Things went according to the plan (unless you're WAS, PHI, or NJ). New Orleans won't get a magical one-step cure all in the form of John Wall, Evan Turner, or Derrick Favors. That means it's time to buckle up and make sure we get the best possible value at #11. I've got just a couple links for you this morning, with a lot more draft related stuff to follow soon.
We'll go Times-Pic heavy today, and they lead us off with this cool graphic on the history of the 11th pick since 1990:
I'd consider around half of those guys successful NBA players, which honestly isn't too bad a rate.
This story from Yahoo! indicates that the Hornets' first round of interviews may not be complete:
The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting that the team is considering talking to one more person before making the final decision on who will take the reins o this team and hopefully ride it to a championship. That man is rumored to be Doug Collins, who has coached the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards.
Yesterday, it seemed like the Hornets may have narrowed their search down to Avery Johnson and Tom Thibodeau, so I'm not really sure what to make of this news. Some had cynically suggested that the coaching search was more schizophrenic than comprehensive, an assessment I disagreed with, but if true, this news is a little bit strange.
Meanwhile, Johnson and Collins are both emerging as favorites in Philadelphia, and Collins may already have the job, according to reports:
All signs point toward Doug Collins.
The 76ers' coaching search, which is more than a month old and has dwindled to only a handful of candidates, has a distinct front-runner: Collins.
According to multiple sources, Collins is the leading candidate, ahead of former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson... One source close to Collins said his camp has been given the impression that the job is his.
The source said it wouldn't be impossible to see a job offer before the end of this week.
All in all, the Hornets would be wise to accelerate the search this week, with Philadelphia apparently ready to make its hire, and New Jersey ready to jump into action with the completion of the draft lottery and the official introduction of their new owner.
And finally, there's speculation that new owner Gary Chouest may add to the Hornets' sparsely populated front office:
There has been speculation that when the sale of the Hornets from George Shinn to Gary Chouest is officially complete — an agreement in principle that was reported two weeks ago but no formal announcement has been made — that the team might also bring in someone else in a basketball operations role.