Unsubstantiated Speculation: NBA Draft Links June 25

Awww, how nice of those guys to let Ammo feel like he's actually in the NBA

Nothing about the NBA Draft makes any sense. GMs intentionally lie about who they want to confuse the rest of the league, agents pull players out of workouts to manipulate their value and the Milwaukee Bucks continue to pretend they are trying to win. Mock drafts are always way off, the rumored trades never go down and the ones that do are always out of left field. There is no rhyme. There is no reason. And that is exactly why it is so great. Sports fans love to speculate, and the NBA Draft is 90 percent speculatastic. So in an exercise of almost certain futility, I bring you Unsubstantiated Speculation, a column containing all the relevant, completely false draft news links from around the Intertubes. Look for this once or twice a week leading up to the draft. Believe nothing.

And if you are a blog that covers the draft and feel you deserve to be on the Links, click the e-mail link on the right sidebar.

Gonna do a short links thing because the ish is going down, as the kids say. GO!

- Jermaine O'Neal has apparently been traded to Toronto about 12 seconds ago. It's JO for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the No. 17 pick. Indiana now has No. 11 and No. 17. My man Jose Calderon is the Raps full-time starter and according to Draft Express, the Pacers will take Robin Lopez or Kosta Koufos, who would join Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy to give Indiana the coveted "NBA Front Line that Likes Fall Out Boy The Most" title. This can't be good for DJ Augustin who looked like a likely choice at No. 11 before the Pacers landed Ford. By the way, this one can't be completed until July 9 due to contract-related things I cannot understand.

- The Nuggets traded the No. 20 pick to the Bobcats for a future No. 1. This gives the Bobcats the No. 9 and No. 20 pick. Apparently Charlotte wants Roy Hibbert which makes perfect sense, because Larry Brown thinks this is still 1968. Denver is out of the first round completely for now, which is smart, even though I am sure they would've liked to know Indiana was trading for TJ Ford and Augustin or Chalmers could drop to them. But anyway, they needed a point guard and chances were Augustin and Chalmers wouldn't be there or (more likely) wouldn't be any good. Anthony Carter sleeps easy one more night.

- In case you are late to the party, the Hornets sold the No. 27 pick to the Blazers, who used the money Paul Allen keeps in the cupholder of his car. The Blazers now have No. 13 and No. 27, although NOLA GM Jeff Bower says the deal ain't done. Apparently the Blazers like Ante Tomic, who is not from this country.

- It's looking almost certain that Michael Beasley will not be a member of the Miami Heat next year, which has to piss him right off. According to Andy Katz and Chad "The Lyin' Hawaiian" Ford (I think Ford is great by the way, couldn't resist using that nickname), the Heat worked out Jerryd Bayless and OJ Mayo over the weekend and will either take Mayo at No. 2 or entertain a number of potential trades. As much as I think Mayo will be a stud in this league, I cannot believe Pat Riley would pass up on the best player in the draft because he smiles too much and his eyes are naturally half-shut. Sure Dwyane Wade is a serious player, but all that got him last year was this.

- Speaking of Beasley, Episode 3 of his ESPN Digital thing, "The Rookie" is up. I'll just embed the damn thing. Thanks ESPN, you're the best!


- Also speaking of Beasley, FreeDarko continues to be very awesome with this analysis of Beasley's personality how it relates to his style of play and how all this naysaying and turmoil might actually help his legacy. The guy will have a massive chip on his shoulder and if he dominates can squash the myth of the goofy, underachiever Agent Zero-style. Just read the thing, it's hard to describe in a paragraph (and hard to understand if you are not smart.)

- Hilarity: Fun with Italian translation and Danilo Gallinari's rising (no pun intended) stock.

- Awesomeness: The NBA Draft Vocab Fantasy Draft. Yes. A Thousand Times Yes.

- Checking out Mr. Chad's latest mock draft, I see that the Spurs have apparently promised Ryan Anderson the No. 26 pick. Another outstanding role player for the Spurs who seem to realize that fitting a need (the outside shooting that will be lost when Horry/Barry/Bowen retire/die) in the draft is a lot more helpful than going for the home run. But then again, what do they know?

- Lots of interesting bits in this Andy Katz rumors post. (By the way, for a college guy, Katz has done an outstanding job covering the Draft and getting inside info from NBA sources. Well, I suppose we will see just how good a job he's done tomorrow, but whatever. Good work.) Within: It looks like Rose, Beasley, Mayo are a pretty safe top 3, in that order. Seattle is still deciding on Bayless/Lopez though. The Bucks better pick Joe Alexander or every draft writer in the world will look like an idiot. Jason Thompson appears to have the inside track at the Warriors pick at No. 14. The Sixers might take DeAndre Jordan at No. 16, which would ruin my life.

- Henry Abbott at the amazing TrueHoop did a chat with Mayo, Gordon, Bayless, Rose and Love today. Since Beasley was not involved, it was very bland and safe.

- And over at College Hoops Net, we've got our consensus draft ranking. And CHN Editor Shawn Siegel and I talked the draft through that great bastion of American communication, gChat.

- Oh and I got two press releases from ESPN (somehow). One is this one, which outlines Thursday night's coverage. It will be hosted by Stu Scott with analysis from Jay Bilas, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, which sounds awful because none of those guys knows anything about the players besides Bilas, who knows nothing about the NBA. Stephen A. Smith will be there, which means another installment from the Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentlemen (2007, 2006) is possible. Thank freaking God.

Also, I got this one, which is actually pretty cool. ESPNU will be broadcasting games all day today and tomorrow of this year's prospects. And not just like college games but Oak Hill vs Simeon (Rose) from two years ago and DeMatha vs. Huntington (Mayo) last year. So check that out, I suppose.