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Friday, June 8
Updated: June 10, 9:16 AM ET
Wallace, Collins star in private performance
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- So, this is what a meat market in the NBA looks like? You get 200 of a who's who of NBA execs overflowing around a halfcourt to watch four players go through structured, scripted and agent-sponsored drills at a downtown Chicago gym.
"I don't get much out of this," said Larry Harris, the Milwaukee Bucks director of scouting.
|  | | Gerald Wallace said Thursday's private workout allowed him to show off his ball-handling skills. |
He wasn't alone.
Most of the NBA execs started to stream out of the gym with about 10 minutes left in the hour-long session after seeing enough of Alabama's Gerald Wallace, Stanford's Jason Collins and Yugoslavian Vladimir Radmanovic. Oh, and also, Chicago State's Tony Jones, who was needed for some reason for a fourth player to go through the same halfcourt drills.
SFX, the powerful agency run by Arn Tellem, set up the event at Chicago's Hoop Gym, where Michael Jordan works out three to four times a week. Tellem's group chose a new trend of having private workouts this week, instead of having clients -- Wallace, a 6-7 freshman out of Alabama, the 6-10 Radmanovic and potential client Collins, a 7-foot sophomore athletically but a graduating senior from Stanford -- participate in the nearby pre-draft camp at the .
Wallace and Collins didn't want to go to the draft camp because they wanted to show exactly what they could do, rather than what they can't. That was painfully obvious during the session, which didn't include Wallace going around the perimeter shooting deep 3-pointers, his weakness after shooting 17.5 percent on the shot in one season at Alabama. Collins, whose oft-injured knees were fine during the regular season but will probably be given a rigorous test by teams before draft day, didn't do any fullcourt work.
A number of scouts said these players would be in for a wake-up call at individual workouts with their teams where they would be asked to do different things on the spot. They said the scripted nature of the workouts adds nothing to gaining knowledge on their full range of skills.
But the reality is that both players will and should be picked in the first round, based on Wallace's athleticism and "upside" as a big guard and Collins' range as being a shooting center with the size and strength to score in the post.
"This is better for me to display my skills," Collins said. "It's hard to be on one of those teams at the draft camp, be a big guy and not get passed the ball. You don't see any of the other big guys over there."
He's right. High-profile and potential first-round centers Brendan Haywood of North Carolina, Georgia Tech's Alvin Jones and Arizona's Loren Woods aren't at the pre-draft camp. They're not because they don't have to be, considering where they would likely be picked. Collins doesn't need to be, either, especially as a big man.
"That camp really is for guards," Collins said.
But Wallace would have probably flourished in the open court flow of the games. He probably wouldn't have had many chances to take a perimeter shot in the games, even if he had participated in the camp.
"We can go at our own pace here," Wallace said. "I've heard the guys in the hotel say all they're doing is going down court, making one pass and someone is shooting it. It hurts a lot of players from showing their offense. Here you know where the ball is coming from for shots."
Wallace and his "people" have been critical of Alabama coach Mark Gottfried for playing him inside instead of on the perimeter last season. Wallace really only flourished when he was on the break.
"It's not fair," Wallace said. "Power forward wasn't my position. A lot of people say I averaged 6 to 12 points. But coming out of high school the ball was in my hands and at Alabama the ball was taken away from me."
Wallace said he's more mature for the NBA after one year in college and doesn't regret going to Alabama, but he wasn't able to control the game the way he did in high school.
He was in control in drills Thursday and Friday, but that will once again change when he visits teams and when he gets into camp with whichever team drafts him on June 27.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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