NBA News 2011: Timberwolves make 5 draft trades official

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The Minnesota Timberwolves were awfully busy on draft night. So busy, in fact, that it took the NBA until Friday afternoon to approve all the wheeling and dealing that was done by president of basketball operations David Kahn.

The deals that were officially announced:

-The Wolves traded point guard Jonny Flynn, a future second-round pick and the 20th pick - Donatas Motiejunas - to Houston for center Brad Miller, the draft rights to No. 23 pick Nikola Mirotic and No. 38 Chandler Parsons and a future first-round pick.

-Traded Mirotic to the Chicago Bulls for the draft rights to No. 28 Norris Cole and No. 43 Malcolm Lee and cash.

-Traded Cole to the Miami Heat for No. 31 Bojan Bogdanovic, a future second-round pick and cash.

-Traded Bogdanovic to New Jersey for a future second-round pick and cash.

-Traded Parsons back to Houston for cash.

The Timberwolves also traded with Portland for the 57th pick, Tanguy Ngombo of Qatar, but said the deal was still pending and contingent upon a trade the Trail Blazers made earlier in the draft.

All in all, it was a dizzying night for the Wolves after taking Arizona forward Derrick Williams with the No. 2 pick.

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/06/24/minnesota-trades.ap/index.html

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NBA News 2011: Second pick Williams' fast rise to No. 2 overall

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To say Derrick Williams wasn't highly recruited out of high school might be an understatement.

Williams remembers playing in La Mirada, Calif., and checking all the recruiting websites and outlets to see where he was ranked among the best high school players in his draft class.

One small problem: He wasn't.

"There was actually one site where I was top 100," Williams said. "I was pretty happy. I was excited. Other than that, no. In ESPN I was 72 and everything else I wasn't even top 100."

Two short years later, Williams is No. 2. The Minnesota Timberwolves selected the Arizona power forward with the second overall pick in the NBA draft Thursday night.

He held his introductory press conference Friday and reflected on just how quickly he went from being a complete unknown to labeled one of the potential stars in the entire draft.

Williams didn't start focusing seriously on basketball until the 10th grade, after he grew about 6 inches to 6-foot-6 in a nine-month span.

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/06/24/derrick-williams-rise.ap/index.html

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NBA News 2011: UConn edges Arizona 65-63

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With nine pressure-packed victories in 19 days, Connecticut has been on an exhausting sprint through the postseason for nearly three weeks now.

Turns out Kemba Walker and his Huskies aren’t slowing down until they get to Houston.

Walker scored 20 points, freshman Jeremy Lamb added 19 and Connecticut earned its second Final Four berth in three years, beating Arizona 65-63 Saturday to win the West regional.

Derrick Williams and Jamelle Horne missed 3-pointers in the final seconds for Arizona, allowing the third-seeded Huskies (30-9) to hang on after Lamb, the Huskies’ fearless freshman, scored six key points down the stretch.

After missing the NCAA tournament entirely last year, coach Jim Calhoun’s tireless team is headed to UConn’s fourth Final Four.

Williams had 20 points while battling foul trouble for the fifth-seeded Wildcats (30-8), who led with 6 minutes to play. After Lamb pushed the Huskies ahead and Walker hit a jumper with 1:13 left, Lamont Jones and Horne then hit late 3-pointers for Arizona, but the Wildcats couldn’t convert two good looks in the final seconds.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap;_ylt=AqBu6eN0NQsErN79VQ9UpsHevbYF?gid=201103260129

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NBA News 2011: 2011's Top 5 Draft Picks?

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Top Of The Class:  With the NBA trade deadline clearly in the rear view mirror and Selection Sunday just around the corner, its time to shift a little focus towards the 2011 NBA Draft and the names you need to know as we get closer to the end of the regular season.

Here is who you need to know:

1. Kyrie Irving - Duke, Freshman - PG - 6'2" - 185lbs - 18

2. Jonas Valanciunas - Lietuvos Rytas C - 6'11" - 240lbs - 18

3. Jared Sullinger - Ohio State, Freshman - PF - 6'8" - 250lbs - 18

4. Perry Jones - Baylor, Freshman - PF - 6'11" - 220lbs - 19

5. Derrick Williams - Arizona, Sophomore - PF - 6'8" - 235lbs - 19

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?STORY_ID=18963