The NBA Draft

I am wondering what Boston are thinking, reading they have offered Allen and Rondo to the Pistons, not sure who for, but I do know that Ricky Rubio from Spain is on the draft list very high, are they making a move to pick him up? Jason Kidd would probably be a very good comparison for Rubio. He has been playing in Spains top league(2nd after NBA) since he was 15 years old, and holding his own admirably. His hustle and defence is incredible, he led the spainish league and the Euroleague in steals, which is phenominal. But his main draw is his court vision, he can find the right player at the right time, I cant wait to see how he fares in the big leagues He already showed in the Olympic Final that he can mix it in a one off situation, lets see if he can do it all year long.

tewky

tewky

Tewker,

Looks like your team is not making a move.  Pleases let me know if you hear anything else regarding Boston.

I'm a Sacramento Kings fan, so I am very interested since we are picking 4th.  I don't think we want to give up Jason Thompson for the no. 2, that would have been more on the Grizzlies' side.  After Blake Griffith is taken No. 1 (we didn't get the pick),  Sacramento is content with being 4 without giving our talent away since there is upsides and downsides to 2-5 pick.

Here's the latest update:

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota's trade with the Washington Wizards was completed Wednesday, but several other proposed trades by the Timberwolves haven't had the same luck.

Memphis has refused multiple trades offers from Minnesota because the Timberwolves aren't prepared to part with both the No. 5 and 6 picks or toss in Kevin Love in another scenario with just the No. 6 pick, a source with knowledge of the Grizzlies' situation told ESPN.com.

The Grizzlies are, according to the source, prepared to make Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet the No. 2 pick in the draft if they cannot get a deal for the selection.

Memphis discussed sending the No. 2 to Minnesota for the No. 5 and No. 6, but the Timberwolves have been consistent that they don't want to give away two top 10 picks. The TWolves also rejected the offer for No. 6 and Love. The Timberwolves offered either No. 5 or 6 and Craig Smith for the No. 2, but Memphis rejected that trade, too. The source said there was never any discussion involving Minnesota's No. 18 pick.

The Grizzlies aren't seriously talking with any other team about the No. 2 pick, but did have an initial discussion with Oklahoma City for the No. 3 pick and Thabo Sefolosha, but that deal was rejected by the Thunder. The Grizzlies had an initial discussion with the Sacramento Kings to move No. 2 for No. 4 and Jason Thompson but that was declined, as well. The source said New York is not pursuing the No. 2 pick, but the Knicks and the Grizzlies have talked about a straight up trade with the Grizzlies sending Darko Milicic to New York for Quentin Richardson. Both players have expiring contracts.

Thabeet is atop the Grizzlies draft board with Memphis' Tyreke Evans second, followed by Syracuse's Jonny Flynn and Davidson's Stephen Curry. The Grizzlies have given up trying to get Ricky Rubio and the source said they didn't want to deal with the buyout issues.

The Timberwolves and Washington on Wednesday struck a deal that gives Minnesota the No. 5 overall pick, its fourth first-round draft choice, along with Wizards forwards Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov.

The Wizards receive guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

The teams first agreed to the deal on Tuesday night. Minnesota now has the fifth, sixth, 18th and 28th selections in the draft.

Washington had made overtures regarding moving the No. 5 pick ever since the Wizards landed it on the draft lottery on May 19. Washington listened to offers from New York, Dallas, Phoenix and Portland but settled on a deal with Minnesota, looking for veteran perimeter help while getting rid of expiring contracts.

Not my team Rivercat, but my player. I live on the Costa Del Sol, so I watch the SPanish and Euro leagues a lot. THis kid is magic and he has been playing in the top Spanish since 15 years old. Not garbage minutes, but really adding a major contribution to his team, after Rudy Fernandez left to Portland last year, Ricky was the new top man in his team Joventut. I have an affinity to the SPanish basketball players from watching them so much, besides USA they are churning out the best players at the moment.

One to watch for, whenever he decides to go to the US is Victor Claver. He needs to beef up a bit but again here is a young player making a real contribution to a top team like Pamesa Valencia. He has won the dunk contest the last 2 seasons in the ACB(spain league). He has enough athleticism to make himself a decent player.

Ricky though has that little bit magic that can turn you into a superstar, and he gives 110% every time, something you cannot say for all the talent in the NBA. He just  needs to get more consistent as a scorer, although he does have a record performance in a junior competition a couple of years ago. Ok it was double overtime, but still he had a stat line of 51p 24r 13a 11st in 33 minutes playing time. Now this was in the Final of the European Junior Championships, and included a half court 3 to put the game into the first overime, and meant that Spain came away as winners.

I am sure you saw the olympic final last summer as well. He proved exactly why he was given the starting PG jb after Jose Calderon(one of the best PG's in the game now IMO) was injured in the Semi Final. He ran his team and they so nearly overcome the might of the USA redeem Team.

I cant wait to see him on court telling the stars where exactly they should be on plays, because he knows this game as good as anyone, his Basketball IQ is off the charts, so natural, it looks easy to him!!!

tewky