| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
The NBA wants to send a message to agents over the next two weeks -- if their clients skip the Chicago pre-draft camp, it will be to the detriment of their draft status.
With two of the three major pre-draft camps in the books, players looking to impress NBA scouts and general managers are running out of chances. The final pre-draft camp, to be held June 6-9 at the Moody Bible Institute, is the last opportunity for many to be seen by a wide audience and the NBA wants it known that if a borderline first-round prospect doesn't show up, he'll be seriously jeopardizing his draft status.
|  | | Michael Redd could greatly improve his draft stock with a good showing in Chicago. |
"A lot of guys who have questions are going to hurt themselves if they don't come," said Larry Harris, the Milwaukee Bucks' director of player personnel. "They should come. If they can play, they can play and they'll help their stock by playing."
The NBA won't release a list of players who will attend the Chicago camp, but scouts, general managers and the NBA's scouting service are hoping that agents don't try to play tough and keep their players off the camp's roster.
"NBA teams want guys who want to play," said Ryan Blake, who runs the Court Report with his father, Marty, the NBA's director of scouting. Blake said the Chicago rosters have not yet been finalized.
The thinking among scouts and GMs is that if a player who isn't a lottery lock skips the final draft camp, he must be trying to hide something.
A few of the seniors who need to be in Chicago to help their status include center Jason Collier, center Etan Thomas, guard Chris Carrawell, center Jamaal Magloire, center Mamadou N'Diaye, forward Hanno Möttölä, point guard Mateen Cleaves and shooting guard Morris Peterson.
All of them skipped the Phoenix draft camp despite questions about their positions in the draft.
Seniors Courtney Alexander and Kenyon Martin have nothing to prove at Chicago and are not expected to be at the camp other than for the June 10 physicals. Underclassmen Marcus Fizer, DerMarr Johnson, Mike Miller, Jerome Moiso, Joel Przybilla and East St. Louis High forward Darius Miles also can afford to skip the camp and still be in the lottery.
But the rest of this year's early-entry class -- Erick Barkley, Keyon Dooling, Mark Karcher, Quentin Richardson, JaRon Rush, Schea Cotton, Khalid El-Amin, Donnell Harvey, Michael Redd, Jeryl Sasser, Jamal Crawford and Indian Hills (Iowa) College's Cory Hightower and Ernest Brown -- would be making a mistake by blowing off the Chicago camp.
If a large number of those players skip the camp, that means there will be more room for fringe players to impress scouts and possibly crack the first round. Twenty-four players who were in Chicago last year were picked in the two-round draft, including four in the first round. New Mexico's Kenny Thomas didn't go to the Phoenix camp, did attend Chicago's camp and was taken in the first round by Houston. Old Dominion's Cal Bowdler and Southwest Texas State's Jeff Foster played in Phoenix and Chicago and were selected in the first round.
"A lot of underclassmen have to play to improve themselves," said Jim Kelly, Toronto's director of scouting. "But if agents are satisfied with their guys being late first- or early second-round picks, then that's their business. This camp is set up to help the players."
Although scouts spent plenty of time on the road watching players during the season, the last impressions hold the most weight when it comes to draft positions. But that's why El-Amin could go to Chicago and outplay Barkley and Hofstra's Craig Claxton and move into the first round. The same is true of Collier, if he were to play better than Magloire, for example.
"All it takes is one good performance," Harris said. "Because a lot of guys decide not to play, it gives a guy a chance to play in front of all the GMs and coaches (other than the two teams in the Finals). Sure, you can get individual workouts, but a lot of teams hold more stock in the camps."
Banking on an individual workout is risky because those put a lot of pressure on the specific player. At the draft camp, scouts can scan a host of players, rather than focus on everything a player does -- for good or ill -- during an individual workout.
And that's why underclassmen such as Sasser and Redd have to be in Chicago to use it as a forum to prove they belong in the first round.
"Players who don't participate or are not invited to individual workouts by teams are merely reducing the number of times NBA teams will see them before the NBA draft," said Chris Ekstrand, who is an editorial consultant for the NBA. "In the past, several players who don't participate in the camp felt they would receive numerous invitations from NBA teams and in some cases they only received two or three and those teams didn't draft them. Since they reduced the number of times they can be seen, these players often end up being drafted later than expected or went undrafted all together."
Still debating
Texas junior center Chris Mihm is scheduled to have a press conference on Friday. There has been no indication on whether he'll turn pro or return for his senior season.
Mississippi State signee Mario Austin told ESPN.com on Monday that he should know by Friday if he'll declare for the draft. The 6-foot-8 Austin said he's eligible to play for the Bulldogs, but still may declare if his family backs him on the decision.
"There haven't been any agents involved, but if he's in the first round, he'll come out," Austin's Alabama Ice summer coach Ken Harris said. "He knows what he wants to do, but he's playing it safe and listening to everyone."
The problem is teams can't guarantee Austin will be a first-round pick because they don't know where they will select -- the draft order won't be released until May 21, a week after the early entry deadline. That forces high school seniors to choose cautiously in declaring, and may act as a deterrent in some cases.
Harris said Alabama signee and former Ice player Gerald Wallace will honor his commitment and attend Alabama. Wallace couldn't receive a guarantee that he would be a first-round pick. He is qualified academically to play.
"Who knows, he could stay one, two, three or even four years," Harris said.
Alvin Jones Sr., told ESPN.com that his son, Georgia Tech junior center Alvin Jones Jr., is still debating on whether to declare or not. A decision is due by Friday.
Sources close to Houston signee Alton Ford have told ESPN.com that he's leaning toward attending college, even if he's not eligible. But sources close to Cincinnati freshman point guard Kenny Satterfield said he's still checking to see if it's worth declaring for the draft. Satterfield has been told by scouts, GMs and coaches to stay in school, but he's still holding out hope someone will tell him that he could go in the first round.
"He's one of those kids who doesn't want to believe that he's not ready," said a source close to Satterfield.
Michigan assistant coach Scott Trost's worst fear came to light when Jamal Crawford entered his name into the draft (for the second straight year, but he missed the deadline last season and didn't get on the list). Trost said Crawford saw a lot of the names that were declaring and thought he could compete with them. Crawford still has two games left on his NCAA suspension if he returns to college. Crawford was one of those sleeper names that hadn't been talked about much as a possible early entry candidate. He could sneak into the first round if he plays in Chicago, according to a few NBA scouts.
There could be a few more that pop up when the list is released May 19, such as Barton County (Kan.)
College forward and former Fresno State forward Travis Robinson.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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