Some draft news...

[vu72]

Some of you may know that I'm a personal friend with a GM from a NBA team.  This person was recently in town and I had the chance to sit down for dinner with him and another NBA guy from another team.  We had a very interesting conversation.

First, neither had an opinion on our guy, one way or another.  I think as a junior, somewhat off the radar, Brandon wll need to really impress at tryouts and those can't start until the cutoff date which, I believe, is May 2, although I'm not sure. No team can contact him until all can as this would be viewed as tampering.  So Brandon doesn't at this point have any workouts scheduled.

Now, on to other news.  The opinion shared was that Norris Cole will be a first rounder and that he is a better player than Shelvin Mack.
I was told that one concern with Mack is conditioning and I think some of that "muscle" may be body material in a slightly different form! The knock on Cole was that his game close to the basket in very weak.  Think Steve Nash if you want what they are looking for in the near the basket talent. The rumor is that Mack will return to school.

I stated my case that Matt Howard was an NBA player, after the mold of Brian Cardinal.  One didn't have an opinion and the other felt Matt would get to play in the NBA, as a second rounder.

We discussed  many things including the fact that both JuJaun Johnson and Etwaun Moore both raised their stock by staying in school.  Johnson will be a top 10 player and Moore a first rounder.

It was a fun night for a basketball nut and a good time was had by all!  

[rlh]

I'm jealous....

[wh]

Very interesting...

[sectionee]

The deadline to withdraw and maintain eligibility is May 8, http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/feed/2011-03/2011-nba-draft/story/2011-nba-draft-early-entries.  I don't think Moore is a first rounder, but I'm no NBA expert either.

[sectionee]

That is pretty cool that you can sit down with these fellows, and thanks for sharing their thoughts.  Here is the latest mock draft form nbadraft.net, http://www.nbadraft.net/2011mock_draft.  It has Mack going #24, Johnson going #26 (chicago), Cole #31, and Moore #52.  I don't know how much stock you can put into these things, heck they have bulls drafting both Johnson and Luer (both PF) in the first round.

[Pgmado]

I find it interesting that I haven't found Brandon Wood's name on an NBA Draft Early Entry list yet.

For my money, Wood won't be in the NBA next year...or playing at Valpo. Just my two cents.

[agibson]

I think as a junior, somewhat off the radar, Brandon wll need to really impress at tryouts and those can't start until the cutoff date which, I believe, is May 2, although I'm not sure. No team can contact him until all can as this would be viewed as tampering.  So Brandon doesn't at this point have any workouts scheduled.

I'm confused.  Everyone, including the media, was talking about how the whole point was the workouts.

[vu72]

I think as a junior, somewhat off the radar, Brandon wll need to really impress at tryouts and those can't start until the cutoff date which, I believe, is May 2, although I'm not sure. No team can contact him until all can as this would be viewed as tampering.  So Brandon doesn't at this point have any workouts scheduled.

I'm confused.  Everyone, including the media, was talking about how the whole point was the workouts.

Not sure why you are confused.  My point is that teams have an idea how good Brandon is as every team has had scouts at games.  Still, as a junior (eligibility wise), they can't talk to him or see him play in workouts till after the cutoff date.  If those workouts go well he could certainly be drafted.  If there are weakneses, then I suspect they will point them out and encourage another year of college ball.
Another interesting point my friend made was that guys playing in Europe do get noticed and are brought back to the NBA. It isn't like they are off the radar.  I asked if the developmental league was a better choice than Europe and he said that it really depended on the player.  Both have good and bad.  We didn't go further into detail.

As for the "draft experts" (and neither of the guys I was talking with are player personnel guys out on the road watching players) you just don't know what your getting.  One "expert" could actually know what he is saying and another could be a guy in his dorm room.

[crusaderdad]

I find it interesting that I haven't found Brandon Wood's name on an NBA Draft Early Entry list yet.

For my money, Wood won't be in the NBA next year...or playing at Valpo. Just my two cents.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2011-nba-draft-early-entrants


http://www.thesportsbank.net/nba-draft-stock-report/2011-nba-draft-early-entries/

[crusaderdad]

I think as a junior, somewhat off the radar, Brandon wll need to really impress at tryouts and those can't start until the cutoff date which, I believe, is May 2, although I'm not sure. No team can contact him until all can as this would be viewed as tampering.  So Brandon doesn't at this point have any workouts scheduled.

I'm confused.  Everyone, including the media, was talking about how the whole point was the workouts.

Official early entry list is not distributed by the NBA until approximately 4 days after April 24th (the deadline for submitting draft interest paperwork).  Teams schedule workouts after the 24th. Until then, coaching staff work to secure tentative dates with interested teams.  Workouts can be conducted from April 30th till May 8th. However, athletes are not allowed to miss class to attend workouts so most workouts will be conducted during those weekends.  No one at this point has "official" workouts scheduled.

[agibson]

Thanks!  I didn't realize there were two cutoffs.  But, now I gotcha.  No workouts until after the deadline to submit paperwork.

But there is a (short) window for workouts between the signup deadline, and the last date to withdraw to retain eligibility.