NBA Draft: Dunleavy Dominos

Sunday is the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA draft.

Put your ear to the ground right about now and you may as well yell "Stampede!"

The floodgates are about to open. And some of college basketball's brightest stars are about to get a wake-up call.

Thursday night, league sources began telling Insider that Duke's Mike Dunleavy Jr. will put his name in June's draft. Those sources indicated to Insider that Dunleavy's father, former Blazers and Bucks head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr., has received consistent information over the past few weeks that his son would be a likely top-five pick.

Dunleavy, still not 100 percent sure what he wants to do, won't hire an agent, thus retaining his college eligibility. Underclassmen have until June 19 to withdraw from the draft.

Today's editions of the Charlotte Observer are also reporting that Dunleavy will declare for the draft. Dunleavy is expected to announce his decision Saturday.

Two NBA league executives confirmed to Insider that Dunleavy will be a high lottery pick if he remains in the draft.

Already hearing comparisons to Larry Bird, he can do it all. He's a lethal outside shooter, great ball handler, good rebounder and, because of his versatility, creates matchup problems wherever you play him. Despite his lanky frame, he is surprisingly effective in the paint. The big question surrounding Dunleavy is his body. Dunleavy needs to mature more physically. He's awfully soft for the NBA grind.

Dunleavy's announcement will have a major impact on the lottery. Players such as Drew Gooden, Qyntel Woods, Caron Butler, Jared Jeffries and Nickoloz Tskitishivili will all likely slip a notch with Dunleavy in the lottery.

The 6-foot-9 Dunleavy averaged 17.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this season for the Blue Devils. He shot 48.3 percent from the field, 68.1 percent from the line and 38 percent from three-point range.

Dunleavy isn't the only underclassman still mulling over his decision. Several league sources told Insider that Fresno State small forward Chris Jefferies is also leaning toward throwing his name into the draft.

Jefferies, at 6-foot-8, 216 pounds, is another small forward with an intruging upside. He's a very athletic, explosive scorer who's also gained the ability to handle the ball and play point forward during his junior season. He has an explosive first step to the basket and prefers to score off the dribble. He still is shaky on defense, needs lots of work on his body and has only recently added an outside jumper. A knee injury that ended Jeffries season early is also a concern.

The bigger question is where Jefferies will land in the draft. He'll be clumped together with a number of swingmen, including Bostjan Nachbar, Casey Jacobsen, Rod Grizzard, Tayshaun Prince and Vincent Yarbrough. Scouts expect only a couple of these players to land in the first round. With the infusion of foreign players entering the draft, it's very possible that Jefferies, as well as several other prominent collegians, will slip into the second round,

Other players still mulling over the draft include Georgia shooting guard Jarvis Hayes and St. John's guard Marcus Hatten.

Speaking of underclassmen, several more young foreign players are expected to put their names in the draft by Sunday.

Most prominently, French swingman Boris Diaw-Riffiod will put in his name, several league source told Insider Thursday.

Diaw-Riffiod is a 20-year-old, 6-foot-7 swingman on whom several NBA teams have been keeping a close eye. Despite having a so-so year for his team in France (Pau-Orthez), Diaw-Riffiod may be a surprise late first-round pick.

Diaw-Riffiod is one of the few European players who likes to play above the rim. He's extremely quick, has explosive leaping ability but also is an above average passer. He's an excellent defender who has plenty of upside. The knock on Diaw-Riffiod is two-fold. He doesn't have a consistent outside jumper and has almost no range from the NBA three-point line. He also lacks aggressiveness at times.

Still, Diaw-Riffiod may be this year's Raul Lopez. Though he'll travel to America and hold two workouts for NBA teams from May 18 through the 20th, there is evidence that Diaw may have received a commitment from a team to take him in the first round. Like Lopez and Andrei Kirilenko before him, Diaw-Riffiod is still under contract with Pau-Orthez and won't be able to play in the NBA for a couple of years. Many young foreign players will only declare and stay in the draft if a team promises to pick them in the first round.

Who might that team be? Nuggets scouts are on another trip to France to work out Diaw-Riffiod and Nuggets assistant GM Dave Fredman has a history of going foreign in the late first round. Before his current gig in Denver, he was the mastermind in Utah behind both Kirilenko and Lopez. Several sources said that Fredman is a big fan of Diaw-Riffiod. Putting all the pieces together, don't be surprised if Denver uses its second first-round pick (No. 25 from Dallas) on Diaw-Riffiod.

Several other foreign underclassmen deserve mentioning. Danish swingman Christjan Drejer is considering putting his name in the draft. He too could be a late first-rounder if he declared.

Drejer, at 6-foot-8, is considered one of the top young prospects in Europe and could be a nice consolation prize for a team if Bostjan Nachbar's stock continues to rise. Like Nachbar, he's a classic small forward who can shoot from NBA three-point range or slash toward the basket. Like many Europeans, he has an unselfish game, will always find an open teammate and has excellent ball handling and court vision. Like Diaw-Riffiod, Drejer is a player who would likely spend another season or two in Europe before actually playing in the NBA.

Other foreign underclassmen such as 6-foot-11 forward Zaur Pachulia (an 18-year-old Georgian playing in Turkey) and 6-foot-11 forward Nenad Krsticfrom Yugoslavia are expected to at least test the draft waters, a league source told Insider.

With so many talented college underclassmen, high school seniors and foreign players entering the draft, the squeeze could really be on some of college basketball's more well known names. Can Maryland's Juan Dixon, Cincinnati's Steve Logan, Kentucky's Prince, Stanford's Jacobsen, Alabama's Grizzard, Virginia's Roger Mason Jr., Michigan State's Marcus Taylor, UCLA Dan Gadzuric, Wake Forest's Darius Songaila and even USC's Sam Clancy and Gonzaga's Dan Dickau really afford to skip the Chicago pre-draft camp and still be expected to be taken in the first round? It's getting really crowded. With only 28 picks in the first round, and as many as eight foreign players looking like first-round prospects and two high school players likely to get the call in Round 1, do the math. There's going to be some serious talent slipping into the second round.

Tanx Martin, this insider stuff is getting better and better.

Amazing, if you'd have five first rounders you could put together a future championship caliber team. Even the second round is getting amazingly deep, with the Bucks having three second rounders they could possibly look at gold (and with Grunfeld I wouldn't worry about his selections).

I'm actually surprised that Zaur Pachulia is thinking about declaring, he could actually be a future super allstar center, he's got that much potential. Pac however has had a tough time cracking into the rotation but he's an amazing talent.

Before you know it Mickael Pietrus will declare (also from Pau Orthez, talented team huh?), who's an amazing french SF who was thinking about declaring next season.

The bad thing about all of this is that next year will be a top 15 draft with some iffy gambles the rest of the way.


Makes me wonder, this shouldn't be news to the Knicks GM should it? I hope he has the cojones to trade for more first and second round picks. Can't wait till the lottery and the draft have been so this agonizing insecurity about Layden would pass.

wow!!! Jefferies possibly slipping to the 2nd round. If he stayed in college another year he could be lottery material. Either The Insider report is way off or some team is gona get one helluva steal

Posted by killacross:

wow!!! Jefferies possibly slipping to the 2nd round. If he stayed in college another year he could be lottery material. Either The Insider report is way off or some team is gona get one helluva steal

jeffries is not going past #20

Jeffries is an incredibly smart player, who has significantly improved each and every season. He can't fall below #20 eventhough his frame has people worries he'll be a bonafide NBA player with the potential of becoming a good starter someday.

Who could we offer for a later first round pick? I would love to steal Jefferies or Grizzard in the first round. I really like how this draft is finally shaping up. I think someone like Chris Wilcox, who seemed like a long-shot to draft a month ago is now about the 6th or 7th best prospect suddenly. He would make a nice impact on our team because we need a player like him who can mix things up down low and is athletic.

That is why I keep preaching for the knicks to add another 1st round pick, if possible.. to have 2 first rounders (1 being our lottery pick) and a early second rounder that we have we could get 3 potential starters for this knick team..that would be monumental toward our rebuilding process, This draft is deep and there will be big names going in the second round for sure. I can't wait until draft day....