NBA Rumors: Buzz Surrounding Mason Plumlee, Knicks' Draft Plans and More

The 2015 NBA draft is rapidly approaching, as is the offseason, meaning teams are beginning to piece together the blueprints as to how to improve next season.

Teams will attempt to build through the draft on June 25, free agency and trades, and one team in desperate need of a spark may be looking to do so as early as next week.

The New York Knicks apparently have a wish list. And if none of the players the team covets is around when it’s on the clock, the Knicks are ready to look elsewhere.

According to ESPN.com's Chad Ford (h/t ESPN's Ian Begley), the Knicks are “entertaining” the idea of trading down from the No. 4 spot if Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell are off the board before they make their pick.

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It sounds as if they remain on the fence about both Emmanuel Mudiay and (Kristaps) Porzingis. That's why they've been looking at players such as ...Frank Kaminsky in recent workouts. If the Knicks can get a valuable veteran and still land somewhere in the back end of the lottery, it might make more sense for them than taking a player they aren't sold on at No. 4. We know several teams, including the Nuggets and Pacers, are trying to move up in the draft.

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The Knicks are apparently not sold on Mudiay and Porzingis, two other prospects expected to come off the board in the first five picks. If that’s in fact the case, then it makes a lot of sense for the team to consider moving out of the No. 4 pick, acquire more picks and draft a player it's higher on.

That seems like a likely scenario, too, considering a high volume of mock drafts have Towns, Okafor and Russell as the first three players off the board to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively.

New York has scheduled a workout with UCLA’s Kevon Looney for Thursday, according to Begley. The team is also scheduled to work out Kaminsky and Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein.

All of those players are expected to be selected outside of the top four picks.

Begley reported the Knicks could be seeking a future first-round pick and/or a player in return for the pick.

If the Knicks are not all in on Mudiay, Porzingis or any other projected top-four pick, then there’s no reason to be complacent. The team needs to add players who can be immediate contributors as rookies or who can fit their system for the long term.

If that’s not the case with Mudiay or Porzingis, why not add a veteran other teams are dangling or collect future picks?

Nets Could Use Plumlee to Trade Up in the Draft

The Brooklyn Nets currently hold the No. 29 pick in the 2015 NBA draft but are seemingly looking for a way to move up.

One player the team is reportedly dangling to do so is center Mason Plumlee.

According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, the Nets are considering dealing Plumlee in the hopes of improving their draft position.

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They are trying with goal of moving up in the draft. https://t.co/ovcMYAGILV

— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) June 15, 2015"

The Nets are picking 29th because of the Joe Johnson trade and have limited future picks because of the Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce deal. With little ammunition to entice other teams picking ahead of them, using a player is one of the Nets’ only options.

Plumlee, 25, endured his fair share of ups and downs with the team last season. He played well while Brook Lopez was injured and averaged 8.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on the year.

If the Nets are willing to move him, teams should theoretically be interested in a 6'10" big man who shot 57 percent from the field and improved both his scoring and rebounding in his second NBA season.

In May, Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN reported the Nets might explore trading Plumlee this offseason as part of their effort to get younger:

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What's clear is Brooklyn somehow needs to get younger, even as we concede there is no clear-cut path to achieving that goal.

Can the Nets buy their way back into the draft after all the picks surrendered to Atlanta and Boston in their now pilloried deals to acquire Johnson, Garnett and Paul Pierce? Presumably only Mikhail Prokhorov can answer that question.

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Still, it seems unlikely that Plumlee and Plumlee alone will be enough for the Nets to move high enough in the draft for a lottery pick.

Lawson Trade Talks Heating Up Again?

For some time, there have been talks out of Denver that the Nuggets could deal point guard Ty Lawson, who has lost confidence in the organization, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.

Where there's smoke, there is apparently fire as well.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

According to Gary Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, the Sacramento Kings are expected to make a play to acquire Lawson from the Nuggets: "Rumors persist Sacramento coach George Karl will make a play for Ty Lawson, who played for Karl in Denver."

The Kings currently have Darren Collison atop their depth chart at point guard, but Lawson is an upgrade. 

Lawson played for Karl when the two were in Denver and advanced to the playoffs each year from 2010 to 2013 before Karl was fired that June.

Lawson has been connected to Karl and Sacramento since this winter when Howard Beck of Bleacher Report reported the Kings coach would welcome his former Nuggets player to his new squad.

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Sources say Karl would love to acquire Ty Lawson—if the rebuilding Nuggets were to make him available—or any other members of his last Nuggets team, which won 57 games in 2012-13. Karl wants players who move the ball and push the tempo, and that could mean wild upheaval on the Kings roster.

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The signs are all pointing to Lawson hoping to get his ticket punched out of town, and Sacramento makes a ton of sense as a landing spot given his track record and success with the current head coach. 

If Denver is inclined to deal Lawson, the team should expect a bevy of draft picks or perhaps young talent the team could use as it braces for its rebuilding phase.