Yesteday's Late News & Notes Round-Up From Around The League

This post is a round-up of random news and notes from Monday that I found interesting enough to write about, however, most of them didn't warrant their own posts so I've decided to put them all in one convenient place:

-- Cleveland Cavaliers offer their #4, #24, #33, and #34 picks to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for the #1 pick:

According to Chad Ford of ESPN, the Cavaliers made a decent offer to the Hornets in an attempt to land likely number one overall pick Anthony Davis.

However, New Orleans rejected the offer making it seem even more certain that they will select Davis despite refusing to publicly commit to the big man who won a NCAA National Championship in April at the Superdome in New Orleans.

"It's not set in stone," the former Kentucky star has said when referring to being the first overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft on June 28th.

While the Hornets and Davis may be saying that to the media, I'm not sure they're going to convince anyone that it's the truth.

-- Toronto Raptors reportedly have interest in trading for Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, or Tyreke Evans:

The Raptors have been attached to almost every player that is reportedly on the trading block that can play the small forward position since the regular season came to and end.

They have been rumored to be offering packages including Ed Davis, Andrea Bargnani and/or Jose Calderon, and their lottery pick in exchange for one of those players.

The problem for Toronto is that the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings already have talented centers on their rosters meaning they likely wouldn't be interested in taking back Bargnani, although they may have some interest in Davis due to his young age and high ceiling on his potential.

Prying Iguodala away from Philly might be there best bet, however, I think the Sixers could probably receive a better offer by moving him elsewhere if they decide to trade him (maybe Los Angeles to the Lakers in a package for Pau Gasol for instance).

-- Rudy Gay reportedly unhappy with Memphis Grizzlies and would welcome trade to another team:

According to the same report from HoopsWorld as the Raptors note, Rudy Gay is reportedly unhappy with the Grizzlies since they have been offering him on the trade market since last season's successful postseason run while he was out with a shoulder injury.

Apparently Rudy is so unhappy with the franchise that he would now welcome a move to a new team and a chance to receive a fresh start in a new city.

However, with yesterday's announcement that team owner Michael Heisley will be selling the team to billionaire Robert Pera, it's now completely unknown what Gay's status with the franchise will be under the new ownership.

While Gay was reportedly being shopped to save money, it's likely Pera won't worry about trying to save cash during his first season with the team, especially while they already have a successful core in place coming off two consecutive playoff runs.

If Gay ends up being traded this summer, expect it to be a result of him asking for a change of scenery, as I can't picture a new owner coming in and splitting up a successful group coming off their best season in franchise history for any other reason.

-- Referee Greg Willard diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, will miss the NBA Finals:


Longtime NBA official Greg Willard was diagnosed with with pancreatic cancer after a blood test revealed a potentially serious illness, according to ESPN.com.

Willard has been an NBA referee for 24 seasons and began serving as an NBA referee for the NBA Finals during the 2009-10 season.

Referees working this year's NBA Finals will all wear Willard's #57 jersey in his honor, which is a gesture worth mentioning.

-- Bradley Beal will only work out with the New Orleans Hornets, Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, and Cleveland Cavaliers:

Bradley Beal, who is widely considered the best shooting guard in this season's deep draft class, will reportedly only work out for the teams with the top four selections in this month's draft according to his agent Mark Bartelstein.

While Beal is an extremely talented player who spent his college career at Florida playing under Billy Donovan, this decision could come back to haunt him.

With so many talented players in this years draft class, there's no guarantee that those four teams will need help at shooting guard, and even if they do, they may feel another player still on the board at their pick is a must-have type of player.

Although Beal is widely considered to be a high lottery pick by many scouts and online mock drafts, others believe he could fall somewhere closer to the middle to late lottery and this decision makes that all the more likely as teams picking beyond fourth won't know much firsthand knowledge about him.