Spurs guard Tony Parker’s name has been getting thrown around in trade rumors for the last few days, but the 2007 Finals MVP is hoping that he will still be a Spur when the dust settles after draft day.
According to multiple sources, including ESPN’s Ric Bucher and the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Heisler, the player the San Antonio Spurs are attempting to trade into the lottery for is Klay Thompson.
Here’s the full report, from The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro: It sounds from those comments like Nash would definitely like to stay in Phoenix, but would be open to a change of scenery if the Suns can’t become contenders again and the opportunity to play for a contending team presents itself.
In a move that should shock nobody, the Sacramento Kings have exercised their team options on DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, and Omri Casspi for the 2012-13 season.
Turkish center prospect Enes Kanter is something of a mystery to NBA teams, since he was forced to sit on the bench for Kentucky all season long after the NCAA ruled him ineligible.
CBSSports.com’s Ken Berger has the report: The 6-9 Thompson is a banger of a power forward, but he lacks anything resembling polish at this stage of his career.
There has been widespread speculation that the Timberwolves are looking to trade the #2 pick in this year’s draft, because projected #2 pick Derrick Williams is a small forward/power forward and the Timberwolves already have Kevin Love at the 4 and Michael Beasley as a tweener 3/4, which Williams projects as.
Just another quick hitter on the draft, this time courtesy of the Detroit News’ Vincent Goodwill (H/T to ESPN.com’s Chad Ford): This is pretty big news for Morris: Draft Express currently projects Markieff as the 17th overall pick in the draft, with his brother Marcus currently being projected as the #10 pick.
The Washington Wizards have apparently fallen in love with Enes Kanter’s combination of size and skill, and it appears as though they’re looking to move up in the draft in order to get him.
Monta Ellis’ name has been in trade rumors for the past several weeks, but according to Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick, Warriors general manager Larry Riley said that Warrior fans shouldn’t expect an Ellis deal to happen anytime soon: Riley also said something that may indicate that Ellis will be staying in Golden State because of a lack of demand rather than the Warriors’ lack of desire to move their 25-year old combo guard: Ellis is an ultra-talented scorer, but he doesn’t have a true position, his defense is suspect at best, he seems to have gotten used to shooting the ball 20 times a night, and he’s owed $11 million a year through the 2013/14 season.
Only two short years after he was drafted with the 5th overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves, point guard prospect Ricky Rubio actually physically arrived in Minnesota on Monday, and there was much rejoicing.
Jimmer Fredette was a great college player and something of a folk hero during his time at BYU, but nobody can really seem to agree on what he’ll do in the NBA.
After some extremely shaky workouts, official 2011 Draft Bismack Biyombo has seen his stock go up and down in recent weeks, with some GMs now claiming that they don’t believe the defensive specialist who spent last season playing professional in Spain will be a lottery pick.
