Uncertainty surrounding top draft pick spurs rumors

	Shawn Marion's hefty contract has made him the subject of increasingly intense trade rumors to Seattle or Chicago. Greg Nelson/SI
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The NBA Draft is three days away, and there is still no clear-cut answer as to who will be the top pick. Andrea Bargnani? LaMarcus Aldridge? Adam Morrison?

Meanwhile, the rumor mill is churning out some pretty big names as possible draft night trade bait: Shawn Marion, Rashard Lewis, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal.

At this point it's difficult to know which GMs and player personnel types are telling the truth and which are blowing smoke. But the uncertainty should make for a fun few days leading up to Wednesday night's main event (7 p.m. ET/ESPN).

"I don't think anybody knows what's going to happen," says one Western Conference GM who wished to remain anonymous. "Usually by now we have a good feel for who's going to be the top guy. But this year there are three or four players who could go No. 1, or that same player could slide down to six or seven."

Adding to the fun are the inevitable trade rumors. Marion has been mentioned in a possible deal with the Sonics for Lewis, and with the Bulls for Tyson Chandler. Other reports have the Bulls packaging Chandler, Ben Gordon and the No. 2 pick to the Wolves for Garnett or to the Pacers for O'Neal.

Could any of these happen? Don't bet on it. There's an old saying in the NBA, "usually the trades you hear about are the ones that don't happen." Also, there is a lot of misinformation coming from GMs this time of year.

Take the proposed Suns-Sonics deal. The idea behind the trade is that the Suns are looking to shed the remainder of Marion's contract (three years, $49.3 million) so that they will have the flexibility to re-sign Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa to extensions later this summer. Lewis, it could be argued, would be a good replacement in the Suns' system, and a cheap one too.

However, in order for the deal to work under league trade rules, the Sonics would have to include the expiring contract of Danny Fortson. Yes, the same Danny Fortson who once sued Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo for "defamation" after the longtime executive complained about his physical play (Fortson, as a member of the Mavericks, had broken the hand of Suns forward Zarko Cabarkapa with a hard foul). It's hard to believe Colangelo would sign off on that one.