AKRON, Ohio — If the NBA Draft is your thing, you can start getting excited. This is the week, after all, when the draft talk begins to take a serious turn.
First is the D-League mini-camp in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday. It features some of the top minor-league talent, all in one gymnasium, strutting their stuff in front of general managers and scouts.
Many will emerge as members of summer-league rosters in early July — and perhaps on training camp rosters in late September/early October.
Then comes the draft combine, also in Chicago. It takes place Thursday and Friday, and while there’s very little actual basketball, the top prospects can improve (or hurt) their stock via drills based on raw athleticism.
Among the potential lottery picks invited to the combine: Indiana center/power forward Cody Zeller, Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore, Lehigh combo guard C.J. McCullom, Georgetown small forward Otto Porter and Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams.
Also invited but not participating because of injuries: Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel (knee) and Maryland center Alex Len (ankle).
Noel, Zeller and McLemore have all been mentioned as the potential No. 1 overall pick.
Meanwhile, Porter may be the fastest-rising prospect, surfacing as a classic small forward who can do a little bit of everything well — score, rebound and defend.
Porter possesses a funky-looking jumper, his elbow out to the side and the ball released from the top of his head. But that hasn’t deterred scouts. They’re paying more attention to the fact he averaged 16.2 points while shooting 48 percent from the field (including 42 percent on 3-pointers) and grabbed 7.5 rebounds.
Then there's McCullom. He's a lot like current Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry in that both are products of small colleges (Curry played at Davidson), both are viewed as “combo” guards and both shined during the NCAA tournament.
McCullom, however, missed the previous tourney with a broken foot. Still, scouts think his all-around game will go over well at the next level.
"My draft stock is still pretty good right now,” McCollum said in a conference call last month. “It'll be better when I get back on the court and show teams that the injury hasn't fazed me, and I've actually gotten stronger and improved aspects of my game.”
McCullom, a teammate of Denver Nuggets center Kosta Koufos at Canton (Ohio) GlenOak High School, will now get that chance in front of NBA scouts — as will many other prospects like him.
And yes, that includes Ohio State forward DeShaun Thomas, projected to go anywhere from the late first to early second round of the draft.
D-League days
Ten players with NBA experience were invited to participate in the D-League mini-camp, which will be directed by nine D-League coaches. The coaches will put the players through a variety of drills and exercises.
Among the bigger names who have spent time in the NBA:
Guards Lester Hudson (Austin Toros), Josh Selby (Maine Red Claws) and Kyle Weaver (Canton Charge); forward Justin Harper (Idaho Stampede); and centers Mickell Gladness (Santa Cruz Warriors) and Keith Benson (Erie BayHawks).
Also invited was former University of Dayton forward Chris Johnson, most recently of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Lottery luck?
A big day is approaching for teams that failed to make the NBA playoffs. That would be none other than the day of the draft lottery, scheduled for Tuesday, May 21, at 8:30 p.m.
After finishing with the league’s worst record, the Orlando Magic enter the lottery with the greatest odds of winning (25 percent). The Magic are followed by the Charlotte Bobcats (19.9 percent), Cleveland Cavaliers (15.6), Phoenix Suns (11.9) and New Orleans Pelicans (8.8), respectively.
The bad news for the Magic: Since the lottery’s introduction in 1985, the team with the worst record has won just four times.
The good news: The Magic once pulled the biggest upset in lottery history, landing the No. 1 pick in 1993 despite have just a 1.5-percent chance of winning.
Twitter: @SamAmicoFSO
