On the heels of teammate Dwyane Wade pulling out of the Olympics due to injury concerns, Chris Bosh has decided to withdraw as well, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Agent Henry Thomas told Winderman that Bosh has pulled out of the London games to deal with his lingering abdominal injury.
The Heat were among the active teams tonight, sending their first-round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for a second-rounder and a future first-rounder. After the draft, team president Pat Riley spoke to Miami media about the team's summer plans, and provided a number of interesting quotes. Here are the highlights, courtesy of Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald and Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (all Twitter or Sulia links):
10:17pm: Ford has the details on the future first-rounder headed to Miami in the deal (Twitter link): It will be lottery protected for 2013, 2014, and 2015. If the Heat don't receive the pick by '15, they'll receive a pair of second-rounders — one in 2015 and one in 2016.
9:11pm: The 76ers have traded for the 27th overall pick and will receive Arnett Moultrie, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the Heat will receive a future first-rounder and the Sixers' 2012 second-round pick (45th overall) in the swap.
Landing Moultrie at No. 27 could be a coup for the Sixers, as the Mississippi State big man was a candidate to be drafted in the mid-teens.
We've heard Josh Smith's name surface numerous times this week in trade discussions, and Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports the Magic are interested in bringing Smith aboard to curry favor with Dwight Howard, who is friends with Smith. New Hawks GM Danny Ferry is reluctant to move Smith, Stein says, despite the fact the athletic forward has said he'd welcome a trade and is entering the final year of his contract. Here's more from around the Southeast Division as the draft draws near:
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:
The Suns will pursue unrestricted free agent shooting guard Ray Allen, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. There's mutual interest, and Allen would consider the Suns even if they don't re-sign Steve Nash, Wojnarowski says. Allen is a former client of Lon Babby, who worked as an agent before taking over basketball operations for the Suns.
The Heat have been linked to Allen of late, but they're not the frontrunners, Wojnarowski writes. ESPN.com's Stephen A. Smith said earlier today there's a good chance both Allen and fellow unrestricted free agent Kevin Garnett return to the Celtics.
Heat guard Dwyane Wade is pulling out of the Olympics and will undergo knee surgery, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press (Twitter link). Team USA was earlier granted three extra weeks to decide on its roster after a number of elite players were injured, including Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard. Wade recently revealed he received treatment on his knee during the Heat's conference semifinal series against the Pacers.
The draft is today's primary focus, but once the 60th pick has been made, all eyes will turn to free agency, which begins Sunday. So, there will be plenty of news on that front as well. Zach Lowe of SI.com ranks the top 10 free agent point guards, and Deron Williams, No. 1 on that list, let it be known via Twitter that he played golf today with Jason Kidd, No. 8 in Lowe's ranking. Whether that means the two will be signing together with the Nets, the Mavs, or they won't be signing at all is open to interpretation, of course. Here's more from around the league:
Earlier today we heard that the Magic general manager Rob Hennigan spoke with the media and addressed the plethora of issues he has on his plate in his first few weeks on the job. Following Hennigan's availability, Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel put together a comprehensive story on the rapid rate of change with which the Magic have overhauled their organization. By Schmitz's count, the Magic have dispatched of 17 important pieces of the organization since December. Starting as early as tomorrow night's draft, it is Orlando roster's turn for a makeover.
Here are some some odds and ends from around the NBA on this Wednesday night:
According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld, the general consensus around the league is that Ray Allen will join the Heat next year (Twitter link). Since the team will be about $2MM above the tax apron, the most that Miami would be able to offer would be the mini-mid level exception of $3MM. Here's more of tonight's miscellaneous links, including Tyreke Evans, Baron Davis, and the Bulls…