Roy's Stock Surges Higher

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Charlotte and Portland, with the third and fourth picks in the NBA draft, have shown the most interest.

While other teams scheduled workouts with Brandon Roy in Los Angeles, the Hornets arranged for him to fly to Virginia last week. The Blazers made a trip north and met with him at Mercer Island's Jewish Community Center, which offers an NBA 3-point line.

Yet the Chicago Bulls, who have the No. 2 selection, recently rescheduled a workout with Roy so the team owner could be present, a sure sign the organization is giving the former Huskies guard full consideration.

Boston, which is seventh up, will take a long look at him next week, but fans on the message boards in that city already are urgently clamoring for the Celtics to add him to the roster.

Then there are the Los Angeles Lakers. They have the 26th pick, far too low to be in the running for his services, but when coach Phil Jackson and others met with Roy they suggested they might trade up for him.

Nearly three weeks from the draft, Roy's basketball stock appears to be rising steadily, and his suitors increasing.

"There's the part where I sit around and I catch myself daydreaming a lot," he said.

It's a taxing existence, though, with Roy spending more days in airplanes and hotel rooms, albeit in first-class seats and ocean-view accommodations, than in his newly purchased $70,000 Cadillac Escalade and local apartment, while putting his talents on display for anyone who asks.

Los Angeles has been a steady meeting place because Roy's agent, Arn Tellem, is headquartered there. Teams either put the player through workout paces at a private gym at the Bel Air home of Lakers super fan Steve Jackson or Santa Monica High School, depending on what's available for the agent's agency. Steve Jackson's gym was built as a mini Staples Center, as a shrine to his favorite team, complete with hanging championship banners. On the wall is a piece of the wooden floor from the Forum, the Lakers' former home, and it is signed by Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and others, and now Roy. </div>

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