Insider re: Chicago camp

[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@xxxxxxxxx>]

Somebody asked about this ... it's long:

Talent level looks as good as ever

By Chad Ford
NBA Insider

CHICAGO -- The NBA's annual pre-draft camp finally got
underway here Tuesday night, and the general consensus
was the talent level was as good as it has been in
years.

Several prospects -- including Alabama's Maurice
Williams, BYU's Travis Hansen, Duke's Dahntay Jones,
St. Joseph''s Jameer Nelson, N.C. State's Josh Powell,
Creighton's Kyle Korver and Washington State's Marcus
Moore -- already are generating a nice buzz, but the
real test will come today when the games get underway
at 11 a.m. ET.

Tuesday night, the 69 invitees met their coaches, shot
around and ran some half-court and full-court
scrimmages. Here's a few observations from NBA GMs and
scouts on the scene:

# Everyone was anxious to get a look at high schooler
James Lang. Lang, a 6-foot-11, 310-pound center, has
struggled with weight issues his entire career.
Tuesday, however, he looked as slim as ever. That's
not to say he looked skinny -- he's still more Oliver
Miller than Richard Hamilton -- but it's a start. Lang
is a pretty skilled post player. He could really help
himself if he plays hard and proves to teams he's
dedicated about his conditioning.

Chris Massie
Chris Massie could be this year's blue-collar winner
at the Chicago camp.
# Memphis power forward Chris Massie has generated a
little buzz in individual workouts over the past few
weeks. He's going to be one of the strongest guys here
in the camp, which is always big plus. It seems like
every year one of the tough, blue collar guys (last
year it was Corsley Edwards) does well for himself
here.

[Note here: Massie is listed at 6'9, 253. He averaged
10 boards a game for Memphis, which has a good coach
and plays in a pretty good conference. He doesn't look
like much of a shot-blocker, though.]

# Why was BYU's Hansen already getting buzz Tuesday
night? "I think it's the hair," one assistant GM told
Insider. "You can spot him anywhere on the floor. With
69 guys out there, that's a big plus." Hansen has his
hair dyed platinum blonde. "If it was me," the
assistant GM continued, "I'd die my hair bright red or
something. You've got to find a way to stand out."

# Another sleeper in the camp with be Ball State's
Theron Smith. Smith, a power forward in college,
already has an NBA body and NBA athleticism. But can
he make the transition to small forward in the pros?
He was shooting the ball really well Tuesday night. If
he fights his instincts to take the ball down on the
block and instead takes some shots from the perimeter,
scouts will notice.

# Only two international players, Aleksandar Vujacic
and Alexsander Djuric, are here. Of the two, Vujacic
is generating the most interest. At 6-foot-6 and just
19 years old, the Slovenian point guard looks like he
could be a player. He'll have to share point guard
duties with Alabama's Mo Williams, but it does appear
coach Tony Barone will let him play the point here in
camp. In the past, big guards like Vujacic have had
trouble convincing their teams to let them play the
point. The great news for Vujacic is that he'll get a
lot of attention here. Many of these teams have Euro
fever, but they just don't have a good feel for many
of the kids. If Vujacic plays well, he could generate
enough buzz to push him into the first round. You know
how much NBA guys love 6-foot-6 point guards. Combine
that with their obsession with Euros, and you've got a
recipe for success.

# Is it just me or does this seem like Jason Gardner's
fifth straight Chicago camp? Ditto for Keith Bogans.
After four years on the biggest stages in college
basketball, what are they going to prove here?

# The NBA relented a bit on the international
physicals and will grant 7-foot-4 Siberian center
Pavel Podkolzine a physical in Chicago even though he
isn't participating in the camp. So many teams have
questions about Podkolzine that the NBA ultimately had
to relent and let him in. Unlike Maciej Lampe or
Alexsandar Pavlovic, Podkolzine couldn't have played
at the pre-draft camp if he wanted to. Pavel didn't
get his visa to enter the U.S. until Wednesday and
can't get here until Thursday.

Reece Gaines
Gaines
# Speaking of workouts, these 16 guys aren't playing
in the camp but will be granted physicals on Friday:
Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Nick Collison, Brian
Cook, T.J. Ford, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, LeBron
James, Chris Kaman, Chris Marcus, Darko Milicic, Pavel
Podkolzine, Luke Ridnour, Mike Sweetney, Dwyane Wade
and David West.

Among the surprise snubs? Reece Gaines is the biggest.
Gaines is projected by most to be a top-15 pick. He's
a senior and had very little to prove here. Georgia's
Jarvis Hayes, UNLV's Marcus Banks, Mississippi State's
Mario Austin, Notre Dame's Chris Thomas, Minnesota's
Rick Rickert and high school stars Ndubi Ebi, Travis
Outlaw and Kendrick Perkins were also left out.

[Note to Mark Berry: why don't you like Gaines? I
haven't seen him play, and I know the big question is
whether he can really play the point in the NBA, but
even if he can only play it well enough to back up at
the position, he doesn't seem like a bad choice. 6'6,
shoots well, defends well, fairly athletic ... We're
going to need some size at the point if we're going to
let Delk play his natural off-guard position.]

# Speaking of UNLV's Banks, word is he is skipping the
camp in part because he already has received a
guarantee from an NBA team. The team? Boston. One
Celtics source told Insider that while they like
Banks, there is no truth to the rumor. Still after
Boston did the same thing with Kederick Brown a few
years ago, you have to wonder if there's fire near
that smoke.

[Note: I like what I read about Banks, but I can't
imagine a guy with his outside shooting weakness is
going to be Boston's pick. See Cook, Omar. I'd almost
rather see the C's take a flyer on the kid from
Washington State, who also can't shoot but at least is
bigger than Banks. Still, I don't think Banks would be
a terrible choice.]

Secret workouts?
Pavel Podkolzine
Some NBA teams will get their first look at the
7-foot-4 Pavel Podkolzine on Friday.
Secret workouts are a big part of what's goes on
behind the scenes in Chicago. Most of them aren't
really that secret, because the rumor mill churns at a
furious pace here. With that said, the two big
workouts everyone is dying to get into are that of
Ndubi Ebi and Charlie Villanueva on Thursday and of
Pavel Podkolzine on Friday.

Ebi and Villanueva's workouts are being coordinated by
agent Dan Fegan. While most NBA teams consider Ebi a
lock to go somewhere between 17 and 26, Villanueva has
been generating zero buzz. Many teams feel Ebi is
reminiscent of Jonathan Bender. Bender actually was
drafted with the fifth pick in the draft. It's taken
him so long to develop (because of his rail-thin
frame) that Ebi's stock probably won't ever rise into
the lottery. However, many NBA scouts feel he's a top
10 talent based on potential.

[Note: 17-26? I haven't heard a peep of buzz about
this kid on the Celtics list.]

Podkolzine's workout won't be open to the media. Most
NBA teams haven't even seen him. After Insider visited
him in Italy last month, his Varese team wouldn't
allow any other NBA teams in to watch him practice.
However, now that he's on the verge of finally
negotiating a buyout, they agreed to let him come over
and test his stock. After the camp workout on Friday,
Podkolzine will have individual workouts with the
Bucks, Grizzlies, Knicks, Warriors and Sonics. Almost
everyone who has seen him believes he'll be in the
lottery at the end of the day.

[Note: the Insider profile on Podholzine makes him
sound pretty special. Huge, agile, shoots well. I
think Darko was kidding when he said Pavel "can't even
walk," but it does trouble me that the kid's ankles
hurt all the time, and that his Italian team rarely
played him. I don't know if they were trying to stash
him or what ... He sounds intriguing, but I don't know
that whoever drafts him will get more than a couple
good years out of him, a la Gheorge Mhuresan. One last
point: it seems like most of the Euros who've made a
difference in the L have been perimeter players, not
centers. Even Vlade is a finesse player.]  

Of course, some workouts aren't all they're cracked up
to be. Malick Badiane, the 6-foot-11 power forward
from Senegal, was supposed to work out Tuesday at
Hoops Gym. He did, for a little bit. The workout was
supposed to be at 2 p.m. Badiane arrived at 1 p.m. and
began training for about 45 minutes. However, when
teams like the Lakers, Rockets, Raptors and Jazz
started to arrive, his agent pulled the plug, and
Badiane quickly left the gym. The workout was
reschedule for Friday, but will anybody be there? It's
scheduled to overlap with Podkolzine's workout, and
after the rude treatment on Tuesday, who's going to
skip the 7-foot-4 guy to take another chance on
Badiane?

With that said, Badiane looked very athletic when he
trained. He's very long, is a big-time leaper and was
stronger than he looked on tape. His game film isn't
very impressive -- he's as raw as they come. But
someone will probably take a chance on him. The rumor
is that Dallas is interested at 29. But right now, he
looks much more like a second-round pick.

With Badiane out of the building, scouts did stick
around to watch James Singleton, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound
power forward from Murray State. Singleton is a
big-time athlete, averaging 15.1 ppg and 11 rpg last
season.

[Note: ESPN's Murray State page has Singleton listed
at 6'8. Averaged nearly 2 bpg and shot 80% from the
line. Too bad we don't have a second round pick to
think about ...]

Hoops Gym, redux
Dwyane Wade
Wade
Maciej Lampe and Dwyane Wade worked out together at
Hoops on Thursday. What an interesting contrast
between the two. Wade has arguably the best first step
of anyone in the draft. Lampe is one of the best
shooting big men we've seen in a while. But Lampe
struggled a bit to keep up with Wade. He isn't alone.
Word is that Wade burned Brazil's Leandrinho Barbosa
and Louisville's Reece Gaines in recent workouts.

While some are obsessing over Wade's ability to play
the point, I'm not sure he has to make that
transition. He has freakishly long arms, an explosive
vertical and the ability to get to the basket at will.
He's a tenacious defender and hard, hard worker. He
isn't your protototypical two-guard, but he really
grows on you in workouts. He's got a great feel for
the game that just can't be taught. It's hard to see
him slipping out of the lottery.

Lampe and Wade ended the workout with a game of
H-O-R-S-E. They both shot the lights out, and it took
around 15 minutes before Wade finally emerged victorious.

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