Seems like the Lakers and Bobcats have made a trade that moves the Lakers up to the 5th pick in the draft. According to this article, http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_13157.shtml , the rumor is Caron Butler, Brian Cook, and the 10th pick for the 5th and 13th picks in the draft. ESPN has updated it's draft boards. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2005/index However, it's probably a screw up if Chad Ford is in control of it's NBA Draft section.
This is a terrible deal for the Cats. They could potentially pick up Green and Felton w/ the 5 & 13 pick. Caron Butler isn't anything special and Cook is garbage. I don't see this going down, but the Cats have to be on crack to do this. I'd rather trade both and get the #3 pick + player from Portland.
The #5 AND the #13 for Caron, Cook and the #10. No chance. I say it's just the #5. That would make a lot more sense. Then the Bobcats could trade the #10 + #13 to Portland for the #3. Portland could pick up Martel Webbster who supposedly had a fantastic workout for them, and another lottery pick. And the bobcats can take either Paul or Deron Williams. So they move up to using their #5 + #13 and get Butler as a bonus. Lakers get Green and everybody wins.
I think espn reported on the trade as well and mcable is right. It is Butler & #10 for the #5. Seems like the Lakers are gonna go after G. Green.
Let me get my two cents in here on Hoopsworld. Honestly, I have nothing against them personally ... and I hate to blast anyone's credibility because you never know when they may get one right ... but in the case of Hoopsworld, there is no such concern. I have never seen a site be so ridiculously wrong, and consistently so. The site is, in a word, CRAP when it comes to reporting. They have got to be the worst of the self-proclaimed "hoop scoop" sites on the Internet, and it has been laughable for years and years and years. "Ray Allen's a Rocket", "Karl Malone is a Spur", "Shaq out for the season", "Rockets trade Kelvin Cato for 17th time" ... on and on and on and on and on. They fall for everything, report it all as "done deal" and credit nothing. Then their "reports" disappear when proven wrong. Just take a look at this one. When it was first reported by Hoopsworld, it said this: Then it was debunked ... and Hoopsworld suddenly says how they learned it, pinning the blame on ESPN. Click on the story now and it reads: No "whoops, sorry" ... they just deleted any trace of their original story, then suddenly say how hoopsworld previously "learned" of the pending deal. Point being, even if something was/is legitimately going on between the Bobcats and Lakers, Hoopsworld had zero ground to "report" (cough) what they did. The right thing to do is simply say initially: "Given that the Lakers have been a subject of trade-up rumors, many fans found it interesting that ESPN's draft board shows a swap of picks 5 and 10 between the Bobcats and Lakers. Has a deal occurred? Stay tuned." Instead, the classic bskball maneuver: "Hoopsworld EXCLUSIVE: Lakers, Bobcats strike deal .... BOOYAAAH!!!!!!!"
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-lakers-draft&prov=ap&type=lgns Lakers GM upset about what he calls false trade rumors By JOHN NADEL, AP Sports Writer June 25, 2005 EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- General manager Mitch Kupchak freely admits the Los Angeles Lakers might make significant roster changes this summer -- no surprise considering how poorly they fared last season. But he says nothing being reported recently is true. ``Without getting into great detail, every trade I've heard about has been completely inaccurate,'' Kupchak said Friday. ``Somebody should pay for that. I don't know where they originate. So many people get their feelings hurt.'' Kupchak referred to the subjects of those reports. ``I'm on the phone. I would suspect there's going to be change on our roster,'' he said. ``(But) it's unlikely that anything will happen (before Tuesday's NBA draft). I don't anticipate anything will happen at this time.'' Kupchak acknowledged he's talked with several teams, saying, ``That's what happens when you win 34 games.'' But, he added: ``I don't come in here every day thinking I've got to get a deal done. If it makes basketball and business sense, that's something we'll try to do.'' The Lakers have three picks in the two-round draft -- the 10th, 37th and 39th overall selections. They've been rumored to be trading up and down, with several players mentioned in potential deals -- mostly on Internet sites. ``There's three or four a day for the last week,'' said John Black, the Lakers' executive director of public relations. ``They're all bogus. The fans read all that stuff and they get all excited. It doesn't happen, and they're all disappointed, they're all let down. ``I think the whole team's been traded, including Kobe (Bryant).'' Black called it ``irresponsible journalism.'' ``It's degenerated every year that I've been here,'' he said. Assuming the Lakers don't make a trade before the draft, Kupchak said he doesn't expect their first-round draft choice to make a major contribution, much less be a starter. ``I think it's unlikely any player drafted 10th through 20th will make an immediate impact,'' he said. ``Hopefully, he can play a little bit.'' Kupchak also said he didn't believe the Lakers will choose a high school player in the first round, but didn't rule it out. ``You roll the dice a little bit more,'' he said. ``And, of course, you're not going to get productivity for two or three years.'' Kupchak said the Lakers brought in around 55 players for pre-draft workouts -- around twice as many as usual. He pointed to the fact that they have three picks in this draft instead of the usual two, with the No. 10 selection much higher than their first choice has been in several years. ``Plus, we had more time to do it this year,'' he said with a thin smile, referring to the fact that the Lakers failed to make the playoffs for just the second time since 1976.