Baby steps for Brazil's "Nene"


It may no longer be fair to call Benetton Treviso's Nickoloz Tskitishvili the draft's international man of mystery. Now that scouts and GM's from every NBA team are making the trip to Treviso, Italy (the Knicks' Scott Layden is there right now), teams have at least seen him practice, run him through a workout or two and understand his contract situation.

The same can't be said for Brazilian big man Maybyner "Nene" Hilario. Hilario, who left Brazil about a month ago, is in Cleveland training, still waiting for his chance to work out for NBA teams.

Because of NBA rules for underclassmen, teams cannot bring him in for workouts until May 18th. His agent, Michael Coyne, told Insider that he's received interest from every team in the lottery and will bring Nene to Chicago during the pre-draft camp to run a skills workout similar to what Yao Ming did.

In the meantime, Nene's lifting weights, working on his jumper and is the main topic of discussion and intrigue in NBA circles. Exactly who is this kid and, equally important, will he be able to play in the NBA this season?

Nene burst onto the scene during the 2001 Goodwill Games when he helped Brazil push the Dream Team to overtime. Nene's shot blocking and rebounding aggressiveness caught the eye of scouts. The 19-year-old Nene ended the game with eight points, seven rebounds and five blocks in just 18 minutes of play.

Since then Nene (which means "baby" in Portuguese) has grown. Coyne told Insider that he now measures 6-foot-10 in bare feet, weighs 260 pounds with only 6.8 percent body fat and has an incredible 7-foot-4 and 3/4 wingspan. That's the same wingspan as Yao Ming, folks.

Athletically, Nene has it all. He's explosive, jumps out of the gym, crashes the boards and is an excellent shot blocker. According to several NBA scouts who've watched Nene play, he has polished moves down on the block and runs the floor in a way that's reminiscent of a young Shawn Kemp.

The knocks on Nene are his outside shooting (though Coyne says in a month he's increased his range to 18 feet), his free-throw shooting (Coyne insists he's a 75 percent free-throw shooter; scouts say it's more like 60 percent) and his knack for drawing early fouls.

Coyne put Nene's name in the draft, but teams are still unclear whether he'll be able to get out of a long-term contract with Vasco de Gama. That fact, more than anything else, has muddied Nene's status in the draft.

His agent knows a thing or two about trying to get foreigners in tough situations into the NBA. He represented 7-foot-8 North Korean giant Michael Ri before the U.S. State department stepped in and prohibited teams from signing him. He also was the first U.S. agent of record for Yao Ming before things got really messy.

Coyne told Insider he's still trying to secure a release for Nene, but he's confident that the situation will be resolved before the draft on June 26th. Coyne contends that Vasco de Gama hasn't paid Nene in over a year. Nene's contract stipulates that if he goes a month without being paid, the contract becomes void.

If Coyne can show teams that Nene is free and clear to join the NBA, several league executives predicted that he would be a lottery pick if what Coyne is saying is true.

"If he's really that big, and if he's really worked on his game, his upside is potentially as good as any big man in the draft," one league executive told Insider. "He's already shown [in the Goodwill Games] that he can step in immediately and play tough defense, block shots and hit the offensive boards. With a little coaching and a few years of experience, he could be a handful on the offensive end too."

One scout went even further. "If he gets out of his contract, I think he's in a dead heat with Chris Wilcox as the top power forward in the draft."

Welsch looking like a first rounder

Count Czech point guard Jiri Welsch among the international players who now seem like a lock for the first round.

Welsch, who played for BC Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia this year, is continuing to get rave reviews by NBA scouts and league executives.

Over the past few weeks I've talked to more than 15 teams that have him listed as one of the top 25 players in the draft.

Welsch averaged 15.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 2.2 apg on 50.3 percent shooting from the field in the Euroleague.

At 6-foot-6, Welsch has the ability to play both backcourt positions, which has raised his stock dramatically. Scouts love his court vision, his ability to penetrate off the dribble and his toughness. He's not particularly quick, nor is he a great long-range shooter, but teams feel his ability to play defense and handle the ball against pressure at his size make him worth a flier in the first round . . .

Word over the weekend that Alabama's Rod Grizzard suffered a knee injury has cast some doubt on his draft status. Grizzard, a junior, put his name in the draft but didn't hire an agent to retain his college eligibility.

The early word is that he could miss four to six weeks, which would effectively mean that he'll be unable to work out for NBA teams prior to the draft. Despite the setback, one source told Insider that Grizzard plans to stay in the draft. Right now he's projected a late first/early second-round pick. . .

Speaking of the dangers of pre-draft workouts, USC forward Sam Clancy suffered a knee injury Monday while working out for the Suns the Arizona Republic reported.

Clancy was working one on one with Iowa's Reggie Evans when the injury occurred. The preliminary indication was a dislocated left knee cap.

No word yet on how serious the injury is or how long Clancy might be out.

Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince and UCLA's Matt Barnes were also in for workouts and interviews. . . .

The ramifications from the NCAA's recent decision to penalize underclassmen who play in Chicago could be disastrous for the tournament. In the past, numerous underclassmen on the first-round bubble played in Chicago hoping to improve their draft status.

Two years ago, Jamal Crawford catapulted from a projected mid second-round pick into the lottery with a strong performance. Last year, DePaul's Stephen Hunter went from a marginal second-round pick to a mid first-rounder with his aggressive play.

This year, of all the underclassmen who have declared, only Carlos Boozer, DeAngelo Collins, Drew Gooden, Marcus Haislip, Jared Jeffries, Kei Madison, Jamal Sampson, Amare Stoudemire, Dajuan Wagner, Chris Wilcox, Frank Williams, Jay Williams and Qyntel Woods have hired agents, officially ending their college eligibility.

Of those players, only Madison and Sampson are considering playing in Chicago.

Underclassmen on the bubble who are trying to retain their college eligibility, such as Casey Jacobsen, Roger Mason Jr., Smush Parker, Kareem Rush and Marcus Taylor, are now forced to either play and face an early season suspension or sit out Chicago. The NBA's concerned that they'll choose to sit, further weakening the talent pool in Chicago and limiting the prospects' ability to get accurate information on their draft status.

Without the Chicago camp, underclassmen without agents are limited to private workouts with teams. Even then, they must cover all of their own expenses.

One NBA league executive told Insider he couldn't understand the NCAA's motive. "It only hurts the kids, not us. We'll still get the information we need. But it takes away a valuable opportunity for these kids to prove themselves in front of anyone. Plenty of kids have had doors opened to them or closed them based on Chicago. All this does is limit the amount of information a prospect can get about his draft status."

If Hilario proves to be as good a prospect Wilcox is, than we've got ourselves one of the most promising drafts in years. Hilario has everything we're looking for including a good post game, something few power forwards coming into the draft have. Size, skills, and athletism is a deadly combination.