FanHouse Nba Draft

Don't expect much of a slowdown with free agency this week, but there will be plenty of NBA executives out of their offices for the next several days.

Many NBA teams will have front-office personnel in Akron, Ohio, where the LeBron James Skills Academy got underway on Sunday afternoon. Getting most of the attention is certain to be point guard John Wall, who could be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft.

However, Wall wasn't present for Sunday's mid-afternoon start to the camp. And as it turns out, Wall is not on either the college or high school roster.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

The Los Angeles Clippers and their fans could not presently be any happier. Last week, they added an outstanding player in Blake Griffin, who was, of course, the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. In this FanHouse exclusive, we talk to Blake about his new team and his expectations. We also hear from Eric Gordon, former NBA stars Sean Rooks and Michael Cage, and Clippers assistant general manager Neil Olshey.

Check out the video after the jump.

If his late appearance at the NBA Draft wasn't enough, freshly minted Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings continued his personal attack of Ricky Rubio and then added the New York Knicks to his hit list. Perhaps it's time for Jennings to keep quiet until he achieves something in the NBA.

Apparently talking with rapper Joe Budden on a blog cam following the draft, a recorded Jennings ripped the Knicks for passing him up in the draft, predicted the Bucks would not re-sign Ramon Sessions, instead spending their money on Charlie Villanueva, and finally that Luke Ridnour would eventually be his backup.

There's still a lot we don't know about the Stephen Curry/Warriors/Suns thing. But one thing we do know is that Warriors general manager Larry Riley and coach Don Nelson are saying in no uncertain terms: Curry ain't going anywhere.

The Warriors continue to staunchly maintain that they did not select Curry to be part of a future deal for Amar'e Stoudemire. And it was tough not to believe them on Friday afternoon, as they went about the process of introducing Curry to the Bay Area media – in front of Curry's mom, dad, girlfriend, family and even more than a dozen kids from a local youth group.

If the Warriors are lying, they're surely going above and beyond at this point.

The Minnesota Timberwolves used the fourth pick in the NBA Draft to take Ricky Rubio, but now there are serious doubts about whether the Spanish sensation wants to play there. Rubio was non-committal immediately after being selected, saying he was excited to come to the NBA, when answering a question that asked if he was excited to go to Minnesota.

A little later on draft night, Rubio's father was quoted by a Spanish news site as saying that he would probably "remain one or two years in Europe." With it becoming increasingly clear that Rubio has no interest in playing in Minnesota, the Knicks said that they would make the call to the Timberwolves to see about bringing him to New York.

There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.

Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:

The Deal: Phoenix sends Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland for Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash.

The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.

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Brandon Jennings was a mystery to those that are in the business of putting together mock drafts. Some had him going somewhere in the top five, while others had him dropping out of the lottery altogether. Because of the apparent uncertainty surrounding his draft position, Jennings turned down his green room invitation and decided to wait things out at a local Manhattan hotel.

As it turned out, Jennings didn't have to wait long to hear his name called -- he was selected 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. He wasn't there to greet David Stern initially. But he did make it down to Madison Square Garden just four picks later, in plenty of time to make a surprise entrance and get that ceremonial handshake from the commissioner.

Watching the NBA Draft on television is one thing. Attending it live in New York City is a whole different experience. Believe it or not, most of the action actually happens in the WaMu Theatre hallways where devoted fans and newly drafted players intersect. FanHouse spent the night monitoring the scene where -- shocker! -- many of the New York faithful were left second-guessing their beloved Knicks' moves. Check out the full video below.

The NBA Draft started with a no-brainer -- Blake Griffin going No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, the fun happened, with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet and the Timberwolves' vexing decision to horde as many point guards as they could. A few other teams lucked out when players dropped down the board and into their laps. Check out the grades for the Western Conference after the jump.

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In the weakest NBA draft in years, sitting out might have been the best thing to do. All the fireworks were done before it even began. The Cavs traded for Shaq. The Magic added Vince Carter. The Wizards snagged Mike Miller instead of the No. 5 pick. Several teams showed little interest in getting involved.

Keep reading after the jump for the Eastern Conference rundown.

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