Draft Buzz 6/25/03By: Aran_Smith

By Aran Smith

Draft Eve Buzz

A number of sources have indicated that teams appear to have Marcus Banks ranked over Luke Ridnour and Reece Gaines. Seattle likes Banks and the Griz aren’t looking for a PG. Knowing that, the Sonics can address their need for a bigman with their 12th pick and grab Banks at 14. Although there’s always the chance Memphis trades this pick.

Denver is actively shopping Melo. They will move him if they can get an All Star player and some young talent in return. New York and Denver could be involved in a multi-team trade involving Mickael Pietrus with the 9th pick and Carmelo Anthony at the 3rd pick.

Chris Kaman has resurfaced as a possibility at 5. If that happens look for the Clippers to take either Wade or Hayes. In that scenario Hinrich and Ford would go 7 and 8. However Riley wants a player who is ready, making a trade of the fifth pick a great possibility. Kirk Hinrich has been told by the Bulls that if he’s there at 7 they will take him.

The Clippers are down to 4 players: Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, Jarvis Hayes and Mickael Pietrus.

New York’s pick is between Chris Kaman, Nick Collison, Mike Sweetney and Jarvis Hayes. If Pietrus is taken it’s likely part of a deal.

Jarvis Hayes has long been rumored to be a player that will slip on draft day. But with the level of interest teams have in him it’s unlikely he will slip past the 10th pick.

Malick Badiane is reportedly slipping some and could even fall to the late 30’s.

Matt Bonner has had some strong workouts recently especially in New York. Because of that Bonner likely gets into the mid-late second.

Slavko Vranes may have a promise in the late first to early second round area according to sources.

Foreign Legion Gets Stronger

The International invasion has been apparent the past three years with 14 players taken in that span. However this year the number will jump considerably. As many as 12 International players could get into the first round. The current projected total is 10.

Ten years ago seniors dominated the first round making up nearly two thirds of all selections. High school and International players were rarely taken. The trend has been progressively shifting towards more foreign player and less seniors. The reasons behind this are the growing level of quality basketball coaching globally.

With more and more tall foreign players getting quality coaching at a younger age, the number of talented players entering the NBA from overseas is staggering. For the first time ever, double digit number of Europeans could be first rounders.

Although basketball is an American sport, and for many countries the popularity of soccer has such a stronghold that basketball doesn’t even have breathing room. These countries seem to be pointing the taller coordinated youngsters in the right direction at an early enough age where they are able to develop their skills into great players before it’s too late. This was not true 10-15 years ago.

Keep in mind America makes up less than 5% of the (6 billion) worlds population. It only makes sense that the rest of the world would begin to catch up in producing NBA players. In 20 years it’s likely that half of the NBA could be foreign born players.

With the lavel of talent in Europe and Internationally between the ages of 15 and 18, the foreign invasion has no end in sight. The number of International players could be just as high next year as there are a good 10 players born in 1985 and 1986 that are first round talents alone.

First Round Breakdown

Here is a look at the draft over the last 10 years broken down into the 4 college classes, high school and International players:

Number of early entries in 2003: 46
Number of early entries in 2002: 48
Number of early entries in 2001: 31
Number of early entries in 2000: 29
Number of early entries in 1999: 29
Number of early entries in 1998: 33
Number of early entries in 1997: 40