NEW YORK -- Quick hitters on the draft:
• Milwaukee is peeved over the way Yi Jianlian has been handled during the draft process. The Bucks legitimately want to take him if Mike Conley Jr. or Al Horford is off the board at No. 6 (which is a strong possibility). Yet, Yin's representative Dan Fegan didn't invite the Bucks to watch Yi work out in Los Angeles. The Bucks would have given Yi the chance to compete with Charlie Villanueva for starter minutes. Yet a source close to the Bucks said they were told by Yin's representation that Yi only would play in a major city with a significant Asian population. That last comment made no sense to the Bucks when they saw that Phoenix, which as of Monday didn't have a pick until No. 24 in the first round, was invited to watch Yi work out Monday.
Meanwhile, if the choices for the Bucks are North Carolina's Brandan Wright or Georgetown's Jeff Green at No. 6, the Bucks may revisit at least two of the three trade offers that came their way recently, according to a source. One of the offers was from Philadelphia. The Sixers offered their two first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 21) for Milwaukee's No. 6 (so the Sixers could take Green). Another offer was with Portland, which desired No. 6 and Dan Gadzuric (and maybe someone else for money purposes) for Jarrett Jack and Joel Przybilla.
The third trade that came to the Bucks was with Phoenix, which had offered up Shawn Marion to pry away No. 6, among many other Bucks' assets. But the Bucks dismissed that offer since Marion can opt out after next season. And even if Marion did show, most of the Bucks' money would be tied up with Marion and Michael Redd, diminishing the Bucks' production.
• Everyone in the lottery is trying to figure out Memphis. The consensus is that the Grizzlies are going with Conley Jr. to help offset the injury last season to Kyle Lowry at the point. But there is concern that could be a smoke screen and the choice is really Joakim Noah or a trade.
• The Knicks are laying back and waiting to see who falls at No. 23. A year ago, they were caught off guard when Marcus Williams was still on the board when they picked at No. 20 (they took Renaldo Balkman) and then took a point at No. 29 in Temple's Mardy Collins. According to a source close to the Knicks, the team is making sure it has thoroughly vetted all the possibilities of who could fall so they are more prepared this year. That means the pool for the Knicks is even larger and that no promises were made out of New York this spring (discounting the one for DePaul's Wilson Chandler). But the key from the Knicks is that they are "thinking out of the box," and that they could care less what the perception is of who they draft, as was the case a year ago when they picked Balkman.
• Al Thornton is working out for Milwaukee Tuesday in the hope that he could go No. 6. Still, Thornton's end point may be Philadelphia at No. 12, according to a number of sources (assuming the Sixers keep that pick and Green is gone).
Andy Katz
