NBA draft rumors: Latest news, trades, first round buzz
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The 2016 NBA draft is on Thursday, and the rumor mill continues to stay hot. With the pool of eligible players set, teams continue to conduct workouts and do their diligence evaluating prospects and preparing for the big night. The NBA Finals just finished, and now the draft is taking center stage.
Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram remain locked in as consensus top two selections, but beyond that, there’s plenty of room for chaos. Teams are trying to move up, and in some cases, into the draft, period.
Who’s rising? Who’s falling? Who wants to make a deal?
• Who is Dragan Bender? Meet the draft's mystery man
Keep tabs on this page for the latest news and rumors.
Tuesday
• The Philadelphia 76ers have informed Ben Simmons that he will be the top pick in the draft, reports Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com.
• The Phoenix Suns are actively looking to trade down from the No. 4 spot in the draft, according to ESPN’s Chad Ford.
• Trade talks are heating up between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics, which may be looking to swap Jahlil Okafor for the No. 3 pick in this years draft, reports Tim Welsh of CSN New England.
• A number of teams around the league have reached out to the 76ers about Okafor and Nerlens Noel, including the Pelicans, reports Jon Johnson of 94.1 WIP.
• If the 76ers can acquire the No. 3 pick, they will use it to take Providence guard Kris Dunn, Welsh reports.
• The Suns ran solo workouts with Washington’s Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender of Croatia recently, and will likely take one of the two big men if they stay at No. 4, Ford reports.
• The Spurs are considering moving up from the No. 29 pick, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
• Prospects Brandon Ingram, Kris Dunn, Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray and Dragan Bender have signed Adidas shoe deals.
• The Sixers are in active trade discussions with 5–7 teams and having “casual conversations” with another 10, president Bryan Colangelo told Philadelphia Magazine.
• Rockets GM Daryl Morey thinks it will be easy for teams to trade into the first round this season, ESPN reports. “There are four teams that have almost half the draft in the first round and none of them want to use their pick to trade,” he said. “Trading in will be easy.”
• Chad Ford reports the Celtics, Suns, Wolves, Pelicans, Nuggets and Kings, who hold picks 3–8, respectively, are all shopping their picks.
