2012 NBA Power Rankings

1. Miami Heat

2. Oklahoma City Thunder

3. San Antonio Spurs

4. Los Angeles Lakers

5. Los Angeles Clippers

6. Boston Celtics

7. Dallas Mavericks

8. Indiana Pacers

9. Denver Nuggets

10. Chicago Bulls

11. New York Knicks

12. Utah Jazz

13. Brooklyn Nets

14. Philadelphia 76ers

15. Minnesota Timberwolves

16. Houston Rockets

17. Memphis Grizzlies

18. Milwaukee Bucks

19. Portland Trail Blazers

20. Atlanta Hawks

21. New Orleans Hornets

22. Golden State Warriors

23. Detroit Pistons

24. Cleveland Cavaliers

25. Washington Wizards

26. Sacramento Kings

27. Phoenix Suns

28. Toronto Raptors

29. Orlando Magic

30. Charlotte Bobcats

The Sports Hound: NBA Draft and Trade Rumors 6/27/12 (Updated)

Los Angeles Clippers working on trade with Dallas Mavericks for Lamar Odom.  The Dallas Morning News

Chicago Bulls looking to trade Luol Deng to lottery team in hopes of landing Harrison Barnes.  Chicago Sun-Times

Deron Williams likely to stay in Brooklyn.  NBA.com

Charlotte Bobcats trying to lure anyone who wants the #2 pick to take Tyrus Thomas with it.  Washington Post

Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics interested in trading for Portland Trail Blazers Jamal Crawford before he hits free agency.  CSN

It’s expected that Ray Allen will sign with the Miami Heat.  Alex Kennedy (Twitter)

Milwaukee Bucks trying to trade into top 10 of the draft, possibly to pick John Henson.  Alex Kennedy (Twitter)

Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets trying to acquire 1st round draft choices.  Alex Kennedy (Twitter)

Cleveland Cavaliers want to trade up from #4 to Charlotte Bobcats #2 pick to draft Bradley Beal.  CBS Sports

Chicago Bulls interested in Brandon Roy.  Chicago Sun-Times

Philadelphia 76ers may be interested in Meyers Leonard if he falls to #15.  Philadelphia Inquirer

Portland Trail Blazers may use one of their 1st round draft picks on veterans such as Paul Millsap or Kyle Lowry.  ESPN Insider

Indiana Pacers may be interested in Draymond Green at #26.  Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter)

Golden State Warriors may trade down from #7 with the Houston Rockets as they try to land Dwight Howard.  Tim Kawakami (Twitter)

Phoenix Suns may be looking at Arnett Moultrie at #13.  Arizona Republic

The Sports Hound: 2012 NBA Mock Draft 2.0

The NBA Draft Lottery has officially decided the fate of the worst teams of the 2011-2012 season and here is the update.

Also check out some other NBA Mock Draft’s on a few different databases.

 

1. New Orleans Hornets – Anthony Davis PF – Kentucky

2. Charlotte Bobcats# – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist SF – Kentucky

3. Washington Wizards – Thomas Robinson PF – Kansas

4. Cleveland Cavaliers – Bradley Beal SG – Florida

5. Sacramento Kings# –  Harrison Barnes SF – North Carolina

6. Portland Trail Blazers* – Andre Drummond PF/C – UConn

7. Golden State# – Austin Rivers SG – Duke

8. Toronto Raptors – Kendall Marshall PG – North Carolina

9. Detroit Pistons – Terrence Jones SF/PF – Kentucky

10. New Orleans Hornets* – Damien Lillard PG – Weber State

11. Portland Trail Blazers – Tyler Zeller C – North Carolina

12. Milwaukee Bucks – Jared Sullinger PF – Ohio State

13. Phoenix Suns – Jeremy Lamb SG – UConn

14. Houston Rockets* –  Arnett Moultrie PF/C – Mississippi State

15. Philadelphia 76ers – Perry Jones PF – Baylor

16. Houston Rockets* – Dion Waiters SG – Syracuse

17. Dallas Mavericks# – Meyers Leonard C – Illinois

18. Minnesota Timberwolves# – Terrence Ross SG/SF – Washington

19. Orlando Magic – Marquis Teague PG – Kentucky

20. Denver Nuggets – John Henson PF – North Carolina

21. Boston Celtics – Quincy Miller SF – Baylor

22. Boston Celtics* – Tony Wroten PG/SG – Washington

23. Atlanta Hawks – Doron Lamb SG – Kentucky

24. Cleveland Cavaliers* – Festus Ezeli C – Vanderbilt

25. Memphis Grizzlies – Moe Harkless SF – St. John’s

26. Indiana Pacers – Jeff Taylor SF – Vanderbilt

27. Miami Heat# – Fab Melo C – Syracuse

28. Oklahoma City Thunder – Evan Fournier SG/SF – Poitiers

29. Chicago Bulls – Tony Mitchell PF – North Texas

30. Golden State Warriors* – Royce White SF – Iowa State

 

Trades

*Portland Trail Blazers receive pick from New Jersey Nets (Gerald Wallace trade) – Top 3 protected

#Utah Jazz receive pick from Golden State Warriors (Marcus Williams trade) (Deron Williams trade) – Top 7 protected

*New Orleans Hornets receive pick from Minnesota Timberwolves (Chris Paul trade) – Unprotected

*Houston Rockets receive pick from New York Knicks (Tracy McGrady trade) – Top 5 protected

*New Jersey Nets receive pick from Houston Rockets (Terrence Williams trade) – Top 14 protected

#Houston Rockets receive pick from Dallas Mavericks (Lamar Odom trade) (Jordan Hill trade) – Top 20 protected

*Boston Celtics receive pick from Los Angeles Clippers (Eric Bledsoe trade) (Jeff Green trade) – Top 10 protected

*Cleveland Cavaliers receive pick from Los Angeles Lakers (Ramon Sessions trade)

*Golden State Warriors receive pick from San Antonio Spurs (Richard Jefferson trade)

#Chicago Bulls receive pick from Charlotte Bobcats (Tyrus Thomas trade) – Top 14 protected

#Cleveland Cavaliers have option to swap picks with Miami Heat (LeBron James trade)

#Cleveland Cavaliers receive pick from Sacramento Kings – Lottery protected

#Minnesota Timberwolves receive pick from Utah Jazz (Darius Songalia trade) – Lottery protected

Which type of PG is better: scoring or distributing?

The definition of a point guard (PG) is a backcourt player who runs the team’s offense.  The PG is also considered the ball handler or play maker.  The evolution of the position has been an amazing one as it transformed from players who generally passed to their teammates to create easy shots to players now who look at scoring more.  In today’s NBA you have a variety of these PG’s that both look to give their teammates shots and those who look to score first to open things up for their team.

Here is a list of players in the NBA and I ask that you give me your perspective on which type of player you would rather have run your team.

• Steve Nash – Distributing PG who generally looks for his teammates first before he looks for his own shot.
• Derrick Rose – Scoring PG who attacks the basket early to draw defenders to him to give his teammates easy shots.
• Russell Westbrook – Scoring PG who just shoots to shoot it seems like to me. His assists are normally aimed at two great scorers in Kevin Durant and James Harden.
• Chris Paul – Distributing PG who picks and chooses his spots, but can score whenever he wants to.
• Jason Kidd – Distributing PG who is very good at rebounding and over the years has grown into sneaky good 3 point shooter.
• Tony Parker – Scoring PG who got a lot of assists early on in his career, because of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.  But he normally looks to score and is great at finishing in the paint.
• Rajon Rondo – Distributing PG who looks to pass first and if he shot the ball better, he would probably be the best PG in the NBA.
• Jose Calderon – Distributing PG who truly looks only to pass and occasionally looks to score.
• Deron Williams – Scoring PG who can light it up with the best scorers in league, but because of his vision and strength easily gets his team involved as well.
• Brandon Jennings – Scoring PG who honestly should be able to get much more assists per game. His speed and quickness should allow him more opportunities to find his team, but he shoots early and often.

 

Of all of these players listed, based on what they do best and how they affect their teams which type of PG would you rather have running your team?

The Sports Hound: Daily rumor mill

Any rumor you see here is either something I physically seen or heard.  These are not made up rumors from my mind or anything that I personally want to see happen.  If you think there is something you want to happen, feel free to comment and we can debate it.

NFL

• Steelers may not re-sign Mike Wallace
• Chiefs sign CB Stanford Routt
• Asante Samuel may be traded by the beginning of the free agency period
• Bills don’t plan to give WR Stevie Johnson the franchise tag meaning he’s completely up for grabs
• Broncos are looking to sign QB’s to compete with Tim Tebow: Chad Henne and Jason Campbell are among options
• Ray Rice wants to be paid the same type of money as Adrian Peterson

NBA

• If Dwight Howard doesn’t go to the Nets, I heard it’s a guarantee that Deron Williams will go to the Mavericks next season
• Pau Gasol on the block which I’m sure everyone knows by now.  Magic, Timberwolves, Bulls and Rockets are suitors
• Michael Beasley is on the Lakers radar
• Steve Nash may be on the move: Lakers, Trail Blazers, Knicks and Magic may be suitors
• Kris Humphries could be traded: Mavericks, Celtics, Magic, Sixers and Spurs may be suitors