“…It’s time for Ricky to make the phone call. We all hunch over at the table as he dials. The timid kid looks in my general direction as the conversation unfolds. Rubio damns with feint praise.

“I hear Al Jay-fer-sohn es um…guuudeee…”

There are long pauses.

“My buyout? I don’t know…eet eez very compleecated.”

For the sake of propriety, Rubio is trying. His cadence betrays any attempt. He’s not a bullshit artist; he’s a teen unhappily coping with fate-altering forces. The kid can’t fake enthusiasm for the process any more than I could happily sell cars.The Wolves are likely using him as a trade chip, but I’m sure the other end of the phone call is shouted faux enthusiasm for the great mutual future on the horizon. American basketball executives can BS better than scared 18-year-old Spanish kids…more.”

The buzz, as you may remember, was that Rubio’s camp was furious at the Wolves. Not so much that he didn’t like Minnesota, but because they drafted Flynn. Anyone else curious why all the draftees were asking who went to Phoenix?

“…In early June, there was anything but a consensus on what kind of NBA player he’d become, and NBA executives and scouts traveling to the Reebok Eurocamp were furious that Jennings was a last-minute scratch.

According to one veteran general manager:

“We all came to see whether this kid can really play. I’d heard the hype, watched the video and heard various opinions from my scouts. I wanted to see how he stacked up against other top kids his age. Then he doesn’t show. He sure isn’t making this easy on us. You want to like the kid, but he ain’t giving you a lot to go on…”
The Grizzlies (2nd), Thunder (3rd), Warriors (7th) and Raptors (9th) weren’t really in the hunt for a point guard. The Kings (4th) had ruled out Jennings after a shaky workout and were deciding between Tyreke Evans and Ricky Rubio. The Wolves (5th and 6th) were considering Jennings, but he was behind Jonny Flynn, Ricky Rubio and Stephen Curry on their board. The Knicks were set on taking Curry or Jordan Hill, whoever was left.

Duffy couldn’t get a team to commit to Jennings and eventually decided to pull Jennings from the NBA green room to avoid a potential embarrasment.

Just hours before the draft, things started to turn Jennings’ way. The Bucks had been on the fence between Jennings and Jrue Holiday. For much of the past month they had been leaning toward Holiday, but in the final 24 hours they began to have a change of heart.

“Jennings has so much upside,” a Bucks source told me hours before the draft. “Sometimes you have to gamble a little. The great teams take calculated risks. I think we need to take a calculated risk.”

Two hours later the Bucks jumped in head first and drafted him with the 10th pick.

Had they passed on him, he could’ve been in freefall. Neither the Nets (11th), the Bobcats (12th) nor the Pacers (13th) had him high on their board. The Suns did at No. 14, but if they had passed, he would have fallen into a murky situation, because the Suns were the lowest-drafting team he had worked out for.

So far Jennings is giving a lot of teams regrets for passing on him. How great would he have looked in a Kings uniform? Could he have become a cornerstone for the Knicks? You get the picture…”

Bottom line is that a bunch of teams were down on Jennings and the Bucks admittedly gambled so, although it’s easy to kill the Knicks, the consensus on Jennings was pretty bleak. It’s way too early to tell, but the Jennings selection has paid immediate dividends. Interesting that Jennings, reportedly, could have fallen even further had the Bucks not taken him.

They only logical explanation I can draw is that to every executive the draft is a job interview and blowing off an interview, like Jennings did, does not go over well with potential employers.

“…”Curry,” Walsh answered when asked whether he would have taken Stephen Curry or Ricky Rubio. “Not only is he a great shooter but he can get his shot on anyone. Opponents look at his baby face and figure they can manhandle him. Meanwhile he tore up every top-rated guard he went up against at our workout, including Tyreke Evans, who might be the best player in the draft next to Blake Griffin…”

Interesting that Curry would be the pick over Rubio in my opinion based on the fact that Rubio seems to fit D’Antoni’s style a little better. Granted, I liked Curry as a facilitator and shot maker given space, but I thought Walsh for sure was targeting Rubio and heard several things of the like.

That being said, Walsh didn’t aggressively move in on Curry or move up one spot to take him at #7, which makes me wonder just how much in love they were with him. And judging from what’s coming out of Golden State, Curry isn’t a great fit with teammate Monta Ellis.

Via Hahn’s Tweet: “What I have been told is the Knicks want Sessions and they will eventually get him. The price remains TBD. 13 minutes ago…”

Just had an interesting and long conversation with a former Eastern Conference scout who told me that he doesn’t think Ramon Sessions is the right fit for Mike D’Antoni’s pick and roll offense.

“.I like Sessions a lot,” the scout said. ” But he can’t shoot. In D’Antoni’s system, which is predicated on the screen/roll, all a big man has to do is go under the screen and dare Sessions to shoot. That’s not a good thing.”

I doubt this notion is the reason for the contract holdup, obviously they wouldn’t have sit downs with Sessions’ agent if it were. But, it seems that other teams can easily scout the Knicks should Sessions take over for major minutes. Clearly, to me, it would seem that the only Knicks want Sessions at the right number and don’t have the confidence in him quarterbacking the offense that they did with an aging Jason Kidd. So the question becomes does Sessions’ elusiveness outweigh his lack of shooting range? To me, I like a guard who doesn’t shoot first, but at some point you have to be able to knock them down. Sessions only attempted 36 three pointers this year, but he is a 44% shooter from the floor.

Despite working hard on a deal, the Knicks have yet to sign Sessions to an offer sheet.

The scout also had this to say about Nate Robinson, which is why he isn’t surprised the restricted free agent guard hasn’t received a contract offer.

“…If he (Nate) isn’t the most disliked player in the league, he’s certainly right up there. Every player I know can’t stand him.”

Meantime, the scout, who recently left his post and is heading to the college ranks, went on to say that he feels that Danilo Gallinari is ready for a bust out sophomore season and that his team had Jordan Hill very high on their draft board in June.

“Hill is certainly a top-3 talent, but we had some questions. But he was never falling to us so it didn’t matter.”

The report was that Rubio was content with the Wolves for about 4 minutes until the drafted Flynn, leading to Rubio’s disgust with Minnesota.

“…The Minnesota Timberwolves’ top draft pick, Ricky Rubio, 18, will remain in Spain to play for his DKV Joventut basketball team for the remaining two years of his contract rather than try to move to the NBA this season, El Periodico reported today. The Barcelona newspaper also says Rubio, who was paid $97,000 last season, plans to withdraw his contract lawsuit against DKV Joventut…”

So let’s see, Rubio is going to stay with his old team? This smells like yet another play for Rubio. Dropping the lawsuit is an interesting turn of events and one that I am shocked at.  How could the Wolves NOT try him soon and get for him while his value is so high? How can they let him sit overseas?

• Via the Minnesota Star Tribune is reporting that the Knicks did offer Chandler and 8 to move up for Rubio and the Wolves declined. Why on earth would the Wolves would decline, I have no idea. They also noted that the Knicks had Rubio on top of their list ahead of Curry, which we figured all along.

“… The Wolves did turn down that Knicks’ offer of No. 8 and Wilson Chandler for the No. 5, which Donnie Walsh would have used to take Rubio and not Stephen Curry…”

• Mitch Lawrence is reporting the Rockets made an offer for Rubio.

“…Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reported that the Wolves turned down a deal with the Houston Rockets that would have resulted in Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier headed to Minnesota for Ricky Rubio…”

“…The Knicks can entertain sign-and-trade discussions involving both Lee and Robinson on July 9, after the seven-day moratorium. There is expected to be a strong market for Lee, who led the NBA with 62 double-doubles, and there are teams with cap space that have an interest. The Pistons could attempt to sign him to an offer sheet if they do not go after Carlos Boozer and the Trail Blazers are also said to be in hot pursuit, but more likely in a sign-and-trade scenario.

For the Knicks to keep him, Lee and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, would likely have to agree to a back-loaded deal to protect the cap space in 2010. Walsh would also have to first find a way to move either Eddy Curry ($11.2 million against the cap in 2010-11) or Jared Jeffries ($6.8 million) off the roster to offset Lee’s contract, which could command up to $8 million per year or more. Consider the range of these comparables: Troy Murphy ($11 million), Andris Biedrins ($9 million) and Udonis Haslem ($7.1 million)…”

Andrew and I have come to the agreement that you’re looking at a 60% chance Lee is traded and a 40% chance they manage a sign and trade. There is no chance, we believe, that Lee signs an offer that Walsh won’t match meaning no team will push the Knicks into a situation where they have to pay him too much and risk getting nothing in return.

On another note,  I’ve had enough of the Jordan Hill is Channing Frye, Chris Wilcox or Mikki Moore nonsense that’s been going around. I’ve had Hill on top of the board for a reason. Let’s pretend, shall we, that Hill shaved his dreads and went to Wake Forest. College careers, in terms of team success, have nothing to do with a player’s ceiling. Did Tim Duncan ever make a Final Four?

Hill’s upside is off the charts, but more importantly, he has the organization’s trust that he’ll be able to come in and have and impact. Frye had to compete with Lee, and if memory serves, it was Isiah who thought he was too soft. So Isiah stuck with the scrappy Lee more because the fans loved him, (and Zeke needed all the cheers he could get) and Lee rewarded Zeke with solid play. And all the draft experts had no clue who Lee was coming out of Florida.  But that’s what archives are for.

In all honesty, Hill started playing as a junior in high school and he ran into a tough situation at Arizona in terms of there being a ton of distractions. The best piece of advice I received once came from the editor of a major sports magazine who told me “talent is great but potential is reached when it’s recognized and allowed to flourish by someone in management who believes in you.” I believe that Hill can flourish in D’Antoni’s system and he will be allowed to flourish.

Besides Blake Griffin, what big over the past few years has had the package of size, speed and athleticism that Hill possesses? Sure, the odds are that bigs chosen early become less productive than guards, just look at the history of the draft, but it’s tough to imagine that Hill won’t be a big part of the rotation next year.

Also, as always, thanks to all the callers and listeners who have quickly made TKB Radio one of the top 10 most popular sports shows on BTR. As you guys know, blogtalkradio has established itself as one of the driving forces in Internet radio.

Check out Pete’s take on the prospect’s gear and some blasts from the past.

“…You see, for too long we’ve been devoid of creative wardrobe selections at the NBA Draft. Throughout the ’80′s and ’90s, watching this event meant three things: the Dallas Mavericks screwing something up, TNT’s Bob Neal announcing each pick, and absolutely absurd clothing choices.

Crazy get-ups and head-scratching accessories were the glue to the early years of the televised NBA Draft. Hell, they were the highlights.

Some examples?

How about Samaki Walker’s nifty get-up to the 1996 NBA Draft? Sweet hat, Samaki.

Or Karl Malone’s interesting “skinny tie” look at the 1985 Draft?

Jalen Rose’s 1995 candy cane-striped tuxedo probably takes the proverbial Draft Day suit cake.

Comedians Randy and Jason Sklar, co-hosts of the ESPN Classic show “Cheap Seats”, went to Michigan with Rose back in the mid ’90s. On the now legendary ’95 Draft suit, Randy jokes, “I think his suit came with a pimp cup. When he took the obligatory photo on stage, he actually handed David Stern his scepter so he could put on his hat.”

If Rose’s rosy red outfit was the George Washington of noteworthy Draft Day suits, Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon might be the other suits on that Mount Rushmore…” more.

Two highlights for me was the brave act that both Rubio and Curry put on when walking up after hearing their names announced.

But by far the funniest moment of the night was the intensity that Ty Hansbrough went up there with. He was freekin pumped, you know like WWE pumped. I thought he was going to suplex Stern. The intensity grew when the fans started to chant “overrated.” Either way, you know Psycho T wakes up in a sweat.

Walsh loves Lawson, and it may seem that the Rubio deal doesn’t have the right parts. Not sure the Wolves would want David Lee with both Kevin Love and Al Jefferson up front. Do they do Chandler and Nate? Who knows. Rubio’s camp wants out and the situation could really drag out.

The Nuggs apparently offered Linas Kleiza for David Lee, which Walsh turned down. Does Ty Lawson cause the deal to be revisited?

That won’t be easy. We reported that Denver wanted to jump into the mix to get a point guard pre draft, so that they can groom the player under Chauncey Billups. And more importantly, George Karl bleeds Tarheel blue as well, but they are on the cusp of a championship and could use Lee’s energy more than that of a rookie PG.

You would have to figured that it would have went down, or go down by Wednesday so that David could negotiate with Denver, who we knows loves him.

Not sure what the legalities are since the Nuggs are over the cap, but there might be a fit here between the Knicks and the Nuggs.