H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m
-------------------- June 26, 2002 by F. Daniel Lamb NBA Draft 2002
With less than 24 hours remaining before the NBA draft, there seems to be less consensus on draft order than any draft in league history. Other than the first three picks, where Houston looks intent upon Yao Ming, Chicago is dialled into Jay Williams and Golden State is reconciled to Mike Dunleavy Jr., the rest of the draft is a crapshoot (and if the unthinkable happens and Houston passes on Yao Ming, expect utter chaos and last second panic to set in quickly). For the past month, the headlines have been filled with possible trades, workouts, posturing and the raft of rumours that spontaneously generate from columnists pens. The main focus of Draft 2002 appears to be the Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Clips own the 8th and 12th picks in the draft, but have made it widely known that they have no need of both picks. The Cavs have the 6th pick overall, as well as point guard Andre Miller, who is one of the leagues premier young players, but to whom the Cavs are reluctant to give a maximum contract extension. A number of franchises are trying to use their financial clout to persuade lottery teams to part with their picks. Specifically, the Blazers and Knicks have targeted big men that they covet. To acquire these players from their draft positions may involve trading players, swapping picks and possibly offering cash considerations (up to $3 million is allowed by league rules). Considering that many experts see this draft as the deepest in recent memory, the frantic posturing seen around the league comes down to a number of excellent prospects for big men and point guards. Rarely has this number of talented big men and floor generals been available and this has GMs league wide salivating. At center, the greatest attention is being paid to Nikoloz Tskitishvilli of Greece, Nene Hilario of Brazil, Amare Stoudemire (HS) and Nenad Krstic of Yugoslavia and at power forward, collegiate underclassmen Chris Wilcox of Maryland, Drew Gooden of Kansas and Jared Jeffries of Indiana. At point guard, Dajuan Wagner of Memphis, Jiri Welsch of the Czech Republic, Dan Dickau of Gonzaga and Frank Williams of Illinois are getting the longest looks. The potential of these players, especially Tskitishvilli, Hilario and Wilcox, has teams at the high end of the first round desperately trying to pry away a pick between no.s 4 - 12. Apart from Jay Williams, the remaining point prospects are projected to be taken anywhere from the Wizards 11th pick to the Raptors at 20. In addition to Miller, a number of prominent NBA players have been mentioned as potential trade bait; Baron Davis, Robert Horry, Glenn Robinson and Anthony Mason, Bonzi Wells and Dale Davis, Lamar Odom and Darius Miles, Eddie Jones, Wally Sczerbiak, and Mike Miller. To further muddy the picture, the Wizards traded Courtney Alexander to the Hornets for the 17th pick on Tuesday and it is still unclear whether they will hold on to the pick or package it for someone like James Posey of the Nuggets. Regardless of the outcome, the 2002 NBA Draft is certain to have dramatic ramifications on the balance of power in the league for years to come. The sheer number of foreign prospects that have already been playing professionally for years, will mean that many rookies will be able to step right onto their teams and have immediate impact, just as Pau Gasol, Zeljko Rebraca and Tony Parker did in 2001. The following is a breakdown of projected first round selections by position: Point Guard - 1. Jay Williams, 60, Duke University 2. Dujuan Wagner, 63, Memphis University 3. Dan Dickau, 60, Gonzaga University 4. Frank Williams, 63, University of Illinois 5. Juan Dixon, 63, University of Maryland Shooting Guard - 1. Jiri Welsch, 67, Olimpija Ljubljana (Slov) 2. Kareem Rush, 6'6", University of Missouri 3. Casey Jacobsen, 66, Stanford University 4. Frederick Jones, 63, University of Oregon 5. Predrag Savovic, 6'6", University of Hawaii Small Forward - 1. Mike Dunleavy Jr., 69, Duke University 2. Caron Butler, 67, University of Connecticut 3. Jared Jeffries, 610, Indiana University 4. Drew Gooden, 610, University of Kansas 5. Qyntel Woods, 68, NE Mississippi JuCo 6. Tayshaun Prince, 6'9", University of Kentucky Power Forward - 1. Chris Wilcox, 610, University of Maryland 2. Maybyner Hilario, 611, Vasco da Gama (Brazil) 3. Marcus Haislip, 6'10", University of Tennessee 4. Melvin Ely, 610, Fresno State 5. Bostjan Nachbar, 610, Benetton Treviso (Slov) Center - 1. Yao Ming, 75, Shanghai Sharks (China) 2. Nikolos Tskitishvilli, 70, Benetton Treviso (Greece) 3. Curtis Borchardt, 70, Stanford University 4. Amare Stoudemire, 611, Cypress Creek HS (FL) 5. Dan Gadzuric, 6'11", UCLA 6. Nenad Krstic, 70, Yugoslavia -------------------- Reach Lamb @ fdlamb@nutzworld.net Next: NBA Draft 2002 Analysis Previous: Jockeying players Articles main Back to top
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