Thursday, June 25, 2009

Curry countdown -- to Minnesota at 5??

Stephen Curry is in New York today awaiting tonight's NBA draft, as am I (here's my column on Curry from today's Observer). But Curry is certainly not the most famous Carolinian making news in the Big Apple today.

Curry -- along with just about everything else in the news world -- got buried in the back pages today of the New York newspapers as the story of S.C. governor Mark Sanford's confessed affair with an Argentinian woman dominated the news.

The story was on the front page of the established New York Times as well as the two big New York tabloids, which gave it much more sensationalized treatment. The New York Daily News trumpeted "Meet America's Latest Luv Guv." The New York Post proclaimed "Latin Lover E-mails" and "Cry for me, Argentina." Curry, meanwhile got mentioned -- barely -- about 60 pages into the two tabloids.

In the meantime, speculation here about Curry has softened a bit in terms of him going to the New York Knicks.

With Minnesota now holding boths picks No.5 and 6 after a trade with Washington, that is the place more mock drafts seem to have Curry going to the Timberwolves now (rather than lasting until No.8, when the Knicks pick). The Timberwolves are in need of a point guard and will likely take one there with one of their 2 picks (although it's a deep draft and Minnesota might like Spain's Ricky Rubio more).

Curry said Wednesday he thought his chances of getting to the Knicks were "pretty good," but that seems rather doubtful unless the Knicks make a trade up from No.8 today.

ESPN's coverage of the draft tonight in New York officially begins at 7 p.m. today, but the first pick probably won't come until around 7:30 p.m., when the L.A. Clippers select Blake Griffin. From there on, though, it's a wide-open draft.

If the Charlotte Bobcats keep their No.12 pick, it's likely you'll see him on TV -- both Duke's Gerald Henderson and Louisville's Terrence Williams, considered the most likely to be that choice, will also be in the NBA "green room" along with Curry, UNC's Tyler Hansbrough (who I also wrote about today from New York) and close to a dozen other players.

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