Will the Hawks trade No. 2?
By Chad Ford

ESPN Insider
Archive

Confusion. Paranoia. Rumors. Deceit. Double-talk. Smoke screens. Promises. And Lies.

It's five days before the NBA draft and the whole draft appears to be in utter chaos.

"We had a six-hour meeting on Thursday trying to figure this thing out," one NBA executive who has a first-round pick in the 20s told Insider. "By now we would have the list narrowed to three or four guys who we like who we think will be there. Right now, we've got it down to 10 and have no clue whether all or none of them will be on the board when we pick."

Credit rampant trade talk, both at the top of the draft and throughout the middle, along with the age-old practice of agents' claiming their clients won't be around whenever a team picks.

"I've had 20 players and their agents tell us that they're going ahead of us,'' said Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who owns the 18th pick. "Nothing will surprise me. Somebody has to slide.''

Who's trading? Who's sliding? Insider tries to sort through the BS to get to the latest.

Trade Talk
The problems with predicting the draft start right at the top. No one is sure what the Bucks are doing at No. 1. Everyone believes pretty strongly that they'll select Andrew Bogut. But what if they don't? That's why there's hesitation by a number of other teams to do a deal now.

Remember, last year the Suns foolishly traded away the No. 7 pick in the draft a few days before, feeling that the two guys they wanted – Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala – wouldn't be there. Both ended up slipping and now the Suns' trade with the Bulls doesn't look so good.

Hawks: A number of teams have been calling the Hawks trying to pry away the No. 2 pick. With Bogut's looking like the Bucks' choice, the Hawks are faced with a serious dilemma. Do they take the best player, Marvin Williams, or do they take the guy they need, Deron Williams or Chris Paul?

If they draft Marvin, the the Hawks will have to do some major retooling this summer. Players such as Al Harrington and Boris Diaw would probably be traded and the coaching staff would likely have to play Williams a little out of position at the four.

If they draft Deron or Paul, the Hawks get help at a crucial position. Their point guard situation is an absolute mess. They could try to steal Earl Watson via free agency, but everyone on the Hawks feels Deron and Paul are much better prospects.

Everyone from the Blazers (they offered No. 3 and Darius Miles) to the Hornets (No. 4, No. 33 and Maciej Lampe) to the Bobcats (Nos. 5 and 13) to the Jazz (Nos. 6 and 27) have made their best offers.

The Bobcats' willingness to part with the Nos. 5 and 13 picks is the most intriguing. The problem is the Hawks feel neither Williams nor Paul, who is also high on their list, will be there at 5.

Blazers: Bobcats GM Bernie Bickerstaff has called them the key to the draft because of their willingness to move this pick. There has been a lot of scuttlebutt coming out of Portland the past few weeks – a surprising amount considering how secretive team president Steve Patterson likes to be.

The latest talk has the Blazers targeting high school center Andrew Bynum and sharpshooter Martell Webster. Both players will be available later in the lottery, so they can move down.

If the Blazers do a deal, they're leaning strongly toward trading with the Lakers for Caron Butler, Vlade Divac and the No. 10 pick. Making that trade gets rid of Ruben Patterson (a big offseason priority) and puts them in position to land Bynum or Webster.

Owner Paul Allen was in workouts recently with both players and came away in love with them.

But there's also still talk that the trading partner could be the Jazz, and the target could still be Gerald Green.

One of the Blazers' top scouts, Billy Bayno, spent several weeks in a Houston gym helping Green prepare for workouts. Bayno came away raving about Green. While he's clearly not the decision maker in Portland, you can't help but wonder if the Blazers aren't leaking some of this stuff about Bynum and Webster on purpose.

Then again, the Blazers might not do anything. If they believe the Hawks might pass on Marvin Williams at No. 2, they would stand pat and gladly grab him at No. 3.

Hornets: The Hornets have also been willing to deal down. Their most serious talk has been with the Jazz, Raptors and Lakers. The Hornets' biggest need is at small forward. They'd like to get Marvin Williams but are also enamored with Danny Granger.

If they stay put, they're taking a point guard, either Deron Williams or Paul.

Bobcats: Bickerstaff is in a tough spot. At five, the chances of his landing a local product (either Marvin Williams or Paul) or landing a point guard he covets (Deron Williams) are slim.

Bickerstaff has the goods to move up (the Bobcats also own the 13th pick) but is reluctant to do so. The Bobcats are an expansion team and need as many talented players they can get their hands on.

It comes down to this. If they can get Marvin Williams, they'd likely pay the price. If they can't, it looks likely they'll stick with Nos. 5 and 13 and take their chances.

If the Lakers move up to three, they'll likely take Green, meaning the Bobcats will get either Deron Williams or Paul at five.

Jazz: They're as motivated as any team in the draft to move up. They have no point guard to speak of and there aren't any great fits in the free-agent market. They love both Paul and Deron Williams, but the chances that either is on the board when they draft are slim to none.

Raymond Felton is a possibility, but sources claim the Jazz aren't sold that he's a fit in their system. The Jazz have a lot to offer. The Nos. 6 and 27 picks and just about anyone on their roster including Matt Harpring, Kirk Snyder, Gordan Giricek and Kris Humphries are all available, and all have reasonable contracts.

If they stay at six, they'll likely decide between Channing Frye and Danny Granger.

Raptors: With so much confusion going on before them, they don't have a clue who'll be there when they draft. We've been writing for months that they're after either Granger or Green, but there's a chance that neither will be there at No. 7.

If that's the case, it appears they'll choose between Frye and Felton or they can improve their chances by moving up higher in the draft.

The problem with the Raptors is they're unwilling, at this point, to include the No. 16 pick in trade discussions. Instead they're trying to pawn off either Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Rafer Alston or Mo Williams in a deal.

Lakers: Not only are the Lakers trying to move into the top five (for Gerald Green or Deron Williams, depending on who you believe), they're also trying to acquire a mid-first round pick. They've told several agents that they'll have a pick in the mid-first round and have scheduled workouts for several prospects that they clearly wouldn't be considering at No. 10.

This may be the genesis of the Bynum promise talk (or it could just be that his camp believed that Portland would take him at 10) as well as the unfounded rumors they had a deal in place with the Pacers for No. 17 and Jonathan Bender.

Obviously he doesn't have a promise with the Lakers at 10. If he did, the Lakers wouldn't be trying to trade the pick right now.

And Pacers president Donnie Walsh has been adamant that he's had no trade conversations with the Lakers about Bender or the 17th pick.

So where might the Lakers get that second pick to take Bynum? The Celtics (No. 18), Grizzlies (19) and Nuggets (20 and 22) are all willing to make a trade for the right deal.

Stock Watch
• Good news for Charlie Villanueva and Rashad McCants. Bad news for Ike Diogu and Bynum. Villanueva and McCants were invited and Diogu and Bynum were left off the NBA's invitation list to the Green Room on draft night.

Each year the Green Room list is a pretty good indication of who the NBA is hearing will likely be taken in the first 15 picks of the draft. Every year the NBA misses one or two surprises and there's usually one guy in the room who slips (making for great TV).

Villanueva and McCants have had some of the most volatile stock of anyone in the draft, though (as you'll read below) there's talk that both could be in the lottery.

Here's this year's list: Bogut, Felton, Frye, Granger, Green, Yaroslav Korolev, Sean May, McCants, Paul, Spain's Fran Vazquez, Villanueva, Hakim Warrick, Webster, Deron Williams, Marvin Williams and Antoine Wright.

• Diogu shouldn't be too depressed, however. Sources claim that he's still in the mix at Golden State along with Warrick, Frye and Granger. Considering that it's likely neither Frye nor Granger will be on the board when they draft at No. 9, that puts Diogu and Warrick as the potential final two.

• There's lots of talk the Bobcats are eyeing Villanueva with the 13th pick in the draft if they keep it. But talk of a promise is premature. One, they're still in talks to trade away the pick. Two, Bickerstaff is flying to New York on Sunday to get another look at Vazquez. Now that Utah is out of the mix for Vazquez, something we first reported on Wednesday, it's possible he could slip to 13. Same with Felton, a point guard you have to believe they'd grab if he was still on the board.

• Webster has been playing to great reviews at all of his workouts. Obviously his shooting ability has really helped his cause, but teams have also walked away impressed with his defensive effort in two-on-two scrimmages. Webster has always had the size and strength to be a tough defender, but in high school he rarely seemed interested in guarding anyone. Obviously he's heard the complaint and is out to prove to scouts he's capable of being a great defender.

• Illinois guard Luther Head is still operating in the afterglow of a great performance at the predraft camp. A number of teams, including the Pacers (No. 17), Celtics (18), Grizzlies (19), Rockets (24), Pistons (26) and Heat (29) have him in the mix for the first round.

Wasn't this already posted, dj?