Despite the Boston Celtics' apparent interest in trading for the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, a report from Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix indicates that they are focused on using the 6th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft as well. In his mock draft today, Mannix writes that Danny Ainge has "locked in" on Aaron Gordon in the top part of the lottery.
2014 NBA Draft rumors: Celtics considering Aaron Gordon, Magic give Marcus Smart second workout
We’re just over three weeks away from the 2014 NBA Draft. The rumor mill is only beginning to heat up.
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After Love spent the weekend in Boston, there was a lot of speculation about a trade being in the works between the Timberwolves and Celtics. Of course, any deal that brought Love to Boston would send the No. 6 overall pick to Minnesota. As of right now, any talk of Love being traded to the Celtics is nothing but a rumor. It seems like Ainge is proceeding as though the team will hang on to its top first-round pick.
Aaron Gordon
How “locked in” on Gordon is Danny Ainge? Well, in Mannix’s mock draft, he has the Celtics passing on Julius Randle in order to take Gordon instead.
Any report about the draft this time of year comes with the caveat that it could simply be a smokescreen. It’s entirely possible that the Celtics are not actually all that interested in Gordon and are just trying to convince teams that if they want to draft him, they’ll have to trade up to No. 6.
The Orlando Magic first brought Marcus Smart in for a workout over Memorial Day weekend. The team apparently wanted to get another look at the point guard from Oklahoma State, because it had him in for a second workout on Wednesday. The Magic hold the 4th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and will likely be able to choose any prospect outside of Joel Embiid, Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins.
Point guard is an obvious need for Orlando and it will be a difficult decision for the team's front office to choose between Dante Exum and Smart. Either would offer a dynamic backcourt partner for Victor Oladipo, but the Magic clearly want to get this pick right.
There are a number of directions that the Lakers could go with the No. 7 pick in the draft, so it makes sense that the team would be looking at a lot of different prospects. On Wednesday, Los Angeles brought in Gordon, Gary Harris, Smart, Zach LaVine, Doug McDermott, Elfrid Payton, Tyler Ennis, Noah Vonleh, and James Young for a massive and star-studded workout.
Nik Stauskas and Rodney Hood were originally supposed to join that group, but both backed out at the last minute. It’s hard to say who the Lakers will target with their pick because much of their situation is determined by the teams selecting ahead of them.
The mock drafts don’t have LaVine out of UCLA being in play for the 7th overall pick, but it’s clear that LaVine would immediately be one of the best athletes in the league.
.@ZachLaVine testing his vert in today's first session: pic.twitter.com/RN6HkhAZuD
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) June 4, 2014 This vertical leap reportedly measured 46 inches (!!) and that’s way higher than basically anybody else can jump.
According to ESPN's Chad Ford, the Thunder told the skinny 7-footer from Latvia that the team would select him in the first round. There hasn't been a lot of hype about Prozingis, but he has great length, can shoot the basketball, and is just 18 years old.
Oklahoma City certainly has an affinity for young players with tremendous wingspans, and Porzingis fits that description. The team does not have a pick in the draft until No. 21, so this all depends on if he’s even available at that point.
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