<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">- Hornets Promise Deron Williams - Sources have indicated that the New Orleans Hornets have a promise to take star Illinois point guard Deron Williams with the 4th pick. Williams is widely considered a top 5 pick among scouts, and while it's unlikely he'll go top 3, look for him to end up 4th. - CJ Miles Staying in Draft - - Yaroslav Koroleve Promise - There's a strong likelihood that Yaroslav Korolev has a promise somewhere in the mid first round. The exact team is not known. Korolev reportedly refused a workout with the Celtics at 19, creating a lot of speculation about a promise. Korolev was easily the most impressive player in Moscow at the Euroleague Final Four Championships. - Martynas/Fernandez Workouts - Martynas didn't impress anyone enough to get a promise in the lottery, and it's a foregone conclusion he'll pull out of the 2005 draft and wait a year. According to some scouts, he is no longer considered a top 5 pick for next year, and most likely will evently be a late lottery to mid first round pick when he enters. There were some rumors Fernandez could end up as a late lottery pick, but we think that's too optimistic. Look for him to end up in the 20-25 range when the draft rolls around. His workout was good enough, that along with his reputation he's a lock for the first round. Whether he is content to stay in the draft, projected in the end of the first round and likely without a promise is the question. - Granger/Warrick Workout - Warrick's stock has been on a steady decline over the past couple weeks. It no longer looks as though he'll be a lottery pick, and he could fall all the way to the mid 20s come draft day. Granger is the reverse of Warrick, incredibly skilled but lacking in athleticism. He seems to have a solid spot in the mid to late lottery depending on how he works out for teams leading up to the draft. There has even been some mention of him going 6th to Utah. - Rumors - There's a rumor floating around that Denver has a promise with Missouri SF/PF Linas Kleiza at 22. But due to the fact that he's not projected by anyone to go in the first round, taking him this high seems to be a waste of a pick. Unless Denver somehow thinks a team is planning on grabbing him with one of the last few picks of the first round. Kleiza is an nice prospect, and Denver is apparantly high on him, but taking him that high seems farfetched. Denver doesn't have a pick in the second round until 52, so there's a possibility they will try to grab a pick earlier in the second round to grab him.</div> Source
Now is the best time for Utah to trade up with Portland if they really want Deron Williams, or else they won't get him. Then I read the Granger one and it said Utah has been rumored to pick Granger, Why would they take him? They need a point guard!!!
Although I'd take Deron Williams over Chris Paul personally, I honestly don't think that the Hornets would. If Green is on the board, sure, I think the Hornets would take Deron Williams then, but not over Paul. Williams fits into their Princeton offense well, but it's just hard for me to see a talented player like Paul slip to the #5 pick. One interesting theory I heard about this rumor suggested that this was simply a move by New Orleans to trick Charlotte into thinking that their man, Chris Paul, would be available at #5 and thus stop them from trading up to draft him at #3. This makes perfect sense to me, and I've heard of smokescreens like this before, so I wouldn't put it past the Hornets.
