For four days (May 29th-June 1st), 64 draft prospects will conduct drills and play 5 on 5 games in front of the watchful eyes of hundreds of NBA executives. They (along with an additional 11 of the top prospects in this draft) will go through a physical, conduct Anthropometric/strength testing, have their blood and urine tested, participate in the combine, and conduct a meeting with the NBA Player?s Association, which will lead them into the 4th of June. Once the 75 players are finished with their NBA Pre-Draft Camp obligations, they will be free to work out for teams beginning on the 5th of June. Some creative teams?like the Houston Rockets for example?are scheduling private workouts in Orlando on the 5th of June, in conjunction with other NBA teams that will be allowed to watch as well. This will give the Rockets a chance to bring in players (like Jason Smith for example, who is already scheduled), that they otherwise would not have to opportunity to work out. This also reduces the grind on the players, since they can kill multiple birds with one stone, rather than needing to fly around the country working out for one team at a time. For an underclassman like Smith who has to pay for all his NBA workout expenses on his own, that is absolutely huge.<u>Participating:</u>Glen DavisDaequan Cook Sean Singletary Sean WilliamsDominic McGuireAaron Gray Demetris NicholsDaShaun Wood Russell Carter Brandon Heath Bobby Brown Ekene Ibekwe Jared Dudley Caleb Green Kyle Visser Justin Doellman Avis Wyatt Ron Lewis Brad NewleyDustin Salisbery Chris Richard Joseph JonesJ.R. Reynolds Zabian Dowdell Taurean Green Stephane Lasme Jermareo Davidson Ali Traore Sammy Mejia Marko Lekic Carl Landry Mohamed Abukar Craig Bradshaw Mario Boggan Jamaal Tatum Tre Kelley Coleman Collins Cartier Martin James Mays Ivan Radenovic James Hughes Rashaun Freeman Darryl Watkins Trey Johnson Marcelus Kemp Ramon Sessions Curtis Sumpter Reyshawn Terry Jared Jordan Herbert Hill Renaldas SeibutisAnthony Tolliver<u>Not playing: </u>Josh McRobertsThaddeus YoungJavaris CrittentonRodney StuckeyMarcus WilliamsArron AfflaloAlando TuckerMorris AlmondNick FazekasGabe PruittDerrick ByarsDeVon HardinWilson ChandlerBrandon Rush (pulled out)?Snubs:? Dominic James*D.J. StrawberryAdam HaluskaDe?Angelo AlexanderDavid TeagueJarrius JacksonPetteri Koponen*It?s rumored that Dominic James was surprisingly not invited since the committee was told that he isn?t serious about staying in the draft, possibly by people at Marquette. What we?re now hearing is that not only is he seriously considering staying in, but it?s almost become a foregone conclusion. James is working out at Tim Grover?s gym in Chicago (which you?ll read about more tomorrow), and is already in the process of interviewing agents. If the committee ends up deciding not to let James participate, what they will essentially be doing is saying that he?s not amongst the best 90+ players who are eligible for the draft, which we all know is clearly not the case. Those 90+ include the 64 players who were invited, the 11 ?physical only? players, and the 17 players listed above and below who declined their invite.<u>Physical Only (courtesy of Jeff Goodman, Fox Sports) </u>Greg Oden, Ohio State Kevin Durant, Texas Brandan Wright, North Carolina Al Horford, Florida Corey Brewer, Florida Joakim Noah, Florida Jeff Green, Georgetown Roy Hibbert, Georgetown (pulled out)Julian Wright, Kansas Mike Conley Jr., Ohio State Spencer Hawes, Washington Yi Jianlian, China*Acie Law***Jianlian was not on Goodman?s ?physical-only list, but he has filed his paperwork for Orlando according to a source close to the situation. **Acie Law was also not on the initial list, but he told Rivals.com recently that he will be in Orlando for the physical.<u>Physical Only ?Snubs?</u>Al Thornton- Not invitedNick Young- Not invitedJason Smith- Not invited<u>Internationals:</u>Tiago Splitter Rudy Fernandez Marco Belinelli (Treviso) Ante Tomic Marc Gasol Kyrylo Fesenko (Treviso) Mirza BegicJoao Gomes (Treviso)
Rodney Stuckey, Marcus Williams, Morris Almond, Adam Haluska, and Dominic James should all be there. I'm also interested to see how good Petteri Koponen is, so I'm dissapointed he's not participating. On a side note, I hope Mario Boggan gets drafted and I also hope that Sean Singletary improves his stock.
I heard Oden had a 40 inch vertical.WTF is Josh McRoberts not in it for? He needs all the chances of rising his stock he can get.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ May 28 2007, 01:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Rodney Stuckey, Marcus Williams, Morris Almond, Dominic James</div>I'm interested in seeing those 4 guys perform. I think any one of them could end up being huge steals.. Stuckey and Almond played at small bball schools, so I'm eager to see how they play against this kind of competition..
I would like to see how Ron Lewis does. I think he still has a chance to crack the 2nd round. Taurean Green also has a lot of work to do.
What I'm very interested in is..How much Durant has grown in height and how much weight he's put on, how long Brandan Wright's wing span is and how old Yi really is.I hope Stephane Lasme can increase his draft stock. Excellent shot blocker. Same with Sean Williams.
