The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a deal with the Hornets to acquire the 27th selection in Thursday's NBA draft for $3 million, a Blazers source told ESPN.com.
The deal was agreed to verbally between the two teams on Tuesday night. The teams have scheduled a trade call with the league on Wednesday morning to make the deal official.
It's unclear what the Blazers want at No. 27. One possibility is Croatial big man Ante Tomic, who the Blazers have coveted for years.
Various Web sites projected Memphis shooting guard Chris Douglas-Roberts as going to the Hornets with the No. 27 pick.
The Hornets need more athleticism at the wings and more scoring punch off the bench. They have many pieces for another run in the West. The are expected to tweak around the core of Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic. The Hornets need another shooting guard to back up Paul.
Various Web sites have LSU freshman forward Anthony Randolph going to the Sacramento Kings in the first round. The 6-foot-10, 18-year-old could be the steal of the draft.
Reports from Portland are that the Blazers could go after Douglas-Roberts, but I doubt if he will be there at No. 27, which is why the Hornets may have made the deal.
Armed with the financial might of owner Paul Allen, the Blazers acquired the 23rd pick in the draft last year.
Meanwhile, Shaq O'Neal's rap video against Kobe Bryant which included profanity and a racially derogatory word has an Arizona sheriff asking for badge back. Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants O'Neal to return his special deputy sheriff's badges to the Arizona county. "I do believe in free speech, but I don't believe that in law enforcement to use this type of language is proper, Arpaio told the Los Angeles Times. "We set an example. a moral, ethical example and I would like to think that basketball players and all athletes should be setting a positive attitude for our young people." The two-minute video, originally posted on TMZ.com, features O'Neal saying among other things, that :Kobe couldn't do without me," referring to Bryant and the Lakers' recent loss to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Shaq formerly served as reserve officer in Los Angeles and in Miami Beach. O'Neal said the rap was "done all in fun."
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: LSU freshman catcher Micah Gibbs has been named to the 2008 USA Baseball National team, a squad featuring the top non-draft -eligible college players. The 20-man roster consists of nine pitchers, nine position players and a pair of two-way players. The team will compete next month in the Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands and at the FISU World Championships in the CzechRepublic. Gibbs, of Pflugerville, Tex,m batted .322 this season for the Tigers with 16 doubles, 2 homers, 35 RBI and 32 runs. He committed just one error in 392 chances while throwing out 12 runners attempting to steal...Charles Grant is working on an autobiography titled, The Gravel Road," which he hopes to have finished by next year. "This book will let kids see that it's not just football we live and get overnight," said the Saints defensive end. "This is about putting into words to the people so they can understand who I really am."
According to Hornets GM Jeff Bower nothing can be done can be done with discussing Paul's contract until July. Then the franchise has until Oct. 31 to get a deal done with Paul as a restricted free agent. By next summer, he'll be an unrestricted free agent and the Hornets will have to jockey for position with the All-NBA player. "We've got a very high priority on Chris," said Bower. "We'll be dealing with it as soon as we're permitted to. We'd all like to think we'll be able get something together in that time frame, but it would be presumptuous to guess at this point."...Hornets coach Byron Scott said he has noticed a buzz in the city already for next season. "Walking around the city, I hear people talking about next season<" said the coach of the year in the NBA. "There's buzz here right now."
LSU's 2008 baseball media guide has was named No. 2 in the nation in judging at the sports information directors' convention recently. I'll take their word for it because I didn't receive one...
Voo Doo linebacker Norman LeJeune has been named to the Arena Football League's 2008 All-Rookie team. The former LSU player joined the Voo Doo after playing three seasons for the NFL Eagles and Dolphins. He had 60 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 6 interceptions, 3 of which went for touchdowns and 1 fumble recovery.He played at LSU from 1999 to 2002...The Voo Doo and the Red Cross teamed up to raise $5,000 in donations for Midwestern flood victims during their game last Saturday with the Grand Rapids Rampage.
Sound bites...
"Well my dad was a force of nature. And now is own cycle in nature is complete. But his spirit lives in everybody who loves heir country, loves their family, loves their faith, and loves their Buffalo Bills." ---Luke Russert, eulogizing his late father, Tim.
