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
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
If the Nets win the lottery to select Anthony Davis, it will not be enough to sign Deron Williams as a free agent, according to sources.
"It's Dwight Howard or bust," said a league source who has spoken to Williams.
Williams doesn't want to wait for Davis to develop and won't re-sign with the team unless they become an instant contender.
The Nets believe they will be able to retain Brook Lopez in a potential trade with the Magic if they win the lottery.
Sources say Howard regrets opting into his contract and seeks a trade before the 12-13 season. But the Nets become a far less appealing destination if Williams leaves and that is why Howard's camp is putting pressure on the Magic to do a deal once a general manager is in place.
Bucks general manager John Hammond hopes to add an instant contributor in the upcoming draft.
"We do think this is a deep draft, and we do hope the player we draft can get on the floor immediately and help us win," Hammond said.
"At 12, is it impossible to get a starter? Not impossible. Is it impossible to get an all-star? Not impossible.”
Hammond said the Bucks place heavy emphasis on pre-draft evaluations.
"We do extensive background checks," Hammond said. "Another piece is the analytic side of it.
"The more we can see them compete against each other, the easier it is to evaluate them. The interviews are the primary purpose now (in Chicago). With the 12th pick in this year's draft, we're not going to get the guys who are slotted in the 1 through 8 range (to work out).
"Anything we can do to help us make the proper decision."
Jeff Van Gundy believes the Bobcats put together “a very poor roster by design.”
The Bobcats, who finished 7-59 on the season, have a 25.0 percent chance of securing the first pick in the draft.
“I don’t think the players and the coaching staff (tanked). I think the organization did by not getting the best roster” available, Van Gundy said. “You could make the case at any position that they did not have a top-15 player” at that position in the league.
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