Maybe teammates had been so used to LeBron James needing his headband, whether it’s for comfort or appearance. Fighting for his life in these NBA Finals, fighting for his basketball stature, this accessory was the last thing James had on his mind in Game 6. Read More. Written by Shams Charania on Jun 19, 2013
As of now, the Golden State Warriors do not have any picks in this month's NBA draft, but they are interested in acquiring one.
"We'd love to have a pick," GM Bob Myers said Wednesday. "What we would look at if it would make sense and there's a nice young player. ... It's always good to have young players. They're cheaper. ... The fact that we have a lot of young players makes it that we're not desperate. But if you can find good players on rookie deals, you always want to do that."
The Warriors have never gone without at least a second round pick.
As Danny Green displays the importance of shooting in the NBA Finals, Christian Watford is impressing teams with his outside jumper and appears poised to be selected in the draft late this month, a source told RealGM.
Watford, the 6-foot-9 forward out of Indiana, has participated in 15 workouts for teams so far and is receiving requests to schedule more. Teams have let Watford know that they believe he has the versatility and jump shot to be a stretch power forward or wing shooter.
In his final two seasons at Indiana, Watford’s scoring average dipped to just over 12 points after scoring 16 per game in 2010-11. Nevertheless, he found a niche as Indiana’s third leading scorer behind projected first round picks Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo.
Watford shot 48.4 percent from three-point range in 3.4 attempts a game last season, and the 22-year-old believes he’ll carve a role on an NBA team as a knock-down shooter.
The Toronto Raptors do not hold any draft picks in next week's draft, but Masai Ujiri is going through preparations in the same manner as any front office.
"For me, it’s not difficult at all because you approach the draft like you are drafting," said Ujiri. "Even though we don’t have a draft pick, we have to be prepared with all our information, all our rankings and every little detail that you need on players in the draft. I think we have to be very prepared going in because you never know what’s going to happen on draft day. You could get a couple of calls that would shock you, so you have to be prepared for any circumstance."
The Cleveland Cavaliers have yet to make a decision on who to select with the first overall pick.
Nerlens Noel is the favorite and he will meet with the Cavaliers on Thursday.
Alex Len is the most likely alternative option, according to sources. Len would give the Cavaliers size, defensive ability and is less raw as a prospect than Noel.
The Cavaliers are also evaluating Anthony Bennett, Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo and Otto Porter.
Before withdrawing from this month’s NBA draft, Mouhammadou Jaiteh received first round guarantees that failed to entice the 18-year-old enough to leave his development in France, agent Herman Manakyan told RealGM on Monday.
Teams were impressed with the sharp growth in Jaiteh, and the 6-foot-11 center worked out for six organizations throughout the draft process. Even with guarantees, Jaiteh made clear he wanted to be drafted into a flourishing situation – for both himself and the team.
“The guarantees were not in attractive situations for us,” Manakyan said.
With a focus on next year’s draft, Jaiteh will now sign with a team in France, where several clubs have been vying to sign him, Manakyan said. No frontrunners have emerged, but playing time and the opportunity to continue his rapid development are key factors.
Interest in Sergey Karasev has elevated so much from seven teams between the Nos. 9 and 22 picks in the NBA draft, the Russian prospect will have those organizations fly out to meet him in Europe, league sources told RealGM.
Karasev, 19, remains unlikely to leave Russia for any workouts or interviews, but teams have insisted they come sit down with him in Russia. Even though he’ll speak to teams now, Karasev won’t work out.
When Karasev returned to Russia earlier this month, he had left teams believing they might not get the opportunity to see him before the draft. Still, Karasev hasn’t received a firm first round guarantee yet, a source said.
A 6-foot-7 swingman, Karasev has intrigued with his shooting and playmaking, following an average of 20 points on 49 percent three-point shooting in this season’s European Cup. With the ninth and 26th selections in the first round, the Minnesota Timberwolves have scouted Karasev comprehensively after bringing over Alexey Shved from Russia last offseason, but they don’t appear to be the strongest contenders for Karasev.