NYK gets:
Gerald Wallace, Sean May, #12 pick

Charlotte gets:
Eddy Curry, Wilson Chandler, #8 pick

Charlotte picks S. Curry, we pick Flynn/Maynor/Lawson

We can still sign Lee and a big free agent in 2010, but still have a hole at shooting guard for another year.

Chandler, Q, and the #8 for Marko and the #2

or

Lee and #8 for Darko and #2

or

Harrington, Chandler, Jeffries, and #8 for Darko and Marko and the #2

It’s probably worth taking on salary (Jaric) to get a top-pick. Deal him later, or just wait until 2011 while Rubio develops. Anything to get a franchise player at this point…

From DraftExpress:

“From what people around the league are saying, Rubio’s camp may already be sending out feelers indicating that he’s not interested in the least bit in playing in Memphis.

“Rubio doesn’t want to go to Memphis, and he especially does not want to pay money out of his own pocket with that huge buyout for the honor of doing so. Fegan [Rubio’s agent] wants him in L.A., and if he can’t have him there, he wants him in Sacramento. Definitely not Oklahoma City. “

Unlike Griffin or Hasheem Thabeet, who don’t really have any choice where they will play next season if a team decides to play hardball, Rubio has a reasonably attractive alternative option at his disposal—returning to Spain.

“He’ll pull out if he doesn’t like what he’s hearing,” the NBA source tells us. “Or he can stay in and force the Grizzlies to call his bluff—would they really take him knowing that he may never come over? That’s one way to get him to fall to three.”

Fegan is already highly experienced in these matters, having unsuccessfully attempted to navigate fellow client Yi Jianlian towards the team of his choice in the 2007 draft, only to see Milwaukee foil his plans and pick him anyway. This time, though, he has a lot more leverage, as Rubio would likely have no problem staying in Badalona for another year or two or more if push came to shove. His buyout after all, is yet to be resolved, which in this case may actually be an advantage.

The Grizzlies are clearly aware of the politics surrounding their pick, but do not appear to be in any rush to make any decisions. “We’ll talk about all those things when they come up,” their General Manager Chris Wallace told us. “Right now we’re still in evaluation mode. We haven’t had any conversations with him [Rubio] or anyone else in his camp.”

Wallace shared that he will be headed out to Spain this weekend to watch Rubio compete in game three of the ACB playoffs, where Joventut will try to advance to the semifinals with a road win over Real Madrid. “I sent someone out there last week to watch him in the playoffs just in case we were able to move up,” Wallace told us. “He’s hardly a sleeper and he hasn’t been very difficult to track. We feel very comfortable with what we know about him right now.”

When asked whether Mike Conley’s status as Memphis’ tentative starter will deter the Grizzlies from selecting another point guard, Wallace indicated that that won’t be a factor. “We’re not in a position to be drafting for need. We’re going to go after the biggest talent available, whether that’s a big man or a point guard or whatever.”

What might make the most sense on paper would be for the Clippers and Grizzlies to work out a trade in which Memphis could take Griffin and Los Angeles would get Rubio. For that to happen, Memphis would have to part with one of their core assets, likely Rudy Gay. Obviously we’ll have to stay tuned, because as John Hollinger correctly indicated in his latest column last night’s lottery left more questions than answers for the teams drafting in the top 5.
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The level of play probably offsets this a little, but Curry’s “peripheral stats” (assists, rebounds, steals) are not at all comparable to Redick’s. These are often used as a proxy for on-court athleticism. Redick is sort of a borderline NBA player with one NBA skill (outside shooting) and a good basketball IQ, but mediocre athleticism. If Curry can shoot like Redick plus has the athleticism/skill to run the point at least part time, be a more versatile scorer, defend PGs, and rebound alright for his size I think he’ll be a decent NBA player. Similar to the type of guards LeBron loves: Mo Williams, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson…

My biggest concern with Curry is how long it will take him to adjust to the NBA. He’s not an amazing athlete by NBA standards and coming from a lower level of competition (although facing triple-teams might offset that). Hopefully he can come in behind Duhon, Hughes, etc. as a rookie and hit the NBA three, then develop the rest of his game over time. Nash would obviously be the best case, but a sort of less athletic Barbosa/Nate wouldn’t be bad.

Season GP MPG PPG FG% 3FG% FT% APG RPG BPG SPG
2005-2006 36 37.1 26.8 47.0 42.1 86.3 2.6 2.0 0.1 1.4

Season GP MPG PPG FG% 3FG% FT% APG RPG BPG SPG
2008-2009 34 33.7 28.7 45.4 38.7 87.6 5.6 4.4 0.2 2.5

Top season is JJ Redick who came out with a lot of the same scouting reports as Curry but with scarily similar numbers playing in a MUCH better conference. Bottom season is Curry. Granted, Redick probably wasn’t getting triple-teamed every possession. They’re about the same size (actually Redick is bigger). I guess maybe Curry has a better handle?

I think if Walshtoni’s plan is to draft him to play PG then it’s a good pick — he’d be no worse a defender than Nash — although I don’t know at all if he has the same court vision and passing ability as Nash. But if he’s planning to play him at the 2… we got problems.

Or maybe the plan is to recruit as many of Lebron’s favorites to NYC as possible (CC Sabathia, Curry, etc.)…

Here’s to hoping that Orlando takes down Cleveland!

Like Blair a lot. He’s gonna be a player.

I’d like to be contrarian but have to agree that Lawson and Curry would be good picks. Lawson was a lottery prospect, pass-first point guard his first two years but this year improved his shooting and scoring to the point where the #s are ridiculous. His game is perfect for the modern NBA, where quick little PGs can flourish. I only worry about the durability.

James Harden reminds me a lot of Eric Gordon – lot of hype, then the backlash “not athletic, not consistent, yada yada” – but they are pretty similar players. Size, style, everything. Harden gets to the line almost twice as often as the other top guards, a lot like Gordon did in college. At #8 in this draft, would be a good value if he slips.

Jrue Holliday is interesting – a year ago, would probably have been a top-5 pick out of H.S. – but his #s at UCLA really weren’t good. You could say the same about Earl Clark – huge potential, in theory, but didn’t produce at that elite level. But young enough, and productive ENOUGH, that you could imagine him blowing up. Clark reminds me some of Anthony Randolph.

Some of the other super-athletic prospects look like busts in waiting. I’m thinking of Demar DeRozan and Tyreke Evans, although Evans looks a bit better. At least he rebounds and plays defense. He’ll be a straight 2-guard in the pros, so I don’t worry that he can’t play the point. Terence Williams actually put up terrific numbers as a swingman – I’d pick him top-20, maybe late lottery, no question.

I won’t rehash my Thabeet and Blair opinions, but I guess I’d be ok with either at #8. Blair, more. If we could trade down and grab him later, fantastic.

Here are the teams with multiple picks. Maybe there’s one to spare:
Minnesota: 6, 18, 28
Memphis: 2, 27
OKC: 3, 25
Sacramento: 4, 23
Chicago: 16, 26

I think some are really undervaluing Lawson, I guess because of his size. I think he will be a very solid NBA PG a la Jameer Nelson, which I believe justifies a top 10 pick.