Insider Special: Trade Imminent?

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# Chad Ford's mock draft: Standard version | Slideshow version

CHICAGO -- The only thing NBA scouts and GMs seem to agree on in this draft is that it's turning out to be the craziest and most difficult to predict draft they've ever encountered.

"I think we're all having a tough time trying to get a grasp of what's going on," Celtics VP Danny Ainge told Insider. "I've literally got 50 different contingency plans up in my hotel room that I've been working on. With all of the trades and the parity in this draft, it's maddening trying to get a read on how this draft is going to unfold."

Ainge's sentiment is echoed across the board here. GMs, scouts, even agents say they're growing increasingly nervous as the draft approaches.

It's especially troublesome for agents trying to get first-round promises for their clients. Despite a flurry of rumored promises to prospects ranging from Kirk Snyder to Sebastian Telfair, teams are furiously denying they've made deals.

Danny Ainge has a reputation as a promise-maker, but even he denies any deals have been sealed.

"Why would you make a promise this early?" Suns GM Bryan Colangelo, the patron saint of promises, said. "Until you figure out what the trade value of your pick is, go through the workouts and decide who is and who isn't going to be there, it doesn't make a lot of sense."

Amare Stoudemire and Zarko Carbarkapa -- the last two guys the Suns made promises to -- agree.

Ainge, who quickly picked up a rep as a promise-maker after he sealed up Marcus Banks early in the process last year, laughs at reports he's already locked up half of this year's high school class.

"I read something the other day that said that no one would make a promise this early in the draft unless they were Danny Ainge," Ainge said. "It's pretty easy to get a rep."

For the record, both Colangelo and Ainge deny they've made promises to anyone. That also holds true for Blazers GM John Nash (the Blazers also have a rep for making early promises). The Celtics and Suns still are working out a number of top prospects, lending credence to their claims. Of course, these are the same guys who last year claimed they hadn't made any deals, so take it with a grain of salt.

In fact, a rumor circulated here last night that prep guard Dorrell Wright skipped the Chicago pre-draft camp because the Celtics had made him a guarantee. Wright did have a second workout in Boston this week, and Ainge was raving about him, so ...

Still, there might be some truth to what Ainge, Colangelo and others are saying. Agents say they are finding it tough to secure the promises they're looking for right now. In the past, locking up a commitment from a team to draft a 7-foot international big man like Peja Samardziski would be a piece of cake. This year it hasn't been so easy.

"Making a promise can be a double-edged sword," Ainge said. "You may get the guy that you want, but what if someone comes along a week later that you want more? That's the issue for us this year."

# Speaking of promises, Duke law professor Paul Haagen claims the Wizards told him they'd select Luol Deng with the No. 5 pick if he was still on the board, according to a report in the Raleigh News and Observer. Haagen helped Deng, and other elite Duke athletes, gather information about their draft stock.

# Yet another team -- the Celtics -- is claiming Kirk Snyder's agent recently canceled a workout. That's the Jazz, Celtics and Nuggets in the last week. Either Snyder has a lottery promise, or his agent is delusional.

Trade talk

# Just about everyone assumes the Clippers and Hawks will make some sort of deal to swap the No. 2 pick for the Hawks' No. 6 and No. 16 picks. The Clippers don't need Dwight Howard, and the Hawks need him desperately.

However, there may be a major snag in that deal. Orlando is talking to a lot of teams right now, and several of them would like to trade up to the top spot for Howard, not Emeka Okafor. That's a doomsday scenario for the Hawks and appears to be cooling their willingness to give up both of their picks to the Clippers this early.

The Clippers have been working out the likes of Devin Harris, Shaun Livingston and Ben Gordon of late, giving credence to the idea they'll trade down and take a point guard. But until everyone is sure what Orlando is going to do, finalizing a trade might be tough.

# Bulls GM John Paxson may have several good options in the draft at No. 3 (Andre Iguodala, Luol Deng and Josh Childress come to mind) but don't be surprised if the Bulls end up trading the pick for a real veteran.

Al Harrington

Small Forward

Indiana Pacers

Profile

2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

79 13.3 6.4 1.7 .463 .734

The rumor du jour has the Pacers offering Al Harrington and their first-round pick to the Bulls for the No. 3 pick and Scottie Pippen. The Pacers are anxious to upgrade their backcourt and like several players who should be available, including Livingston, Harris and Iguodala.

While no one is in the business of confirming or denying these types of things, Pacers head man Donnie Walsh had an interesting reaction to the rumor.

"I think we'd at least have to listen to Chicago if they wanted to propose something like that," Walsh told Insider.

While the Pacers are in no hurry to give Harrington away, trading him for some backcourt help makes some sense. Jonathan Bender can step in and provide a lot of the things Harrington did. At some point Bender is just going to have to get more minutes if he's ever going to develop. Second, adding a player with star potential like Livingston, Harris or Iguodala could really provide a missing spark for the Pacers.

For the Bulls, adding Harrington would clear the way to trade Tyson Chandler for another veteran who can contribute right away. It's not an easy decision for either team -- the Bulls really could use a player like Iguodala or Deng, and the Pacers might not be able to afford to add another rookie -- but it also make a ton of sense.

If the teams do pull the trigger, my money's on Livingston to be the Pacers pick. Walsh has shown plenty of patience in the past, and Livingston has the potential to be the best player in the draft.

Workout rumblings

# The Clippers worked out Livingston and Harris separately at Hoops the Gym on Tuesday. Harris shot the ball extremely well in the workout, while Livingston was just so-so on his shooting.

Wisconsin's Devin Harris has shown a deft shooting touch in workouts this week.

What's interesting is neither player will de drafted because of his shooting (though it's a nice bonus). Livingston and Harris are the closest things in the draft to true point guard. One of the drawbacks of individual workouts is they don't measure things like court vision, passing ability, leadership, etc. In effect, Livingston and Harris spent most of the hour-plus workout taking jump shots.

The Clippers ran some drills that tried to replicate passing situations, but they don't come anywhere close to simulating what either kid could do in a game. It's not L.A.'s fault -- workouts simply can't cover everything they need to.

With that said, if the Clippers do trade down in the draft, look for them to choose either Harris or Ben Gordon over Livingston. Coach Mike Dunleavy is looking for an experienced point guard who can shoot the ball. He'd probably prefer and NBA veteran, but if he can't get one, Harris and Gordon both would fit the bill.

# Livingston has another private workout Wednesday with the Bobcats and then a workout for several teams, run by Tim Grover, later in the week. Chances are he'll make his decision about whether to stay in the draft or go to Duke on Saturday.

Some scouts believe the 6-foot-7 Smith could be a point-forward in the league.

# The big workout of the afternoon took place at the Lakeshore Athletic Club, where junior college star Donta Smith auditioned before 60 or so NBA scouts and GMs. Smith has garnered quite a buzz over the past few weeks after a few strong workouts.

Smith has a great body, NBA athleticism and a pretty well-rounded game. Unfortunately he was surrounded in the workout by guys who have zero shot of getting drafted, making it very difficult to gauge exactly how good he is.

He dominated the guys he played against, showing quickness, aggressiveness on defense and a decent jumper, but it was pretty tough to contextualize what we saw.

Still, you can understand why teams are interested. Several teams -- including the Kings, Suns, Celtics and Hawks -- have shown enough interest to make some think Smith could slip into the late first round.

"We like him," said Jerry Reynolds, the Kings director of player personnel. "We certainly feel he is a draftable player. I think he certainly should be in the top 35-40 players drafted, in my opinion."

# SFX is holding a big workout today at Hoops the Gym for several of their top international players, including Ha Seung Jin, Sasha Vujacic and Roko Leni Ukic.

In and out

As expected, Andriuskevicius is leaning more and more toward pulling out of the draft.

# Martynas Andriuskevicius likely will pull out of the draft, according to his agent. Herb Rudoy told Insider it's pretty unlikely he'll get the top-five promise he's looking for. Only one team, the Suns at No. 7, have interest in drafting Andriuskevicus and allowing him to remain overseas another year. However, the Suns promised him nothing, and Rudoy won't leave Andriuskevicius in the draft without a promise. If he's still in the draft after the deadline, you pretty much know where you can pencil him in.

Andriuskevicius, by the way, was awesome on the last day of the Reebok Eurocamp. After several marginal performances there, he got angry and aggressive and scored a camp high 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds -- finally showing all the things scouts love about him.

# Brazilian Tiago Splitter also is on the fence at the moment. He's in Chicago and will be working out at Hoops the Gym on Friday. Rudoy, his agent, is looking for a promise in the lottery.

# One international kid to keep an eye on is Marcin Gortat, a 7-foot, 20-year-old from Poland. In the last two days of the Eurocamp, Gortat began dominating the competition with a potent combination of toughness and surprising athleticsm for a guy his size.

Coming into the camp, scouts weren't that high on him. But based on what they saw those last two days, many of them claim his rapid improvement over the last year makes him a legit NBA prospect.

There's a good chance Gortat, who plays for Rhein Energie Cologne in Germany, might pull out of the draft and resubmit next year, but after some of the buzz I heard from Treviso over the weekend, I wouldn't be shocked if he stayed in this year. If he does, he should be a lock for the first round.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. Send him an e-mail here.