Rumors and speculative mock drafts are the main thing at this point.

DeJuan Blair is getting plenty of positive vibes as he is rising in the weak draft. He did an interview with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

And Ford gushed over what he saw.

Last week, when I listed the prospects I’d see on my pre-draft workout tour, I got a number of calls from NBA executives with the same request: “Let us know how Blair looks.” NBA GMs want to love this guy. They need players like him. But they’re scared off by the physical limitations he has.

I’m happy to report that the news is good. Blair looks closer to 6-6 than 6-8, but he has a huge 7-foot, 2-inch wingspan that makes up for his lack of height.

As far as his weight goes, Blair looks considerably better than he looked at Pittsburgh. He has lost about 15 pounds during the first two weeks of training. His physique is much more chiseled. And most importantly, his athleticism has improved greatly because he has lost that weight and improved his conditioning.

Where that should help Blair the most is on the defensive end of the floor. A lot of teams are concerned that Blair won’t have the foot speed to defend the pick-and-roll in the league. What I saw at his workout suggests he does.

Blair looked much quicker and more explosive than he looked at Pittsburgh. His quickness and leaping ability were impressive for someone his size. He went as hard as anyone in the gym that day and didn’t slow down toward the end.

Perhaps most telling was a drill in which Blair and others had to throw the ball hard off the backboard, leap up to catch it, come back down and then leap again for a dunk. Blair repeatedly exploded up and finished strong above the rim. A few times, it seemed as though Blair would pull it down.

On the skills portion, Blair is a work in progress. He still doesn’t have much of a face-the-basket game. His shot mechanics are inconsistent, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be a good pick-and-pop guy early in his career. His ballhandling also could use much work. But then again, NBA teams aren’t drafting him to shoot 3s and handle the ball.

In a draft with just one dominant, physical big guy — Blake Griffin — Blair may move up to fill that gap. Last year, a number of NBA guys had Kevin Love ranked as a mid-first-round pick because of his perceived lack of size and athleticism. He wowed in workouts, then delivered as a rookie in Minnesota. That could help Blair’s case, as could the NBA success of players such as Paul Millsap and Carl Landry.

That belief was reflected in how Ford moved Blair to #11 in his latest mock draft. Of course, with Chad Ford, there must be interperetations. Read this on how to read Ford.

DraftExpress also has Blair at #11 going to New Jersey.

As far as Sam Young goes, his highest spot is from SI.com’s Ian Thomsen who has him going at #20 to Utah. Thomsen also has Blair at #12 to Charlotte.

Most of the mock drafts, though, put Young in the late 20s (Ford has him at #27 to Minnesota and Draft Express goes with #25 to Oklahoma).

Young is getting some love as a looming “sleeper” pick for the late 1st round. Someone who will help right away.

Young may not be a 20-year old with loads of potential, but he will be a 24-year old rookie who will have the maturity and experience to step in immediately and contribute as a rookie in the NBA. Young is very strong and athletic, but he doesn’t try to be flashy. He is a smart player who knows how to score points and will his team to victory. Young’s patented move is his pump fake that nobody can seem to resist, even though everybody and their grandmother knows that he’s going to pump fake every time he touches the ball.

Then there is this, that I know I didn’t even expect to read in highly speculative, heavy rumor disinformation time that are the workouts.

One of HOOPSWORLD’s favorite fringe players is really seeing some interest. Tyrell Biggs is a 2nd round draft pick at best, but two very strong workouts have generated some buzz for the 6’8 Biggs. The Pacers recently had Biggs in for a look and his “all over the court effort” got him praise from the Pacers and a couple of stitches above his eye after the workout. Biggs had his best workout of the week with the Chicago Bulls. Sources near the situation say he thoroughly dominated UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough in almost every drill and has now landed himself a spot on the Bulls’ board in the second round. A lot of thing have to break Biggs’ way for him to be a draft pick, but considering how far on the outside the process he was four weeks ago things are looking up for Biggs.

Lots of qualifiers and hedging on the hype, but good for Tyrell Biggs. Weird, but good.