Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic: “Every so often, the mail clerk makes his way to the top floor. It’s happening now with the Suns, for better or worse. David Griffin, the home-boy who first joined the team as a communications intern in 1993, is beginning to look and act like the next general manager. And Steve Kerr, the current GM, seems to be fading into the background. Maybe the weather gauge is wrong. But after the Suns auditioned a handful of potential draft picks at U.S. Airways Center on Saturday – including former Arizona recruit Brandon Jennings, who finally got around to playing a basketball game in the Valley – there was a subtle shift in perception. Kerr let Griffin, his senior vice president of basketball operations, take the first round of questions from the media. Formally attired and wearing smart glasses, Griffin prattled on in perfectly rehearsed GM-speak. He was impeccably prepared for every question, clutching his hands behind his back. And in the background, Kerr wore a TNT golf shirt, wondering aloud what he’d be doing at the moment had he never signed on with the Suns.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen has told general manager Kevin Pritchard to upgrade the team’s roster for next season, adding suspense, intrigue and pressure to what already figures to be a critical juncture in the team’s pursuit of a championship. ‘Overall, our timeline has moved up,’ Pritchard said last week after one of several offseason meetings with Allen. ‘We need to take it to the next level.’ The big question, of course, is how Pritchard goes about improving the league’s second-youngest roster? Does he listen to coach Nate McMillan’s desire for experience? Does he flex the team’s enviable muscle in the free agency market? Does Pritchard relent to his daring, go-for-it nature and make a blockbuster trade? Or does he sit on his hands as he did at last season’s trading deadline, when he made no moves in order to let his young team progress ‘organically’? ‘Those propositions haven’t come to the forefront yet,’ Pritchard said in the waning days before Thursday’s draft. It’s a jumbled picture right now, with many possibilities and options open to the Blazers. But this much appears to be certain: The Blazers will be a major player when the free agent market opens July 1, and they are open to trading out of Thursday’s draft.”
Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “In his first month on the job, new Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn through his blunt words and first defining action has left the franchise’s dwindling, downtrodden fan base intrigued and its players truly atwitter. Buckle up. You ain’t seen nothing yet. Kahn pointed the team in a different direction by sending away Kevin McHale, presumably because he concluded the Hall of Fame player and the franchise’s architect for the past 14 years cast just too long a shadow. He has pointedly told season-ticket holders and media members alike that Al Jefferson — the prized centerpiece of McHale’s rebuilding attempt — is the second-best player on an NBA title contender and Kevin Love is a fourth piece as well as a young talent unlikely to reach All-Star level. And if you believe the rattle and hum around the league as the NBA draft approaches Thursday night, nobody has been more active working the phones than Kahn, a neophyte basketball boss who apparently is bandying about trade proposals as if he has just drafted a fantasy-league team.”
Eddie Sefko for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Even though there are teams in the lottery looking to dump their pick, it seems unlikely the Mavericks will move up simply because they are in win-now mode and draft picks typically need a year or two or more to become prime contributors. … What matters most to the Mavericks is finding a contributor. It can be done. Last year’s 22nd pick was Courtney Lee, who was a starter for Orlando during much of the Magic’s playoff run this season. ‘One of the things that’s really changed over the last couple years is you used to think if you go seven deep, you’re OK,’ Cuban said. ‘But you’re really starting to see that seventh, eighth and even ninth guy has to be able to have an impact and be able to score because the games are so close. If those guys can’t have any impact at all, you’re not going to advance [in the playoffs]. That hurt us in Denver, and that’s something we’re going to try to improve on. You need that extra scorer and that’s a point that is not lost on the Mavs.’”
Mike Jones of the Washington Post: “In 2006, there were 15 draft-day trades, and this year’s draft is expected to rival or surpass that. Some teams low in the draft – or without a first-round pick – badly want to move up to upgrade their rosters. Some teams higher in the draft would prefer to move down to get more picks and bolster their rebuilding projects. In the middle of it all is the Washington Wizards, who hold the fifth pick but are in one of the more favorable positions in the draft. Thanks to their circumstances, they could be key players in the draft, affecting not only their future but those of their counterparts as well. The Wizards – who endured a 19-63 injury-plagued season – are healthy again and boast a roster that features three All-Star caliber players: Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. After that, the Wizards have five more seasoned veterans and six players 24 or younger who are being developed as key backups. With the team healthy, Wizards management seems to believe they will go from basement dweller to championship contender – top-five pick or not.”
Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee: “Ricky Rubio’s situation is about to get less complicated. According to a source close to Rubio, the $6.6 million buyout of the Spanish point guard’s contract with his current team, DKV Joventut, will likely be reduced today or tomorrow to an amount where ‘he knows he’ll be able to make the payments,’ the source said. The resolution of that element of the Rubio equation will, in effect, clear a major obstacle for teams that are considering drafting him Thursday but have concerns about when he would join their team. And that, of course, includes the Kings. Assuming the details of the arrangement are finalized soon as expected, Rubio would plan on joining his team at NBA Summer League in July just like the rest of the draft field. Yet while Rubio’s Kings visit in Sacramento last week was the first with any NBA team in America as they continue to look at options for the fourth pick, they are no longer alone in that regard. Rubio visited with Oklahoma City representatives on Saturday in Los Angeles, where the Thunder (who pick third) was allowed to examine his DKV Joventut contract just as the Kings had before them to gain a better understanding of those particulars.”
Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “On 10-point scale, Tyler Hansbrough’s Sunday morning workout for the Hawks at Philips Arena ranks at the very top of anything conducted in the past five days. It wasn’t any one thing in particular that had the Hawks’ coaches buzzing. It was everything. Hansbrough’s energy, effort and obviously better-than-advertised shooting and athleticism caught more than a few folks in attendance by surprise. ‘He kicked the meter up. It was off the Richter Scale,’ said Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew, who ran the team’s workouts all week. ‘That was one of those 8.0s, one of those quick, hard earthquakes. Because his energy is at another level. You just don’t see many players capable of playing with that type of energy and effort and can sustain it through a game, or even a workout. He plays at a totally different level than some of these young guys out here.’ I felt like I needed an ice bath after watching his 90-minute workout. But Hansbrough proved a theory that a wise Eastern Conference executive reiterated to me Sunday night, ‘effort is a skill in the NBA.’ And Hansbrough has it in reserve.”
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Thabeet doesn’t come packaged with the name recognition of a Blake Griffin or the hype Ricky Rubio has bottled. What seems to separate Thabeet from the rest of this draft class is his unique, compelling story. Thabeet hasn’t played the game of basketball long. But what Thabeet knows he’s mastered. He’ll be signed based solely on his ability to be a defensive dynamo — someone who can block shots and rebound with authority. No, Thabeet doesn’t come across as the sexiest pick. But no other player boasts Thabeet’s physical measurements and defensive credentials. ‘He has an ability that’s in short supply in basketball: To block and alter shots. He’s a defensive presence,’ Griz general manager Chris Wallace said. ‘When people cross that foul line they’re looking for him. In today’s game with the defense rules, no matter how good of a defender your perimeter players are, you’re going to give up dribble penetration. Thabeet gives you someone on the back line who can deal with that dribble penetration.’”
Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “Holiday has been slated to possibly go as high as No. 4 to Sacramento. ESPN’s Chad Ford and Draftexpress.com have Holiday rated as third- and the fifth-best point guard prospect in the draft, respectively, after averaging 8.5 points and 3.7 assists last year at UCLA. The Timberwolves, Knicks, Raptors, Bucks and Pacers are also considering him, yet Holiday somehow hasn’t worked out for the Wizards. Strange, right? It’s not that the Wizards have no interest. Here’s an explanation: According to a league source, the Wizards attempted to set up something with Holiday but Holiday’s agent did not want him to work out for the team. Holiday’s agent? Dan Fegan. Yep, the same Fegan who doesn’t want Rubio in the same time zone as the Wizards. The source didn’t say why Holiday wouldn’t come, but if you recall, Fegan was concerned about Rubio sharing the floor with his former client, Gilbert Arenas.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The latest buzz has the Knicks and Wizards talking about swapping the No. 8 and No. 5 picks, respectively, in a trade that would accomplish much of what each team is looking to do this offseason. Alan Hahn of Newsday checked out a rumor that the Knicks were offering Wilson Chandler and found it to be baseless. But both teams have plenty of, um, assets to work with that would make a deal work. The Wizards are said to be intrigued by the prospect of bringing back ex-Wizards Larry Hughes and Jared Jeffries, who were key contributors on Washington’s 2006 playoff team. The Wizards also would love to unload Etan Thomas’ expiring contract. The Knicks are just the place for it. Donnie Walsh has ended the perception that the Knicks are simply a dumping ground for bad contracts, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t take an expiring deal if he could unload Jeffries, who has $6.9 million due in 2010-11. If Walsh is going to maximize his flexibility in the free-agent summer of 2010, he’s going to have to move Jeffries or Eddy Curry — if not both.”
Howard Beck of The New York Times: “For the self-made draft experts, twisted emotions are implicit this time of year. The draft is Thursday. Fans are devouring mock drafts and player biographies and learning hard-to-pronounce European names. They are refreshing Web pages every few hours to read the latest insights from people like Givony, NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith and ESPN’s Chad Ford. It should be a glorious time. It isn’t. ‘I hate mock drafts,’ Ford said. ‘I just think they’re a joke.’ To be close to the process is, apparently, to loathe it. The draft is a signature event for the N.B.A., a hype-filled evening of optimism and suspense. It is the night when teams’ intentions are revealed and fates are set. The days that precede it, however, are filled with lies and obfuscation, misdirection and outright manipulation. Agents inflate their players’ value and trash the clients of their rivals. Team executives, fearful that another team will snatch their favorite prospect, spread false reports about a player’s workout, or his health, or his character.”
