According to Chad Ford’s ESPN Draft Blog, seemingly every team in the NBA is trying to trade their first round Draft picks. Except for the New Orleans Hornets at pick number one, of course, who’ve instead been exchanging high fives mixed with low fives on a routine basis all throughout their front office ever since winning the right to select Anthony Davis. Seething with jealously, other teams throughout the first round are looking for more than what some may consider a Draft Day consolation prize.
This is what Ford had to say about it on Monday, calling this growing sentiment a “draft exodus”:
One of the biggest challenges in projecting the draft is trying to get a handle on who is exactly drafting where.
Sources continue to insist that the Charlotte Bobcats (2), Sacramento Kings (5), Portland Trail Blazers (6, 11) and Toronto Raptors (8) are all still open to moving the pick. Some of those trades could be with each other, but from what I can gather, none of the four teams I just mentioned are sold with the players that are available to them. In the case of the Bobcats, the team is looking to turn a high pick into multiple assets. The Raptors and Kings, as we’ve mentioned previously, are looking for veterans to anchor an already young roster. The Blazers? From what I can gather, they’re open to anything and everything.
But the draft exodus may go even farther into the first round. Sources say that the New Orleans Hornets (10), Houston Rockets (14, 16) and Minnesota Timberwolves (18) are also open to moving their pick. In all three cases, those teams are looking for established young veterans to fill out their rosters.
Here’s my take on a team by team basis, with respect to who Ford just mentioned: Charlotte should do everything they can to move back and get multiple picks. Whoever ends up a Bobcat at pick number two will inevitably have a terrible career based on how depleted the roster is and that Jordan hired an assistant college coach last night. The Kings would be better served with that “established young veteran type”, they need some stability. Portland should be open to anything, and has a great opportunity to build around a core of LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews and Nicolas Batum. Toronto I could care less about. New Orleans should just pick at 10. Even with Davis, I’m not sure why they think they don’t need another young piece. Houston and Minnesota I can agree with being open to whatever. I do think that Houston could use their two picks to move up though possibly, and I’m not sure who’s going to trade the TWolves for pick number 18. Somebody will be trading for something on Draft Night however, that much looks certain.
