| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Give Connecticut junior point guard Khalid El-Amin credit for being
one of the few underclassmen to figure out that showing up to the Chicago pre-draft camp
can secure your status as a first-round pick in the NBA draft.
Instead of blowing off the camp this week at Chicago's Moody Bible
Institute like most of the early entrants, El-Amin will be on the
court when the camp begins with drills Tuesday night and concludes with the
final round of games Friday night.
|  | | Khalid El-Amin is out to prove he's worthy of being a first-round pick. |
"He cherishes the opportunity to compete," Connecticut coach Jim
Calhoun said. "He knows he's not a lock and that he's somewhere between 18
and 40. He made the decision to go play in the games. That's what he does
best. Some guys are good at drills in workouts but he's far and away the
best at games once the ball is thrown up."
El-Amin is one of the top seven point guards available in the draft.
But his stock slid when more underclassmen declared, such as Missouri's Keyon
Dooling, St. John's Erick Barkley, Michigan's Jamal Crawford and SMU's Jeryl
Sasser.
But El-Amin has a chance to showcase his skills, or at least prove that he's more
worthy of a first-round pick by outplaying the senior points in Chicago. He
may also get a chance to play against at Crawford if he goes through with
his plans to play in Chicago. Sasser could have been another challenge for El-Amin, but an ankle injury will keep him in Dallas. But El-Amin is ready, no matter what.
"He told me he's in the best shape of his life," Calhoun said.
"What the scouts need to see is him make the great plays that he's made over
a long period of time. He can shoot the basketball well and he's one of the
best point guards in the country."
But heading into the camp, El-Amin has to prove to teams in search
of a point guard (Orlando, Chicago, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit, Sacramento,
Philadelphia and Toronto come to mind) that he's worthy of being a first-round pick. The consensus
going into Chicago has El-Amin behind Michigan State senior Mateen Cleaves,
Barkley, Dooling, Crawford, Hofstra senior Craig Claxton and Sasser (should he stay in past the June 21 withdrawal deadline). Indiana
senior A.J. Guyton and Ohio State senior Scoonie Penn are vying for
first-round status, too.
If El-Amin can show scouts that he's in shape, has a decent shot, a
hard-nosed work ethic and tenacity on defense, he can move up into the
first round. Crawford has to prove he can play both point and shooting
guard and that his decision-making isn't a question. Sasser's ballhandling
at the point for a 6-foot-7 player has to be an asset, not a hindrance.
Ohio State junior guard Michael Redd, Temple junior
forward Mark Karcher, Florida freshman forward Donnell Harvey, Providence
junior center Karim Shabazz, Indian Hills (CC) guard Cory Hightower and
center Ernest Brown, Alabama sophomore Schea Cotton and Life University (NAIA) guard Jimmie Hunter are the other underclassmen expected to participate in Chicago.
Harvey goes in to the camp with the best shot to be a first-round
pick out of this group because of his size and hunger for rebounding. A
strong showing can lock up a late first-round slot. Karcher needs to prove he's a consistent defender and a decent enough ballhandler to be taken in the first.
"If he's goes there in great condition and shows everybody he can play
defense on the ball then he'll help himself," Temple assistant Dean
Demopoulos said. "He's got a long history of scoring and offensively there
shouldn't be any questions."
Demopoulos is under the impression that Karcher isn't just using this time as a test of his draft status, and that he won't return to Temple.
Redd has already said he won't come back but he better shoot well in
Chicago or he'll fall into the second round.
Brown is a second-round pick who can hold on to that slot just by taking up space and limiting his mistakes. Hightower is a scorer who needs to prove that he can do that against top-notch competition in Chicago to sneak into the first round. Questions of health and consistency surround Cotton. Hunter needs to prove he can score in the NBA just to get into the second round. Shabazz
doesn't appear to be ready for the NBA, but a breakout performance could
tantalize someone to take him in the second round. He's 7-2, which alone
makes him a palatable pick.
But plenty of other players are making mistakes by not
participating in Chicago.
Kentucky senior center Jamaal Magloire and Georgia Tech senior
center Jason Collier had a chance to sneak up into the late lottery with
exceptional performances. Instead, they will probably fall to the latter
part of the first round without a recent gauge on their play. Auburn senior
center Mamadou N'diaye could have locked up a lottery spot if he came to
Chicago and shined.
Dooling has been advised not to play and will take his chances on
being a middle to late first-round pick. Utah senior forward Hanno Möttölä
will only attend the physicals to prove to scouts that his elbow and wrist problems from
last season have healed.
Nigerian forward Olumide Oyedeji could still go as high as No. 12
with Dallas but he has chosen not to play this week. Greek center Iakovos
Tsakalidis is expected to play and could lock up a lottery spot. So, too,
could Greek forward Antonio Fotsis. NBA teams are buzzing about Fotsis lately, and if he plays well in Chicago, he could go anywhere from No. 12 to 29.
Two of the players making the biggest mistake by not showing up are
UCLA sophomore JaRon Rush and freshman Jason Kapono. Both players are
marginal first-round picks and could have secured positions had they played
well in Chicago. Instead, they will rely on their potential and private workouts to land in the first round.
While the majority of underclassmen are convinced they will go in
the first round regardless of showing up in Chicago, a number of players
could sneak past them with strong showings. Players like Louisiana-Monroe's
Mike Smith, the MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational, St. Bonaventure's
Caswell Cyrus, Arizona State's Eddie House, Penn State's Jarrett Stephens or
Stanford's Mark Madsen all have a chance.
The draft camp ends Friday night with physicals conducted Saturday
through Monday for the campers and the higher-profile players who arrive late.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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