2012 NBA Draft: All The Rumors That Are Fit To Print.

The NBA Draft always represents exciting times for every team in the league. The title contenders look to make one last move to put them over the top, the teams that can make the playoffs want to take that next step and do whatever they can to become a contender. Lottery teams spend their days deciding which college stud they’re going to take to lead them to the promised land.

Fans study the combine like they’ll eventually be tested on it. Vertical jump, shooting drills, so on and so forth.

Interviews are picked apart, college stats are put under a microscope and the final performance of the player becomes the most talked about and celebrated (or scrutinized) moments of that player’s career.

As much fun as the draft is for the new faces that will be joining the league, the trade rumors are definitely more fun. Where else can you have speculation about the New Jersey Nets potentially winning the NBA Draft Lottery and trading that pick as part of a package for Dwight Howard? How about the Chicago Bulls posting the league’s best regular season record two years running and now shopping their second-best player for a lottery pick as a sort of pseudo-salary dump? Rudy Gay is no stranger to trade rumors and this off-season has been no different as he’s been linked to half of the teams in the league. At least.

So where is everyone going, or talking about going? Read on.

Luol Deng– The Chicago Bulls don’t want to blow up the team that has led the NBA in wins the past two seasons, but they’re going to want to do some serious maneuvering to ensure that they don’t end up paying the luxury tax this coming season.

The Bulls love Deng and look at him as a franchise cornerstone, but he makes a ton of money and has two entire seasons left on his deal. The Bulls probably feel like they could get someone to do what Deng does for a good bit cheaper.

There have also been rumors behind the scenes that the Bulls brass isn’t happy with Deng planning on playing in the Olympics when he is going to need wrist surgery. If he did the surgery as soon as the season ended, he would have likely been available at the start of the season. Since he’s waiting, he’ll probably be out until early 2013.

Best case scenario: Chicago trades Deng to Washington for Trevor Ariza. Ariza is a reliable swingman that can hit open jumpers and defend shooting guards and small forwards. A lot of teams see him as overpaid compared to what he can do, but he’d be a bargain for the Bulls if Washington would do this trade. The Wizards do it because they saw what Deng can do for a young, athletic point guard in the league and want him to do the same for John Wall. Deng will probably miss the first part of the season, but Washington will like that he only has two years left on his deal, giving them a large expiring contract to swing a deal with after this season.

Chicago does it because of the reasons we listed above. Tom Thibodeau is one of the best defensive coaches in the league and Deng never had a reputation as a lockdown defender until Thibodeau was hired. It would be interesting to see if Thibs is the guy that makes the Bulls defense go, or if he lucked into a lot of great individual defenders.

Furthermore, the Bulls may not have a choice if they want to keep most of their core intact. Nobody wants Carlos Boozer’s toxic deal, Derrick Rose is as untouchable as a guy coming off of a serious knee injury can be and Joakim Noah is the heart and soul of the Bulls franchise and athletic 7 footers aren’t growing on trees. Deng is probably the odd man out no matter how you want to shake it. With the plethora of swingmen in this league, you’d think the Bulls could replace him easier than they could anyone else.

Rudy Gay– This man stays on the trading block, but I think it’s unlikely that he’s actually moved before the season. The Grizzlies really want to give their core one solid chance with everyone healthy to see what they actually have.

If the Grizzlies were to want to trade Gay, they would have plenty of teams calling them, but the Grizzlies seem to overvalue Gay, which is a problem when he’s making the max and not living up to that potential (and price-tag.)

Best case scenario: Memphis trades Rudy Gay to Charlotte for the #2 overall pick. Grizzlies take Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. This is the logical move for both teams and has been for the better part of a month.

The Grizzlies get the cheaper option at the small forward position that they need and a guy that has some upside. He’ll never be a 20 point per game scorer in the NBA, but he’ll be solid and would be terrifying defensively with Tony Allen. What the Grizzlies lose in offensive production, they’ll make up for with defense and signature grit n’ grind. Also, MKG is a gamer and gets better when it matters as proven in Kentucky’s run in the NCAA Tournament.

Charlotte gets a running mate for hold-overs Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson and Bismack Biyombo. The Bobcats weren’t a great team last season, but getting someone who’s ready to contribute in the NBA with the second overall pick is good business and while Gay’s contract is huge, he’s not a bum and Charlotte isn’t paying anyone big money except Corey Maggette and Tyrus Thomas and Charlotte could always use the amnesty clause on Thomas as he has three years left on his deal.

Kyle Lowry– The Rockets stockpile assets like nobody else in the league. On one hand, it’s good to be able to package two good players for one great player, but great players aren’t normally available unless somebody isn’t doing their job.

Lowry is the prime example of the Rockets’ existence since the Yao Ming/Tracy McGrady era ended. He’s a good player that’s signed to a cheap contract, and he’s been at the center of a lot of trade rumors, but the Rockets haven’t been able to pull the trigger on any of them. Last season’s failed Pau Gasol trade was frustrating and Lowry spoke out against the organization recently and he didn’t seem like he seemed all too eager to return to Houston.

Best case scenario: Rockets trade Lowry and Kevin Martin to Indiana for Danny Granger and Darren Collison.

The Rockets do it because they get the best player in the deal in Granger and a back-up point guard for Goran Dragic when they re-sign him. Granger is younger and more durable than Kevin Martin. Houston then has a top 8 of Dragic, Collison, Granger, Luis Scola, Sam Dalembert, Courtney Lee, Chandler Parsons, Marcus Camby and Patrick Patterson. That’s a team that can go big, small or traditional. They have Granger and Scola to score with Dalembert and Camby to protect the rim and rebound. It’s not a huge move, but one that would help the Rockets make it back to the playoffs. Granger can also be used as part of a Dwight Howard deal if they decide to go that route.

More importantly, what is Houston doing? They have to do something and while Granger probably isn’t the sexy superstar that Houston fans want, it’s time to push their chips in and see what happens.

Indiana does it because they need an upgrade at point guard and Lowry is certainly that. They hate to give Granger up, but with Roy Hibbert due for an extension, they need to be frugal and think about saving a few bucks somewhere. Martin is one of the best scorers in the game and is an expiring contract that will help them get out of major money a year earlier than Granger would have. Between Martin and David West expiring after the season, the Pacers could have a ton of money coming off the books at one time.