Here's the latest I'm hearing from around the league ...• Greg Oden's workout in Portland didn't go great. He was nervous, got winded, missed some lay-ups -- you get the picture. Kevin Durant must be licking his chops. Durant comes in on Friday and everyone expects him to look great. So did Oden blow his chance to be the No. 1 pick? Hardly. There's very little Oden or Durant could do in a workout to change the scouting report the Blazers have already compiled. Any team would be foolish to scrap a year's worth of scouting reports based on one workout. At this point the Blazers are looking much more closely at character than basketball in these visits. What they want to know is how each player would fit with Nate McMillan and the team. In that regard, Oden passed with flying colors. He's a great guy -- a team-first player who cares about winning. If character really is the final factor, I think that puts Oden over the top. I've been stating there's a 99 percent chance that the Blazers take Oden. I lowered it to 90 percent once Oden's health issues arose -- by the way, Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard says the team doctors have no serious concerns about Oden's injuries. Maybe the subpar workout drops the odds to 85 percent. All of the evidence I continue to get out of Portland points to Oden -- including their shopping for a late lottery pick to draft a small forward.• Celtics fans, there are some rocky weeks ahead.I spoke with the Celtics' Danny Ainge on Thursday in the wake of agent Andy Miller's statement that Kevin Garnett doesn't want to play in Boston. Ainge said that a trade was never close anyway and that at this point it looks likely that the team will keep the No. 5 pick. For Celtics fans who were hoping the team would move from being in the lottery to contender status, that's not great news.I think Boston's selection in the draft will probably say a lot about the future of the franchise. If they take an upside guy like Yi Jianlian or Corey Brewer, I think there's a good chance the Celtics will turn their focus to trading Paul Pierce. If Ainge selects Jeff Green, the most NBA-ready of the guys on Boston's wish list, that could be a sign that the Celtics will try to work the rookie into the lineup next year and find another veteran or two to help them compete.• We have the Grizzlies selecting Mike Conley with the No. 4 pick in our latest mock draft, along with a note that the Grizzlies are deciding between Conley and Joakim Noah.As of Friday, it appears that the Grizzlies, with new GM Chris Wallace in place, are leaning toward Noah. We'll make the update on Monday when Mock Draft Version 5.0 comes out.Part of the reason that the Grizzlies are leaning toward Noah is that both Jerry West and Wallace are very high on a point guard they can get much later in the draft -- Petteri Koponen. West was the only GM in the league who actually went to Finland to see Koponen work out. Wallace fell in love during Koponen's workout in Orlando for around 10 teams.The problem is that the Knicks, Suns and Spurs also like him as a prospect for the late first round. That means that if the Grizzlies really want him, they'll likely have to pry a pick away from a team in the 20s -- maybe a team with multiple picks, such as Philadelphia or Charlotte. Their bait right now could be Alexander Johnson -- a talented second-round pick from last year -- and a future lottery-protected No. 1 pick.For a more detailed look at Koponen, check out my report from the workout I saw in New York.And how 'bout this? With the Hawks leaning strongly toward taking Al Horford, the Grizzlies eyeing Joakim Noah and the Celtics looking at Corey Brewer, there's a real possibility that Florida Gators could go 3, 4 and 5 in this draft.• The Timberwolves are considering Spencer Hawes with the No. 7 pick. But did they "promise" Hawes that they'd take him at No. 7? I'm told by parties close to both Hawes and the Wolves that the answer is no.Ditto, by the way, for Rodney Stuckey and the Pistons. The team is considering him with the No. 15 pick, but he has no promise. In fact, Thaddeus Young is in Detroit on Friday -- a guy that they'll take a serious look at with No. 15.One player that does seem to have one is Texas A&M's Acie Law. I'm told he's been told he won't slip past No. 14 to the Clippers. Expect us to change that on the next mock.We also continue to hear that Wilson Chandler has a promise in the early 20s. Some league sources think it would be from the Knicks. Others say the Knicks still like several other players, including Sean Williams, Petteri Koponen and Daequan Cook. Perhaps the surprising success of Renaldo Balkman will embolden Knicks president Isiah Thomas to pull another shocker.• The Spurs are notoriously difficult to read, but a spy in the gym caught what he claims was one of two big workouts for pick No. 28.The participants were Virginia Tech's Zabian Dowdell, Nevada's Ramon Sessions and Finland's Petteri Koponen. From what I gathered, Koponen and Sessions shined. The Spurs will have a couple of bigs -- Nick Fazekas and Aaron Gray in on Friday. But it sounds like they are leaning toward point guard. At this point, my guess is Koponen.