NBA general managers expressed pessimism about the 2013 draft in general and the No. 1 pick in particular.

"I'm not sure I want the No. 1 pick," said one NBA GM.

Another expressed similar pessimism at the thought of having to draft someone first this year.

"There's really no one worthy of the top pick," the talent evaluator said. "But someone has to go number one."

Alen Len is confident about what he will be able to accomplish at the NBA level.

“I think maybe 10 years from now, I’ll be the best player out of this draft,” Len said.

Len was limited by a stress fracture in his ankle over the final two weeks of the NCAA season. But in his first game of the year, Len scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against projected No. 1 overall pick Nerlens Noel.

“I think I did pretty well that game,” Len said of his performance against Noel. “I think I was able to show NBA scouts what I could be in the future. I kind of showed my potential. After this season, I got more confident and talked to my coaches. In NBA, you have individual coaches with you. I decided to come out early, because I want to progress quicker. The developmental process will be faster.”

The Portland Trail Blazers “really like” Victor Oladipo and are considering moving up in the draft to get him, according to a source close to the prospect.

Oladipo expressed interest in playing for the Blazers.

“I would really love to go to Portland, and I'm not just saying that,” Oladipo said. “I hope, and I don't think I'm dropping that far, but if they decided to move up somehow, I think that would be a great situation for me. It's a place where you can just concentrate on basketball.”

Oladipo is projected to go in the top five of the upcoming draft.

Arron Afflalo is looking forward to playing to his strengths next season.

"I'm kind of getting to the age now where I'm kind of settling into being great at something," Afflalo said. "Whether it's being a high-level defensive player, a high-level shooter, an efficient scorer, doing the things where I'm really playing to my strengths. That's something I'm looking forward to."

With Afflalo often acting as the team’s go-to scorer, the Magic lost 62 games this season.

"It is what it is," Afflalo said. "We had a lot of firsts in terms of role definition, in terms of learning, in terms of the coaching staff. And when you're fully committed to doing better and trying to win it all at some point in time, you have to go through experiences like this. All we can do is try to learn from what happened this year and move forward into next year."

Michael Reinsdorf believes that Nikola Mirotic would be a lottery in this year’s NBA draft.

Mirotic was acquired by the Bulls after he was drafted 23rd overall in 2011.

Reinsdorf is proud of the Bulls’ recent draft record, pointing to the 2011 selection of Jimmy Butler.

“This is a guy who was the 30th pick in the draft that any other team could have had,” Reinsdorf said of Butler. “He played nearly every minute against Miami and LeBron James. If you saw how LeBron James embraced Jimmy Butler after that game, to me, it was the ultimate show of respect and that Jimmy has arrived as a ballplayer.”

Rick Carlisle has studied past NBA drafts and is aware of the talent that figures to fall to the Mavericks on June 27.

“You know, if you look at the history of drafts, which I have in the last couple of weeks, and if you look at the last 10 drafts, there’s a history of being multiple guys 13 and below that turn out to be really good, solid, long-term NBA players,” Carlisle said, while standing on the sideline during day 2 of the NBA draft combine. “So, you know, there’s value in this draft. Our job is to find it.”

The Mavericks will pick in the lottery for the first time since 2004, when they selected Devin Harris with a pick acquired from the Washington Wizards.

Carlisle is confident the Mavericks will add a player capable of stepping in right away.

“Well, you want to get a guy with as much experience as possible,” Carlisle confessed. “One of the reasons that (Jae) Crowder was in our rotation most of the year last year and one of the reasons that Bernard James did a good job for us when he played was because those guys had experience and they were older players. I think there’s been a move towards putting a value on maturity and for good reason.”

Otto Porter patterns his game after Tayshaun Prince.

Porter, a small forward out of Georgetown, measured at 6-8.5 in shoes with a 7-1.5 wingspan at the NBA draft combine.

“Yeah, Tayshaun Prince,” Porter said when asked who his game is modeled after. “Long, lanky and can do a lot of things on the floor. Can defend, rebound, kind of a glue guy.”

Porter averaged 16.2 points and 7.5 rebounds, while shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, in 35.4 minutes per game last season for the Hoyas.

The Golden State Warriors believe they can purchase a first or second round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, according to a source.

The Warriors' first round pick belongs to the Utah Jazz.

The Warriors acquired an extra first round pick last season from the San Antonio Spurs by taking on the salary of Richard Jefferson. Golden State selected Festus Ezeli with the pick.

Deshaun Thomas interviewed with the San Antonio Spurs at the NBA draft combine on Thursday.

Among the questions asked of Thomas was his cell phone number and email address.

Thomas declined to give the Spurs his phone number.

“I can’t go around giving it out to everyone,” Thomas said Thursday with a laugh. “Now if they want to draft me, I’d be happy to give it to them.”

Thomas is currently projected as a second-round pick.

Nerlens Noel will not be ready for the NBA season opener and is targeting Christmas as his debut date.

Noel said he is ''ahead of schedule” in his rehab from a torn ACL in his left knee.

''I've started to shoot some free throws the last week with a different type of brace on,'' said Noel, who has yet to start running again. ''I'm 100 percent confident of not just gaining what I had but definitely being stronger, coming back better. During this time that I won't be playing basketball I'll just be working on a lot of things that I needed to polish when I was playing.''

Noel called shooting among his needed areas of improvement.

''I think I'm at a good point, but obviously I can't do too much right now,'' Noel said. ''I'm just doing a lot of form shooting right now. I think when I come back I'll be able to knock down that 15-footer and be able to take my game to another level.''