On the Stove Top: NBA Draft Talk

Today Trevon Hughes participated in his third pre-draft workout of the month, this time for the Indiana Pacers. On Friday, Hughes joined five others in working out for the Charlotte Bobcats, who do not have a pick in this year's draft.

Prior to that, Hughes had worked out with the Sacramento Kings on June 3 and the Milwaukee Bucks in May.

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It's been a while since I touched on the Milwaukee Bucks here, but they made headlines today. Following the (expected) revelation that John Salmons will opt out of his contract this month, Milwaukee has reportedly shipped Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell to the Warriors in exchange for Corey Maggette.

Seems like another Richard Jefferson experiment to me. What is John Hammond thinking? Maggette is just another me-first wing player who came off the bench 20+ times for a 26-win Golden State team. Sure, Milwaukee is getting a player with actual skills, but the trade only saves money for one season since Maggette has three years of bloated salary remaining on his deal. Oh, and he can't shoot threes either.

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Badger Duo Wraps Up Summer League

In each of the past two seasons, a fifth-year senior has finished off a remarkable career in a Wisconsin uniform and embarked on a journey to the NBA. One was drafted in the first round and one was not drafted at all. Yet both Alando Tucker and Brian Butch have faced similar scrutiny regarding their skills and potential to contribute on the next level after college.

In both cases, the road began in the NBA's Summer League, where both players have suited up again this year. By Sunday night, the final games were in the books for each team.

Although he has been away from the fold for over a year now, Tucker is still trying to claim a foothold in the NBA. Sent back and forth between "the association" and the D-League more times than a utility infielder in baseball, Tucker flashed scoring ability in spades against lower levels of competition, but never crack the talented Phoenix lineup with the stingy Mike D'antoni at the helm. Who knows what the Suns can expect with Terry Porter now coaching, but some hope for 'Do to finally get his break.

The summer league numbers were, once again, promising. Tucker led the Suns in scoring four out of five games, including an impressive 24 points in less than 20 minutes of playing time in a win versus the Spurs.

He is obviously not passing the ball a lot (or well enough to get assists, that is) but his shooting percentages on 3-pointers (44%) and free throws (80%) jump off the page at you, earning him the label "Mr. Efficiency" from TrueHoop. Clearly, Tucker has enhanced his already considerable drive to improve himself. He will need that drive to prove he is not a one-dimensional player.

Meanwhile, Butch faces much steeper odds this time of year after going undrafted. The silver lining, of course is that Butch can workout for multiple teams that may see a need for the big man's shooting touch. First came summer ball with "O.J. Mayo's Team" (Memphis) in Las Vegas, where Butch posted meager numbers with two DNPs sprinkled in between. After five games and just over 28 total minutes played, Butch is still looking for his first 3-point bucket.

Because Butch played for Memphis, he appears to have relinquished his spot with Atlanta in the Rocky Mountain Revue league which just started over the weekend. Butch is not on a roster for that six-day league hosted by Utah.

Other players of note in the official NBA Summer League include Kyle Weaver (Charlotte), Jonte Flowers (Detroit), former UW-Milwaukee star Clay Tucker (Cleveland), and the newest members of the Milwaukee Bucks, Joe Alexander and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

The "other" Tucker was solid for the Cavs though they lost all five games, but Flowers hardly saw the floor. Weaver's most impressive play and extended playing time came in his team's three losses.

As for Alexander, a modest start is a safe way to label his summer play so far. He showed a diversified skill set, but also suffered through a couple of tough shooting nights. It is too soon to judge him. Same goes for Mbah a Moute, whom I will refer to as LRMaM from now on. LrMaM put up some nice rebounding stats and chipped in some points as well. I hope I am wrong about that pick, especially in light of the latest "upgrades" to the Bucks roster. Who gets traded first: Mo Williams or Charlie Villanueva?

Free agent Matt Freije of Vanderbilt fame lit it up off the bench for Milwaukee's summer squad. With a glaring hole at PF for the Bucks, it's too bad the 6'10" Freije only weighs 240 and is allergic to rebounding.

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Links:
- Sadly, Joe Krabbenhoft reaffirms his love of Minnesota sports [video]
- With Wisconsin scholarships full through 2010, 2011 will likely be the next big recruiting class for the Badgers. One region that is already loaded with top freshmen is Indiana. Both The Hoosier Scoop and Jody Demling comment on the rising stars, Marquis Teague in particular. Bo Ryan probably won't go into such hostile Big Ten territory, but with so many good players, he shouldn't rule it out.

Moving On and Moving Up

While ESPN's Andy Katz had a nice article last week on Brian Butch's progress rehabbing from his gruesome elbow injury, word came out today that Butch missed the cut for Team USA's Pan Am Games roster. Although I thought a month ago that his outside shooting and rebounding might have been an asset to the squad, maybe the fact that Butch may not be 100% recovered yet played into his performance at the tryouts.

Regardless, there were five big men chosen among the 14 finalists, with the roster to be trimmed down to 12 in the coming days. Beloit's very own Kyle Weaver made the cut, along with Washington State teammate Derrick Low, so it looks like the committee was putting value in team chemistry. Drew Neitzel was an obvious choice, but Tennessee's Chris Lofton was a surprising omission. I love that they stuck Eric Maynor on the team as well.

While Butch will be moving on in his rehab instead of playing ball in Brazil this month, Alando Tucker has managed to shine occasionally in NBA summer league action. With one game left to play today, Tucker is the leading scorer on the Suns, averaging over 18 ppg in four games. Unfortunately, the Suns only won once. I was able to catch the first Phoenix game live on NBA.com, but joined late and didn't see much of Tucker. You can actually watch the entire Phoenix-Philly game in which Tuck poured in 29 points on NBA TV. From the highlights, his shooting looks more fluid and he appears comfortable as an NBA 2-guard. But it's only summer league, right? I can't wait to see him lace'm up for real this fall.

Tucker Is Desert-Bound

Alando Tucker's pro career will begin in the same locale that launched Wisconsin's previous career scoring leader: Phoenix.

Congratulations to Tucker for being selected by the Suns with the 29th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, becoming the fifth Badger to ever be selected in the first round. Michael Finley was also drafted by the Suns after his senior season, with the 21st pick back in 1995. By sneaking into the top 30 picks, Tucker will sign a guaranteed contract with Phoenix. In addition, the Suns ain't a bad team. A fun style of ball to play, too, wouldn't you say?

Draft day saw a number of significant moves take place, but so far, Yi Jianlian is still a Milwaukee Buck. Pity. He was one of two players I absolutely wanted to avoid at the No. 6 spot. I knew Mike Conley would be gone, but I was holding out hope for Jeff Green until the Boston-Seattle trade was announced. Word was the Celtics had interest in Yi. Then GM Larry Harris passed on Corey Brewer -- yeah, another year of soft players and no defense!

For now, the Milwaukee motto will be straight outta the Bible: "Seek Yi First" ... print up the T-shirts now!!

It's About Time

Tonight's title is appropriate on two major fronts. First of all, I'm taking a break from studying accounting to make my first post in 15 days. It's not like nothing has been going on in sports, just nothing that shook the earth so much as to invade my tightly-packed schedule in these busiest of days.

But secondly (and more importantly), I join all Wisconsin basketball fans in taking pleasure that Michael Finley has won his first NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs. In his twelfth NBA season, Finley reached arguably the apex of his career while scoring a career-low 9 ppg during the season.

Finley also played a career low 1,823 minutes, which isn't too surprising considering the club for which he now plays. As much as the nickname is tossed about, this man truly deserves to be called "Iron Mike" for the minutes he has logged over the years. He currently sits 70th all time on the NBA's list of most minutes played and will wind up in the top 40 with about three more decent seasons like he had this year. That type of list is understandably littered with centers and power forwards, but we might soon find Finley in the company of wing players like Clyde Drexler, Jerry West and Alex English, above even Larry Bird. The former Badger's pro career has been one worthy of admiration. Especially since he has accepted a lesser, contributing role with a champ after laying the foundation for for years with another Western Conference juggernaut along the way. We forget what a beast Finley was during the 2002 playoffs with Dallas.

I do not hesitate to dub him the "best Badger ever." Consider Finley's NBA career in that discussion. Or don't. It doesn't matter. It's just the truth. The bar is set pretty high, Alando. Shoot for it.

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Speaking of Tucker, if I'm not going to keep you up to date with his comings and goings on the pre-draft circuit, I might as well point you to someone who gets paid to: Dave Heller. Heller's UW and the Big Ten blog at JSOnline includes a wide range of Badger info, but he's got all Alando's tryout appearances nailed down. The Sporting News also had Tucker going 19th to the Lakers in a mock draft published in its latest issue. Senior writer Sean Deveney cites a correction in Tucker's shooting form:

"In May, trainers found a slight flaw in Tucker's mechanics. He has been shooting the ball well since, which fixes the main concern about his NBA potential--his inconsistent perimeter game."

Then again, Deveney also has Tucker going 24th to Phoenix in Version 3.0 of his online mock draft. Go figure. He also has been fooled into thinking 'Do can play some point a the next level.

The thinning of the draft field on Monday (ESPN's Andy Katz analyzes) probably did not affect Tucker in any way. Let's just hope he avoids a situation that might land him on a "bust" list. Keep your fingers crossed for Tucker on June 28.

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The next crop of freshmen to hit the Big Ten next fall have the marquee name (Eric Gordon) and the highly-rated depth to make the top of the conference very powerful over the next few seasons. Four of the top 15 recruiting classes for 2007 belong to Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana and Michigan State, respectively, according to Rivals.com. Wisconsin is listed as bringing in the "sleeper class" of the league, one that focuses on big men rather than the highlighted influx of guard talent.

I cannot find anyway around calling Indiana the team to beat this coming season. I really see them becoming scary good under Kelvin Sampson. They lose two exceptional shooters and yet return two more that are just as good, not to mention the frosh.

A Pair of Badgers Get Some Respect

It looks like being a mature, likable, well-spoken, four-year player with big dreams does pay off.

On Monday, Converse signed Alando Tucker to a shoe contract worth at least one million dollars. So even though Tucker does not appear to be a lock to get drafted in the first round, he is already going to be one of the first athletes in his draft class to get paid (insert Ohio State joke here). That is simply unheard of in NBA circles. He joins Dwyane Wade as non-smoking, non-drinking basketball spokesmen for Converse, which is actually owned by Nike.

Even on his worst days this past season, Badger fans could tell that Tucker was the heart and soul of the Wisconsin basketball team because of his leadership on and off the court, and his interaction with teammates, coaches, fans and the media. It's nice to see a good person be rewarded for being just that -- a good person. Well, and a very good basketball player.

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Speaking of honors, Brian Butch was recently one of 30 college players invited to the USA team trials to be held July 12-14 for the 2007 Pan American Games. When I finally looked at the list of invitees, it reflected quite well on the state of basketball in the state of Wisconsin.

Along with Butch, two other players on that list hail from a Wisconsin high school. Washington State's Kyle Weaver is from Beloit and Marquette's Wesley Matthews played his prep ball at Madison Memorial. Only two other states can boast as much talent in the pool: Illinois and Maryland.

Of course, there is a difference between being invited to compete and actually being selected for the team. As has been mentioned on Badger message boards, Butch is one of only two centers invited to try out. When you think about it, isn't Brian Butch exactly the type of player USA Basketball would want in an international competition. Sure, Butch's athletic shortcomings are well-documented, but the guy can really shoot. I think he has a great shot at making the team, and that is coming from the self-proclaimed "Sports Pessimist."

As for Weaver and Matthews, though, the competition is a bit tougher. Weaver is still diversifying and strengthening his offensive game so he would have to make the team in a defensive stopper role. He's one of the better defenders on the list, but you'd expect the staff to select someone who could score more consistently. Matthews, on the other hand, does a lot of things well, but nothing great. The team will almost certainly have dead-eye shooters like Chris Lofton, Drew Neitzel and Jon Scheyer, in addition to some pure scorers. When you add in the necessary bangers and board men down low, a couple of true point guards and maybe one or two straight-up freak athletes, Matthews will likely be weeded out.

Fellow Golden Eagle Jerel McNeal would seem to have a better shot at the team, again because of his defense. In all, three players from Wisconsin colleges were invited to the team trials, a number matched by Washington (Wash/Wazzou) and Tennessee (Memphis/Tenn/Vandy), and surpassed by only -- you guessed it -- North Carolina (Duke/UNC/NC St.).

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Now I wish Tucker had gone to the NBA's Orlando Pre-draft camp, just to see his workout numbers. No surprise here: Mike Conley Jr. was the fastest guy in camp. Somehow they manage to rate the value of each category and concluded that Conley was the fourth-best prospect based on measureables. Carl Landry performed well and was rated fifth, mostly because he is wicked strong on the bench press (21 reps at 185 lbs. tied him for second most) and pretty quick too. The top dog according the ratings was Maryland's D.J. Strawberry, so take them with a grain of salt. I know you will.

Feel free to check out the body fat % on the future No. 1 draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Gearing Up For Draft Day

Today was the final day of the NBA's official pre-draft camp in Orlando. Neither of Wisconsin's standout seniors, Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor, were in attendance. While Taylor was uninvited, Tucker may have caught some fans off guard by turning down his invitation to the camp.

But don't take their absences for inactivity. Both players have been hitting the gym to hone their skills in the meantime.

The general consensus was that Tucker could not have improved his stock much by attending the camp and possibly exposing weaknesses to a wide audience. After a hot start in his final season, Tucker was being mentioned as a player of the year candidate in addition to seeing his draft stock rise into the lottery area. However, despite an overall stellar senior campaign, Tucker cooled considerably heading into the off-season. Tucker worked out with a few other top prospects in Chicago this week, but his shooting still is not impressive, according to the player evaluation on DraftExpress.com. In it's latest mock draft, Draft Express lists Tucker falling into the second round.

Due to trades, several quality teams will be drafting near the top of the second round. This would seem to be an ideal situation for a mature player like Tucker, who might be able to find a niche contributing off the bench with his athleticism and hustle right away. The potential for more playing time would come with a lesser team, but often those type of teams are in such disarray that players get lost in a shuffle of mismanagement and a losing environment.

Conversely, Taylor is not on the NBA's draft radar, to the surprise of few. However, a very complimentary paragraph about Taylor appears on a different DraftExpress report. Taylor had been working out with a few Purdue and Ohio State players, including Greg Oden and Carl Landry, at the Champions Academy in Zionsville, Ind. Landry (who also shattered a backboard), termed the workout "a Big Ten reunion."

This is the first year in which draft hopefuls were not allowed to work out privately for NBA clubs prior to the Orlando Pre-Draft Camp. Starting June 5, players can begin those individual workouts for teams.

Tis the Season ... for Ping Pong Balls

Tomorrow night, ESPN will broadcast the 2007 NBA Draft Lottery before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. The pathetic Milwaukee Bucks own 156 of the 1,000 ping pong balls, yet are "most likely" to grab the fifth overall pick based on the probabilities of all possible draft orders. This could present a dangerous potential collision between Milwaukee's bad judgment and Florida junior Joakim Noah.

Barring another miracle, however, the Bucks should be in prime position for a forward-type along the lines of Al Horford, Brandan Wright, Corey Brewer or Julian Wright. I think the best player available would be a great approach considering the injury-plagued 2006-07 season. Whatever needs they cannot address through the draft may be able to be solved via free agency. Milwaukee has a number of expiring contracts to play with.

The lottery won't affect Alando Tucker's future destination. He's been slotted as a late-round draft choice in most mock drafts. Tucker has reportedly signed on with BDA Sports Management, home to current NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Yao Ming. Greg Oden has also signed on with BDA after a merger with Mike Conley Sr.'s MMG Sports earlier this month.

Between the draft lottery and the premiere of National Bingo Night, tiny plastic ball stock is waaa-y up in May.

Stepping To The Next Level, Part I

Kam Taylor probably needed to make a strong impression at the Portsmouth Invitational to have a shot at a pro career. Even though this particular pre-draft tournament has lost its appeal to top prospects, it still attracts a number of players in Kam's position--seniors who need to secure their status as a draftable commodity or maybe even work their way into a European contract.

Matthew Maurer of The Draft Review had this to say on NBADraft.net regarding Kam's performance in Virginia:

"The Wisconsin Badger who had a solid NCAA tournament shot the ball extremely well off the dribble here and even showed impressive leaping ability on an alley oop dunk. Taylor failed to show that he can play the point guard position though."

Maurer is no household name, so take that info with a grain of salt. More than one source, however, listed Purdue's Carl Landry as impressing the scouts.

Alando Tucker was not present, so Badger fans will have to wait and see how much he can improve (solidify?) his current value in the minds of assorted NBA brass. On most sites, Tucker is being projected as a late first-round draft pick, though he is one of the top five prospects in this year's senior class. Darn those underclassmen declaring early--they are costing 'Do some dough!

For what it's worth, here are two Tucker draft profiles:
Draft Express | NBADraft.net

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Kevin Durant, on the other hand, is now officially signed, sealed and all-but delivered as one of the first two draft picks in June. Analysts are comparing the wiry Texas frosh to Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion and Carmelo Anthony.

Expect Durant to post rookie numbers more gaudy than those of McGrady or Garnett, but slightly less impressive than Anthony's. My thinking is that Durant, at 6'10 and 220 lbs., has a body most like Garnett, who entered the league an inch (or two) taller at the same weight. Both Garnett and McGrady (6'8"/210) were similar to Durant in that they were freaky athletic but rail thin. But like 'Melo, Durant also has one year in college under his belt, which neither McGrady or KG did.

Athleticism aside, Durant's game really is a combination of:
(1) Anthony's mid-range game and ability to take over a game,
(2) Marion's outside shooting and rebounding ability,
(3) McGrady's ball-handling and creativity, and ...
(4) a dash of Garnett's enthusiasm.

I even did some research, which I will post tomorrow. Bear with me.

Knicks Call Up Center from Double-A Lexington

First, a tangent. Congrats to Alando Tucker for being named to the AP's All-American First Team on Monday. Shame on those eight writers who did not vote Tucker a first-teamer on their ballots. Judging from the vote tallies, 'Do will also come up short in the Player of the Year voting. He had the second-highest vote total behind Kevin Durant, who was a unanimous selection. No matter. It is a great honor to cap Tucker's fantastic season.

As for the New York Knicks, their latest signing reminds me of an NHL move. Instead of junior hockey, however, the newest Knickerbocker comes directly from college basketball. Randolph Morris just completed his junior season with the Kentucky Wildcats, leading the team in points, rebounds and blocks. Morris was one of Tubby Smith's most highly-touted recruits at Kentucky, but never developed into a dominant college player. He declared for the draft after his freshman season, but was not selected. The 6'11" Morris became a free agent, as an NBA rule barred him from re-entering the draft.

Techinically, Morris could have signed with any team at any point in the past two seasons. Only the Knicks -- they of infinite wisdom, unmatched desperation, and boundless bankroll -- found a need for the middle-of-the-road big man this soon. Although Morris did not play in Monday's game, he could conceivably play for New York any day now. I'll admit that Morris doesn't quite seem to fit in with the rest of New York's roster. No, not his age (several Knicks are only a year and a half older). Could it be? Oh yes, his forthcoming 2007 salary! C'mon Isaiah, throw the guy a bone!

For some reason I'm fascinated by this unique occurrence. I surprised this hasn't happened sooner, specificly involving a young guard who has declared too early. It would not surprise me at all to see a situation like this happen again in the next 5-6 years involving a more high-profile player. All it would take is some bad advice from someone a rising basketball star trusts. The hoops universe has plenty of that unfortunately. Just imagine the kid going undrafted and then somehow working harder and blowing up the next season. If more than one NBA team ran into significant injuries during the playoff push, *POOF* ... you have a bidding war.


More good stuff:
- Rick Pitino has no interest in returning to Lexington. Top candidates are listed.
- If you thought UW's season ended badly, see the incredible video of how it ended for Michael Flowers' brother Jonte and another LaFollette alum in the NCAA D2 Championship Game.
- I told you so: the Badger women are the Wolverines of the WNIT. Michigan is jealous. Ed. note: UW won, then lost in the finals.
- Madison's Abundant Life scores mild postseason honors, Memorial sweeps awards: Boys and Girls All-City Teams (commit the name Marquis Mason of Madison East to memory).

Badgers Bow Out

It is a sad day. We will never see Alando Tucker play in a Wisconsin uniform again.

Tucker couldn't put UW on his back this time. Falling behind by double-digits in the first half yet again is not a good idea against an underrated UNLV team with a chip on its shoulder. How can the Badgers come out so flat yet again? Is Bo Ryan partly to blame? Someone brought up a good point on the Badgermaniac message board about Bo's pattern of starting his upperclassmen: if Jason Chappell is so worthless, doesn't it benefit the team to avoid early deficits by playing your better players right away? The good news is that Chappell's scholarship is now free for the first time in five years.

Once again, Tucker's supporting cast seemed hesitant to feed him the ball in the post. That is an unfathomable outcome considering the team's current makeup and low 3-pt shooting percentage. With Krabbenhoft missing bunny after bunny and going "small" to match-up with the UNLV better, it is surprising the Badgers took a lead at all in this one.

Moving forward, Flowers has got to stay on the floor next year. Admittedly, I did not research this at all, but he seemed to be in constant foul trouble as the season wore on. I was glad to see him take it to the hoop a few times versus the Rebels, but he had turnovers on two horrendous passes that basically reversed the good karma. Until I decide otherwise, Flowers and our yet-to-be-determined offensive post presence are the two biggest keys to the 2007-08 season.

Three more observations:
(1) Landry finally executed another baseline spin move. Unfortunately, it did not result in a basket.
(2) Near the time UW took the lead in the second half, there was a pass ahead to Tucker that was basically a 2-on-1 with Landry. No alley-oop toss to Landry. No pass at all. Tucker pulled the ball back out. Indicative of how passive the team played for most of the day.
(3) In terms of our recent NCAA tournament losses, this one approaches both the SW Missouri State loss and the Georgia State loss. Being the first #1 or #2 seed to lose looks terrible nationally. If we thought we did not get enough respect before, look out. The season was not suppose to end this way for a team ranked No. 1 in AP poll only a few weeks ago.

At least 'Do seems like a great person. He will move on. I wish Tucker the best in life and hope we can follow him at the next level.