The World Famous LayupDrill Rumor Mill
6/24/09
We saw the first couple trades of the NBA offseason yesterday, but they not be the last. The questions surrounding many teams draft strategies have some scrambling to move into the lottery, while others are running as fast as they can out. The Oklahoman reports this morning the OKC Thunder and Phoenix Suns are discussing a deal that would send the Suns 14th pick to the Thunder in exchange for the 25th pick overall. The Thunder are reportedly interested in drafting a big man with that selection, and B.J Mullens should be there.
With yesterday’s Richard Jefferson deal, former Spurs Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen could become free agents, should the Bucks elect to free themselves up financially, and buy out the remaining contracts of both players. Both veterans may draw some mild interest from contenders, such as the Celtics, Cavs, and Heat, whom have limited funds but could offer a chance to give each team depth and veteran leadership.
The Pistons may be setting themselves up to make some major moves in the next week or two. The trade yesterday that brought in Fabricio Oberto was made for financial reasons primarily, and Oberto is expected to be waived later this week. When that is done, Detroit will have nearly $19 million dollars to spend this summer on free agents, according to the Detroit News. Detroit now has plenty of money to go after Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, whom can opt out of his contract this summer, and become a free agent.
With the Timberwolves now holding the number 5 and 6 picks in the NBA Lottery, they clearly become the most interesting team in the mix. The Memphis Grizzlies, who hold the cards to how the draft will unfold at 2, may have already been in talks with the Wolves about swapping picks, but even if Memphis keeps their pick, other teams are burning up the Wolves lines. Trading away Randy Foye all but guarantees the Wolves are taking a guard in the draft, but which one? Are they sold on Ricky Rubio so much that they are willing to give up the 5th pick and another first rounder to move up to 2? If they stand pat at 5 and 6, they could clearly do the most damage, likely being able to select their choice of Jrue Holiday, Jordan Hill, Stephen Curry or DeMar DeRozan.
I purposely omitted Tyreke Evans from the above list, because according to the Sacramento Bee, Evans may be the player that Sacramento is leaning towards. Should the above scenarios play out, the potential top four picks would be Blake Griffin to L.A, Hasheem Thabeet/Ricky Rubio to Memphis, Thabeet/Rubio/James Harden to OKC, and Evans to Sacramento. Someone will undoubtedly fall to Minnesota at the fifth spot, and that would also shift other guards down a bit as well.
The Boston Globe reports that the Celtics plan on making a qualifying offer to Glen Davis today, which will make him a restricted free agent, and give Boston the chance to match any offer he receives. Eddie House, whom has stated he wants to return to Boston, is not expected to be given the match, however still could return. The Celtics received good news this week, when according to the Boston Herald, Kevin Garnett’s knee is improving fast, and should be at full strength by training camp time.
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