Slam Dunk Central

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The NBA Draft is just days away and the phone lines, as one would expect, are burning up.? This year’s pre-draft activity would make Monty Hall proud.? And the rumors floating out there are many.? According to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, rumors such as: the Phoenix Suns putting Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa on the market in hopes of moving up in the draft or getting a veteran to play along with Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal.? The Suns own Atlanta’s #15 pick, but the players they covet - Russell Westbrook, Joe Alexander and Brandon Rush - should be gone by then.

There’s plenty of small forwards being shopped around, as well.? Besides the aforementioned Diaw, you can add New Jersey’s Richard Jefferson, Dallas’ Josh Howard, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace and Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince to the list.? But most of these teams have stumbling blocks trying to deal these stars.? The Mavericks, like any other team in the Association, probably will not want to deal within their own division or conference.? The Pistons have little interest in Diaw as their needs lie elsewhere on their roster.? The Nets just want expiring contracts - preferably contracts that expire by 2010.? Phoenix may or may not want to take back Wallace’s existing contract.

Minnesota seems especially ripe for a deal if Michael Beasley is available at #3 (he won’t).? They covet 3 particular big men - Kevin Love, Brook Lopez and Danilo Gallinari - although none of the 3 are worthy of that lofty pick.? And you just know that the T-Wolves want young players, not veterans - they’re in rebuild mode.? The Knicks want to get rid of Zach Randolph (can’t say that I blame him) and his ridiculous contract, but teams aren’t really biting (I can’t blame them).? And even though New York has the #6 pick, they’d like to move up a spot or 2 so they can get either O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless.? If the Knicks cannot get either one of them,??Russell Westbrook may be on the Knicks’ radar.

The Clippers want to move up to #3 - hopefully to get Mayo - and they’ve made phone calls offering nearly everyone on their roster (or so it seems) for that privilege.? Considering that Los Angeles has Elton Brand, Chris Kaman and Al Thornton, the Clippers could be players in this year’s draft.? Milwaukee is trying to move up the draft board, as well (who isn’t?); their phone lines have been somewhat busy, with interest lying with Yi Jianlin and Charlie Villanueva.? Mo Williams and Michael Redd also figure in the trade equation, as well.? Portland has the #13, #33, #36 and #55 picks in the draft; the last thing they need is more youth on their team, especially since Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez will be on the roster next season.

Oh there’s even more: The Oklahoma City Roughnecks/Seattle Litigators/Seattle SuperSonics have an interest in Russell Westbrook, but they will probably have to move down for that to happen.? And yes, even the Lakers are in the mix - although to a lesser degree.? It appears that Lamar Odom is being speculated to be shopped around.? And you can bet that teams would love to have his expiring contract.? Some teams that could make a trade with the Lakers possible: New Jersey (for Richard Jefferson), Chicago (for Andres Nocioni), Sacramento (for Ron Artest) and Memphis (for Mike Miller).? Payback for the Grizzlies in that scenario?? Hmmm.

Just a couple more trade rumors: Cleveland is looking to trade Sideshow Bob Carlito Anderson Varejao and their #19 pick to Golden State for Brandan Wright (Why?); the Warriors hold a $10 million trade exception which will allow them to take back more money than they send out in a trade.? But probably the biggest rumor floating out there is Memphis shipping Kyle Lowry and their #28 pick to Denver for their #20 and Linas Kleiza.? I’m sure there’s other scenarios out there, but they’re few and far between.? If anything, AT&T will get richer from all of the trade speculation; it will definitely be a very interesting several days as things shape up.? Stay tuned to Slam Dunk Central for the most up-to-date NBA draft developments.