Gasol Real Deal, But May Withdraw

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

ESPN's Andy Katz who seems to be a pretty good judge
of talent, says the Nowitzki like Gasol may withdraw
fom the draft:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/index


Only one foreign player – Greece's Lazaros Papadapoulos – is at the
Chicago pre-draft camp and that's a sign that a few of the top players
might be pulling their names from the draft. The word in Chicago is that
F.C. Barcelona's Pau Gasol might withdraw by June 20, honor his final
year of his contract, and then enter next season when he could go higher
than late in the lottery. Watching him in Barcelona last week on
television, the 7-foot-1 Gasol does have Dirk Nowitzki-like skills as a
face-the-basket, ball-handling small forward. More teams will start to
pursue him the longer he keeps the NBA at bay. Meanwhile, Real Madrid's
Raul Lopez was also impressive as a poor-man's Steve Nash. He dominated
a few of the games in the Spanish League playoffs. But, he too, could
pull out of the draft if he's not assured of being a high enough pick.