Chad Ford has some blind quotes from an NBA GM on 2009 draft prospects. Rod Thorn IS someone Ford talks to and Ford describes the mystery GM as "one of my best sources -- an NBA GM with a strong track record in the draft". Putting aside the description of the source as a "GM"--Thorn is president of basketball operations, I think chances are good that the GM in question is Thorn.
There are a couple of phrases that are very typical Thorn..."a terrific player" (Ty Lawson and Jonny Flynn); "our league" rather than the NBA; "a really talented kid" (Cole Adrich); "He's special" (Ricky Rubio and Al-Farouq Aminu), etc. He also talks about how "we" feel...and there is Thorn's great and sometimes overriding interest in a player's size, the bigger the better. Others use those phrases, but we've have heard Thorn use them a lot.
And like Thorn, this GM is not enamored of the draft. One argument against this being Thorn…he doesn’t go off-the-record much.
Note who he likes: Ricky Rubio (a lot), Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Willie Warren, Ed Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Cole Aldrich, Eric Maynor, Craig Brackins, Ty Lawson, etc., and who he likes less: Brandon Jennings (not at all), Greg Monroe, B.J. Mullens, Jeff Teague, Jrue Holliday, Gerald Henderson, DeJuan Blair, etc. Mostly, he has questions about players: how much of a load could Stephen Curry handle? How good can Evan Turner be? Will Earl Clark "get it"? Is Tyreke Evans a point guard?
Biggest surprise, Lithuanian seven-footer (and the youngest player in the draft...if he comes out) Donatas Motiejunas, who the mystery GM likens to Tony Kukoc.
Take a look and see if you agree?