Kurz Watch 2008: Required Reading, Latest NBA Draft Rumors
If I managed to pique your NBA Draft interest yesterday, you're probably wondering where to get even more information about Thursday night's amateur basketball talent dispersion program. Thankfully, the internet is filled with great places to check out.
Beyond just being a good company man, most of our SBNation sites do an incredibly job of covering their NBA teams. Go to the SB Nation frontpage, and click on the basketball tab and you'll have all the options available to you. Most fitting for this time of year is newcomer Ridiculous Upside, which focuses on the draft. They just completed a massive mock draft using writers from al across the web, so you'll want to check that out.
For more information than you'll ever need, you can check out the new look NBADraft.net or the wildly informative DraftExpress. I'm not enamored with either of their mocks, but as far as prospect information goes, they cannot be beat. DraftExpress is also putting out a really interesting series on rules for draft night, most of which NBA GM's will gladly break to go after that exciting, high-bust potential prospect.
As much as I mock the xenophilic Chad Ford for his doting on foreigners, he's got a ton of probably BS information over at the World Wide Leader, including his latest mock draft (6.0). Also on ESPN is John Hollinger's attempts at breaking down the crops of big men and perimeter players with some mystical formula. Looking down at these numbers' success rates there are hits and misses, but any statistic that ranks J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison at the bottom of their draft class must be doing something right.
Finally, a sprinkling of the other places you'll want to hit up as we head into Thursday night:
* FreeDarko's annual mock draft is up, and while it's not particularly accurate, it is very entertaining.
* ESPN bought up Henry Abbott's TrueHoop last year, but so far, so good in regards to maintaining quality.
* Yahoo has put together a very nice NBA blog over the last couple months of the season, bringing in The Basketball Jones' J. E. Skeets and Kelly Dwyer (he of former SI fame) for Ball Don't Lie.
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A few of my favorite rumors from the last twenty-four hours...
* The Suns might be further blowing up their roster, with rumors of them sending Leandro Barbosa to Portland for Martell Webster and the 13 and Boris Diaw to Toronto for TJ Ford. That Toronto deal is very iffy because there's talks between Toronto and Indiana regarding a Jermaine O' Neal for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and a few more pieces to make up the salary difference. I think that's a worthy gamble for both the Pacers and Raptors, while that Portland/Phoenix deal is less palatable, especially for the Blazers.
* Putting Kevin McHale at the three spot has opened up all sorts of hilarity as absolutely nobody knows what is going to happen there. The Heat would love to move down to four and pick up Ovinton J'Anthony Mayo, but if the T-Wolves take them, that's no good. What might happen is the Heat take Michael Beasley, and should Mayo fall to the Sonics at four, the two complete a swap involving Chris Wilcox and Mark Blount. I don't know about you, but a front line pairing of Kevin Durant and Beasley would certainly excite me.
* Other potential movement at the top includes the Grizzlies trying to get rid of their pick in order to clear more cap space. Potential suitors include the Blazers, Knicks and Suns, although I'm rooting for New York to win the lottery and draft back-to-back at five and six. The goal for Donnie Walsh is to clear cap room for a run at LeBron in two years, so packaging those picks with some of their big contracts or just filling out the roster with cheaper, talented rookies seems like the way to go.
* The latest, trendiest rumor to come out is that the Clippers are looking to send Corey Maggette and the number seven pick to the Suns for Leandro Barbosa and the number fifteen, which is a deal Steve Kerr should gleefully accept if Maggette doesn't opt out of his contract.
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