HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

There Will Be Some Shuffling: The rumor mill was buzzing on Saturday afternoon as word broke of a potential three-way trade between the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons that had Cleveland landing Richard Hamilton and the number two selection overall. Meanwhile Minnesota would have gotten the fourth and eighth picks with Detroit receiving Cleveland’s trade exception.

Sources confirmed that the report, made by ESPN’s Chris Broussard, indeed had substance. This proposal has been on the table for awhile and it appeases the desires of the Cavaliers and Timberwolves. However, the Pistons are looking for a bit more in return. They don’t appear to be that desperate to unload Hamilton’s contract, especially with the new CBA likely containing some type of amnesty clause.

Expect the Cavaliers and Timberwolves to keep looking for a partner to get this deal done, though, and maybe sweeten the offer to make Detroit reconsider. Sources have made it clear that the Timberwolves are seeking a taker for their top first round pick mainly because they don’t have a major need for Derrick Williams, the best value at that spot, and would prefer to trade down and potentially grab a center and shooting guard instead.

The Indiana Pacers half-heartedly threw Danny Granger’s name in the mix for Minnesota’s pick with an incredibly high price tag that makes it clear they’d only be willing to trade him in a deal that they clearly get the better of. The only way they’ll let him go is if they’re offered a fantastic deal that they just can’t turn down. Minnesota understandably isn’t interested in unloading all of their top assets for him.

The Cavaliers’ motivation to make this deal is clear. This may be a weak draft class overall, but landing Irving and Williams would make it a home run for them. Irving and Williams could anchor in a new era together and really spark a sense of excitement for a franchise that just experienced one of their worst seasons ever.

There is plenty of time for teams to do their due diligence over what deals are out there with there still being a few weeks left until the draft. Due to the lack of talent overall in this draft there are a lot of teams open to moving their picks. That should create quite the interesting scene when draft night arrives on June 23rd and until then speculation will continue to run rampant. 

Scotty Hopson Rises Above: When Scotty Hopson, a former McDonald’s High School All-American, signed his letter of intent to play at the University of Tennessee in 2008 he was joining a program that was developing into a national championship contender. With two All-Conference guards in Chris Lofton and JaJuan Johnson graduating there was a clear opening for Hopson to come in, play right away and work his way to the league while competing for a national title.

Coming from small town Hopkinsville, Kentucky it took Hopson some time to adjust to the increased level of play in Division I basketball. NBA teams looked at him as a potential one and done prospect, but leaving that early was never his plan. He always wanted to take a couple years to fully prepare himself. However, that first year turned out to be the only year he got what he signed up for at Tennessee.

During Hopson’s sophomore year four of his teammates, all major contributors, were arrested and suspended indefinitely for driving around with an illegal firearm, open container of alcohol and marijuana.

"I withstood a lot of that," said Hopson. "I’m a strong guy. I put my faith in God. He has a path for me in each and every thing that I do. When those guys went down they were my brothers, I want the best for them but at the end of the day it’s about me. I have to do what’s best for me and try to take my game to the next level.

"When they went down our team was really hurting. It was six scholarship guys and three walk ons but at the same time with me being a leader on the basketball team I encouraged them that you have your opportunity now let’s take advantage of it. Those guys relished it, embraced that it was their time to play. They stepped up to it, we won our next four or five games. We beat Kansas, the number one ranked team, went on to have a great season, advancing to the Elite Eight. It was great for us."

{AUTHOR_BOX}Hopson’s ability to stay on the straight and narrow path and persevere would also be tested again in his junior season. Volunteers head coach Bruce Pearl was making mistakes of his own off the court, being found guilty by the NCAA of misleading investigators on recruiting violations. He was suspended for the first eight games of conference in November and lost all support from the athletic department. Their patience was already dwindling after the issues the football program encountered with the NCAA, putting Pearl on the thinnest of ice. Late in the season it was clear that he was going to be fired and it clearly had an effect on his coaching and the team overall.

Still, Hopson didn’t falter. He put forth the best season of his career, averaging 17 points on 45% shooting from the field.  Despite all of the adversity and distractions thrown his way he managed to never get caught up in any of it and noticeably improve every single year. He also fulfilled his requirements as a student-athlete, boasting a 3.1 GPA.

The NBA Draft process tends to focus on the negative, though, and right now Hopson is catching a lot of heat for his lack of consistency in college and extremely high confidence.

Fact of the matter is that the situation at Tennessee bred inconsistency. Players continuously underachieved there. They actually haven’t had anyone drafted since 2002. It’s amazing that Hopson wasn’t even more inconsistent with all the issues that were going on. And the great confidence stems from the tremendous work ethic he possesses. Hopson has always worked on his game year round, doing advanced beach workouts from his junior year in high school to his freshman year at Tennessee. Over the last two years he’s ramped things up, joining Real Gymm in Keyport, New Jersey to add the strength he knows he’ll need in the NBA.

"It’s martial arts training, training life skills and training every muscle in your body," Hopson said of Real Gymm. "It’s total body concentrating. It’s probably the most intense training I’ve ever had. I want to take my game to the highest level that I can reach and I know working my body out and being in great shape is obviously one of the things I have to do to get there.

"The NBA is all about contact. You have to relish that contact. I’m looking to definitely relish that contact, going head on in every challenge I get. That training is just preparing me for that contact. I get knocked down I get right back up. I’m definitely a fighter, a winner and a motivator. I’m out here working to win games."

When Hopson’s schedule isn’t filled with workouts for NBA teams, he’s training at Real Gymm as many as two times a day with on-the-court skills training in between that includes making 1,000 shots.

"I’m about working," said Hopson. "I’m definitely dedicated to this game."

What shouldn’t be overlooked when worrying about Hopson’s confidence is that he was always willing to do whatever Coach Pearl asked of him at Tennessee. He was asked to be the face of the program after everything that happened off the court his sophomore year, but was never given more than 30 minutes of playing time a game or complete freedom offensively. He never complained or made excuses, just continued to work hard. And quite possibly the main reason why Hopson has set his goals so high is because he’s not just try to be successful for himself.

"I’m a fond believer that you have to give back," said Hopson. "I want to do good things in my community back home, help out kids. I’m working the boys and girls club, trying to be a member of that and definitely starting camps and maybe even doing things in the business world as far as creating jobs and a lot more things in the community. I have a lot of things in store for myself I just need time and space to make it."

From now until draft night Hopson’s schedule is pretty full since his camp is open to all workouts. They demonstrated that by accepting a late invitation to a group workout in Minnesota last week after several players dropped out due to injuries and other reasons. They have no problems going head-to-head with any other player and are actively seeking workouts against higher-ranked shooting guards, although they aren’t optimistic about those prospects willing to accept the challenge.

Like all draft prospects, Hopson is far from perfect. But his weaknesses are being magnified more than they should be right now and his upside is being undersold. At nearly 6’7 he’s one of the most talented offensive players in the draft who is going to work as hard as he can to make sure whatever team picks him doesn’t end up disappointed.

He doesn’t have any preference when it comes to his future team. He’s just looking forward to being in a position to focus solely on basketball and not dealing with the constant roadbumps he ran into at Tennessee.

"I’m going to embrace whatever team I end up with," said Hopson.

Yannis Koutroupis is a senior NCAA and NBA analyst. You can follow him on twitter.