NBA scouts left Portsmouth (most of them Thursday evening, just a day and a half into the camp) underwhelmed. Several players played well, but the consensus among scouts was that no one had a Jason Maxiell-type performance that would propel him into the first round.

That's not a huge surprise. Since 2000, only two players who have played at Portsmouth, John Salmons and Maxiell, have been drafted in the first round.

According to NBA scouts and executives, several players did perform well enough to plant themselves firmly on the second-round radar. Several executives believe that three to five of the players who played here in the Virginia showcase will get drafted in the second round.

If history repeats itself, all the draftable players will show up again -- at the Orlando pre-draft camp in June. Since 2000, every Portsmouth player who eventually was drafted also played in the NBA's more prestigious pre-draft camp in June.

Two interesting developments this weekend had a bigger effect on the draft than Portsmouth did.

Several NBA sources claimed that North Carolina State's Cedric Simmons was leaning strongly toward declaring for the draft -- adding another talented underclassman to the pool. Sources said Herb Sendek's departure from North Carolina State is the primary motivation for Simmons' decision.

Meanwhile, Florida's Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer announced they are returning to Florida for their junior seasons. If they stick to their guns (remember, North Carolina's Sean May said the same thing last year), that opens up three spots in the first round.

The other development took place Saturday at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis. Many NBA scouts departed Portsmouth late Thursday to attend practices Friday in Memphis. Although Team USA's talented high school players are ineligible for the draft, the international team had a couple of interesting prospects -- including one scouts claim was more intriguing than anyone playing at Portsmouth.

Without further ado, here's our latest stock watch based on conversations with a number of NBA executives and scouts.

Mouhamed Saer Sene, C, Senegal
A dominant performance in the 2006 Hoop Summit game (15 points, six boards and nine blocked shots) had scouts buzzing Saturday. Sene plays in Belgium and is just starting to see playing time there, so the Hoop Summit was a real coming-out party for him in front of NBA executives.

Sene is a big-time athlete with a freakish 7-8 wingspan. He has the size and frame to be a legit center in the NBA someday. Sene is an aggressive defender who can dominate a game by rebounding and blocking shots. He's quite agile for a big man and he's great in the open floor. Perhaps most important, he has added some much-needed strength since we saw him last spring at the Reebok Eurocamp.

On the downside, he's very raw offensively. Most of his points come from dunks and offensive rebounds. He's relatively inexperienced -- he began playing basketball only three years ago -- so scouts see big upside. But he's not going to come in and contribute right away. He also needs to continue to add muscle -- another 20 pounds or so seems possible, given his frame.

Sene represents the type of player David Stern tried to get rid of with the age restriction -- a young, inexperienced athlete with upside too big to ignore.

The draft doesn't have a lot of bigs, and Sene has the type of upside teams look for in late first-round steals. It's a risk for someone, but as long as Sene doesn't go too high, it would be a calculated one.

Cedric Simmons, PF, North Carolina State
Simmons didn't play a minute this week, but with indications that he might declare, combined with the announcement that Noah and Horford are planning to return to Florida, scouts began to talk up Simmons as a first-round sleeper.

Simmons is another long, athletic big man with plenty of potential. Like Sene, he is a shot blocker and a good rebounder. And, like Sene, he's very raw offensively.

Although he was dominant at times this season (a 28-point game against Duke really put him on the radar screen), for the most part, Simmons looked closer to Ben Wallace than Amare Stoudemire.

Scouts have him rated as a bubble first-round pick who projects just ahead of Josh Boone of UConn. However, with great workouts and some more weight training (another 20 pounds wouldn't hurt Simmons, either), he could be another sleeper.

Juan Jose Barea, PG, Northeastern
Barea has been on the NBA's radar screen for years, but his lack of size combined with his high turnover rate and poor shooting percentage cost him the buzz he probably deserved. Barea has averaged 20 or more points a game for three seasons and added 8.4 apg this year. Still, it's tough to ignore completely that Barea averaged nearly five turnovers per game and shot 29 percent from 3-point range against mediocre competition in college.

Barea did his best to make scouts forget his faults in Portsmouth. He dished out a record 41 assists in three games. He handed out 18 in the final game Saturday. To make things even sweeter, Barea had just five turnovers in the tournament. His 3-point shot still wasn't falling with any regularity, but scouts said they were impressed with his quickness and his ability to penetrate.

Given his size, the obligatory Earl Boykins comparisons come up in conversations about Barea -- the little guy who can't shoot the 3. But maybe Brevin Knight is a better comparison -- the little guy who can't shoot but who can dish out assists in high volumes.

Barea's lack of size, especially when combined with a lack of a jump shot, limits his draft stock. But as a second-round prospect, Barea's looking pretty good. If he can repeat his performance in Orlando, he could be one of the first players off the board in Round 2.

Steve Novak, F, Marquette
Scouts all know what Steve Novak can't do. He's a tall, skinny kid who doesn't rebound or play defense, and he's not much of an athlete. So, it's nice that Novak reminded scouts what he does well. On Saturday, Novak shot the lights out, going 7-for-11 from 3-point range.

Novak didn't shoot the rock particularly well during the remainder of the tournament, going just 3-for-11 in the first two games. But consider this: Most of the NBA scouts I talked to were talking about Novak before Saturday's big game; all but one had left for the Hoop Summit by the time he played. But they still were saying a 6-11 guy who can shoot is the type of guy they'd consider drafting. If he continues to shoot well in Orlando, Novak is probably a lock for the second round.

Bobby Jones, F, Washington
Jones played in only two games. His numbers, as during his time in Washington, don't jump out at you. But he was one of the guys many scouts mentioned when they talked about the best players in Portsmouth. Jones isn't much of an offensive force, but he's terrific defensively. He has good size and athleticism and can guard three positions on the floor.

If Jones can get some serious work done on his jumper and can put up a solid performance in Orlando, he has a shot at being drafted in the second round.

Other potential Orlando invitees: Eric Hicks, F, Cinncinati; Sean Dockery, G, Duke; Carl Krauser, PG, Pittsburgh; Terrell Everett, PG, Oklahoma; Solomon Jones, PF/C, South Florida; Justin Williams, PF/C, Wyoming; Yemi Nicholson, C, Denver; Rashad Anderson, SG, UConn; Chris Quinn, PG, Notre Dame.

Oh boy, looks like its time to start checking NBAdraft.net periodically again...

Meanwhile, Florida's Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer announced they are returning to Florida for their junior seasons.

If Noah stays I appluad him for being smart.

oohah