Today's Insider

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lots of interesting stuff from Insider today. Apparently Pavel Podkolzine is
considering pulling out of the draft because he hasn't gotten a guarantee
from a team in the top 10. But all the GMs say it's impossible that he'll
slip out of the top 10. I think he'd be making a MASSIVE mistake. He's one
ankle or foot injury away from becoming Chris Marcus. Strike while the iron
is hot.

They also repeat the Banks promise with the Celtics again, this time saying
"several league sources" claim the Celts have promised to take Banks with
one of their picks. But the first paragraph I've pasted below is a
convincing argument for not making promises.

The last item is a wild trade rumor - Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson to
the Nugs for the No. 3 pick, Marcus Camby and Ryan Bowen. That's
interesting.

One last thing... A story out of Minnesota today says the Celtics are among
the teams talking to Minnesota about acquiring Terrell Brandon's
soon-to-expire retiring contract. Assuming the Wolves have no interest in
Baker, because, well... who would... don't you think they'd have to be
talking about Antoine? It wouldn't be popular, but it would get them out of
luxury tax territory. They may be able to use the mid-level exception for a
comparable player who is a better fit. Or they may just get him off the
books, let EWill's contract expire and go into next offseason with some
maneuverability. Just a thought... 


Mark


Blame the unstable nature of the first round on the commitment issue. Teams
have been burned in the past by committing too early only to see a player
they covet slip in the draft. Then teams are forced to decide between
reneging on a promise to draft the guy the really want, or settling for the
guy they committed to. 
"You have to really love a guy -- and I mean really love a guy -- to give
him a promise," one Western Conference GM told Insider. "I know it's popular
for teams and the media to speculate about promises, but in actuality, I
don't think it happens very often. I think agents would like everyone to
believe it happens -- that way they can shift the blame if things go wrong
in the draft on someone else -- but the truth is it normally doesn't make
sense for a team to make a promise." 
Several other GMs agreed.

--- --- ----

Speaking of those elusive promises, the rumor mill went into high alert
Wednesday when high school star Travis Outlaw decided to keep his name in
the draft. 
Several league sources told Insider that the Blazers promised Outlaw they'd
take him with the No. 23 pick. Outlaw, an athletic 6-foot-9 power forward,
is considered to be one of the best athletes in the draft. However, his wiry
frame will keep him from contributing for several years. That's cool with
the Blazers, who have too much talent on their team anyway. He wouldn't be
able to crack the rotation right away. 
If you're keeping track at home, that brings the number of so-called
"promises" being rumored up to three. 
Several league sources claim that the Celtics will take UNLV point guard
Marcus Banks
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/d03/tracker/player?playerId=18487>  with
one of their picks. 
The other prominent rumor, that the Suns had locked up Yugoslavian forward
Zarko Cabarkapa
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/d03/tracker/player?playerId=18463>  at
No. 17, took a hit late Wednesday. Cabarkapa worked out for the Suns and
Lakers before suddenly returning to Serbia several weeks ago. Numerous
sources claimed that the Suns and Lakers had both given him promises and
were stashing him away for the rest of the pre-draft period. 
However, Cabarkapa will return to the U.S. this weekend and has three more
workouts scheduled over the next week. He'll be in Milwaukee this weekend
and also plans to work out for the Knicks and Nets early next week. 
There is also a healthy amount of speculation that Croatian point guard
Zoran Planinic and Georgian big man Zaur Pachulia have received first-round
guarantees. Planinic's name has been linked to the Nets. 
One guy who won't be getting a promise from the Suns is Ndudi Ebi. Suns GM
Bryan Colangelo told Ebi's advisors that he wouldn't take him in the first
round. He believes Ebi should return to school. "I've been encouraging his
advisers to make that decision,'' Colangelo told the Arizona Daily Star. "I
went as far as to say we would not have him in for a workout.''

--- --- --- 

The Nuggets said it would take a knock-your-socks-off offer to trade their
No. 3 pick in the draft. They may have gotten one on Wednesday. 
Several NBA sources claim that the Kings are willing to part with all-star
Peja Stojakovic <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3119>
and super sub Bobby Jackson
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3191>  for the No. 3
pick, Marcus Camby
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3084>  and Ryan Bowen
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3298> . 
The Kings obviously would take Carmelo Anthony
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/d03/tracker/player?playerId=18433>  with
the No. 3 pick. Camby would give them another big man who could spell Vlade
Divac <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=84>  and Chris
Webber <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=1272>  if he
ever got healthy. 
Why would the Nuggets pull the trigger on the deal? 
They would immediately get better with the addition of Stojakovic and
Jackson. Remember, they'd still have roughly 18 million worth of cap room to
spend on a couple of free agents, and some in the organization feel they
need a few more established players to lure the best free agents.