Official 2009 NBA Draft Day Thread

[timvp]

Post any draft related news you find in here. Also use this thread for play-by-play during the draft.

[timvp]

While much of our attention revolves around the lottery, we don’t want to forget about the rest of this draft, which is likely to be even more unpredictable. We’re touching base with a number of NBA teams sitting inside their war rooms on an hourly basis to figure out the latest, and it seems like we can expect quite a bit of movement to occur in the 17-30 range based on what we’re hearing.

“I’ve never seen a draft with so many loose ends this late in the game” one longtime observer told us this morning.

Multiple teams are trying to trade into the first round at the moment, with the most aggressive of them still being Houston, Miami and San Antonio. Another team that has begun to explore that option more thoroughly is Denver apparently. They could be in the hunt for a point guard, with the likes of Toney Douglas, Jeff Teague and possibly Darren Collison being their targets.

Picks that are potentially available include Oklahoma City (#25), Chicago (#26), Memphis (#27), Minnesota (#28) and the Los Angeles Lakers (#29). The going price will likely be cash.

A source with the New York Knicks tells us that they've acquired the #29 pick from the LA Lakers in exchange for 3 million dollars in cash.

More on that as it becomes available.

[PBEEZY]

How many hours till the draft begins???? Im not American...so dont know the time difference

[EricB]

lol the Lakers just outright sold the pick.

Unreal.

[lurker23]

Is it just me, or is $3 million pretty high for #29? I think that's the max you can pay, and previous reports I had heard said the pick might be available for $500k or $1 million.

[duncan228]

Will people be in chat tonight for play-by-play too?

[Marcus Bryant]

$3 mil is the going rate for 1st round picks (thanks Allen and Cablevision). Man, it's hard to see the Spurs dropping that on a 1st rounder unless they are certain he's the real deal.

[benefactor]

How many hours till the draft begins???? Im not American...so dont know the time difference

6:30pm CST...which is about five and a half hours from now.

[PBEEZY]

6:30pm CST...which is about five and a half hours from now.

thanks

[coyotes_geek]

$3 mil is the going rate for 1st round picks (thanks Allen and Cablevision). Man, it's hard to see the Spurs dropping that on a 1st rounder unless they are certain he's the real deal.

$3 mil is a lot. Hopefully the Spurs can catch a break and find some GM in a panic as he gets closer and closer to being on the clock.

[Marcus Bryant]

The Spurs could possibly get two prospects with a late first round pick and at #37 who could contribute sooner rather than later. If the Spurs are approaching this as now or never, perhaps they take a shot at that. Nos. 51 and 53 can be used for 'draft & stash' or on someone they really like but feel is a long shot.

They drafted Hill and he was able to contribute immediately. It will be a surprise to see the Spurs drop 3 large for the right to draft a prospect but then again, what was taking on $30 million to have Jefferson in the silver & black?

[Libri]

Is it just me, or is $3 million pretty high for #29? I think that's the max you can pay, and previous reports I had heard said the pick might be available for $500k or $1 million.

To me that seems like a lot of money for the next to last pick of the first round.

[coyotes_geek]

Keep in mind the knicks have never been known for being thrifty. Wouldn't be the first time they've overpaid for something.

[manufan10]

Yahoo Sports' Mock Draft has the Spurs taking:

37. San Antonio Spurs – Jermaine Taylor, SG, Central Florida: Super athletic, big two guard could make the Spurs as their first pick in this draft.

51. San Antonio Spurs – Dante Cunningham, SF, Villanova: Big East’s most improved player last season.

53. San Antonio Spurs – Jon Brockman, PF, Washington: Undersized banger will show Gregg Popovich an NBA work ethic

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

[Obstructed_View]

lol Knicks. It's the Jerome James of draft picks.

[Steve-O-Matic]

To me that seems like a lot of money for the next to last pick of the first round.

It's all about supply and demand. If there are a lot of bidders for the pick (which it sounds like there are/were), then it's not necessarily too much.

[timvp]

POSTED: June 25 -- 2:13 p.m. ET

Andy Katz: Memphis and Minnesota talked again about trading the No. 2 pick (Memphis) to Minnesota for the No. 5 and 6 picks or the No. 5 or 6 and Kevin Love. But the price was too high for Minnesota, so Memphis plans on keeping the pick. According to multiple sources, Memphis would pick Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet.

• Minnesota is hoping to land a specific player at No. 18 -- who could be Earl Clark (Louisville) or James Johnson (Wake Forest), among others. If that player isn't available, then the Wolves are expected to trade the pick, according to a source.

• Cleveland held on to the No. 30 pick in the trade with Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal and wants to get a point guard with the selection. The Cavs are hoping a point guard projected to go higher drops down to them, according to a source.

• Brandon Jennings is scheduled to be one of the 15 players in the green room at the draft. But he could be pulled from the green room. Representatives of Jennings were huddling to make a decision on Thursday.

The fear is that Jennings will slide if Golden State (unlikely after the trade to get Speedy Claxton and Acie Law from Atlanta for Jamal Crawford) at No. 7, the Knicks at No. 8 or the Bucks at No. 10 all pass on him. If that happens then Jennings would likely fall into the 20s. Jennings' camp wants to avoid an embarrassing situation where Jennings is sitting there and not selected for a while. If they can get assurances that he will be picked high enough then he will stay in the room.

• Oklahoma City, Detroit and Chicago made assurances early on Thursday that they weren't dealing their top 16 picks.

• Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon received a number of calls earlier this week, and as late as Thursday, about DeJuan Blair's knees. Dixon, who is en route to New Zealand to coach the USA Under 19 national team playing in the World Championships, said he told the teams, including Indiana at No. 13, that Blair never missed a practice or game in his two years. Blair's knees have been questioned because he had ACL surgery on each knee in high school.

Wonder if the Spurs may be looking at that 18th pick. If so, WTF could they be offering? Hill?

[timvp]

The fact that we’re hearing these rumors makes them somewhat newsworthy, but considering the timing and nature of draft day, we’re extremely skeptical about the veracity of these reports, so take them with a grain of salt.

-Houston sends Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks to Sacramento for Beno Udrih at the #4 pick. A third team might have to get involved to make the salaries work. Most people around the league believe that Houston is very happy with their team at the moment, and that McGrady is really the only player they are looking to move.

-Plenty of Rondo talk throughout the top 10.

-A complicated three-way trade involving New Jersey, Minnesota and Memphis, which would send Devin Harris to Minnesota, the #5 and #6 picks to Memphis and Ricky Rubio and Craig Smith to New Jersey.

-New Jersey is also heavily shopping Vince Carter around in exchange for expiring contracts. It looks like they could be starting over from scratch, especially if both of these rumored trades go through.

-Portland dangling Greg Oden to try and get into the top 5? A number have teams say they are hearing that, although it could all be coming from the same source. A Trailblazers executive we spoke with emphatically denied that they would even consider trading Oden.

-Detroit is trying to unload more salary on teams with a trade exception or cap space, in order to get further under the cap for this summer’s free agent class. Walter Sharpe is one player mentioned often in a salary cap dump.

@ Beno taking all of one year to be a bust that the Kings want to get rid of. Who saw that coming?

[Marcus Bryant]

Wonder if the Spurs may be looking at that 18th pick. If so, WTF could they be offering? Hill?

I hope not, unless they are sold on a certain prospect and are convinced he's a can't miss type. They did try to trade him before, of course, but that was for a starting center...

[DBMethos]

Hill's probably going to be better than anyone from this weak draft at #18.

[Libri]

Kevin Pritchard and the Portland front office made an interesting move last night, trading their own pick and two second rounders to Dallas to move up two spots to the #22 pick. Two players they appear to be targeting are Omri Casspi and DeJuan Blair, although it would be a little surprising if Blair was there at 22.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jon...he-Latest-3283

Kevin Pritchard is trying to screw the Spurs again!

[mcdunk]

It's all about supply and demand. If there are a lot of bidders for the pick (which it sounds like there are/were), then it's not necessarily too much.

The Spurs are limited on how much they can move trade wise. The only two logical players on the block would be Mason and Bonner. Minnesota would be a logical suitor to trade out of the #18 or #28 spots but they are loaded with PF & C. So in order for the Spurs to get one of their picks big money will have to be spent.

[bigdog]

That prick Pritchard is up to no good, again.

[Bruno]

If Spurs want a first round pick this year, the most logical offer would be a future first round pick.

[bigdog]

I think they should go after #18. It only makes sense if they really want someone like Casspi.