CrushAlot wrote:Sorry about the tomorrow heading. Friday would be correct.

Friday is when the lockout starts. They'll probably sign him whenever it's over, maybe assign him to the NBDL for now?

Just reading about him:

http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2011/6/16/2226659/julyan-stone-lakers-nba-draft-2011

6/20/11

The Buzz Around Julyan Stone: The word most often used to describe Julyan Stone is "intriguing." As a 6-foot-7 point guard with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, he has heard that word repeatedly throughout the draft process. Many teams have brought Stone in for workouts because of his extraordinary size, but by the time he's finished working out, most executives end up talking about his game rather than his frame.

Stone has been excellent in front of teams, which has allowed him increase his stock and generate a considerable amount of buzz with less than one week until the draft. Plenty of teams have called and seen him play, but Stone believes there are four teams that are particularly interested in selecting him on Thursday - the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami HEAT and Washington Wizards.

"Those are the teams that I feel are the most interested right now," Stone told HOOPSWORLD. "I've done about nine or ten workouts now. I feel like every team has been intrigued by me because of my size and the different things I bring to the game, but I feel like those four teams are the most serious about me. I'm just going to play my game, finish up these last three workouts and then hopefully on Thursday, my name gets called."

After traveling non-stop in recent weeks and completing workout after workout, it's starting to set in that Stone could be drafted in a matter of days.

"You go through this process after hearing about it your whole life, and now being in this situation to hopefully have my name called, it's a blessing from the man above. It's really sinking in that in these next four days - on the 23rd - my life could change so I'm just hoping for the best, making sure I'm prepared and still working hard," Stone said.

The process didn't hit Stone until he worked out in Los Angeles and New York and thought of all the great players that had made names for themselves on those courts.

"Being from the West coast, everybody loves the Lakers where I'm from," Stone said. "So to walk in there and see pictures of them winning the Finals and pictures of all the players on the walls including Magic Johnson, who is my basketball idol, it was like, 'Man, I'm really close to making it.'"

"With Donnie Walsh in New York, it's just crazy seeing someone like that sitting there and watching you play," he said. "Going to the Knicks practice gym where a lot of great players and coaches have been, the Knicks prestige really just caught me off guard. Walking in there and seeing everything, it was like, 'Man, I really have a chance to accomplish my goals and I'm really sitting here with all of these people looking at me.'"

Because of Stone's size, he has been able to dominate smaller guards in workouts and also display his versatility at times by guarding shooting guards and small forwards. In most workouts, teams will play him at multiple positions to get a feel for his game and see if he can handle different defensive assignments.

"Going to these workouts with all of these other point guards, they're a lot smaller than me so I'm able to use my size," Stone said. "One thing I've noticed throughout all of this is that teams like my versatility. Yesterday, in the Miami HEAT workout for instance, I was going against Andrew Goudelock and then Kyle Singler. They like to see my versatility - if I can jump from position to position. I think it has really benefitted me, being a tall point guard that can see over the small point guards and then also being able to adjust and go guard someone even at the three. A lot of these teams have liked my versatility and being bigger than the other point guards gives me an advantage defensively and offensively."

One reason Stone hasn't had any problems with individual matchups is because he spent the early part of the summer working out at the IMG Basketball Academy in Bradenton, FL. He was matched up against big guards such Iman Shumpert and Brad Wanamaker so by the time he started working out for teams, he was ready for any assignment.

"I feel like IMG really prepared me for this whole process," Stone said. "The workouts were definitely intense at IMG and going against Iman Shumpert and Brad Wanamaker, who are two big point guards, really helped me. If you go into all of these workouts, there's not going to be any group that's more physical than we all were at IMG as far as point guards go. Playing against Iman and Brad was great because they're big guards from big-time conferences so it allowed me to get used to guys of that size and strength because when I played in college, I was always the biggest, most physical guard. Going against those two guys really benefited my game."

Stone didn't receive an invite to the Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago last month, and ever since he has been determined to prove that he belongs alongside the best guards in this class.

"Not getting invited to Chicago was a big deal for me, but all it did was motivate me," Stone said. "I didn't feel there were that many guards better than me in this draft and I've taken that attitude to every workout I've been a part of. I've definitely demonstrated what type of player and point guard I am and a lot of general managers are changing their mind about me."

"I've always had a chip on my shoulder," he added. "I've always been the type of player that does what the team needs in order to win and sometimes that caused me to be overshadowed as far the scouts were concerned. But there's always a chip on shoulder and there will always remain a chip on my shoulder."

Even as his stock has started to rise, he is still embracing the underdog role and blocking out any of the praise directed at his game.

"More than anything, I really don't like to think about my name getting called," Stone said. "I feel like that will change my mindset and right now, I'm going for blood. That's my mindset and I'm not guaranteed anything yet. I don't want to know if I'm on anyone's draft boards or anything. I've been the underdog my whole life and I try not to let [the buzz] set in."

"I go into every workout with something to prove because I feel that being content will only hurt me. I'm not content and I feel that there's still so much more left for me to do in this draft. I feel like I can make a lot more noise and whichever teams sleep on me, they're going to see that Julyan Stone is going to be a player to reckon with in this league at some point."

nixluva wrote:Even in the short Video clips you can see his great court vision and he threw some catchable passes with sharpness. As an overall good BB player he's got that BB IQ that MDA loves. I could see him being useful. Kid can work on his shooting and see where that goes. I'm so glad we have an NBDL team now, cuz this is just the kind of situation where that could benefit us.

Absolutely. One of the best moves this franchise has made in a long time. I'd love to see Stone brought into the DLeague at least. Hopefully the new CBA does away with the filled roster spot on players we send down.

ramtour420 wrote:Shooting 56% ffree throws from PG shows that his shot is and will be crap. Much rather have Iman going forward.

He clearly can't shoot, but he does a lot of other things at a high level. Sometimes you have to live with a flaw like that to take advantage of a players other strengths. Goodness knows Rondo stinks as a shooter, but you can live with it for all the other good that he does.

crzymdups wrote:i didn't hear anything about signing this kid. did anyone else? guess it won't happen until after the lockout?

Alex Kennedy:

Stone met with the Knicks on Thursday morning, and they told him not to go overseas. They want him to come to their training camp whenever the lockout ends and they told him that he'll have a legitimate chance to make their team. Stone is going to wait out the work stoppage and then see what happens during training camp.

Former UTEP guard Julyan Stone said he has "guaranteed offers" from three NBA teams, but won't pick one until the lockout, which began at 10:01 p.m. MDT tonight, is resolved and that team can sign him.

"One team on the East Coast, one in the South, one on the West Coast," said Stone, whose name has been linked with Atlanta and Miami in Internet rumors. "I'm going to wait until the lockout is over. I'll be in camp with somebody so I'm not worried about it."

Stone said he is considering going to Europe for two months, but is leaning toward staying here and waiting out the lockout, which prohibits teams from signing free agents.

Though he can distribute the rock great, he can't shoot at all. Probably because he played center before he was in college...