Hello and welcome to The 6 O’Clock News: your daily feature for the latest NBA content…
Let’s get right to it.
Several big names set to declare for NBA Draft.
According to a report from the Associated Press, Victor Oladipo of Indiana is preparing to declare for the NBA Draft. Oladipo was a first team All-American this past season and averaged 13.6 points per game along with 6.3 rebounds for a Hoosiers team that ranked #1 in the country for most of the season. 
At 6’5″ and with excellent footwork, Oladipo figures to become a perimeter defensive stopper in the NBA. Project him to play like a young Tony Allen with a more diverse offensive skill-set. We have him going eighth in our latest mock draft.
Meanwhile, Chad Ford of ESPN.com has reported that Ben McLemore of Kansas is set to declare as well. McLemore averaged 15.9 points per game as a freshman and is expected to be selected in the top five of the draft. We have him going third here.
Multiple sources say Russ Smith of Louisville and Tony Snell of New Mexico are both heading for the draft as well.
Metta World Peace set to come off the bench twelve days after knee surgery.
From Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com: Metta World Peace will play in tonight’s game against the New Orleans Hornets. World Peace injured his knee on March 25th in a Lakers’ loss to Golden State. At the time of the surgery, World Peace was expected to miss six weeks.
“I don’t think you can explain it,” Mike D’Antoni told the media. 
“But he’s done it before in his career. He’s either a quick healer or pain does not bother him. It’s one or the other. I don’t know what it is.”
When World Peace went down, many fans wondered if that was the final blow to the Lakers’ up-and-down season. Now, with five games remaining in the regular season and with Paul Gasol’s increase in production, the Lakers sound fairly confident about their team.
“If we get in the playoffs, there’s no doubt in any of our minds that we can win a championship,” Dwight Howard told the media.
D’Antoni said World Peace would likely be limited to 20 minutes tonight but hasn’t ruled out playing him more in the coming games.
Jay-Z divesting from Nets to represent players.
On Tuesday afternoon, Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Jay-Z is looking to divest his ownership share from the Brooklyn Nets in hopes of becoming an NBA agent in the near future. Jay-Z currently owns less than 1% of the Nets and his RocNation company recently partnered with Creative Artists Agency to launch a new sports representation agency. Their first client was Yankees star Robinson Cano. 
Jay-Z, whose real name is Sean Carter, is a Brooklyn native and was instrumental in generating interest for the Nets in their inaugural season in Brooklyn.
The process of divesting is expected to be completed in time for Roc Nation to compete for players entering the June NBA Draft, but there’s no guarantee of the timing, sources said. Those within Roc Nation and the CAA alliance aren’t “chasing a clock on this,” one source said. “This isn’t about one draft, but taking the long view of the business.”
