Television Producers Pitch - My Crew

Okay, so here's the story. The show is called My Crew. We've got four guys from different walks of life, but they're all in the NBA. We'll use Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat coach. Brian Scalabrine, from the Celtics. Yao Ming from the Rockets, and Yi Jianlian from the Nets. It's set in the offseason and these guys are all like best friends and it's all about them making their way in the NBA. It'll be like Friends plus Entourage, so like the best show ever.

Here's the best part. We already cast the show. BJ Novak is in to play Spoelstra. The guy from LOST, he's going to be Yao. And we got Lloyd from Entourage to be Yi. That's great right? He'll definitely help us capture the right vibe for the show. But get this — Scalabrine is going to play himself!

Just let me know how many episodes you want.

The Dangers of International Competition

Right now, there is a large international basketball competition taking place in locales around the world. It's called the Large International Basketball Competition and it features players from all around the globe, even some from the NBA. However, many owners don't like their players playing in the competition that they are playing in as players. Their fears are justified.

Not only could one of their investments be injured, they could also be hurt. Furthermore, they could also unwittingly unveil some new moves, thereby rendering them obsolete. Or they could be abducted, tied up in ropes, and placed on train tracks by robber barons. Also, they could be hurt.

But these are just minor dangers. The three situations that follow are all too common in international basketball. As such, they cause night sweats, buggymares, and general queasiness amongst NBA executives.

Physical Assault

Yes, an injury is distressing enough, but in international basketball, players are often punched while driving to the basket. Due to some European bylaws, this tactic has been permitted since the conception of FIBA (it is called the "Russian Handcheck" for obvious reasons). As of late, most European countries have abandoned this technique, but their Asian counterparts have mastered it. The coupling of basketball and martial arts has proven deadly for nearly 600 players since 1985.

Cloning

A players contract is predicated on the assumption that their skills are irreplaceable. But cloning laws abroad are lax, and the process has not yet been perfected. Not only does this make a player less valuable, it also downgrades the talent in the NBA. It is a closely guarded secret that the Allen Iverson who returned after the Athens Olympics was not the actual Iverson, but rather a laboratory creation dubbed Alan Iverson.

Poor Nutrition

Due to the economic crisis, players are often forced to eat their winnings to stay alive.

Cannabalism

Because not every team wins medals, and even those aren't terribly filling, overseas competition is overrun with players eating other players. As seen in the picture above, the Grizzlies' Hamed Haddadi is desperately eyeing the Nets' Yi Jianlian for a post-game meal. Unfortunately for Nets fans, FIBA officials were able to save Yi from his certain death.

Charlie Villanueva = China's Worst Nightmare

Just when you thought the Yi Jianlian situation could not get any stranger, the Guandong Tigers hit you with a curveball. Today the chief of Yi's Chinese team, Chen Haitao, clarified why exactly there was no way that Yi could play for Milwaukee:

"This is not -- as media reports have said -- because Milwaukee, as a city with very few Chinese people, is not good for Yi's commercial development," Chen said.

"Rather we want to find a team suitable for Yi's growth. That's the root of the problem," he added.

Ok, so why exactly isn't Milwaukee a good place for Yi's growth?

Chen expressed concern that Yi would have trouble getting game time with the Bucks, whose squad boasts Australian 7-footer Andrew Bogut and a number of other tall young players.

"The national team and the Olympic Games are now our key considerations ... If [Yi] goes to a team where he can't compete, that would be being irresponsible to the national team," Chen said.

This explantion has two very important aspects to it, so here is a look at both of them:

We Do Not Understand: The most striking aspect of Chen's explanation is the assertation that Yi might not be able to get much playing time in Milwaukee. Andrew Bogut and "a number of other tall young players" are cited as the cause for his apprehension. Now, if Chen is indeed sincere in his statement, one of two things must be true; either he does not understand the NBA game, or they fear that Charlie Villanueva is an All-Star caliber power forward. As far as not understanding the NBA, or more specifically Yi's role as a player in the NBA, Chen somehow thinks that Yi will be competing with Andrew Bogut for playing time. Here is a quick little news flash; Bogut is a classic center, Yi is a mobile and athletic power forward. Yi is never going to cut into Bogut's minutes or vice versa because the two play different roles. It is obvious that the Bucks drafted Yi because they thought he would compliment Bogut, not compete with him. Also...who exactly are these other young seven footers who are going to keep Yi on the bench? Brian Skinner? Dan Gadzuric? Please. So that leaves only Charlie Villanueva as Yi's main competition for minutes. Villanueva is indeed quite a talented player, and in the future he could reasonably develop into a consistent 16 PPG / 8 RPG kind of guy. Consider however, that Villanueva is coming off shoulder surgery that caused him to miss half of last season, and that even when he did play he started less than half of the time. So this is the big barrier to Yi getting playing time? Does Chen actually think that the Bucks would have used such a high draft pick in a loaded draft on a player they were going to sit behind Villanueva? Give me a break.

For Love Of Country: As far as Milwaukee is concerned, the Bucks should be most worried about Chen's belief that playing in Milwaukee will hurt the Chinese national team in their preparation for the Olympics. China is hosting the 2008 summer games, and it is quite obvious that the Chinese Olympic committee has targeted men's basketball as a marquee event in which they are determined to succeed. Why else would China have gone to the trouble of having the national team (sans Yao) play in the NBA Summer League? It is certainly understandable that China is focused on developing Yi at all costs; the only real hope of medaling in the Olympics for China rests upon Yao and Yi becoming a dominant tandem. Yao is already there, but anyone who watched Yi's summer league performance knows that he has a lot of growing to do between now and next summer. So is there any situation where Yao is going to get substantially more playing time than Milwaukee? This again goes back to point one, that Chen and the rest of Yi's camp are showing that they have no clue how the NBA works. What team is going to give a raw 19 year old more playing time than Milwaukee is offering, and fits the orignal demands of being in a larger media market and having a large Chinese population? I mean, how much playing time would be satisfactory? Bogut played 28.6 minutes per game his rookie season, and it isn't unreasonable to think that Yi could at least approach that number splitting time with Villanueva. Is 25-30 minutes a night not enough for Yi and his camp to be happy? If so, than Yi is not likely to find any team with which he will be pleased this season.

Here is the most important thing to draw from these latest comments. All of the people that have been saying that Yi and his camp don't have the guts to stand their ground are flat wrong. The stakes have been raised substantially and if the real concern is in fact related to preparing Yi for the 2008 Olympics than the Bucks can kiss Yi goodbye, China is not going to back off on that one. So please Milwaukee, do what you should have done in the first place; get Brandan Wright. Don Nelson and the Warriors love Yi, and Wright is about as much value as the Bucks could hope to get out of Yi at this point. The worst outcome of this situation for Milwaukee would be if Larry Harris got into a peeing contest with the Yi camp, and his pride caused the Bucks to walk away empty handed. Now is the time to do the smart thing and walk away from Yi. Too bad Milwaukee couldn't have done that on draft night.

Bucks Beware

So now it begins.

Ever since the NBA Draft Yi Jianlian has been oddly silent in regards to his situation with the Milwaukee Bucks. So much so that even when he agreed to an interview with an NBA.com reporter he stipulated that there could be no questions regarding Milwaukee. (And the reporter accepted. Journalistic integrity? Anyone?) Now however, the complexion of Yi's situation is begging to become much clearer than mere speculation. Yesterday both Marc Stein and Chad Sheridan offered new insight on the state of the Yi saga. Sheridan wrote:

"If the stalemate continues, the only way Yi could make himself eligible for the 2008 draft would be to sit out an entire season. If he were to return to his pro team in China for the 2007-08 season, the Bucks would retain his NBA rights.

At this point, if I had to say whether I thought Yi will ever play a game for the Bucks, I'd have to say no. Yi's camp seems extremely determined to force the Bucks to trade his rights, and at a certain point I believe Harris and the Bucks owner, Sen. Herb Kohl, will simply throw their hands up and decide they don't want the headache anymore."

Stein also offered a similar take:

"Yi's camp insists that he won't sign with the Bucks and that the 19-year-old is prepared to play no professional basketball for a year to make himself eligible to re-enter the draft in 2008, unless the Bucks trade his draft rights....

...Yi didn't outright demand a trade but, according to sources, insisted that it remains his wish -- as opposed to an agenda being pushed by Nike or his American agent Dan Fegan -- to play in a bigger market with a larger Asian population."

There are two extremely important points in the above quotes. First, Stein reports that Yi himself (not just his agent) wants out of Milwaukee. The assumption by many was that Yi was merely letting his agent handle the situation, and that he himself did not have a strong feeling either way. Assuming Stein's info is accurate, that does not seem to be the case. The second, and most important point, is that Yi and his camp are making serious rumblings about sitting out a year alltogether and entering the 2008 Draft. (A possibility that I first broke two weeks ago) If Yi is in fact serious about carrying out that threat Milwaukee would find itself forced to either trade Yi or risk losing him for nothing.

Now comes the tricky part. If the Bucks do decide that trading Yi is their only option, what are their options? Yi has expressed a desire to go to a team in a larger media market such as Chicago, New York, or Sacramento, or Golden State. New York would seem to be out of the running after the trade for Zach Randolph, and the Bulls are likely satisfied with their young frontcourt duo of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. That leaves Golden State and Sacramento as the most likely trade partners for the Bucks. In examining Sacramento's roster they appear to have very few assets that would be attractive to the Bucks. Milwaukee was seeking to fill a need at either PF or SF through the draft, and the only real trade asset that the Kings have at either position is Ron Artest. The problem for the Kings is that their three top young talents (Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia, and Quincy Douby) all play SG, where the Bucks already have an All-Star in Michael Redd.

The best trade situation for the Bucks would by far be with Golden State. The Warriors were said to be very high on Yi heading into the draft, and they have the perfect assets to go about acquiring him from the Bucks. Consider; the Bucks need depth at SF and PF. The Warriors have the PF the Bucks would desire in Brandan Wright and could also package one of their free agent SFs (Matt Barnes or Mikael Pietrus) in a sign and trade. Such a deal would benefit both teams, as the Warriors would get the player they coveted all along by merely moving a SF they likely would not have re-signed and the Bucks would add young talent at both of their need positions while saving some face.

Whether or not the Bucks do decide to go the trade route with Yi will likely not be decided for quite some time, as the season is some two and a half months away. What is certain however, is that the Bucks must tread carefully in this situation lest they alienate Yi entirely and lose him for nothing.

Introducing...The Yi Meter

When you think about Yi Jianlian's characteristics, a couple of things jump out at you. He is really tall, athletic, and has a very good perimeter shot for his size. When I first heard that description of Yi, three names popped into my head; Dirk Nowitzki, Toni Kukoc, and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. All three of those players fit that same description, yet fall all across the spectrum in how that skill set ended up serving them. Will Yi be an MVP like Dirk? A solid pro like Toni? Or a bust like Nik? From time to time we'll check in on the Yi Meter to see where Yi stands. It will likely be reactionary, and it will unlikely be fair. Enjoy.

For the first installment of the Yi Meter we found Yi somewhere between Toni and Nik territory. Why? Yi did show some scoring skill when he put up 23 points against Memphis in the Summer League, so that points to the hype perhaps being correct on Yi's skills. On the other hand though, this happened:

Getting posterized in a Summer League game, and then getting taunted afterward by the guy? That is a Tskitishvili move if I ever saw one. Therefore, in spite of the 23 points Yi is going halfway between Nik and Toni for this installment of the Yi Meter.

Yi and the CBA

In looking through some of the posts I have seen today pertaining to the Yi Jianlian situation I feel that a clarification of Yi's bargaining position is needed. The first point that needs to be dealt with is the simple question of "How long does Milwaukee have Yi's rights?" To answer that question, here are a pair of excerpts from the NBA's collective bargaining agreement:

Section 4. Negotiating Rights to Draft Rookies.
(a) A Team that drafts a player shall, during the period from the date of such NBA Draft (hereinafter, the “Initial Draft”) to the date of the next Draft (hereinafter, the “Subsequent Draft”), be the only Team with which such player may negotiate or sign a Player Contract, provided that, on or before the July 15 immediately following the Initial Draft (for a First Round Pick), or in the two (2) weeks before the September 5 immediately following the Initial Draft (for a Second Round Pick), such Team has made a Required Tender to such player. If a Team has made a Required Tender to such a player and the player has not signed a Player Contract within the period between the Initial Draft and the Subsequent Draft, the Team that drafted the player shall lose its exclusive right to negotiate with the player and the player will then be eligible for selection in the Subsequent Draft.

Also pertinent to this topic...

Section 5. Effect of Contracts with Other Professional Teams.
If a player is drafted by a Team in either an Initial or Subsequent Draft and, during a period in which he may negotiate and sign a Player Contract with only the Team that drafted him, and either (x) is a party to a previously existing player contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA that covers all or any part of the NBA Season immediately following said Initial or Subsequent Draft, or (y) signs such a player contract, then the following rules will apply:

(a) Subject to Section 5(b) below, the Team that drafts the player shall retain the exclusive NBA rights to negotiate with and sign him for the period ending one (1) year from the earlier of the following two dates: (i) the date the player notifies such Team that he is available to sign a Player Contract with such Team immediately, provided that such notice will not be effective until the player is under no contractual or other legal impediment to sign and play with such Team for the then-current Season (if applicable) and any future Season; or (ii) the date of the NBA Draft occurring in the twelve-month period from September 1 to August 30 in which the player notifies such Team of his availability and intention to play in the NBA during the Season immediately following said twelve-month period, provided that such notice will not be effective until the player is under no contractual or other legal impediment to sign and play with such Team for the then-current Season (if applicable) and any future Season.

In simple terms what the above sections say is that if Yi does not sign a contract with another pro team (Chinese or European) in the next year then Milwaukee will lose their rights to Yi and he will then be eligible for the 2008 Draft. Therefore, if Yi and his handlers truly are determined to keep Yi out of Milwaukee they could just have him play for the national team for a year and then re-enter the draft leaving the Bucks completely empty handed. I can assure you, coming out of the deepest draft in recent memory with nothing after having the #6 pick will not fly with Bucks' GM Larry Harris. If the Bucks are unable to sign Yi to a contract by the time the season starts they need to trade him. Plain and simple. Otherwise they won't get anything from the pick at all. So who would be buying? Golden State was mentioned many times as a possible destination for Yi, but their trade to get Brandan Wright has likely ended their interest. This essentially leaves the 76ers as the only major trading partner left that has expressed interest in Yi all along. At this point, don't you think Larry Harris wishes he could take it all back and just draft Joakim Noah instead?

What this situation exposes is the fact that foreign players have the upper hand in these types of negotiations as long as they are willing to sacrifice a year's worth of income. Certainly the NBA and the Player's Association did not foresee such a power play at the time when they wrote the CBA, but this loophole certainly needs to be closed when the next CBA is negotiated. Otherwise elite prospects who are unhappy with the team that drafts them could follow Yi's lead and essentially choose their team, rendering the draft useless.

Update: As pointed out by Henry Abbot at True Hoop, if Yi is still technically under contract with his Chinese team the Bucks window of opportunity would be extended for a 12 month period after the end of that contract.

NBA Draft: Picks Breakdown

In examining the picks from last night's draft some of them are pretty simple to evaluate. Greg Oden to the Blazers. Good. Kevin Durant to the Sonics. Good. There were a number of intriguing picks and stories that developed during draft night, so here is a look at some of the most intriguing picks, whether they be steals, terrible picks, or just plain great picks:

The Pick: The Milwaukee Bucks selecting Yi Jianlian with the #6 pick
The Scoop: Leading up to the draft myself and many others pointed out the rather odd choice by Yi Jianlian and his representation not to let Milwaukee see Yi work out. Speculation was that Yi's camp wanted him to play in a large market with a big Chinese population, a description that did not exactly fit Milwaukee. Some even believed that if the Bucks were to select Yi that he would either try to force a trade or go back to China. The truth behind those beliefs is set to be revealed as there are already rumblings that Yi might not only miss the team's training camp later this year, but that he may not even show up for Milwaukee's post draft press conference tomorrow. Something tells me this pick may not have been worth the trouble. By the way, check out this picture of Yi from Time Magazine in 2003 when he was *15* years old. Yeah right, my left foot he is 15 in that picture.



The Pick: The Chicago Bulls selecting Joakim Noah with the #9 pick
The Scoop: I don't often agree with Stephen A. Smith, but I am completely with his analysis on this pick. To put it simply, The Bulls already have what Noah is selling. Isn't Tyrus Thomas the same player except with a slightly better offensive game? The Bulls did not need another high energy rebounder, what they needed was a scorer in the low post. The most distressing aspect of this pick was that there was indeed such a player available in Spencer Hawes who went to the Kings at #10. It isn't that Noah is a bad player, he just does not seem to be what the Bulls needed with that pick.

The Pick: The Washington Wizards selecting Nick Young with the #16 pick
The Scoop: Young fell a bit lower than where many people had projected him to go, but ending up in Washington may well be the perfect spot for him. The Wizards started DeShawn Stevenson at SG this past season essentially on a one year rental. Young is a major upgrade at that spot, and at worst will be the Wizard's 6th man headed into the season. His offensive skills combined with the Wizards up tempo style and hole at the SG spot will make Young an impact player sooner rather than later.

The Pick: Everything the Portland Trailblazers did
The Scoop: The Blazers had an unbelievable evening. Putting aside the Zach Randolph trade, here is a quick rundown of the moves and picks they made: Drafted Greg Oden with the #1 pick, traded cash to the Suns for the #24 pick which they used on Rudy Fernandez, traded cash and the #42 pick to the 76ers for the #30 pick Peteri Koponen, drafted Josh McRoberts with the #37 pick, drafted Taurean Green with the #52 pick, and finally they drafted Demetris Nichols with the #53 pick. It goes without saying that Oden is a great pick. The other five selections however, are what make this draft truly special. Fernandez and Koponen are great talents that can take the time to develop overseas and then come to Portland a few years down the road to contribute. The three second round picks of McRoberts, Green, and Nichols are complete and utter steals. McRoberts is a lottery talent that came out too early, Green was the floor general and leading scorer of the two time national champions, and Nichols was arguably the best three point shooter in the entire draft. To put it bluntly the Blazers' draft picks tonight, the $30 million in contracts that they have coming off the books in two seasons, and the fact that they already have Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge makes this team a championship contender sooner rather than later.

Welcome To The Big Show

Today is the day ladies and gentlemen. We will find out in just a few short hours what fate has in store for the future for many of the NBA's current and future stars. I know that many of the issues surrounding the draft have become rather muddled in the past month or so, between trade demands, rumors, mock drafts, and rampant specualtion about what will happen with just about every single major player in the NBA. To help clear the air on a few things, here is a little primer on some of the major stories that will be sorted out in the next 24 hours:

Who Goes #1?: While there has been a push by some members of the media in the past week for the Blazers to take Kevin Durant with the first pick, I just do not see it happening. And if ESPN's Ric Bucher is to be believed Portland has already told Oden and his camp that the Blazers will be selecting Oden over Durant.

Where Will KG Go?: The Garnett trade rumors have become the largest story in all of sports the past few days. "Proposed" trades have had him landing in Boston, Phoenix, and L.A., with other teams also rumored to be involved as facilitators in those various scenarios. Here is the cut and dry of the Garnett situation; if something does not happen today, it is probably not going to happen at all. In all of the most serious trade rumors the Wolve's desires have been focused on two things. For one thing, they want cap relief. That is why large contracts such as those of Kurt Thomas, Kwame Brown, and Theo Ratliff have been discussed so widely in recent days. The motivation for this is obvious. 2008 is set to be one of the most impressive free agent seasons in recent memory, and the Wolves want to put themselves in a position to get in on the action. The second thing that the Wolves desire is a high draft pick in this year's draft. The reason for this is also quite obvious, as even though this draft is perhaps not quite as deep as first advertised it is still arguably the best at the top since the 2003 Draft which saw LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh enter the league. The Wolves already own the #7 pick and acquiring either Boston's #5 pick or the Hawk's #3 pick would allow them to potentially draft two players that could be the cornerstones of their franchise for the next decade. The problem is, after the draft gets going tomorrow that window of opportunity will have evaporated, and the Wolves would have to face the prospect of either getting the best remaining package for KG (likely something from the Lakers involving Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum) or risk getting nothing for Garnett. Which is why in all likelihood, if anything happens it will be before the draft begins tonight.

Oden, Durant, and then...?: What is especially appealing about this year's draft beyond the great talent level present is one simple fact; after the top two picks, nobody has any clue what is going to happen. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. There are too many teams that either 1.) are shopping their picks in trades and 2.) are unclear as to whom they are picking that there is no real consensus as to not only which players will be picked at eahc selection, but also which teams will be doing the selecting. For example, in the past week the #3 pick, #4 pick, #5 pick, #7 pick, #8 pick, #9 pick, #11 pick, and #12 pick have all been involved in multiple (and allegedly serious) trade discussions. And beyond Al Horford at #3 there does not seem to be any consensus as to how the rest of the lottery will play out. (Though it is worth noting that at various times both Brandan Wright and Mike Conley were "locks" for the #3 spot, so take the Horford rumors with a grain of salt) What this all is going to result in is that this draft, between major trades and suprise picks, could literally be the most entertaining draft for fans in recent memory. Buckle up NBA fans, this is going to be a fun ride.

Yi Means Drama In Chinese: Not literally of course, but at the moment Yi Jianlian is the center of a great deal of intrigue as the draft approaches. The fact that he refused to work out for certain teams and rumors that he and his camp have certain teams they will refuse to play for could combine to produce a modern John Elway situation if a team like Milwaukee selects Yi.

Proceed With Caution

There is a story that is bubbling under the surface of the NBA draft that not many people are talking about for some odd reason. It is a story that could completely change the order at the top of the draft, as well as cause a great deal of controversy. So what is this story? The story is that it appears that Yi Jianlian and the Chinese government might be pulling an Eli Manning. To explain, here are some qoutes that show the situation pretty clearly.

From SI.com:
"China finally approved him for the draft last year after shooting down the idea in '06 citing a lack of preparation and "basketball skills, experience and physical stamina" that do not meet requirements to compete at an NBA level. In fact, the CBA is closely monitoring this year's NBA draft and may decide to pull Yi back if they believe the team that selects him is not a suitable one."

From The Journal Times:
"...Dan Fegan, Yi’s agent, and the Chinese government want to get him placed in a large market, preferably with a large Chinese population."

And finally from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
"The Milwaukee Bucks won't get a first-hand view of Yi, whose camp has declined a workout request by the team. Bucks director of player personnel Dave Babcock wanted to go to Los Angeles to take a closer look but was rebuffed by Yi's agent, Dan Fegan."

A reaction to Yi refusing a workout with the Bucks might be that he has received a promise from a team picking above the Bucks' #6 pick. This logic is thwarted however, by the fact that Yi held a workout earlier this week for the 76ers, who hold the #12 pick. The implications are obvious; Yi is trying to pick which teams he will go to and if a team that he (and the Chinese government) do not approve of selects him he is going to at least threaten to go back to China, probably to force a trade. Even the threat of such an action would likely be enough to scare off the Bucks, since the chance of losing a chance at gaining a player from this year's deep crop of lottery talent could be crippling for the Bucks for years to come. This entire situation brings to mind the 2005 Draft, where the Orlando Magic selected Fran Vazquez with the #11 selection only to have Vazquez announce he would be staying in Europe. Vazquez won't be suiting up with the Magic anytime before the 2009-2010 season, and the Magic missed out on players such as Sean May, Gerald Green, and Hakim Warrick who were picked soon afterwards. The Bucks would be wise to avoid drafting Yi and experiencing a similar scenario.

The Tskitishvili Report

Nikoloz Tskitishvili. The mere mention of the name strikes fear in the hearts of NBA general managers everywhere. After being picked #5 by the Nuggets in the 2002 NBA Draft the 7 footer from Georgia (the country) has done nothing in the NBA. That is, unless you count playing for four teams in five years and being released by two others before ever playing a game. The problem with Tskitishvili was that nobody really knew anything about him other than that he was 7 feet tall, foreign, and allegedly could run the floor and shoot. The problem was though, for all the hype and potential there was very little evidence that Tskitishvili really had the skills scouts saw in him. Going into this years draft there are a few players like Tskitishvili that look like they might turn out being more hype than substance. So who are these prospects?

Yi Jianlian:
If you read the reports on Jianlian and compare them to the things that were said about Tskitishvili when he entered the draft, the two are eerily similar. Both are long, tall, run the floor, and both are completely unproven. I find it somewhat curious that Jianlian has declined to conduct workouts except in L.A., and the workouts he has conducted have been against either chairs or Harvard center Brian Cusworth. After being projected as high as #3 or #5 early in the draft process popular opinion seems to be swaying against Jianlian, and many experts now think he may fall as low as #12 to the 76ers.

Wilson Chandler:
Recent rumors have the Knicks looking at Chandler at #23, and if that pick were to occur it would be quite fitting. I mean, the Knicks showed in last year's first round that they liked SF tweeners, so why not take another one? When looking at Chandler and his two seasons at DePaul, the most worrisome thing is that he seems to be a man without an NBA position. In college the 6-7, 220 pound Chandler mainly played PF but projects as either a SG or SF in the pros. The problem with that projection though is that Chandler just doesn't have the jump shot or the defensive quickness to play the SF position in the pros. Likewise, he does not have the height or bulk to realistically play PF in the pros. Sounds like a Knicks kind of pick to me.

Daequan Cook:
If I was a GM I would not go anywhere near Cook with a first round pick and the subsequent guaranteed contract. Coming out of high school Cook was touted as the top mid-range shooter in the country, but his performance in his one year at Ohio State was rather puzzling. He averaged 9.8 PPG, but that number is misleading: his six 20 point games came against VMI, E. Kentucky, USF, Valpo, Iowa State, and Coppin State. After that early season run Cook cooled off and by the end of the season Thad Matta had drastically cut Cook's minutes. It would seem to me that if a respected coach like Matta lost faith in a prospect, and said prospect racked up most of his stats against cupcakes, I would be wary of spending a first rounder on that player.

Jason Smith:
Smith played three solid years for Colorado State, but during his tenure there the Rams did not play often against top flight competition. Smith has a similar build and similar numbers with fellow prospects Nick Fazekas and Kyle Visser, yet Fazekas and Visser are widely considered to be second round picks at best. So why is Smith being talked about as high as #19 to the Lakers? The answer evades me, especially since Fazekas does everything Smith does, except he does it better. Maybe the GMs of the league will prove me wrong, but I just don't see Smith living up to first round status.