- Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: "Danny Manning, Michael Olowokandi . . . and now Blake Griffin. The Clippers have twice had the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft, and will get it again for a third time, having won the league's draft lottery Tuesday night at Secaucus, N.J. 'Clearly, we're taking Blake Griffin,' Clippers General Manager and Coach Mike Dunleavy said in a telephone interview from Barcelona, Spain. 'This guy is the No. 1 pick. We're extremely excited. He's the guy.' There wasn't much of a question the Clippers would do anything other than take the dynamic, explosive forward from Oklahoma. Dunleavy, though, wasn't about to be coy in the wee morning hours in Spain and erased any shred of doubt about the team's intention in the draft June 25 in New York."
- Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal: "Just imagine the scenarios between now and draft day. The Grizzlies could: 1. Take a run at Griffin anyway: The Los Angeles Clippers got the No. 1 pick. They're one of the few teams that might just as soon have Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. The Baron Davis experiment hasn't worked out. Rubio is flashy enough for Los Angeles and will appeal to their Hispanic fans. If Wallace can give the Clippers a good reason to take Rubio instead of Griffin, they might just go for it. 2. Trade Rubio for a package of picks and players: Would the Knicks be willing to give up the No. 8 pick and David Lee for Rubio? Put Lee in the power forward slot and draft Davidson's Stephen Curry to fill it up off the bench. 3. Stay at No. 2 and take Rubio: Yes, take Rubio. The guy can flat play. Before Griffin went crazy this year, the '09 draft was known as the Rubio draft. What's wrong with taking an electric prospect at the most important position in the game? Trade Mike Conley to Portland for Travis Outlaw. Trade Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies other No. 1 pick to Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire. Next year's starting lineup: Outlaw, Marc Gasol, Stoudemire, O.J. Mayo and Rubio. Sure, it's a dream. But dreams are possible now. The Grizzlies aren't sitting at No. 7 and wondering if they should take Demar Derozen or Jordan Hill. They're sitting at No. 2 with everything still in play."
- Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: "Since Thunder general manager Sam Presti took the basketball reins of this franchise, in June 2007, he's had overall draft picks 2 (Durant), 5 (Jeff Green), 4 (Russell Westbrook) and now 3. If you can't build a quality roster with that positioning, nobody to blame but yourself. Not that Presti has done anything to make us think he won't ace this selection, too. The Durant pick was a no-brainer, but the Green and Westbrook additions have been home runs, so Presti seems unlikely to screw up this pick. ... The future remains bright for the Thunder. Bright enough that this should be the last time for a while that Oklahoma City gets all worked up by the lottery. Next year, the Boomers should be lottery long shots. With picks 2, 5, 4 and 3, it's time to leave lottery land."
- Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee: "The worst record in the league. A lousy 17 wins. And this was the best they could do? Well, maybe not. From now on, every mock draft has to be taken with a shrug and downed with a shot of whiskey. The only thing that really mattered was whether the Kings finished first. After that, game on. Trade up. Trade back. Swap picks. Trade existing players. Let's just say the league's general managers will be too busy for dinner breaks these next several weeks. ... This particular draft, in fact, has the characteristics of a crapshoot, a process likely to feature more lies and misdirection plays than usual. Consider: The Clippers finished first, but really want Ricky Rubio. The Grizzlies finished second, but need size, and are thought to be seriously interested in 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet. The Thunder seeks an upgrade at shooting guard, but one of Rubio's most glaring deficiencies is his perimeter jumper. Might Oklahoma City be tempted to select shooting guard James Harden, perhaps coaxed into swapping picks with the Kings? Or, as someone within the organization hinted late Tuesday, some of the Kings' front-office types are enamored of Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn. They might get their man and a future star without moving either draft pick or person."
- Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post: "It's really, really, really too bad the Wizards couldn't get lucky Tuesday night and win the lottery. And it's almost certainly too bad that Blake Griffin, with all he has to offer, is going to wind up with the Clippers, who can never get anything right. Even so, it's no reason for the Wizards to get that hangdog look on draft night. The Wizards didn't get lucky, but it doesn't mean they can't be resourceful and turn that No. 5 overall pick, bad as it is relatively speaking, into immediate and significant help."
- Tom Powers of The Pioneer Press: "Contrary to the title of a 1977 song by Todd Rundgren, Love is not the answer. Another draft lottery, another hosing for your Timberwolves. This time, it was Kevin Love's turn to be crestfallen. He represented the Wolves at the NBA lottery, and his luck was no better than anyone else's. Minnesota finished the season with the league's fifth-worst record. The Wolves will get the No. 6 pick, dropping down a notch. God forbid they should ever move up. Not that we're shocked. Their luck runs from rotten to lethal. ... On Tuesday, Kevin Love met with the inevitable. It doesn't matter who goes out to represent the team. The Timberwolves have never caught a break at the lottery, and they probably never will."
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: "Poor Larry Riley sat there while three other bottom-dwelling conference teams all grabbed spots in the top four -- the Clippers at No. 1, Memphis at No. 2 and Oklahoma City at No. 3. Maybe Riley, Nelson and Robert Rowell got a chuckle out of Sacramento (represented by Chris Webber!) going in with the best shot at No. 1 but getting kicked down to No. 4. Maybe the Warriors' power trio figures that the Clippers are a wasteland for anybody, particularly a monster forward like Griffin. But once again, the Warriors had a small-percentage shot to be kissed by fate -- just as they had when Yao Ming was in the draft, or Dwight Howard, or Tim Duncan. And once again, fate did not kiss them. As always, the Warriors will have to work to find their stars and be creative to formulate a winning roster. For most teams, that's very difficult. For the Warriors, it has proven to be just about impossible."
- Ian O'Connor of The Record: "Rhythmic movement. Precise cuts. A selfless distribution of the ball. Of more consequence, McKillop sees a kid born to run in D'Antoni's system. Stephen Curry, McKillop's player at Davidson. The player the Knicks need to take with the eighth pick in next month's draft. 
9;Mike D'Antoni treats the ball like a spotlight,' McKillop said, 'and the more the spotlight is distributed, the greater the spotlight is. Stephen is the right player for that approach. He shoots the ball so well, and he passes the ball so well, and he's not going to catch the ball, dribble it and make 15 shake-and-bake moves before shooting. Stephen comes off screens, changes speeds and stops like few players can. He shares the ball. He understands the dynamics of the game, and I know Mike is trying to create that culture with the Knicks.' In other words, Stephen is no Stephon." - Michael Grange of The Globe and Mail: "With shooting guard Anthony Parker and small forward Marion free agents, and franchise cornerstone Chris Bosh unwilling to commit to the club after next season, when he's eligible to become a free agent, the Raptors could easily lose three starters this summer. With some luck, the Raptors might be able to get a player in return for Marion by way of a sign-and-trade deal, but those are not easy to facilitate. Bosh won't be traded without the Raptors getting some true assets in return. Though if he goes, it will be hard to make happy faces around the idea the club will have lost arguably the best player in their history just as he's entering his prime. And Parker? He may have been overmatched as a starting guard at 34, but he's a serviceable asset and the Raptors risk getting nothing from him if decides big money in Europe -- nearly double what he could expect to make in the NBA -- would be worth moving his family overseas one more time. No wonder the Raptors, according to team sources, are actually looking hard at buying a second pick even if this year's draft is more about role players than star power."
- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: "John Hammond, the Bucks' general manager, will preside over his second draft with the team, after selecting Joe Alexander (eighth overall) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (37th) last June. And Skiles, entering his second season as the team's coach, will provide valuable input as the Bucks assess draft prospects over the next month. Scott Skiles hinted that the Bucks could trade the pick if they received an enticing offer that would provide an NBA-ready player. Charlie Bell said the returning Bucks players committed to working out this summer and preparing for the coming season, and nearly all of them are expected to be in Milwaukee by early September, nearly a month before training camp opens. 'Everybody already made a commitment to get here early,' Bell said. 'I think guys are really upset with last season. That's a sour taste in our mouths, and being so close to making the playoffs, even with the injuries. Guys really have confidence we can make the playoffs next year. Guys are hungry. I don't think the summer before, guys really came in ready to go.'"
- Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: "If LeBron James has indeed passed Kobe Bryant has a player, he has yet to touch him as a champion. 'That's not my goal, that's not my mission,' Bryant said of being the best player. 'My mission is to win a championship. And the debate of who is the best player, that's going to go on ... that's not something I concern myself with.' Bryant said he was not upset at West's assertion. 'I love Jerry West to death, obviously everybody knows that,' he said. But he admitted that he does have a rear-view mirror, and he does check it out, and it can be sort of interesting. 'I do enjoy the challenge of having another player come along to challenge me for that top spot,' ' he said. 'That's always fun.' I'll take LeBron James during the five months of the NBA season when it is fun. I'll take Kobe Bryant right now, because he is all about right now. 'It was a gut check for us,' Bryant said late Tuesday night. Once again, his guts won."
- Chris Dempsey and Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "Free throws were a problem Tuesday night for the Nuggets. A big problem. So much so, the team members said had they been better from the line, where they shot just 65 percent, they probably would have won the game. 'I think we lost the game with our poor free-throw shooting throughout the game from everybody,' guard Chauncey Billups said. 'We missed 12 free throws. It comes back. We lose by two points. It's tough.' No Nuggets player was immune. Even Billups, normally one of the NBA's best free- throw shooters, missed three in a row at one point. The Nuggets were 23-of-35 for the game. Meanwhile, the Lakers made 20-of-24 attempts (83 percent). ... 'I know a lot of people think it came down to that steal and 30 seconds left,' forward Carmelo Anthony said, referring to Anthony Carter's inbound pass, 'but us missing 12 free throws ... That's a lot.'"
- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "Mo Williams is pent up. So pent up, in fact, that a couple of times in the last week he dunked the ball during practice. 'If I'm dunking, something isn't going right around here and we're ready to play,' Williams said. 'Coach told me not to anymore.' Williams isn't just energetic, he seems more focused that at anytime during the season. He was one of the last players off the practice floor on Tuesday, putting up a 100 or so of his floaters. The Cavs are going to need it because with the Eastern Conference Finals set to start Wednesday against the Magic, the team needs the All-Star version of Williams. That's a form he hasn't shown the entire postseason. ... Most would say Williams has the advantage against Magic point guards Rafer Alston and Anthony Johnson. The way the rest of the matchups set up, getting strong scoring and solid defense from Williams could prove to be a difference-maker in this series. While most of his teammates have experience playing this late in the season, this is Williams' first trip to the conference finals, which makes his performance all the more significant."
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "A few summers ago Dwight Howard predicted the Magic would win the title, causing raised eyebrows and chuckles in Orlando and the NBA. Howard was still a babe in the NBA woods, and his statement didn't carry any currency or credibility. Now it has legs. And it's on the move. The opportunity is here and real for Howard and the Magic as they meet the Cleveland Cavaliers for the right to play in the NBA Finals. The teams open the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals tonight at Quicken Loans Arena. It's a chance that the Magic haven't had since 1996, and a chance they realize might not come around again -- even if you have an unnatural force such as Howard."
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