter Yoon of ESPNLosAngeles notes, leaving open the possibility, however slim, that the DraftExpress.com No. 3 prospect for 2013 won't be available until next year. While we wait for more definitive word from Muhammad, here's more from around the Association:

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Ford’s Latest On 2013 NBA Draft

February 28th, 2013 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

We may still have nearly a third of the NBA regular season left to play, but it won't be long before talk of this summer's draft starts to increase exponentially. With just three weeks until March Madness and the June draft less than four months away, the busy season is around the corner for ESPN.com's Chad Ford, who has a number of draft-related items up for us today. Let's round them up….

  • Ford's mock draft tool, which provides mock results for 2,184 different lottery scenarios, is up and running for the 2013 draft.
  • There doesn't seem to be a consensus No. 1 pick this year yet, as one veteran general manager tells Ford (ESPN Insider link): "As you look at the guys atop your Big Board, I'm struck with how depleted the talent pool is this year at the top. This is a pretty good draft if you want to talk depth. I just don't see a player who turns our franchise around at the top. I could be wrong. I didn't see Kyrie Irving doing what he's doing for the Cavs right now. But this year is especially troubling."
  • Based on his conversations with GMs, Ford says six players appear to be in contention for the first overall pick: Ben McLemore of Kansas, Kentucky's Nerlens Noel, Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, Anthony Bennett of UNLV, Indiana's Victor Oladipo and Alex Len of Maryland. Cody Zeller of Indiana and UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad have fallen out of contention for now, according to Ford.
  • McLemore is currently atop the Suns' big board, according to Ford.
  • In a separate Insider-only piece, Ford and ESPN.com's Jay Bilas discuss which players top their respective big boards, with Ford choosing Smart and Bilas going with McLemore.
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Odds & Ends: Draft, Oden, Greene, Kings

February 27th, 2013 at 7:01pm CST by Alex Lee

The news of the night so far in the NBA is that Pacers' Roy Hibbert and Warriors' David Lee have each been suspended one game without pay for their roles in last night's skirmish (Twitter links from Yahoo's Marc Spears).  In addition, Lance Stephenson, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were each fined $35,000 for "escalating the altercation."  Hibbert already told Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star that he will pay Stephenson's fine for being a good teammate, tweets Wells. 

Lee will serve his suspension tonight, as the Warriors visit in the Knicks in one of 10 games on tonight's schedule.  Mark Jackson, back in Madison Square Garden as head coach of the Warriors, has already expressed his displeasure with the league's decision, tweets Adam Zagoria of NBA.com.  Here are some other odds and ends from around the league:

  • Chad Ford of ESPN released his latest draft blog, available to insiders only and complete with an updated top 30.  Ben McLemore of Kansas tops his big board but as Ford asserts, this year's top 10 promises to be as ever-changing as any in recent memory.
  • Greg Oden will not decide on his next team until July, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports.  This agrees with last week's report from Marc Spears of Yahoo that Oden won't sign until the offseason, though it sounds like this came directly from Oden's agent, Mike Conley.  Amico writes that Oden came close to signing with the Cavaliers earlier this month, but an agreement couldn't be reached.  Conley believes that once Oden works his way into game shape, he will again have All Star potential.
  • Free agent forward Donte Greene, now healthy after fracturing his ankle in August, will work out for teams at Eastern Michigan University on Sunday, tweets Marc Spears of Yahoo.  Spears reported last week that the Nets, Pacers, Hornets, Spurs, Bulls, Knicks, Magic, Rockets, and Cavaliers have all checked in on Greene, who played the last four seasons in Sacramento.  Citing a league source, Nets Daily has reported the Nets are not currently interested in filling their open roster spot by adding Greene.
  • As was rumored yesterday, it appears that Kings minority owner John Kehriotis does in fact intend to submit a "back-up offer" to the Maloofs to buy the Kings, reports Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee.  Kehriotis apparently has the capital to match the offer from the Seattle group and believes he has the legal right to counter their attempt to buy the team, according to the report. 
  • Meanwhile, the Sacramento city council voted on Tuesday night to approve the request made by city officials to begin negotiations over the financing of a new arena, reports Bizjak.  These negotiations are a crucial element to Sacramento's bid to keep the Kings. 
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Odds & Ends: China, Bynum, Fisher, NBPA, Draft

February 26th, 2013 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

In a piece for SheridanHoops.com, Jon Pastuszek of NiuBBall.com previews the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs and recaps the standings for the season. Pastuszek also makes note of the American players who had been playing in China, some of whom could be candidates to return stateside and catch on with an NBA team. So far, Terrence Williams has signed a 10-day contract with the Celtics after his stint with the Guangdong Southern Tigers, while D.J. White is set to sign with the C's as well.

Here are a few more Tuesday afternoon odds and ends:

  • The Sixers know what Andrew Bynum is capable of when he's healthy, which is why John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer argues that the club should shut down the big man for the rest of this season.
  • In his latest mailbag, Ian Thomsen of SI.com cites one rival executive who expects the Sixers to re-sign Bynum this summer, negotiating language into his contract that gives the team some level of protection in case his knee issues continue. "If they don't sign him, then we'd all better run the other direction," said the exec. "Because they'll know his situation better than everybody."
  • While the Mavericks' front office was reportedly "agitated" to see Derek Fisher sign with the Thunder, Mavs players didn't seem too shocked by the move, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details. "It wasn't a big surprise," one Mavs veteran said. "We expected him to end up with the Lakers or OKC."
  • Fisher told Oklahoma City reporters today that he's not necessarily planning to retire at season's end, according to Royce Young of Daily Thunder (via Twitter).
  • Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld runs through all 30 NBA head coaches in an attempt to determine which ones are safe and which ones might be on the hot seat.
  • The NBPA moved quickly to remove Billy Hunter from his exectutive director position, but finding a replacement figures to be a longer process, tweets Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal.
  • 21 NBA scouts and one general manager, the Thunder's Sam Presti, were in France today to watch Rudy Gobert match up against Mouhammadou Jaiteh, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter link). Gobert ranks 12th on Givony's list of top 100 prospects, while Jaiteh is 32nd.
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Odds & Ends: Allen, Sixers, Bynum, LeBron, Cavs

February 25th, 2013 at 10:20pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s tonight’s look around the Association..

  • Heat guard Ray Allen says that he won’t make any decision until after the season on whether he will pick up his 2013/14 contract option, according to Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports (on Sulia).
  • The Sixers can’t afford to let center Andrew Bynum walk this summer, even though the trade has backfired on them, writes John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News.  General Manager Tony DiLeo recently explained that re-signing Bynum is the club’s Plan A but they will look to use their increased financial flexibility to make a splash if that doesn’t happen.
  • NBA.com’s Sekou Smith rounded up a handful of articles speculating about LeBron James returning to the Cavaliers in free agency in 2014, and shares his own thoughts on the subject.  In the eyes of Smith, the only thing that will silence the chatter is LeBron returning to Cleveland in the summer of 2014.
  • After returning from a NCAA suspension, Myck Kabongo of Texas needs to reestablish his value if he hopes to declare for June’s draft, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
  • Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops offered up a glimpse of what the upcoming free agent market could have to offer.  For a complete list of 2013/14 free agents, you can check out Hoops Rumors’ list right here.
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Odds & Ends: Kings, Hickson, Pacers, Blair

February 20th, 2013 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sacramento City Council voted in favor of supporting mayor Kevin Johnson's quest to keep the Kings in town yesterday, by a 7-2 margin, according to Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. While the vote was mostly symbolic, it shows that the city is open to providing a subsidy for a new arena that would be vital to Johnson's cause.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA, with a focus on tomorrow's trade deadline:

  • The availability of big men like Marreese Speights and Jermaine O'Neal has softened the market for J.J. Hickson, according to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge (via Twitter).
  • While Danny Granger is viewed as the Pacers' top trade candidate, a deal involving Granger is unlikely, albeit not impossible, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. According to Kyler, the Pacers would prefer to move Gerald Green, though he doesn't have much value on the trade market at this point.
  • Despite the fact that the 2013 draft class is perceived as subpar, teams around the league are very reluctant to part with first-round picks, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
  • DeJuan Blair isn't letting himself be affected by trade rumors involving him and the Spurs, as he tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News. "Of course I would like to stay," Blair said. "I’d like a better opportunity, also, so it goes both ways. It’s a business at the end of the day, so it’s not about what I want. It’s about what they want."
  • Tim Bontemps of the New York Post spoke to Ersan Ilyasova about the Nets' pursuit of him last summer in free agency, before Ilyasova re-upped with the Bucks.
  • ESPN.com's 5-on-5 panel names the ideal landing spots for a handful of trade candidates.
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Odds & Ends: Luxury Tax, Mavs, Draft, Wiggins

February 18th, 2013 at 7:47pm CST by Zachary Links

Tonight's look around the Association as we approach Thursday's trade deadline..

  • In his latest blog entry on CBA FAQ, Larry Coon looks at the cumulative effects of the luxury tax on teams.  Going back to 2002, the Warriors, Bobcats, and Bulls have been the biggest beneficiaries of the tax pool.  Meanwhile, the Mavericks and Knicks have been amongst the most penalized in the league, paying $192.8MM and $150.4MM, respecitvely.
  • The 2013 NBA Draft class is so weak that more than a half dozen prospects from the 2014 Draft class would go No. 1 this year, one NBA GM told Adam Zagoria of SNY.  “It’s a historically weak draft that, as a result, you’re going to see a lot more guys putting their name in knowing they’ll go higher in this draft, even though they may not be ready, just because next year’s class has such incredible depth that they could actually play better and improve and drop their draft status next year,” said the GM.
  • Speaking of the 2014 draft, Canada's Andrew Wiggins figures to be the top selection.  The 6-foot-8 forward could just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to strong talent from north of the border, Zagoria writes.
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Odds & Ends: Mavericks, Gordon, Heat, Rose

February 14th, 2013 at 8:32pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Despite Mark Cuban's belief that adding an overpaid player with a massive contract would be a huge mistake considering the framework of the current CBA, Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas wonders if the Mavericks would explore trading for Hornets guard Eric Gordon as a possible fallback option if the team falls short in its effort to land Dwight Howard this summer. On another note, Moke Hamilton of Sheridan Hoops explains why it would be wise for Dallas to deal Vince Carter and Shawn Marion for expiring contracts and draft picks now if they want to give themselves a legitimate chance at going after Howard, Chris Paul, or Andrew Bynum in upcoming free agency. 

Here are more of this evening's odds and ends: 

  • A report from ESPN (via the Associated Press) states that NBA Commissioner David Stern expects a concrete plan from Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson within the next two weeks regarding the Kings' future. Although the NBA Board of Governors does not meet until April 17-18, Stern believes that the official proposal could be made by March 1st "if (Mayor Johnson) follows through on what he's told us." He also put the kibosh on the idea of expansion and doesn't foresee a scenario where both Seattle and Sacramento wind up with teams.  
  • With 15 guaranteed contracts and the team on a roll as of late, Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida figures that the Heat will be very quiet at the trade deadline next week (Twitter link). 
  • Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago gets the sense that Bulls superstar Derrick Rose won't be returning this season. 
  • Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside provides a rundown of the top available point guards in the D-League and organizes them in groups by what they specifically have to offer.
  • After suffering a torn ACL on Tuesday night, Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel figures to be on a six-to-eight month recovery. Once touted by some to be the number one overall pick in this June's draft, Noel has slid to number three in Chad Ford's ESPN rankings of the top 30 prospects (Insiders only). On a side note, Darren Rovell (also of ESPN) tweets that Noel has a $10MM insurance policy in the event that he suffers a career ending injury. 
  • In a statement issued to Michael Lee of the Washington Post, David Falk (the former agent of Michael Jordan) apologized for his disparaging comments about John Wall and the Wizards recently. 
  • There have been a flurry of reports today about Lakers owner Jerry Buss' bout with terminal cancer, which was first reported by Amber Goodhand of Radar Online this morning. In a statement issued by the team today, it was made clear that there is no intention of selling the team to an outside group and that the Buss family plans to keep ownership of the Lakers for many generations to come (Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News).  

 

 

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