Wednesday, April 24, 2002

Good to hear from one of the truly good guys, former Nuggets coach Mike D'Antoni. He spent the year coaching in Italy for Benetton and he has perhaps the top international prospect on his team, 6-foot-11 Georgian forward Nickoloz Tskitishvili.

"He just turned 19, and he's not ready for the NBA, but he might be ready to get drafted," D'Antoni said from Italy this week. "He's almost seven feet tall and he has a lot of talent. He's just got to put it together, get a butt on him and he'll be great. Talent-wise, I don't see why he wouldn't be better than (Pau) Gasol."

D'Antoni figures Tskitishvili, who went to Benetton midway through the Italian League season, could add and hold 25 pounds to his current 220-pound frame without losing his quickness.

"He shoots the hell out of it," D'Antoni said. "He's great coming off of picks. He has NBA 3-point range. He can put it on the floor. And he plays hard for a European. He needs a little personality in terms of coming in and trying to dominate instead of being a nice guy."

Tskitishvili's American agent, Marc Fleischer, will put his client's name in the draft but will take it out if he's not certain Tskitishvili will be a top-10 pick. Tskitishvili has a buyout with Benetton after next season for $350,000, but Benetton may allow him to leave after this season for a significantly higher price. "The vibes are that that may be a possibility," Fleischer says.

Another potential problem: The Italian League season doesn't end until June, so it's unlikely that Tskitisvili will be able to come over to the States for workouts. But more than 20 NBA teams have already been or are on their way to Italy to see him.

Meanwhile, D'Antoni -- forced out by ex-coach Dan Issel in Denver three years ago -- is waiting to see if he'll be back in the league next season. "It's fun just working with these kids, because their dream is the NBA," he says. "It's been refreshing. But you miss the NBA, because the NBA is still the best league. It's fun and it's comfortable and these kids are great. But the NBA is the NBA."

David Aldridge is an NBA reporter for ESPN.