April 2012 Basketball Wiretap

Leonsis Happy To Be At No. 3, Ready To Escape Lottery Cycle

May 31, 2012 11:20 PM

Ted Leonsis shared his thoughts on the results of the draft lottery.

“I was pretty happy, because you always want to get one of the top two or three guys and we’re going to get a really good player with the No. 3 pick,” Leonsis said.

Washington has picked in the lottery in two out of the last three seasons.

“I don’t want to be in the lottery anymore. It’s not a lot of fun,” Leonsis said, before adding, “Without pain, there is no gain.”

To that end, the Wizards have designed an offseason training program for John Wall.

“We’ve laid out with John Wall’s people, every single day,” Leonsis said. “Nutrition. Strength and conditioning. Shooting. Who he is going to be playing with. What he is doing on the business side. It just feels good that you can be in control of the outcome and these young kids are really ready to work.”

Washington Post

Tags: John Wall, Washington Wizards, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
Davis' Family Disappointed Over Lottery Results

May 31, 2012 11:05 PM

Anthony Davis’ family wanted him to land with Michael Jordan's Bobcats.

"A lot of disappointment inside my family," said Anthony. "My mom wanted me to go to to Charlotte. I have a lot of good friends in Charlotte. At the same time, it wasn't my call. A lot of guys are disappointed but they have to move on and make the best out of New Orleans."

Davis, who was raised in Chicago, grew up rooting for Jordan and the Bulls.

CSNChicago.com

Tags: Anthony Davis, Michael Jordan, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
Sam Vincent Presented Front Office Plan To Magic Involving Phil Jackson

May 31, 2012 9:32 PM

Phil Jackson is no longer interested in joining the front office of the Magic.

Sam Vincent reportedly presented Magic CEO Alex Martins a scenario involving Jackson on Wednesday.

"It drew some interest from Phil," Vincent said. "But in the end, Phil decided to go with another opportunity."

Vincent said Jackson gave him the impression that he doesn't want to coach anymore. 

Brian Schmitz/Orlando Sentinel

Tags: Orlando Magic, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

Discuss
Lakers Promote Glenn Carraro To Assistant GM

May 31, 2012 7:46 PM

The Los Angeles Lakers have promoted Glenn Carraro to Assistant General Manager.

Carraro, who spent last season serving in a dual role as both the Director of Basketball Administration for the Lakers and as the General Manager of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, will retain his title of General Manager of the D-Fenders.

Carraro, who has 17 years of NBA experience, has been a member of the Lakers front office staff since 2000. Originally joining the team as the Assistant to the General Manager/Director of Camps, Carraro was promoted to Director of Basketball Administration in 2006. 

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA Misc Official Transaction

Discuss
Simon Discourages Bird From Pursuing Restricted Free Agents

May 31, 2012 10:30 AM

Larry Bird revealed that Pacers owner Herb Simon doesn’t like pursing other team’s restricted free agents.

“Me, I’d go after them,” Bird said. “My owner won’t let me. I’d go after anybody. I understand his point of view. If you go after them you’re going to overpay. When we talked about that four years ago, I agreed with him. In a small market, you don’t want to get in a bidding war for players. I would like to. If that’s a rule he’s got, we live by it.”

Bird doesn’t anticipate changing Simon’s mind.

“Absolutely not,” he said.

Indianapolis Star

Tags: Indiana Pacers, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor

Discuss
Bobcats Will Work Out At Least Six Players For Number Two Pick

May 31, 2012 10:29 AM

Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said the team plans to work out at least six players for the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Thomas Robinson, and Bradley Beal are among the players expected to vie for the No. 2 pick.

Higgins also said he anticipates trade interest from other teams.

“Some other teams are going to call us about No. 2,’’ Higgins said. “We’re going to get some interest there until the pick is called’’ on draft night.

Charlotte Observer

Tags: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Thomas Robinson, Bradley Beal, Charlotte Hornets, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
Nets Have No Regrets About Trading Lottery Selection

May 31, 2012 10:26 AM

The Nets have no regrets about trading this year's first-round pick to Portland in exchange for Gerald Wallace.

“Yes,” Nets general manager Billy King said when asked whether he still defends the move, “because I think what Gerald Wallace brings to the table is a lot better than some of the younger guys (available in the draft). They may take two or three years and as I’ve said before, we’re trying to win right away.

“Deron’s getting older, we don’t want to be in a rebuilding process. So we’re going to add some veterans to this roster.”

The Nets’ pick was only protected through the first three spots.

“Obviously, if you have one of those top picks, it’s adding an asset, but I think we have, once again, cap space,” King said.

Star-Ledger

Tags: Brooklyn Nets, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
Raptors Will Consider Trading Draft Pick

May 31, 2012 10:24 AM

Bryan Colangelo may be interested in trading Toronto’s lottery pick in next month’s draft in order to bring some proven talent to his roster.

“Obviously if there’s a transaction that warrants moving the pick, we’ll consider that but we’re not actively shopping it,” Colangelo said after league’s draft lottery.

“It’s all going to be a matter of what’s on the board and as you know, the $12 million of flexibility that we have … gives us some options to take on contract,” he said. “It may be committing some or all of the cap space moving forward. We would consider doing that and if it was the right player, a player of a significant caliber, then we would obviously consider upping the ante by including the pick if necessary.”

The Raptors are slotted to pick eighth in the draft.

“Clearly at eight, it expands it (the draft pool) exponentially but that’s what we do,” Colengelo said. “We’ve had a good pulse of this draft. With the lockout-shortened season we had the opportunity to get out and see a lot of games and we’ll take advantage of that now.”

“We actually like this selection at eight,” he said. “Just through some of the preliminary work that we’ve done here over the last four weeks, we’ve walked out of a lot of gyms excited about what we’ve seen.”

Toronto Star

Tags: Toronto Raptors, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
LeBron: Rondo's Game 2 'Will Go Down In The Record Books'

May 31, 2012 10:13 AM

Rajon Rondo had a brilliant 44 points to go with 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals in Boston's 115-111 Game 2 loss at Miami.

"Absolutely amazing," said LeBron James of Rondo's night. "The performance he put on will go down in the record books. He's a unique player, an unbelievable player."

"He almost singlehandedly beat us," Miami's Shane Battier marveled. "That's one of the best games I've ever seen in person."

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Tags: Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, NBA

Discuss
Dumars: Pistons Will Prioritize Need Over Best Available Player

May 30, 2012 11:15 PM

Joe Dumars was asked whether he anticipates drafting to fill or need or to acquire the best player available.

"You go in with a priority of addressing your needs,” Dumars said. “If that player doesn't meet the needs you have in terms of the type of player he is or fitting in to your team, we absolutely take the best player. We still have needs but as you saw with us last year, if we don't feel that player is there, we're going to take the best player available."

The Pistons will pick ninth in next month's draft.

"All of the work that we've been doing for months and months has been geared toward us having the ninth pick," Dumars said. "When your chances are 1.7 percent of moving up to the No. 1 pick, you don't put a lot of stock in that.

"You put all your work into what the ninth pick will be. Without getting into any names right now, it's the names you've probably been seeing in that range for quite some time.”

MLive.com

Tags: Detroit Pistons, NBA, NBA NBA Draft, NBA Draft General

Discuss
Rudy Fernandez Nearly Recovered From Back Surgery

FIBA.com

Oberto Withdraws From Argentinian National Team

FIBA.com

Noah Working To Rehab Ankle Injury, Expects France To Contend For Medal

FIBA.com

Hornets Win 2012 NBA Lottery

RealGM Staff Report

Williams Denies He Will Leave Nets If Howard Isn't Acquired

RealGM Staff Report

Bird Could Be Leaning Towards Remaining With Pacers

Mike Wells/Indy Star (via Twitter)

Warriors Could Still Owe $70M To Oakland For Arena

San Francisco Chronicle

Ray Allen Won't Sit Out Game 2 To Rest Ankle

Brian Windhorst/ESPN (via Twitter)

Bobcats Eliminate Patrick Ewing From Coaching Search

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Sources: Dwight Regrets Opt-In Decision, Seeks Trade

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Nets Must Acquire Howard To Keep Williams

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

Hammond Optimistic About Improving Through Draft

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Van Gundy Accuses Bobcats Of Tanking Last Season

Charlotte Observer

Gentry Confident Of Retaining Nash, Wants Suns To Add Closer

Arizona Republic

Monty Willliams Favors Current Lottery System, Won't Tank For High Pick

Times-Picayune

Heat Playing Less 'Hero Ball' During Streak

Joseph Goodman/Miami Herald

Anthony Davis Continues To Wait On Hiring Agent

Andy Katz/ESPN

Davis Increasing Strength Ahead Of Olympic Training Camp

Andy Katz/ESPN

Davis Family Anxiously Awaiting Lottery Results

Andy Katz/ESPN

Sixers Decline Option On Craig Brackins

John R. Finger/CSN Philly