More than any year in recent memory, it feels like we are going to see a lot of trades, a lot of moves in the days, hours and minutes leading up to the draft.
While the consensus may be this a deep draft, some teams are willing to move to out while other teams are looking to move up. Plus, there are players (many bringing cash savings) on the market to get those picks.
Predicting future trades is about like predicting what Charlie Sheen will do next, but we can give you a few things to look for (with trades… not Sheen).
• Charlotte Bobcats and the No. 2 overall pick. From the seconds after the lottery put the Hornets on top of the draft pile, there have been rumors and reports of the Bobcats shopping the No. 2 pick. Even the Bobcats coach said making a trade makes sense for them. This rumor is picking up steam but don’t expect them to drop far — Charlotte reportedly doesn’t want to drop out of the lottery and wants a good young player in return or more picks. The Bobcats are getting calls but the most likely option appears to be the Cavaliers giving the Bobcats the No. 4 and No. 24 pick for the No. 2 (because the Cavaliers really want Bradley Beal of Florida and Washington will take him at No. 3 for sure). Maybe another deal jumps in front of this one, but it’s out there.
• Sacramento Kings and the No. 5 pick. This feels likely to happen, and maybe with the Rockets, but it will be a draft-night move. The Kings are willing to trade that pick and if someone is high on, say, Andre Drummond and he drops to No. 5 there could well be a deal. As ESPN noted, the Kings brought in a lot of guys for workouts who should be drafted in the teens. It’s a sign they are looking at what they could get if they have to make a trade.
• Toronto Raptors and the No. 8 pick. They might as well have a KMart blue light special light going off over their pick. (Does KMart still do blue light specials?)
• Houston Rockets have made one trade and more are coming. The Houston Rockets have already made one trade, moving forward Chase Budinger for the No. 18 pick. That gives the Rockets the No. 14, No. 16 and No. 18 picks as well as some guys they could trade (Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin, Samuel Dalembert) as they head into draft night. Their goal is to get a couple picks in the top 10 then turn around and try to parlay those picks and a player or two to Orlando for Dwight Howard. If the Magic aren’t dealing (and they appear not to be, yet) then watch for a deal for Josh Smith from Atlanta.
• Portland moves picks No. 6 and No. 11 to move up in draft. All sorts of discussion of this and if they love a player a little higher — or get a good veteran to just move a pick — they would do it. New GM Neil Olshey is not afraid to gamble.
• Lakers or some other team without pick moves into late first round. If you want a pick and don’t have one, there are a whole lot of picks available in the 20s, according to reports. The Lakers reportedly have interest, the question becomes what is the price? Outside their bigs, the Lakers are not loaded with assets people want.
• Dwight Howard trade… nah. Not in a draft-day deal. Not yet. Despite how hard the Rockets push reports are new GM Rob Hennigan has not even met with Howard yet. But I bet you see Howard’s moved this summer.
• Luol Deng or Joakim Noah from Bulls. There is a lot of buzz about the Bulls moving Deng to get into the lottery, but I don’t see it as floated out there just to get picks and cap space. The Bulls are contenders and while they would love to lower their payroll (what team owner wouldn’t?) they are not going to hurt the roster just to make a move. There would have to be a veteran that could help the Bulls coming back to them with the pick.
• Andre Iguodala trade. As with some other rumors here it would be a surprise, but they have been shopping him off and on for years and eventually someone will bite.
• Lamar Odom trade. This would be a purely financial move for a team looking to save a few bucks — Odom is set to make more than $8 million but can be bought out for $2.4 million. If nobody trades for Odom, the Mavs will buy him out to get the cap space.