2011 NBA Draft Instant Analysis

Stay here throughout the night for instant updates and analysis.  The draft will be held at 7:00 live from the Prudential Center.  The Knicks pick 17th and the Nets pick 27th and 36th.  With the possibility of both teams moving up and down, it should be an interesting night.  The Knicks have been rumored to want to move up to select someone like Jimmer Fredette in the top-15.  On the other side of the Hudson, Billy King has a history of making multiple trades during draft night.

– (5:00) The Cavaliers are expected to take PG Kyrie Irving #1 overall and Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas #4 overall.

– (5:30) The Bucks, Kings and Bobcats have agreed to a three-way trade, sources have confirmed.

– (6:10) The Atlanta Hawks are attempting to acquire the second overall pick to draft Enes Kanter, dangling Josh Smith in trade discussions.

– (6:25) The Warriors, Lakers, and Bulls are discussing a blockbuster trade.  Monta Ellis, Lamar Odom, and Joakim Noah would be involved.

– (7:15) According to Chad Ford, the Raptors will take Bismack Biyombo.  No surprise there.  According to Chris Mannix, the Wolves are contemplating trading the #2 overall pick for Monta Ellis.

– (7:30) Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports says the Blazers and Nuggets are seriously talking about a swapping Raymond Felton and Andre Miller.  They would also swap first round picks in the same deal.

– (7:40) The Cavs pick Irving #1 overall.

– (7:45) The Wolves pick Derrick Williams #2 overall.  I doubt he’ll stay with the Timberwolves the rest of the night.

– (7:50) The Jazz take Enes Kanter. This seems to me that they have their hopes on taking Jimmer with their 12th pick.

– (7:56) Cavs take Texas forward Tristan Thompson with the 4th pick. Hes raw offensively bit of a reach in my opinion.

– (7:59) Andy Katz reports that the Wolves intend to keep Derrick Williams.

– (8:07) Tristan Thomspon, Jonas Valanciunas, and Jan Vesley go 4-6.

– (8:13) Bismack Biyombo will go 7th to the Bobcats.

– (8:17) Brandon Knight finally goes 8th overall to the Pistons.

– (8:27) End the speculation. Kemba Walker goes 9th overall. He won’t be a Knick.

– (8:29) Jimmer Fredette goes to the Bucks. Certainly disappointing for Knicks fans.

– (8:35) Klay Thompson goes to Golden State. As a Knicks fan I’m praying for Alec Burks to fall but he should go shortly.

– (8:41) Burks just went. Chris Singleton is the only hope for the Knicks right now. But I know the organization will find a way to screw this up no matter who is there at 17th overall.

– (9:02) One more pick (Philly) until the Knicks pick. Singleton, Brooks, Faried, Vucevic, Shumpert still on the board.

– (9:10) The Knicks pick Iman Shumpert.

– (9:15) The Spurs have acquired the draft rights to Kawhi Leonard from the Pacers in exchange for George Hill.

– (10:02) The Nets draft Marshon Brooks following a trade from the Celtics.  Great pick.  I love it.

– (10:03) Jonny Flynn and Montejunas are taking their talents to Houston in a trade with the Wolves.  That means Flynn won’t be a Knick.

– (10:13) Rudy Fernandez is now a Maverick after trading their 26th pick to Portland.

– (10:40) – Andre Miller is going to Denver and Raymond Felton is going to Portland.  This completes the Rudy Fernandez trade.

– (10:41) The Nets select Jordan Williams with their 36th overall pick.

– (10:53) The Nets took Maryland’s Jordan Williams with the No. 36 pick and will hang onto him.  He’s not part of the Bogdanovic acquisition.

– (11:17) The Knicks selected Josh Harrelson with the 45th pick, which they bought from New Orleans.

– (11:19) After some confusion, we can confirm the Nets did buy/trade for the pick used to select swingman Bojan Bogdanovic.  Sorry for the confusion, ESPN has really been unclear on everything tonight.  That was originally the 31st overall pick.  Bogdanovic has buyout issues, but he’s a great talent.  If he played at an elite college, he may have been a lottery pick.

Thanks to Mike K. for his contributions tonight.

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Nets to Trade Up for Derrick Williams?

The Bleacher Report claims that the Timberwolves could trade the second overall pick to the Nets.

Minnesota will most likely trade the pick away and a likely suitor is the New Jersey Nets.  

The Nets don’t have a first round pick in this year’s draft after they traded it away for Deron Williams.  New Jersey desperately needs a small and power forward.  They can instantly start Williams in whichever spot they prefer.

He averaged 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a game last year at Arizona.  Many consider his three point shot a weakness, but he shot 57 percent from behind the arc for the season.

At 6’8″, 240 pounds, you can call him a tweener, or you can call him a match-up problem.  He’s going to be too big for wings to guard in the post and too quick for bigs to guard on the perimeter.

Minnesota could ask for a package of a future first round pick plus one or two players like Jordan Farmar and Damien James in return.

First of all, the article is wrong.  The Nets do have a first round pick this year.  They could trade that, their second round, along with future picks and some players to move up.  I’d really support this move.   All signs show Williams could become a great player in this league.  He could be the long-term fit at SF.  If the Nets re-sign Humphries, then SG is the only position of concern.  This is the move we could look back on as the one that changed the Nets franchise forever.  I’m 100% on board with this, although the chance of it happening is slim.

Could we see a Deron Williams to Derrick Williams connection in Newark next season?