NBA Draft Rumors 6/21/10
-Minnesota turned down an Indiana offer of Jonny Flynn for the 10th overall pick, but the Wolves are packaging Flynn, 16 and 23 for the 10th pick and others.
-One west exec wonders if Andre Iguodala and likely 2nd overall pick Evan Turner are too similar to work as Sixers. DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors and Wesley Johnson also worked out for the team. GM Ed Stefanski likes Turner while Doug Collins likes Favors. If Turner is the pick, Iguodala could be on his way out via trade. It looks like it’s either Turner, Favors or trade.
-Always crafty Portland acquired the 34th pick from Golden State for the 44th pick and cash.
-All signs point to Turner going 2nd and the Nets love Favors with the third pick.
-Anthony Randolph to Minnesota talks “are dead”. More Warriors talk includes Don Nelson’s reduced role and Greg Monroe’s strong workout. They seem to really like Monroe.
-With three first round picks and Ricky Rubio as an asset, either Kevin Love, Al Jefferson or both could be dealt on draft night.
-Ed Davis is confident that he’ll be a good NBA player and could be the Pacers’ selection at 10. Gordon Hayward has been invited to New York. But chances are he goes to the Jazz at 9.
-Patrick Patterson and Terricho White worked out for Memphis.
-Daryl Morey said there’s a 50% chance they move from the 14th pick and it’ll likely be up. The size they need is available but they do like Gordon Hayward.
-A lot of players are scared off by Portland because they’re so talented top to bottom and wouldn’t be able to play.
-Hassan Whiteside is dazzling scouts at workouts, but maturity is an issue.
-Two tweets raving about Derrick Favors and how his hands are like outfielders mitts.
-Ekpe Udoh is impressing in workouts.
-Utah is very interested in Paul Milsap’s brother Elijah as a 2nd round pick.
-Check out this story on Darrington Hobson.
-Lance Stephenson awaits when he’s going to be picked and says he’s ready for the NBA.
-Quincy Pondexter, Darrington Hobson, Jordan Crawford, Devin Ebanks, Greivis Vazquez and Andy Rautins will work out for Orlando.
-Jeremy Wise has impressed the Kings.
MLB Thoughts & Theories 6/21
-The teams with the three best records in baseball, the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox all have young 10 game winners surprisingly giving huge boosts to their respective pitching staffs. Sunday night at Fenway, Clay Buchholz allowed no runs in 6 2/3 and earned his 10th win (tied for the AL lead) in a 2-0 win over the Dodgers. The win earned Boston the sweep and their 6th straight victory. Phil Hughes of the Yankees and David Price of the Rays, like Buchholz, are all 25 and under and are leading the AL in wins. These players were brought up in their minor league systems and are now shining bright for the big club in the most interesting divisional race out there. Tampa and Boston trail New York by one game.
-Not only did Josh Hamilton extend his hitting streak to 16 games, he had an RBI single off Matt Lindstrom in the 9th to tie it at 4 and a single off Gustavo Chacin in the top of the 10th to eventually win it 5-4. It was the 8th straight win for the Rangers as they open up a 3.5 game lead in the AL West and a lot of their success this month has everything to do with Hamilton’s hot hitting.
-After blowing a 4-0 lead thanks to Kenshin Kawakami, the Braves broke a 5-5 tie in the 8th with a two-run Eric Hinske double and a Melky Cabrera single to get Atlanta their 5th straight win 8-5 over Kansas City. After CC Sabathia pitched eight shutout innings in a 4-0 win over the Mets led by Mark Teixeira’s grand slam off Johan Santana, the Braves hold a 2.5 game advantage in the NL East.
-With the Dodgers’ loss to Boston, LA now finds itself in third place in the NL West. San Diego leads San Francisco by one game after their wins over Baltimore and Toronto and the Dodgers are two games off the pace.
-The White Sox were left for dead by so many people, but after internal arguments between Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams (allegedly almost coming to blows at one point) Chicago did what they always did and benefitted from total chaos by going on a six game winning streak to get back to the .500 mark. They completed a sweep over Washington (now 11 games out in the NL East and likely sellers) with a solid outing from Freddy Garcia and five hits and five RBIs from their potent 3-4 punch in the order with Alex Rios and Paul Konerko, two players also left for dead in their careers. Chicago now stands 5.5 games behind Minnesota in the AL Central and have real reasons to believe that they can make a real run at the Twins before the season is out.
