Basketball

NBADraft.net has released their latest mock up of the 2013 NBA Draft and it looks a little different than some of the other sites. For example Kansas guard Ben McLemore is projected as the No. 1 overall pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers with Kentucky center Nerlens Noel sliding to No. 2. Going big is a popular theory for the Atlanta Hawks but NBADraft.net goes a step further with Danny Ferry taking a couple of center prospects in Duke's Mason Plumlee and Brazilian big man Lucas Nogueira. Plumlee has been a popular name for the Hawks among draft pundits. His good showing at the Draft Combine has seemed to solidify Plumlee as a first-round prospect at least heading into individual workouts. With back to back picks the surprise playoff team, Atlanta Hawks address their frontcourt with Mason Plumlee. Plumlee was one of the surprises in college this year, but may slip to the teens due to his case of "senior-itis" Similar to last year with Tyler Zeller, younger prospects with more perceived upside may ultimately push the senior into the second half of the first round. He added some offensive skills around the basket, and played the year with surprising consistency. He is a better version of his brother Miles who somehow landed in the late first round in 2012. While he's not overly skilled in the post, he shows nice explosiveness, runs the floor well and shows a willingness to fight for rebounds and play tough in the paint. In such a weak draft, Plumlee figures to land in the teens. Here is another scouting video from DraftExpress on Plumlee: Lucas Nogueira is a name that I originally wasn't familiar with but I think he would be a stretch to be picked this high in the first round. Nogueira is 20 years old and stands 6-11 but is relatively light at a listed weight of 220 pounds. Here is what NBADraft.net had to say about him: Bebe gives the Hawks the opportunity to bring him in right away or allow him to dvelop for another season in Spain. Nogueira is extremely raw, but players with his size and agility are rare. He had a breakout performance at the Copa America U18 tournament in 2010 and some NBA scouts came away saying he had top 5 pick potential. He lost most of that hype with a dreadful showing at the 2011 adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, but has a huge bounce back season playing in Spain for Estudiantes. "Bebe" developed a reputation for being soft and lazy, but this season he showed dedication and maturity that had been lacking from his game. For him, it's just a matter of becoming more aggressive and maintaining his focus. Bebe has proven himself in the ACB, Europe's best national league and has become our top International prospect for this year's draft. Here is a DraftExpress interview from the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit with Nogueira:

Frank Vogel kept Roy Hibbert off the court late Wednesday night. Hibbert injected himself into the series in another way Thursday, using Twitter to send a message to Shane Battier: “U can knee or kick me every time u drive 2the rim. Ill be there 2protect the rim. That wasn’t inadvertent. Battier knew what he [...]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-jR-leSRc

Practice ended Thursday just before 3 p.m.. LeBron James spoke to the media. Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen, too. All went about their respective days. And there was Ray Allen, on the other end of the floor, alone but for a Heat staffer, a basketball and an agenda. Wednesday night, he had two [...]

For this honor, it was unanimous. LeBron James, who was one short of receiving every vote for the MVP, did receive all of the possible 119 first place votes for the All-NBA Team. It was the seventh first-team selection of his career, and he is joined this time by Tim Duncan at center, Kevin Durant [...]

In the wake of Frank Vogel’s decision to bench center Roy Hibbert for the final two defensive possessions of the Heat’s 103-102 win over the Pacers on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers coach directed some criticism toward Knicks coach Mike Woodson following...

Mailbag time! For information on how to submit your question see the end of this post. Dave, Saw your post about moving up in the draft. Folks are saying Dallas wants to cut cap space to sign Dwight Howard. How about getting that 13 pick and then packaging it with the 10 to move up? That would get us somewhere, right? Rob First, I don't think the Blazers really want to move up in this draft. Ideally they'd prefer to move out in exchange for a helpful veteran. The goal of that post was to look at possible options, not to endorse the general course of action. Second, the scenario you described sounds good on paper...very, very thin paper. It doesn't make much sense in real life for a few reasons. You have to suspect any trade reasoning that relies more on the motive of your team's trading partner than the actual talent exchanged. We hear these things every year. "This team wants to dump salary. That team is rebuilding. The other team is supposedly dissatisfied with a player." These things do play into trades but NONE of them substitute for talent or turn a horrible move into a good one. Teams do not just dump assets willy-nilly. Even if they have an overall goal in mind they still want to maximize value at each step of the way. Let's just say Dallas is interested in saving cap space for Howard. You still have to answer these questions. 1. O.J. Mayo is opting out and will have to leave in order for the Mavs to offer Howard a full salary. That's going to leave them at about the $40 million mark, give or take. Will the $1.7 million they'd owe the 13th pick make THAT much of a difference, particularly since they can save close to a million by renouncing the rights to Petteri Koponen? 2. Why should Dallas trade that pick to Portland as opposed to any of the 28 other teams? What offer can the Blazers make? Second rounders? Cash? Who can't match that? Where does Portland get the edge to make this deal work? 3. The draft happens in June. The Mavs can't woo Howard until July and have no guarantee of getting him. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to hedge their bets by drafting a player they could use and then dumping that player for next to nothing in July if they do get Howard? The Blazers would need them to make the move in June with no assurance of ultimate success in order to make a trade plan work. 4. Most importantly of all, since you're speculating the pick is all but free for the taking why wouldn't the team the Blazers want to trade it to just go and get it from Dallas themselves? If you're Charlotte and you have a choice between trading the #4 pick for #10 and #13 or spending a couple second-rounders to draft #4 and #13 which would you take? Given the choice wouldn't the Mavs prefer to help an out-of-conference team rather than the Blazers? So many trade scenarios contain steps that just don't make sense, relying on perceived context rather than actual trade value. Sometimes crazy things happen in this league but you can't depend on them. Most of the time they happen to somebody else besides you. Put yourself in the other GM's shoes. Pretend it's the summer of 2014, LaMarcus Aldridge has one year remaining on his contract, and rumor has it he's going to leave next year. How are you going to feel when everybody starts saying, "Just offer Tyrus Thomas, some cap filler, and the 12th pick for him. They're going to lose him anyway!" Are you going to take that kind of deal? No way. You'd rather ride out the summer, try to trade him at the deadline, or even let him walk than take back pieces that have little value or make no sense. Phoenix is not going to give away Marcin Gortat because his contract has but one year left and they're rebuilding. Cleveland is not in charity mode just because Anderson Varejao doesn't fit their timetable. The Mavericks may end up selling the 13th pick low but there's no guarantee you'll be the one who gets it and if you do there's no guarant

Feel free to change the title of this post to help its clickability, I'm not a marketer. So, I waited to create this after the lottery and VJL had made all of his projection posts to get the best idea overall idea of the FA “Bigs” market going into the off-season. I might be a minority but when thinking about Pek I think we might be in the fortunate position to have a “Bigs” buyers market if you will, similar to the PG market a few years back. I have listed the current 2012/2013 roster for every team along with their respective upcoming market status. I have also listed the cap space available to all of the teams, but it should be noted that the first value assumes all non-guaranteed (NG) contracts are eliminated and the second value is all options (ETO and TO) are declined. If only one value is listed then there are no contracts with options for the specific team. I have also listed the possible KEY: FA – Free Agent ETO – Early Termination Option NG – Non-Guaranteed TO – Team Option PA – Player Amnesty (According to Rumors) Atlantic Knicks: Centers/PFs: Marcus Camby, Tyson Chandler, Kenyon Martin (FA), Amar’e Stoudemire Cap Space: -$18.68 Million or -$15.66 Million (Without Options) Nets: Centers/PFs: Andre Blatche (FA), Reggie Evans, Kris Humphries, Brook Lopez, Miraz Teletovic Cap Space: -$26.63 Million or -$25.53 Million (Without Options) Celtics: Centers/PFs: Brandon Bass, Kevin Garnett (PA?), Jeff Green, Fab Melo, Shavlik Randolph (NG), Jared Sullinger, D.J. White(NG), Chris Wilcox (FA) Cap Space: -$14.37 Million or $0.97 Million (Without Options) 76ers: Centers/PFs: Lavoy Allen, Kwame Brown (ETO), Andrew Bynum (FA), Spencer Hawes, Arnett Moultrie Cap Space: $13.62 Million or $16.57 Million (Without Options) Raptors: Centers/PFs: Andrea Bargnani, Aaron Gray (ETO), Amir Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas Cap Space: -$7.74 Million or -$6.17 Million (Without Options) Central Pacers: Centers/PFs: Tyler Hansbrough (FA), Roy Hibbert, Ian Mahinmi, Jeff Pendergraph (FA), Miles Plumlee, David West (FA) Cap Space: $9.96 Million Bulls: Centers/PFs: Carlos Boozer (PA?), Taj Gibson, Nazr Mohammed (FA), Joakim Noah, Malcolm Thomas (NG), Nikola Mirotic (Cap Hold) Cap Space: -$15.32 Million Bucks: Centers/PFs: Gustavo Ayon, Samuel Dalembert (FA), Drew Gooden, John Henson, Ersan Ilyasova, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Joel Przybilla (FA), Larry Sanders, Ekpe Udoh Cap Space: $17.95 Million or $28.95 Million (Without Options) Pistons: Centers/PFs: Andre Drummond, Jonas Jerebko, Viacheslav Kravtsov (NG), Jason Maxiell (FA), Greg Monroe, Charlie Villanueva (ETO) Cap Space: $29.03 Million Cavaliers: Centers/PFs: Kevin Jones (NG), Marreese Speights (ETO), Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Tyler Zeller Cap Space: $22.34 Million or $26.86 Million (Without Options) Southeast Heat: Centers/PFs: Chris Andersen (FA), Joel Anthony, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard (FA), Rashard Lewis (ETO), Jarvis Varnado (NG) Cap Space: -$25.68 Million or -$15.55 Million (Without Options) Hawks: Centers/PFs: Al Horford, Ivan Johnson (FA), Zaza Pachulia (FA), Johan Petro (FA), Mike Scott (NG), Anthony Tolliver (FA), Josh Smith (FA) Cap Space: $38.79 Million Wizards: Centers/PFs: Trevor Booker, Jason Collins (FA), Nene Hilario, Cartier Martin (FA), Emeka Okafor (ETO), Kevin Seraphin Cap Space: -$0.63 Million or $21.58 Million (Without Options) Bobcats: Centers/PFs: Bismack Biyombo, DeSagana Diop (FA), Brendan Haywood, Josh McRoberts (FA), Byron Mullens (FA), Tyrus Thomas Cap Space: $16.62 Million or $29.82 Million (Without Options) Magic: Centers/PFs: Glen Davis, Al Harrington (NG), Andrew Nicholson, Kyle O’Quinn (NG), Nikola Vucevic Cap Space: $5.64 Million or $12.89 Million (Without Options) Pacific Clippers: Centers/PFs: Blake Griffen, Ryan Hollins (FA), DeAndre Jordan, Lamar Odom (FA), Ronny Turiaf (FA) Cap Space: $13.76 Mill

Pierre Jackson is one of the smallest players in the 2013, but after Nate Robinson destroyed the Nets in the playoffs, they and others may not be so opposed to taking a 5'10" athlete (42" vertical leap) with good range. Jackson, who Chad Ford thinks could sneak into the first round because of that Nate Robinson effect played well in the second day of the Group Workout. Here's what Ford wrote of the Baylor point guard's performance... Virtually every GM I spoke with thought he was the best player in attendance. Not only did he show off his elite quickness and athletic ability, but he also showed off his floor general skills. I was impressed with his ability to run the pick-and-roll. His speed allowed him to fly by defenders (Kentucky's Julius Mays was on him for most of the game), and he hit several big jumpers. Ford was also impressed by some others who showed on Thursday, including Arsalan Kazemi out of Oregon who he notes is " a favorite of the analytics crowd" and a "glue guy." A deep sleeper in the group was the tallest player to workout, tiny Farmingdale State's 7'1" center and Division III's leading rebounder, A. J. Matthews. Matthews, a native of Brooklyn, is unlikely to be drafted --only one Division III product has ever been drafted-- but his dream is to play in Barclays Center. Also, the final measurements for the workout are in and D.J. Stephens of Memphis, who looked good on Wednesday, came away with the highest vertical leap ever recorded in any pre-draft combine or group workout: 46 inches. A Gerald Wallace clone, Stephens impressed with his athleticism and work ethic. Although only 6'5", he has a 7'2" wingspan. The Nets will soon start individual workouts. Expect to see prospects for both the #22 pick and mid second round picks, if the Nets decide to buy picks. The Blazers might be the most likely partner. They have a first round pick, three second round picks and a top Euro-Stash, Lucas Papanikolaou. 2013 NBA draft - Pierre Jackson and D.J. Stephens impress at New Jersey workouts - Chad Ford - ESPN Insider Pressey Looking to Prove Himself as NBA Draft Looms - Josh Newman - Zags Blog Mays impresses at Nets' combine -- at point guard - Eric Lindsey - CoachCal Brooklyn-native A.J. Matthews opening eyes before NBA Draft - Larry Fleisher - Metro

I have nothing for the #7; I mean, there's Adrian Griffin and DeSagana Diop (two members of our 2005-06 Western Conference Championship team) and... uh, yeah. That's really it (Lamar Odom never existed. And I didn't just type his name... you saw nothing!). 2013 NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Finals: (3) Indiana Pacers vs (1) Miami Heat Heat lead series 1-0 Western Conference Finals: (5) Memphis Grizzlies vs (2) San Antonio Spurs Spurs lead series 2-0 I have nothing for the #7; I mean, there's Adrian Griffin and DeSagana Diop (two members of our 2005-06 Western Conference Championship team) and... uh, yeah. That's really it (Lamar Odom never existed. And I didn't just type his name... you saw nothing!). 2013 NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference Finals: (3) Indiana Pacers vs (1) Miami Heat Heat lead series 1-0 Western Conference Finals: (5) Memphis Grizzlies vs (2) San Antonio Spurs Spurs lead series 2-0