Draft watchers expect China center Yao Ming to go No. 1 to Houston,
Duke guard Jay Williams to go second to Chicago, Duke forward Mike
Dunleavy Jr. to go third to Golden State and Kansas forward Drew
Gooden to go fourth to Memphis.
Houston officials spent several days in China meeting with Chinese
basketball officials and Yao, and they seem close to wrapping up
an odd contract situation.
Williams probably has been house hunting in the Windy City, and
already there is talk the Bulls are shopping point guard Jamal Crawford.
Dunleavy had a recent meeting with Golden State lame-duck general
manager Garry St. Jean and forward Antawn Jamison, and it's not
out of the realm of possibility that Dunleavy's dad, Mike Sr., could
end up being the next Warriors coach.
Word out of Memphis is that if the Grizzlies don't get the younger
Dunleavy, they have promised Gooden they would draft him. Gooden
has declined to work out for teams holding anything lower than the
No. 4 pick, and Nuggets officials said he has been promised he would
be drafted before the fifth pick.
That would leave Denver an impressive pool to choose from with
the fifth pick, as many NBA teams watch, wait and salivate.
Likely candidates for the fifth pick would include Republic of
Georgia 7-foot-0 small forward Nickoloz Tskitishvili, Connecticut
swingman Caron Butler and Maryland forward Chris Wilcox.
Longshot candidates include Memphis guard Dajuan Wagner, Cypress
Creek (Fla.) High School forward Amare Stoudemire and Brazil forward
Maybyner "Nene" Hilario.
Come Monday morning, the Nuggets will start receiving phone calls
from some NBA teams willing to put together an enticing package
to get the fifth pick. Several teams picking behind Denver have
interest in Tskitishvili, Butler and Wilcox, and may be concerned
that they won't get their coveted rookie if they don't do something.
You never know who may be calling trying to create a major trade.
Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe recently likened the draft
to the trade deadline. On last season's trade deadline, Feb. 21,
the Nuggets made a seven-player deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
Sure, the odds are that Denver keeps the pick, but anything's possible
If they do, they'll have a big decision to make.
Assuming the draft goes as projected, Tskitishvili offers the
biggest dividends in the future, being a 7-footer with dribbling
skills, ballet-like footwork and a sweet shot. The best pick immediately
available - which also would impress potential Nuggets free-agent
forward Antonio McDyess - is Butler. He could be an instant big-time
scorer and starter at small forward, and McDyess wants to be competitive
now.
Another top pick is the super-athletic Wilcox, as the Nuggets
could lose power forwards McDyess and Juwan Howard to free agency
in 2003.
The Nuggets have said they will take the best player on the board.
That poses the question of whether they want the player who's best
now or the player who offers the best potential.
Denver also has been trying to obtain a middle first-round pick.
Swingman James Posey could be the bait. There have been a couple
of offers for him, but none strong enough to consider making a deal.
Indicative of the Nuggets' efforts are the recent workouts of such
and Illinois guard Frank Williams, all players expected to be taken
after fifth but long before the Nuggets' second pick at No. 25.
Wednesday's draft will be a tough one with numerous options for
the Nuggets. At least they're in the driver's seat. It will be interesting
to see which road they take.