[VeN]

true

[croco]

Maybe Cuban will buy a pick in the 20s.

[stevemc]

Originally Posted by TM

6'10"-6'11" international guy, originally from London but came over to the US for high school. He had only been playing basketball for a few years but supposedly had a ton of potential. As a result, he was pretty highly recruited (McDonald's All-American). Duke, UCLA, Georgetown, Villanova and several other major schools were after him. In the end, he went with Duke. Averaged about 3 minutes per game and transferred to Arizona State after his freshman season. Last season - 11.6mpg, 3.9ppg, 2.6rpg. International players... people don't know much about him... lots of possible potential... I'm sure you get what I'm saying...

The real question would be does he play like he owns the paint or does he play like he's just visiting shying away from physical play?

[croco]

The Mavs have been working out Luc Richard Mbah a Moute yesterday, he could be a target for our pick at #51. I'm not a big fan of his game though, doesn't have much offense and as long as that is the case you can't afford to bring someone in just for defensive purposes on the perimeter.

[croco]

DX has us taking Semih Erden (center) and ESPN.com Malik Hairston (shooting guard) right now. It's pretty much a crapshoot at #51 and unpredictable, however they could get some value out of it. I'm still hoping we can buy a late 1st rounder, but that is unlikely since most teams don't want to sell their picks to a rival.

[croco]

So the Blazers acquire the 27th pick from New Orleans for cash considerations. What was that again Mark Cuban ?

[croco]

History is a guide when assessing the Mavericks’ strategy going into Thursday’s NBA Draft. Whether or not they add extra picks to complement their second-round choice (No. 51), the approach is to bring in as much talent as possible.

President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and his staff often do so without the benefit of an actual pick. With the Draft lasting only two rounds (60 picks) and the trend in the second round to select players that remain overseas for a year or more, a number of players with NBA potential are falling through the cracks.

That’s where the Mavs come in. In the last few years, they’ve signed a number of rookie free agents that made the regular-season roster. A sampling: Marquis Daniels (2003), Rawle Marshall (2005), Josh Powell (2005), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (2006) and JJ Barea (2006).

“We do that every year,” Nelson said. “The guys that aren’t drafted, we’ll be very aggressive at taking a look to see if something makes sense. We’ve had pretty good success with that in the past with guys like JJ, Marquis, Pops and others down the line.”

Rookie free agents may not officially count when assessing a team’s draft, but those diamonds in the rough serve many purposes. Young, athletic and hungry players can help the competitiveness of practice. They can improve their skills in the D-League and perhaps contribute with the big club at some point in the season. They can be used to fill out trades.

Nelson has his eye on a number of rookies should they fall out of the Draft. As far as the Draft, Nelson is open to any situation that can add depth behind the starters. Outside of Dirk Nowitzki-Brandon Bass tandem at power forward, the other four spots are fair game.

“At 51 you can’t be picky,” Nelson said. “It’s really about what gets down to us. Generally speaking, we’re going with the best player on the board. With the exception of Brandon backing up Dirk, we have openings at the backup 1, 2, 3 and 5. Somebody is going to get an opportunity.”

http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/Rookies_062408.html

[t1no]

The NBA draft starts in 5 hours and 10 minutes, so be ready to post guys.

[Dre™]

The most interesting stuff is happening outside of Dallas.

Yi for RJ, JO for Ford, Wade possibly to Chicago?

[t1no]

Originally Posted by Dre™

The most interesting stuff is happening outside of Dallas.

Yi for RJ, JO for Ford, Wade possibly to Chicago?

I think Wade to Chicago is a possibility, just imagine the Miami Heat with two young guys in Beasley and Rose.
Yi for RJ???? The Bucks should give Yi another year or two before they even think about trading him. His Rookie year wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either.

[VeN]

lol well lets hope the rumors of a top 10 pick are true (assuming we dont give up too much to get one)

[t1no]

"Another rumor has Miami sending the No. 2 and Shawn Marion to the Los Angeles Clippers for No. 7 and Elton Brand. Such a deal would break the Bulls' hearts, since Brand qualifies as their dream acquisition this summer."

from HOOPSWORLD

[t1no]

"The Spurs sent an e-mail to every team in the league at 3:30 p.m. saying that they were willing to move the 26th pick. The e-mail asked league executives to "E-mail us your interest and your offers to 26."

That's the first time I've heard of something like this in all of my years covering the draft. Make your Spurs pitch below in our comments section."


from HOOPSWORLD

[croco]

We gave them Finley for free, they should just hand us their pick