Is Something Cooking in the NBA? Hot Stove Rumors

With one of the most anticipated NBA Drafts coming up on Thursday, most teams are focused on getting a larger impression of the prospects before their team is on the clock. Other teams are trying to add pieces before Thursday night.

The juiciest rumor are the reports of the Minnesota Timberwolves finally throwing in the towel and attempting to trade disgruntled All-star forward Kevin Garnett. There was a deal set in place that would have seen Garnett fly to the east coast to play for the Boston Celtics in exchange for the #5 pick in Thursday's draft, younger players and an expiring contract or two. Garnett's agent got word to the media that his client would not entertain the idea of wearing Celtic green. Garnett may not have a no-trade clause but he does have the ability to opt out of his contract after next season, which will make most teams balk at the idea of losing him after one year.

Garnett still is thought to be on the move and reports of a 4-way trade surfaced last night in the L.A. Times and ESPN.com. The General Managers for the Celtics and Timberwolves, Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale, were former teammates and it seems that the two are trying extraordinarily hard to help one another out. The main components of the deal are:

Minnesota: Trades Kevin Garnett;
Receives Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff (expirer), #5 pick from Boston and #19 from L.A.
Boston: Trades Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, #5 pick;
Receives Jermaine O'Neal
Indiana: Trades Jermaine O'Neal;
Receives Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum
L.A. Lakers: Trades Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, #19 pick;
Receives Kevin Garnett

More players would have to be added to help balance the salaries in the deal. For instance, using ESPN's Trade Machine, I messed around and had Troy Hudson (another disgruntled player for the Wolves who has demanded a trade) also going to the Lakers and Minnesota would receive Kwame Brown from L.A. and Sebastian Telfair from Boston. Both players have expiring deals, giving Minnesota three expiring deals that will be worth $21.7M off the cap next season, a young player in Green and three first round picks in the Draft, two of those being #5 and #7. With a bundle of young players to build with Randy Foye, Minnesota will also have gotten loose of Troy Hudson's deal and have bigger contracts off the cap in '08 as well (the contracts of Ricky Davis and Eddie Griffin are up and newly acquired forward Juwan Howard has a player option). That could be over $35M off the books for the next offseason, which figures to have the best free agent class the league has ever seen. Minnesota would be a major player in that spending spree.

There are several snags holding up the deal. Indiana seems to be the only team satisfied here by getting the versatile Odom and the young big man in Bynum. Minnesota, who already were ready to snag the Celtics Al Jefferson before Garnett ruined the first deal, seem to be holding out for the young star-in-the-making. Jermaine O'Neal has joined a contingent of players not interested in going to Beantown and the Celtics are trying to avoid moving Jefferson. And selfish star Kobe Bryant, who has voiced his disgust and displeasure with the Laker organization in recent weeks, seems to be adamant about his trade request out of Hollywood no matter who the L.A. front office brings in.

If Bryant continues his whining, this would be an opportunity for the Lakers to explore and try to build a deep team around Garnett instead. They could call Chicago and try to pull off a deal by getting Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and P.J. Brown (sign-and-trade) along with a draft pick in exchange for Bryant. Unfortunately, Chicago GM John Paxson put a wrench in my pipe dream by texting Kobe the other day and told him that he should forget the idea of w a Bulls jersey. New York would still like to get a deal done for Bryant, so that remains a possibility for Mitch Kupchak to explore. It seems that the front offices of the Lakers and Timberwolves have started talking about a deal that would just involve the two of them with KG in mind.

Here are some other deals out there being discussed:

• Phoenix moving either Shawn Marion or Amare Stoudemire and either receiving Garnett in the process or a top-10 pick in Thursday's draft. Several sources including Insidehoops.com and various newspaper reporters have the Suns convincing top prospects like Joakim Noah, Yi Jianlian and Jeff Green to come in for workouts even though Phoenix currently does not hold a pick in range for any of those prospects. Garnett's agent has stated that if his client is dealt, that his first choice is to play in the desert with the Suns. Boston is reportedly interested in Marion, although Marion is not interested in them (surprise surprise).

(Big Question for me here with the Suns wanting to move Marion. This is strictly a money issue and, unless their name is Oden or Durant, whoever they draft will not replace Marion's production on either end of the floor.

• Also, with the Trailblazers owning the #1 pick in the draft and primed to take Ohio State center Greg Oden, they seem ready to move talented yet troublesome power forward Zack Randolph and the New Jersey Nets are interested. Richard Jefferson could be the bait to get this done and would make the potential young line-up in Portland a potent one.
  

• Pau Gasol's name came up in trade rumors before and ESPN.com's Chad Ford is reporting chatter between Memphis and other lottery teams who are interested in taking on the Spaniard. Atlanta and Boston seem to be chatting back.
  

• Massive, massive draft talk with teams trying to move up, move down and get somewhere in the first round of this draft. You'll have to read on Thursday, when I tell you about the prospects and how I see things breaking down.
  

My Resume as GM

Just messing around on ESPN and here are some deals I messed with while taking into consideration what we have heard through the media with these teams. Draft picks are not represented on the trade machine, so keep that thought in mind.

Garnett 4-way Deal - The initial deal with the added players to balance the salaries.
Mega Garnett 4-way deal - This deal helps unload more salary from Minnesota and reunites Mark Blount with Coach Jim O'Brien who he flourished under when the two were in Boston.
Garnett and L.A. - The two-way deal with the Wolves and Lakers.
Kobe to New York - A perfect compliment of young players and salaries to pry Kobe from Hollywood.
Garnett and New York I - The first ploy for a KG-Stephon Marbury reunion in the Big Apple
Garnett and New York II - This idea gets KG to New York and allows the Wolves to get rid of Troy Hudson's contract as well

I'll keep my cell phone on in case any teams decide to call.

Hometown Cooking

My opinion with the Sixers' draft position . . . stay still!! This is one of the deepest drafts in recent history and there are going to be some nice young players coming out of the college ranks and from overseas that can help you for the future. There is talk about Sixers GM Billy King ready to pull the trigger to move into the top 10. He will probably have to use #12 and #21 in order to move up and there is too much talent to pass up for one player.

Tune in on Thursday and I'll tell you what I believe the Sixers should do with the picks.

QUICK Phillies note: The Phillies have confirmed that some of the media and online outlets are wrong with the number of losses that remain before 10,000. It appears we were all one loss off the mark. After taking two out of three against the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, the magic number is still nine.

Our 42 of the DayJuan Pablo Montoya became only
the third foreign-born driver to win a Cup event
with his win Sunday