Pre-Draft Camp – Day Three
ORLANDO, Fla. – The curtain came down on the Orlando camp as several NBA execs left early to catch flights taking them to Treviso, Italy for the all-important Euro-camp.
As in the prior two days there were three games on tap, and each had its own interesting footnotes.
In the first of three successive games Team Two completed a nifty 3-0 record by besting winless Team Three 95-67. Denham Brown, quiet to this point, erupted for 20 points and Darius Washington added 10 points and six assists while quarterbacking his team quite well. Team Three was led by Justin Williams with another solid effort, adding 14 points and eight rebounds to his four blocked shots. On the negative side, Mustafa Shakur committed 7 turnovers without any assists.
In the second game Team One, led by Terence Dials’ 24 points, got the better of Team Six 105-86. Paul Millsap turned in a respectable effort netting 11 points and 8 rebounds. For Team Six, Coby Karl, son of Denver Nugget head coach George Karl, led the way with 15 points and five assists.
The final contest of the camp saw Team Four match the 3-0 record of Team Two by prevailing over Team Five 85-70. J.R. Pinnock led the way with 18 points, while Renaldo Balkman added nine points and 10 boards. Team Five was paced by Kenny Adeleke’s 11-point, eight-rebound effort.
Several in attendance were happy to see the games conclude. None may have been happier than the league itself as this tournament has become so devoid of top players that one must question the return on investment for the 30 NBA teams flying entire scouting staffs into Orlando and housing and feeding them for 5 days or so. The bill for this type of camp must be staggering, and with agents seemingly in complete control, it’s high time for change.
There was a time not too far in the past when April’s Portsmouth Camp was thought to be a 2nd round audition with a player or two each year peaking during play and sliding into the first round. Now Portsmouth’s biggest talent scouts are the international crowd who flock to the port city as the PIT is now a camp largely for overseas opportunities.
Orlando (previously Chicago) was the camp where first round pecking order was figured out and where usually only the top 15 or so players would sit out the games. Now we’re looking at a situation where perhaps as many as 35 of the top 40 draft selections never came to play.
Change is in order and my thoughts, along with those of several top NBA people in the know, will accompany the Pre-Draft Camp recap, which you will find here on the site in a few days.
