Jun 6 - A large contingent representing the Hawks (including front office folks, coaches, scouts and several players) have either already made it to Los Angeles or are en route to watch Chinese 7-footer Yi Jianlian work out. Some of those same sources I've talked to have seen Yi in person already and claim that he's a sight to behold. ... This dude is the wild card for the Hawks. If he blows everybody away, he could easily become the frontrunner for the No. 3 pick (whether he makes sense or not). That said, several of the people I talked to are still convinced the Hawks are going to trade one (and in some cases both) of those picks for veteran help, which could complicate this entire mess even more. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution # Although it is uncertain who will work out Thursday, the club has scheduled sessions with Oregon guard and former Franklin High standout Aaron Brooks, Detroit-Mercy forward Ryvon Covile and Boston College forward Jared Dudley. Seattle owns the 31st and 35th picks and will work out a majority of prospects for those two slots. It's intriguing, however, that the Sonics asked to take a look at Texas A&M guard Acie Law, who may be the best point-guard prospect, although he is behind Ohio State freshman Mike Conley in several mock drafts. -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer # Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie was in Orlando to observe draft workouts Tuesday and is expected to return today. After watching a morning workout that involved at least six other teams, the Kings -- who have the No. 10 pick -- held a private workout that included Florida shooting guard Corey Brewer and Florida State small forward Al Thornton. -- Sacramento Bee # Phoenix held its first draft workout to see more of USC point guard Gabe Pruitt, Fresno State small forward Dominic McGuire and Nevada point guard Ramon Sessions. The Suns may trade at least one of their first-round picks (Nos. 24 and 29), but Pruitt would be the top pick of Tuesday's trio of juniors. "I don't think I've ever played for a team that is half-court oriented," Pruitt said. "I've been playing fast breaks, run-and-gun, lobs, alley-oops - just like the Suns play. That'd be a good fit for me." -- Arizona Republic # That frenetic tempo was no less evident Tuesday on the Suns' practice court as the four participants endured an hour of two-on-two drills under the watchful eye of the Suns' front office. "It was a lot of playing their style of game -- a lot of up and down ball and running," said 6-8 Fresno State forward Dominic McGuire. "That's what they love to do." -- Suns.com # Roughly 30-35 NBA prospects will be wandering in and out of 600 First Avenue throughout the next three weeks, doing their best to impress the collective eye of the Wolves as they're sized up physically, chatted with and evaluated for the coming 2007 NBA Draft. On Wednesday, Minnesota's basketball operations staff will get a look at the first four players expected in town: Florida's Joakim Noah; Washington's Spencer Hawes; Wisconsin and Minneapolis North's Kammron Taylor; and Towson's Gary Neal. -- Timberwolves.com # Arron Afflalo's agent, Sam Goldfeder, said the former UCLA star either worked out or will work out for the Lakers, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Utah, San Antonio and Seattle in preparation for the June 28 draft. ... Afflalo's father, Benjamin, said Arron wanted to use the individual team workouts to demonstrate skills he was not asked to use while at UCLA. "Everybody knows who he is, which is a big thing ... his character, sensibility and everything," Benjamin Afflalo said. "During the workouts he wants to showcase more of his game then he showed at UCLA, when he played in a system." -- Los Angeles Daily News # The Nuggets don't have a draft pick, but are tentatively scheduled to have workouts for draft-eligible players June 14 and 18. Among the prospects expected to work out are Boise State guard Coby Karl, son of Nuggets coach George Karl; Oregon guard Aaron Brooks; Maryland guard D.J. Strawberry, son of former baseball star Darryl Strawberry; and San Diego State guard Brandon Heath. ... Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza and swingman Yakhouba Diawara are working out at the Pepsi Center in preparation for international play with their native countries of Lithuania and France, respectively. -- Denver Post # The Heat had six players in for visits and workouts Tuesday: shooting guards Nick Young (Southern California), D.J. Strawberry (Maryland) and Zabian Dowdell (Virginia Tech and a graduate of Pahokee High School); point guard Javaris Crittenton (Georgia Tech); forward Chris Richard (Florida); and forward/center Herbert Hill (Providence). -- Palm Beach Post # Versatility is a paramount preference for Knicks president and head coach Isiah Thomas. Three-point shooting is a Knicks need. So it came as no surprise that, as the team began its individual NBA Draft workouts at its Westchester Training Center, three of the players invited were deeply diversified multi-positional talents and the fourth -- 6-8 Syracuse forward Demetris Nichols -- an outstanding three point specialist. "I'm aware of the fact that I need to expand my game," Nichols said after the workout. "But, for now, I'm focusing on my shooting." "He's an NBA shooter, no doubt," added Nets GM Ed Stefanski. "The kid can really knock down shots." -- NYKnicks.com # Nets/Knicks workout schedule. -- Nets.com # Tuesday morning, the Sixers concluded their first set of private workouts, featuring swingmen Alando Tucker (Wisconsin) and Marquis Webb (Rutgers) as well as big-men Christian Burns (Philadelphia University) and Jermareo Davidson (Alabama). -- Sixers.com # Today the Sixers will bring in an impressive list of players - Georgia Tech freshman forward Thaddeus Young, LSU junior forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Colorado State junior center Jason Smith (whose stock is apparently rising), and Vanderbilt senior swingman Derrick Byars. ... Sixers president and general manager Billy King said a number of team executives, scouts and coaches would travel to Georgetown University on Friday to watch a workout of 6-foot-9 Hoyas forward Jeff Green. -- Philadelphia Inquirer
