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The end is here.
This year’s NBA Draft, which takes place in New York Tuesday night, likely marks
the final year high schoolers are draft eligible thanks to the new collective
bargaining agreement the NBA and its union agreed on last week.
According to the new CBA, players must be 19 and one year removed from high
school to be draft eligible starting in 2006.
That means no Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) center
Greg Oden in
the 2006 draft. And no North College Hill (Cincinnati, Ohio) guard
O.J. Mayo in
the 2007 draft.
It also means some highly-contested recruiting wars will ensue now that the top
recruits won’t have the NBA as an option.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. High schoolers still have one more year to
make an impact.
Gulf Shores Academy (Houston, Texas) shooting guard
Gerald Green
will likely take the honor as the first prep player selected in the final
prep-eligible draft. Portland, Utah, Toronto and Los Angeles are four of the
teams enamored with Green, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound shooting guard whose game is
similar to Tracy McGrady’s.
Portland owns the No. 3 pick in the entire draft, though the Trail Blazers are
said to be shopping the pick. The Lakers, meanwhile, have the 10th pick and are
rumored to be trying to move up, as Green will likely be gone by the time they
pick.
Although Utah, which owns the sixth pick of the draft, is interested in Green,
the Jazz are in desperate need of a point guard and could bypass Green, meaning
he could fall into Toronto’s lap with the seventh pick.
Though Green is the most sought-after high school baller, he’s not the only one
expected to go in the lottery.
Chances are Seattle Prep (Seattle, Wash.) shooting guard
Martell Webster
won’t last much longer than Green. He’s projected to be a top-10 selection.
A 6-foot-7, 230-pound sharpshooter, Webster has the body and skills to make an
immediate impact in the league.
Like Green, Portland, Los Angeles and Toronto are rumored to be interested in
Webster. Orlando, which has the 11th pick, is also eying him but would probably
have to trade up to get him.
The Lakers are also said to be extremely interested in St. Joseph (Metuchen,
N.J.) center
Andrew Bynum. If both Green and Webster are gone by the time the Lakers
pick, there’s a good chance Bynum could be Kobe’s next sidekick.
If he doesn’t end up with L.A., Bynum could slip to the second half of the first
round.
No other high schooler is projected to go in the lottery, but Lanier (Jackson,
Miss.) shooting guard
Monta Ellis
and South Kent Prep (South Kent, Conn.) power forward
Andray Blatche
should be first-round selections.
Though there’s some speculation Ellis could go as high as No. 14 to Minnesota,
he’ll probably end up being selected somewhere in the 20s.
Blatche, meanwhile, could go anywhere in the second half of the opening round.
Boston is said to be extremely interested in this versatile power forward, who
has been referred to as a poor man’s Kevin Garnett.
South Gwinnett (Snellville, Ga.) shooting guard
Louis Williams
could also sneak into the first round. But at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, Williams
doesn’t fit the mold of a typical preps-to-pro baller, let alone an NBA shooting
guard. But he does have lottery-caliber skills and will be a steal if he slips
to the second round.
Westchester (Los Angeles, Calif.) center
Amir Johnson
and Skyline (Dallas, Texas) guard
C.J. Miles
also figure to be selected in the second round.