Lots Of Suitors For Caron: The Washington Wizards have made no secret of their willingness to move the 5th overall selection in Thursday's 2009 NBA Draft, the byproduct of having an asset out there like that is that every team calling wants to talk about bigger deals that could include the #5 pick and a roster player or two from Washington. The Wizards are rumored to be trying to move Etan Thomas in any deal they make with the #5; however it seems that Caron Butler has become the more coveted player.
Wizards GM Ernie Grunwald claims he is not interested in breaking up his three All-Star core of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Butler, however the temptation to make a deal will increase in the next 72 hours.
"You never say never to anything. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was traded. Oscar Robertson was traded," Grunfeld said to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "But I've said many times, I like our players. I think we can compete with just about anybody in the league. So, we like what we have. But if the right opportunity presents itself, you always look at it."
Butler has been traded twice already and understands how the business works, so he is taking the trade talk in stride.
"To be honest with you, I'm not worried but I know the nature of the business," Butler also said to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "Me being traded from Miami, being traded from [the Lakers], I know the only thing I can control is making sure I'm in good health, making sure I work hard this summer to keep my body right and be the best player I can possibly be for who I'm playing for next season."
Draft Day Is Almost Here! Can you feel it? That giddy anticipation? That's not how players and agents are feeling these days. No sleep, lots of phone calls, a lot of empty promises and almost no certainty for anyone other than Blake Griffin. The first round field seems to have settled in and there could be surprises in the bottom 5 picks, but for the most part teams have settled in on who the first round picks are, now it's finding an order to the chaos. Here are today's draft notes:
Memphis Holds The Key: With the Draft less than 2 days away it has become clear that Memphis holds the Rosetta Stone to this year's NBA Draft. They are the big unknown. Rumors persist that Memphis is looking to trade the #2 overall pick, yet they continue to be talking about players they will select with the pick, hinting that they do not yet have a deal they want to trigger. Reports of Hasheem Thabeet blowing off the Grizzlies, is not accurate. The Grizzlies have met with Hasheem and are strongly considering him with the #2 pick. James Harden had a less than impressive workout, but no one thinks that ruled him out of going #2 to Memphis and there is still Ricky Rubio. The Grizzlies' decision to stick with the #2 will affect how the draft unfolds and they seems to be wavering on where they will go, so it's really anyone's guess at this point, but if the Grizz keep the pick – start warming up to the idea of Hasheem Thabeet.
Harden's Bad Workout: It's amusing how much press James Harden's bad workout with the Grizzlies has gotten. One league source laughed at the reports saying there was a mountain of game film on the kid and that every team in the league has seen him shoot the ball lights out. One team source openly laughed at the notion of Harden sliding saying "I hope he slides to us." There is little doubt that James Harden will be one of the first six players drafted, so don't buy into the hype that he's gonna fall very far or that he is no longer on the Grizzlies' radar because it seems there is still a strong contingent in Memphis that sees him as a good fit.
Blair Making Headway: DeJuan Blair has had a rough couple of weeks, despite amazing workouts that have floored virtually everyone who has seen him. DeJuan has had to deal with questions about his knees. The answer arrived this week when two doctors were asked to read MRIs from the past few years and compare them with the MRI taken in Chicago at the end of May. The results were that the older films show exactly the same thing as the newer film removing the fear that DeJuan would be at increased risk of knee problems, not necessarily removing all doubters, but certainly putting some teams that were considering DeJuan more at ease, likely returning DeJuan to the top 15. Three teams are really interested in DeJuan and could be zeroing in – Indiana, Portland and Milwaukee. DeJuan will be part of the second wave of players drafted, but the odds he could slide into the 20's became very real two weeks ago, and now seems almost unlikely.
Marcus Thornton: Not sure where the lack of love for LSU's Marcus Thornton has come from, because everywhere he has gone in workouts he has shot the lights out. Some teams have knocked Marcus' size or his athleticism, but those that have seen him are more than intrigued. Atlanta has him on their board at #19, The Hornets at #21 seem to have Marcus high on their board and after a strong workout with Memphis Marcus may have locked himself into the first round. The Phoenix Suns were said to be sniffing at Marcus and could be acquiring a pick in the 20's and they too have eyes for Marcus. The New Jersey Nets tried to get Marcus in for a workout dangling the notion they were trading down, but Nets' sources said they were not able to get him in. There is little doubt that if Marcus were 3 inches taller, he'd be a lottery pick and with the success smaller players have had and Marcus' lighting quick release he's going to be an interesting guy to watch on draft night.
Maynor Going In The Teens? For weeks team sources struggled with where VCU's Eric Maynor fit in this very crowded point guard class, and now it seems he may be finding some traction. Word is he is in the hunt for Philadelphia at #17 behind Ty Lawson, is rumored to be on the board for the Atlanta Hawks at #19 and with Dallas at #22. Maynor could be one of the more interesting picks in this class and with so many picks in the bottom ten of the first round in play - Maynor could go anywhere from #17 to #30, but at least he's in the first round which 2 two weeks ago seemed unlikely.
Hedo and The Magic: It is amusing how the Hedo Turkoglu free agency story is going. Before you get all excited about interest from Portland or Detroit in scooping away Turkoglu keep a few things in mind:
Sign And Trade: Most of the teams with reported interest in Hedo Turkoglu are not interested in grabbing him as a "walk away" free agent, mainly because they can not come up with the dollars under the cap that it will take to grab Turk. What interested teams would want is a sign and trade deal. That's where Turk gets his big dollar deal, and that requires Orlando to trigger the deal and take back some assets – likely unfavorable assets. The Portland Trail Blazers are looking at just under $8 million in cap space, the Magic would sign Turk at a deal better than that number. Detroit wants to make a run at Ben Gordon and Paul Millsap, they too would not have enough cash to grab Turk, again needing Orlando. So worst case, the Magic get a couple of players from either team's roster (have fun with that).
$10 Million Isn't The Problem: Lon Babby, the agent for Hedo Turkoglu, has made it clear his client will seek a $10 million per season deal. Magic sources say the initial $10 million is not the problem, in fact if Turk wanted to sign a 2-year $20 million deal, the Magic might be open to that. It's Year 3, 4 and 5 that are of concern. If Turkoglu is willing to sign a deal that de-escalates in value, he might find a more favorable situation in Orlando. $10 million in year 1, $10 million in year 2, $8 million in Year 3, $7 million in Year 4, $6 million in year 5. He might find a more willing deal. The Magic don't want to be holding the bag in the final three years with a player in his thirties. Magic ownership has said they will pay Luxury Tax to keep the team together and that sounds good to the fans, but Otis Smith has to live with handcuffs already on the team, and locking Hedo into a killer contract could hurt the Magic in the long run is his biggest concern.
Turk Wants To Say In Orlando: Business is Business, and players leave teams all the time. That's said Hedo Turkoglu has found a situation that works for him. He has a coach that will live with his turnovers and bad shots. He has teammates that respect his game, and a new family that wants to stay in Central Florida. Business is Business, but Turkoglu wants to stay in Orlando, so while teams may come calling, Turk's first and second option is to try and make a deal with the Magic. Don't lose sight of that, when you ponder the what-if's.
Magic Can't Spend It Elsewhere: There is this belief that Orlando could choose to "spend the money elsewhere", that's not necessarily the case. They could sign and trade Turkoglu for another player or group of players. They could opt not to sign Turk at all and use their median exception, but that's not $10 million, that's $5 million. The Magic are so far over the cap they have no flexibility so it's not like they can make a real run at Carlos Boozer or Paul Millsap without a lot of help from both Turkoglu and the Utah Jazz. So it's not like Orlando has a spare $10 million to give to someone else; they really only get value out of it if they give it Turkoglu.
The Magic will have a tough off-season, there is little doubt of that. There will be teams that help drive Hedo's price tag up, but anyone offering more than $8 million a season will need Orlando's help, and they clearly do not have to make a deal they do not want to make.
NBA Chats Today: Due to scheduling issues this summer, Coach Mike Moreau will be swapping chat slots with me. So beginning today, I will be hosting my weekly NBA Rumors Chat at 1pm EST every Tuesday, with Coach Mike taking the Wednesday 12pm time slot. Get your questions in early as my chats do get silly with questions. I'll do my best to jump around the list to get in as many questions as possible. Eric Pincus will host his weekly chat at 4pm EST, so get your questions in now.
