Draft Buzz 6/16/04By: Aran_Smith

Draft Camp Boxscores and Recap

June 9th, Day 1:
Game 1: Team Five 79, Team Six 78
Game 2: Team One 93, Team Two 81
Game 3:Team Four 74, Team Three 64

June 10th, Day 2:

Game 4: Team One 106, Team Four 91
Game 5: Team Five 72, Team Two 70
Game 6: Team Six 76, Team Three 56

June 11th, Day 3:
Game 7: Team Three 79, Team Two 75
Game 8: Team Five 76, Team Four 68
Game 9: Team Six 88, Team One 84

Camp Stat Leaders
Players Statistics

Top performers:

Tony Allen likely played himself into the first round with his great performance on the 3rd and final day. He had struggled in early games, but he showed the same athleticism and aggresiveness that made him one of the top senior performers, while making Oklahoma State one of the toughest teams in the country all year.

Andre Emmitt was the leading scorer of the entire camp averaging 17.3 points per game. His game is still predicated mostly on athleticism, but he will likely get drafted in the second round for his athleticism and scoring ability.

Jackie Butler helped himself out tremendously leading the entire camp in rebounding at 9.3 rebs per game. 17 of his 28 rebounds were on the offensive glass. He showing added maturity, focus, and both scoring and rebounding. He’s gone from a player who we wrote off as undraftable to a likely second rounder.

Jackson Vroman helped himself considerably with his tough-nosed perfromances. He combines toughness with solid athleticism and great hustle which likely gets into the early half of the second round.

Beno Udrih was the leading assist man and 3rd leading scorer of the camp. His play in the camp has some thinking he can get into the first round. Especially his agent Marc Cornstein. However it’s more likely he’ll fall somewhere in the mid second round area.

Damien Wilkins helped himself considerably. Asa the camps second leading scorer at 16.7 ppg, he went from a likely undrafted player to a guy that probably goes somewhere into the mid second round area.

Delonte West didn’t play tremendously, and could end up pulling out of the draft. But there are some who think he has a real chance at the end of the first round, with the Pacers a team with legit interest.

Disapointments:

Chris Duhon had a miserable performance shooting 5-18 and 1-6 from 3 point, with 10 turnovers and just 5 assists.

Tim Pickett had a rough week
shooting just 6-24. He was asked to run the point which apparently hindered his game some. He is a natural 2-guard, and any notion of him running the point was answered, but a team that will be interested in him will likely look for his scoring, not his ability to run a team.

Pape Sow rebounded well at 7.7 per game, but his shooting numbers were below average. He shot just .33 (7-21) in the 3 games.

Lawrence Roberts was decent hitting all 9 of his free throw attempts and averaging 11 points a game in an environment where everyone is shooting and trying to get noticed. However, as one of the players coming in with real first round aspirations, he fell short of the mark.

First Ricky Paulding measured in at 6-3 without shoes. Severely undersized for a guy that plays as much at the 3 as the 2. His shooting (9-28) and (0-4) from 3, and overall performance was lackluster, therefore he’s been leapfrogged by a number of shooting guards in the draft.

The injury bug got the best of:

Blake Stepp didn’t even make it to camp with an injured ankle.
Antonio Burks suffered an injury which knocked him out after just 11 minutes of the first game.
Herve Lamizana suffered an injury in the practices and tried to make a go but was unable to play on his gimpy ankle.

Size Matters

Player Measurements

Our formula for a players (with shoes) height is to round up to the nearest inch giving (up to) an inch and a half to players without their shoes on. A player cannot gain two inches with 2 inch shoes ala Ales Chen. Therefore he’s 7’0" without shoes, and measured 7’2" with, but credited at 7’1". A player who is measured at .75 or .50 without shoes is given the extra quarter half to an inch.

The list of measurements of players who participants in the Chicago Predraft camp had a few surprises. Here are a few notes:

Trevor Ariza measured well at 6-8 with shoes and a 7’2" wingspan. His standing reach is that of a number of power forwards at 8’11".

As projected Brandon Bass measured smaller than his listed 6’8, at 6’6.25" without shoes, therefore 6’7 with shoes. His 7’2.5" wingspan helps him some and his standing reach is not far off many of the 6-8 to 6-9 power forwards.

Antonio Burks was a solid 6’1" with shoes, which helps him as some thought he might be closer to 6′ with shoes.

Jackie Butler is 6’9" with shoes, but has a huge wingspan making him like a 6’10 player.

Ales Chan measured 7’0" without shoes and 7’2" with shoes. (Call it 7’1) His 7’3" wingspan was one of the the biggest in the camp and his standing reach is 9’5".

Fairfield PF Deng Gai‘s 7’4" is also one of the biggest in the camp. He’s just 6’9" but has a 9’2.5" standing reach.

Desmond Farmer checked in bigger than expected at 6’4.5", essentially 6’6". He was listed in most places at 6’4" so this considererably helps him.

Chris Garnett measured a measely 6’8.25" without shoes, meaning he is severely undersized (6’9") at center, and his chances are diminished.

Ryan Gomes has since pulled out of the draft, but measured huge at 6.6.5" so essentially 6’8". His wingspan was an eye popping 7’2" giving him a standing reach of 8’10.5".

Martin Iti checked in with the largest wingspan at 7’5". He’s 6’8.5" without shoes making him a legit 6’10" with a 9’3.5" standing reach.

Jaime Lloreda was just 6’6.75" without shoes meaning he’s not the listed 6’9". His 6’9" wingspan is smaller than expected as well.

Bryant Matthews measured very well at 6’5.75" without shoes making him a legit 6’7", and a 7’0.5" wingspan.

Michel Morandais was just 6’3.75" making him 6’5" but with a whopping 6’11" wingspan.

Arthur Johnson measured just 6’7" without shoes making him 6’8". But his wingspan is an incredible 7’3" giving him a better standing reach than some 6’10 players at 9’1".

German combo guard Misan Nikagbatse measured well at 6’3.75 essentially 6’5" with shoes.

Rickey Paulding was a paultry 6’2.75" without shoes making him 6’4". His wingspan helps him some at 6’9".

Damien Wilkins measured just 6’4" without shoes making him 6’6" with but his considerable 7’0" wingspan he is essentially a 6’7 or 6’8 player.

More Buzz

Atlanta is doing everything they can to trade up for local prep sensation Dwight Howard. They would like to put a deal together for the 2nd selection, however if a team moves ahead of them by making a deal with Orlando, it could derail their plans. The Clippers would love to make this deal happen as they could move down a few spots and still likely get the remaining of the top 3 pg’s (Livingston, Harris, and Gordon) plus add the 17th pick and potentially add a future Hawks pick, plus dump a contract such as Melvin Ely. The Clippers are even dangling Chris Wilcox in an effort to make this trade happen. Would the Magic agree to move down a spot for Wilcox?

Surprisingly, the Jazz are exposing Sasha Pavlovic for the Bobcats to take him in the expansion draft. The Jazz figure they can grab a player they like more in Sergey Monya with the 14th selection. Inside sources with the Celtics indicate Boston loves Monya as well, and are even attempting to trade up for Monya if an opportunity presents itself.

Sources indicate the Nuggets will look to go big with their pick. If Swift or Araujo are available, look for them to take either one. Another possibility is Peja Samardziski, who they are scheduled to bring in for a workout soon. Another player they are showing interest in is Peter Ramos.

Johan Petro’s agent Buona N’diaye recently announced that he will pull his name out of the draft. He was looking for a promise in the mid-frst round area, but was unable to attain one. Look for him to develop this year in Europe and get into the mid first round in 2005.

Roko Leni Ukic’s agent David Bauman told NBADraft.net that he is looking for a mid first round promise from a team for Ukic, and feels that he’s in a similar stage as Sasha Vujacic was a year ago.

Notes from Treviso Camps

Reebok put on two camps this past week in Treviso, Italy. The Bigman camp and the Eurocamp. NBADraft.net European scouts Cristian Biagini and Uros Velkavrh were there and here are some of their notes:

Roko Leni-Ukic stood out in Treviso doing his thing, showing his vision and passing. Cristian considered him the MVP of the games he watched, and he was awarded the camps MVP. He is still very raw physically and there is still no guarantee that he will get into the first round. However his chances increased with a very strong showing. Ukic and fellow Croatian Marko Tomas have both been selected to play with the Senior National team this summer, instead of playing the Croatia’s junior national team.

After having some impressive workouts for teams, Johan Petro had a good showing in the Bigman camp increasing his chances of getting the mid-first round promise that he’s looking for. Although right now scouts still feel he is likely to return to Europe for another season. Petro’s play is still raw and inconsistent, but he showed flashes of his athleticism at the camp. Petro has recently pulled out of the draft and will likely be a lotto to mid first rounder next year.

Martynas Andriuskevicius was impressive once again. He didn’t dominate, but he is showing some offensive development. Another year working with Lithuanian legend

5-10 Swedish PG Rudy Mbemba showed lightning quickness and great fundamentals. There is some debate about whether he really has a shot at the NBA, as the doubters all point to his size and the fact that he could be older than listed and possibly finished growing as the biggest hurdles. Some feel that looking at his face, there’s no way he’s born in 1987. But Uros was very high on him, "Rudy reminded me of Tony Parker four years back when I watched him in the Euro Championships in Spain. I don’t know about his age, but he’s 5-10 without shoes for sure and his jumping ability can cover for his size. Offensively, I don’t think he will have problems against anybody. Defense is a question mark though, but it’s easier to make a good defender out of a good athlete. He should go to the USA though (to play NCAA), I maybe doing the coaching in Sweden injustice, but its not exactly a great basketball environment, if for nothing else from a competition standpoint."

Small forward Mirza Teletovic was another standout showing excellent composure and athleticism.

Nemanja Aleksandrov on the other hand was mostly unimpressive. In a word he was "selfish", showing little regard for teammates and focusing solely on scoring and looking good for scouts. The skills were obvious, but he seems to have taken a step backwards in terms of attitude and may be focusing too much on the NBA already.

A player who broke out in the camp was Ukrainian 6-10 SF/PF Olixey Pecherov. He performed well all week and showed the potential of an NBA player. He’s born late in 1985 so he’s still got a lot of development to his body. He’s still quite raw, but the athleticism and potential is obvious, he’s got a real chance to play in the NBA.

Another player that has been featured in the International section for some time and has begun to catch fire is Damjan Rudez. Said Uros, "He’s a great shooter and can put ball to the floor. He’s hard to defend, especially with his size, but he’s still skinny though. Has a really nice shooting stroke. His athleticism is very solid, Peja kind of athleticism, a notch faster right now, but if he fills out a little, he’ll be right there somewhere athleticism-wise."

More on the camp:
ESPN’s Fran Frachilla was at the camp and had this excellent report on the players there.