New pros are bigger, better, younger
NBA TEAMS, despite misgivings, can't keep from drafting players at an earlier age. The pros have joined college scouts in scouring high-school players across the country for the next Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant, and a record 34 college underclassmen, including five freshmen, are entered in Wednesday's NBA draft.
When Billy McKinney went to high school in Chicago in the early 1970s, few of his teammates could touch the rim, let alone dunk.
"It was a big deal if you could touch the rim," McKinney recalled, chuckling. "You had a couple of guys who could touch the rim or dunk."
He can't believe how times have changed.
"Now you go, and guys one through 12 can dunk the basketball," said McKinney, 45, executive vice president of the Sonics. "And players are getting bigger; they are getting better; they are getting stronger. They are getting more instruction at an early age."
Thus, NBA teams are drafting players at an earlier age.
As much hand-wringing as the league does about the trend of high-school players going from their proms to the pros, NBA teams scout high-school players almost as much as colleges do.
McKinney has sat in the high-school bleachers at gyms across the country because he, like all NBA executives, doesn't want to miss out on the next Kevin Garnett or Rashard Lewis.
"I'm not so sure we wouldn't be scouting grade-school kids if we could," Vancouver Grizzlies President Dick Versace said.
The consensus No. 1 pick for this year's draft, which is Wednesday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, appears to be Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati's senior forward.
But one of the two high school players who declared for the draft, Darius Miles of East St. Louis High, is expected to get consideration as the top pick overall.
The other, DeShawn Stevenson of Washington Union High in Fresno, Calif., almost certainly won't last beyond the first round.
And a record 34 underclassmen, including five freshmen and 15 sophomores, will be available in the NBA's annual event, which keeps getting younger and younger.
No more than 15 seniors are expected to be drafted, which would be the fewest ever.
Marty Blake, the NBA's draft guru, has dubbed it "the stars of tomorrow draft."
"It would be better for the league if everyone went to college," said Sonic General Manager Wally Walker, repeating the familiar refrain. "But the fact is we've learned that some of these kids are ready. And before they come out, we have to see them."
The Sonics have seen Stevenson in private workouts and are considering selecting the 6-foot-5 guard with their No. 1 pick, the 17th overall.
Initially, Stevenson planned to play for the Kansas Jayhawks, but he declared for the draft after failing to receive a qualifying SAT score.
Stevenson "is quite talented," McKinney said. "The question for us in looking at the possibility of drafting another high school player is: How long the wait?"
The wait was short with Lewis, the 20-year-old small forward who emerged as Seattle's second-best player during the playoffs.
Lewis entered the '98 draft out of Alief Elsik High in Alief, Texas. He cried on national television while his stock dropped. Finally, Seattle picked him at No. 32. But after only one full season, he is considered among the league's best young forwards.
The Chicago Bulls were one of the 28 teams that missed out on Lewis because they didn't think he was ready for the NBA. Instead, the Bulls used their 28th pick on guard Corey Benjamin, who left Oregon State after his sophomore season.
"(The draft) is much, much tougher because you're projecting," said Chicago General Manager Jerry Krause, who holds two of the top six picks in the draft and six of the first 34. "Now, you're looking at a lot of immature bodies, and have to project what they're going to look like down the road."
Teams can't project how soon a college underclassman or prep star will realize his potential, but they almost immediately recognize the enticing combination of world-class athleticism and burgeoning skill.
"From a physical standpoint, it kind of jumps out at you," McKinney said of high-school players. "When you see a Kevin Garnett play in high school or Jonathan Bender (the Indiana Pacers' No. 5 pick in 1999, from Toronto), you realize there are very few guys with that kind of athletic ability.
"These guys are very special. But now they come along every couple of years."
Before Garnett entered the 1995 draft, no player had gone from high school to the pros in 20 years. But since he made the jump, at least one high school player has been chosen in the first round each year. And only two of those nine players are no longer in the league.
Korleone Young is often raised as a cautionary tale for players who skip college for the draft. Young was another high-school player, along with Lewis, chosen in the 1998 draft, but the Philadelphia 76ers cut the second-round pick last year. He now plays for the Richmond Rhythm of the IBL, which pays its players between $32,000 and $50,000 a year.
There's also the case of last year's No. 29 pick, Leon Smith, a Chicago high-school prodigy who attempted suicide in November.
Nonetheless, most high-school players who skip college for the NBA have either found stunning success or seem headed that way.
Garnett is one of the league's premier players and has the richest contract in league history, worth $126 million. Kobe Bryant, perhaps the NBA's best shooting guard, just helped the Lakers win their first championship since 1988.
Toronto forward Tracy McGrady, a prize free agent this summer, is considered a future star. McGrady was chosen at No. 9 in 1997, going after such mediocre college players as Tony Battie (Boston Celtics) and Adonal Foyle (Golden State).
Even high-school stars like Bender (No. 5 in 1999), Al Harrington (No. 25 by Indiana in 1998) and Jermaine O'Neal (No. 17 by Portland in 1996) are considered extremely valuable to their teams despite their limited playing time.
Two of the 10 high-school players who made the jump since Garnett were not selected in the draft: Taj McDavid in 1996 and Ellis Richardson last year.
"The sad thing about today is if right away a guy can't get his grades to go to college right," McKinney said, "his next alternative is to jump to the NBA. It's almost like breathing."
Billy Hunter, the executive director of the NBA players association, countered: "If you don't think these players are ready, then don't draft them. It's that simple."
But NBA teams don't want to lose out on a future star. Even if a talented high-school player slipped through the first round, he would be enticing to an NBA team.
Second-round picks don't command a guaranteed contract, which is part of the reason the Sonics selected Lewis after his free fall.
"It was a low-risk, high-reward situation," said Walker, "where you don't have to make a long-term commitment, but you have a chance to develop him."
Lewis' development was so fast that the Sonics risk losing him this summer as a free agent.
To stem the tide of underclassmen and preps, the NBA is speeding up plans for a developmental league, which is expected to start next year in small cities.
One crucial deterrent to prep stars and college underclassmen declaring for the draft is the realization that they won't be taken in the first round, which comes with a three-year, guaranteed contract.
"I'm still scared to go straight out of high school," Miles told the St. Louis Dispatch. "But if you're a lottery pick, you can't do anything but go."
Last year, the league formed a committee to advise high-school players and college underclassmen where they are likely to be selected if entering the draft.
Seven college players and 12 players from foreign countries withdrew from the draft by last Wednesday's deadline. (The NCAA allows players to return to school if they haven't hired an agent.)
"This year, I got the impression that the advisers for the high-school kids did a pretty good job," Walker said. "They checked around."
The Sonics didn't bother checking out Miles, because the 6-9, 215-pound small forward may be chosen as high as No. 4, one of Chicago's picks.
Miles is considered a can't-miss prospect who possesses size (the wingspan of a 7-3 player), athleticism and, most of all, skills that belie his age.
Last summer, he attended Michael Jordan's basketball camp and blocked Jordan's shot - twice.
"I love Miles," Jordan told the Chicago Tribune recently. "I would take him with the No. 1 pick in a heartbeat."
After identifying the top high-school players, NBA teams focus on the ones most likely to leave college early if they go at all.
Next year's senior class has three players considered talented enough to be selected in the 2001 draft. Some scouts believe that one of them, Tyson Chandler, a 7-1 center from Dominguez High in Compton, Calif., would have been selected if he had entered this year's draft.
Is scouting grade-school kids next?
For now, the Sonics have regional scouts who attend high-school games throughout the year. David Pendergraft is a full-time scout in the Midwest who has national contacts with AAU and college coaches.
In late May, McKinney attended the junior basketball trials in Colorado Springs, where the best college freshmen and sophomores played. Scouts attend the event in preparation for the following draft.
But more and more players bolt for the NBA after only one season in college.
Last year, Corey Maggette stunned Duke when he declared for the NBA after a freshman season as a reserve. Maggette was still selected No. 13 by the Sonics, who traded him to the Orlando Magic in a prearranged deal.
Jamal Crawford, former Rainier Beach High star, left Michigan after playing 17 games in his freshman season. Because of his alluring upside, however, the 6-5 guard isn't expected to last beyond the middle of the first round.
"It would be very difficult to pass on him if he is there," McKinney said.
Having seen Crawford numerous times, McKinney knows the former Wolverine has no problem grabbing the rim.
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Early entrants
After 19 players who had previously declared as early-entry candidates for NBA Draft 2000 withdrew their names, 29 college and high school players and eight international prospects remain as early-entry candidates.
College and high school candidates
Player School Ht Year
Erick Barkley St. John's 6-1 Soph.
Ernest Brown Indian Hills CC (Iowa) 7-0 Soph.
Schea Cotton Alabama 6-6 Soph.
Jamal Crawford Michigan 6-5 Fr.
Joshua Cross Southern Illinois 6-5 Jr.
Kaniel Dickens Idaho 6-8 Jr.
Keyon Dooling Missouri 6-3 Soph.
Khalid El-Amin Connecticut 5-10 Jr.
Steve Eldridge Henderson State (Ak.) 6-10 Jr.
Marcus Fizer Iowa State 6-8 Jr.
Donnell Harvey Florida 6-8 Fr.
Corey Hightower Indian Hills CC (Iowa) 6-7 Soph.
Rashaad Hine Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5-10 Jr.
Jimmie Hunter Life 6-4 Jr.
DerMarr Johnson Cincinnati 6-9 Fr.
Mark Karcher Temple 6-5 Jr.
Andre Mahorn Utah State 6-6 Jr.
Paul McPherson DePaul 6-5 Jr.
Chris Mihm Texas 7-0 Jr.
Darius Miles East St. Louis HS (Ill.) 6-9 HS Sr.
Mike Miller Florida 6-8 Soph.
Jerome Moiso UCLA 6-10 Soph.
Joel Przybilla Minnesota 7-1 Soph.
Michael Redd Ohio State 6-6 Jr.
Quentin Richardson DePaul 6-5 Soph.
JaRon Rush UCLA 6-7 Soph.
DeShawn Stevenson Washington Union HS (Calif.) 6-5 HS Sr.
Stromile Swift LSU 6-9 Soph.
Derrick Worrell Pittsburgh 6-7 Jr.
International candidates
Player School Ht Born
Alexios Amanatidis Zevrosenko Olympiakos (Greece) 7-1 1979
Dalibor Bagaric Benston Zagreb (Croatia) 7-1 1980
Primoz Brezec Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) 7-0 1979
David Mushkodiani Academic Sofia (Georgia) 6-10 1980
Stevan Nadjfeji Beobanka (Yugoslavia) 6-7 1979
Olumide Oyedeji DJK Wurzburg (Germany) 6-11 1981
Iakovos Tsakalidis AEK (Greece) 7-2 1979
Hidayet Turkoglu Efes Pilsen (Turkey) 6-8 1979
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Sonic hits and misses
The Sonics not been hesitant to take early entry players in the draft, selecting Shawn Kemp, Derrick McKey and Rashard Lewis, among others. Sonics' early entry selections:
Year Player Yr. School Round (overall)
1984 Cory Blackwell Jr. Wisconsin 2nd (28)
Played just one season with the Sonics, averaging 3.4 points.
1986 Michael Graham -- Georgetown 4th (76)
Graham, who left Hoyas after '84, didn't make Sonics' roster.
1987 Derrick McKey Jr. Alabama 1st (9th)
Six years with Sonics, averaged at least 13 points last 5 seasons.
1989 Shawn Kemp Fr. Trinity Valley JC 1st (17th)
Led Sonics to Finals in '96, then forced trade to Cleveland.
1994 Dontonio Wingfield Fr. Cincinnati 2nd (37th)
Played in just 20 games for Sonics.
1997 Mark Blount So. Pittsburgh 2nd (55th)
Didn't make team.
1998 Rashard Lewis -- Alief Elsik (Texas) HS 2nd (32nd)
Came into his own last season, key player in Sonics' future.
Jelani McCoy Jr. UCLA 2nd (33rd)
Sonics hope McCoy and Vladimir Stepania are the answer in middle.
1999 Corey Maggette Fr. Duke 1st (13th)
Traded with three players to Orlando for Horace Grant and picks.
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Preps to pros
Darius Miles and DeShawn Stevenson are the two latest high school stars hoping to take their games to the NBA. Each is expected to be taken in the first round of the draft, Miles perhaps in the top five picks. High school players who have applied for the NBA draft:
Year Player High school NBA team Chosen
1975 Darryl Dawkins Evans (Orlando, Fla.) Philadelphia 1st (5th)
Bill Willoughby Dwight Morrow (Englewood, N.J.) Atlanta 2nd
1995 Kevin Garnett Farragut Academy (Chicago) Minnesota 1st (5th)
1996 Kobe Bryant Lower Merion (Pa.) Charlotte 1st (13th)
Jermaine O'Neal Eau Claire (Columbia, S.C) Portland 1st (17th)
Taj McDavid Palmetto (Anderson, S.C.) Not drafted
1997 Tracy McGrady Mount Zion Academy (Durham, N.C.) Toronto 1st (9th)
1998 Al Harrington St. Patrick's (Elizabeth, N.J.) Indiana 1st (25th)
Rashard Lewis Alief Elsik (Houston) Seattle 2nd (32nd)
Korleone Young Hargrave Academy (Chatham, Va.) Detroit 2nd (40th)
Ellis Richardson Polytechnic (Sun Valley, Calif.) Not drafted
1999 Jonathan Bender Picayune (Miss.) Toronto 1st (5th)
Leon Smith Martin Luther King (Chicago) San Antonio 1st (29th)
2000 Darius Miles East St. Louis (Ill.)
DeShawn Stevenson Washington Union (Fresno, Calif.)
Notes: From 1971-75, high school and college underclassmen could apply for a hardship entry into the NBA draft. Since 1976, they have applied under the early entry rule. Moses Malone went from high school to the American Basketball Association before jumping to the NBA.
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Order of draft
The order of selection for teh NBA Draft to be held Wednesday at the Target Center inMinneapolis:
Round 1
1. New Jersey
2. Vancouver
3. L.A. Clippers
4. Chicago
5. Orlando (from Golden State)
6. Atlanta
7. Chicago (from Washington)
8. Cleveland
9. Houston
10. Orlando (from Denver)
11. Boston
12. Dallas
13. Orlando
14. Detroit
15. Milwaukee
16. Sacramento
17. Seattle
18. L.A. Clippers (from Toronto via Atl., Phil. and N.Y.)
19. Charlotte
20. Philadelphia
21. Toronto (from Minnesota)
22. New York
23. Utah (from Miami)
24. Chicago (from San Antonio)
25. Phoenix
26. Utah
27. Indiana
28. Portland
29. L.A. Lakers