Nba Draft

CHICAGO - Though long familiar with double- and triple-teams, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist stepped back in surprise when he entered an interview session at the NBA draft combine earlier this month and saw the coverage that awaited him. A few dozen sportswriters turned his way as the basketball prodigy, a shy and sheltered 18-year-old, found his seat, inhaled deeply, and with an air of newfound authority, if not resignation, said "Let's go. "...

THE INITIAL BUZZ at the NBA Combine in early June was about Syracuse's Dion Waiters and reports that one team had given him a guarantee that he would be selected in the lottery. Waiters, a Philadelphia native, immediately left the combine and canceled all of his remaining workouts and interviews on the advice of his agent, Rob Pelinka. That only increased the buzz. Speculation focused on Toronto at No. 8, Portland at No. 11 or Phoenix at No. 13. The Raptors immediately denied such a promise existed.

MAALIK WAYNS is well aware of the various projections. For what they're worth, most NBA mock drafts have the former Villanova point guard going somewhere in the bottom half of the second round on June 28. If they have him getting taken at all. He doesn't care. Nor should he. Because it only takes one team. And then it's going to be up to him to make something happen. "I look at a couple of people they have [rated] in front of me, and I feel as though I'm as good or better than them," said the Roman Catholic product, who left college a year early to pursue his lifelong dream.

The Sixers will continue workouts in advance of the NBA draft with visits from five players scheduled for Saturday. The group includes Temple center Micheal Eric, Mississippi forward Terrance Henry, Norfolk State center Kyle O'Quinn, Northwestern forward John Shurna, and Georgetown center Henry Sims. Eric, 6-foot-11, averaged nine points and 8.8 rebounds in 19 games for the Owls as a senior. He missed about six weeks with an injury to his right kneecap, after fracturing that kneecap during his junior season.

ZACK ROSEN and Maalik Wayns shared a position and Big 5 first-team honors. Monday morning, the point guards from Penn and Villanova, respectively, shared the court at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine as the Sixers began their predraft workouts. Along with Iona's Scott Machado and Maryland's Terrell Stoglin, Wayns and Rosen went through ballhandling drills, light shooting, one-on-one situations, the usual workout fare. Trying to predict what the Sixers or any team (other than the team that wins the lottery and announces its intention to take Kentucky's Anthony Davis before taking another breath)

Kentucky's starting lineup of three freshmen and two sophomores all declared for the NBA draft in a news conference on Tuesday night. Freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Somerdale) and Marquis Teague , and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb all will enter the NBA together. The group came into the season largely untested before ascending to No. 1, winning the Southeastern Conference, and capping an NCAA tournament run with a 67-59 victory over Kansas in the title game.

DOMINIC CHEEK comes from a rough part of Jersey City, N.J., where he became a McDonald's All-American at St. Anthony's High. Now he wants to start helping his parents, grandmother and three brothers (two younger) by playing basketball for a living. Wherever that might take him. "I know it could be a bumpy road," he said Thursday at Villanova, where the Wildcats' junior guard, as expected, made it official by announcing he's making himself available for the NBA draft. "But I'm willing to face that challenge, do whatever I have to do to . . . pursue my dream of a pro career.

VILLANOVA'S basketball team was supposed to return three senior starters next season, from a team that lost 19 games for only the second time in program history and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. The Wildcats already were down to two, with point guard and leading scorer Maalik Wayns having opted for early entry into the NBA draft. Now it appears they might be losing 6-6 swingman Dominic Cheek, their second leading scorer at 12.5 points a game, to early entry as well.

SYRACUSE CENTER Fab Melo is entering the NBA draft after a breakout season in which he twice got held out because of eligibility issues. The 7-foot sophomore from Brazil made the announcement Thursday. He averaged 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for Syracuse (34-3) this past season. He led the Big East in blocks per game and was named the conference's defensive player of the year. Melo missed three games in late January due to an academic issue, was reinstated, and just before the start of the NCAA Tournament was ruled ineligible again and did not play another game.

We have to admit we'd rather be in New Orleans dealing with late interviews and overhyped fans and crazy deadlines and the fact that CBS can't be on time for a first-game tipoff that the network itself scheduled for 6:09 p.m. but actually happened at 6:14 (did you really have to run a commercial between the national anthem and the player introductions?). But if you have to be home watching game action sprinkled among the ads, there's nothing better than following along on Twitter as Kentucky's Anthony Davis shows in no uncertain terms why he is college basketball's player of the year and the absolute mortal lock No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft.