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Impress or regress? Workouts help NBA draft decision process
Posted: Tuesday June 23, 1998 05:12 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- One by one, they come to town, part of a traveling band of basketball players auditioning for a more prominent spot in the NBA draft. Some help their chances. Others, as the Boston Celtics found out, have less than impressive workouts. "The players who are prepared and are serious about an NBA career, they help themselves," Celtics general manager Chris Wallace said. Those who think tryouts are "a lark in the park, they tend to hurt themselves." The Celtics eliminated two players from consideration after coach Rick Pitino was disappointed by their conditioning and skills at a recent workout. Neither he nor Wallace would identify them. Another six to eight who showcased their skills impressed Pitino as he mulled over who to choose with the 10th pick of Wednesday night's draft, although he said there's a 15 percent chance he'll trade it. Boston's second-round pick went to New York as part of a trade that sent Chris Mills to the Knicks last year. Workouts are just one late step in a long process that includes watching collegians in person and on tape and talking to people familiar with their abilities and character. Going through drills for an NBA team can provide insight unavailable through such sources. "Oftentimes you can get a clearer view of them than you can at a college game," Wallace said. "You get your best feel for them as a person. In college, you can't take a guy out to eat." Last year, Utah forward Keith Van Horn had such exceptional workouts that every team would have taken him as the second choice behind Tim Duncan, "which was not the case going into the workouts," Wallace said. New Jersey ended up with Van Horn. And this year, Michigan's Robert Traylor, a bulky, 6-foot-7 power forward, has made great strides, although he didn't work out for the Celtics. "He must feel that he's going before 10" when Boston picks, Pitino said. There are other reasons players decline to work out for teams. Bonzi Wells of Ball State passed up the Celtics because he doesn't want to play for a team that has another young shooting guard, Ron Mercer, Pitino said. With Mercer and point guard Kenny Anderson tied up with long-term contracts, Pitino said he wants to draft a center, small forward or power forward. He'd love to get Pacific center Michael Olowokandi, who could be the first pick, but would have to put together an impressive trade package to get that choice from the Los Angeles Clippers. More likely, he'll be left to choose from a group that includes centers Michael Doleac of Utah, Nazr Mohammed of Kentucky and Keon Clark of Nevada-Las Vegas and forwards Pat Garrity of Notre Dame and Ansu Sesay of Mississippi. Concerns about the 6-11 Clark center on his troubled past. He attended four colleges and was suspended for 11 games at the start of his senior season after an agent paid for a trip to Florida in his junior year. After another suspension for a positive marijuana test, Clark left Nevada-Las Vegas last February. But he's a good shot blocker who averaged 14.8 points in 10 games last season. "You've got to go for talent," Wallace said. "There's been a number of players throughout the past who came to this point in the process with checkered reputations and have gone on and done well." That's where workouts help teams evaluate players' assets and liabilities, both on and off the court. Clark was among five players who worked out for the Celtics last Friday. So did Garrity, who already had auditioned for eight other teams. "You're getting the players on your turf," Wallace said. Workouts "crystallize the essence of a player."
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Keith Van Horn greatly improved his stock at pre-draft workouts 