Ante up: More reasons for Jazz to pick Tomic - 猶他爵士 Utah Jazz

Ante up: More reasons for Jazz to pick Tomic
Friday, June 8, 2007 2:27 PM CDT
Chuck Nunn / Jazz Session

While the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers battle for the title
in the 2007 NBA Finals, I have my eye on this month's other big NBA event,
the 2007 NBA Draft, and speculating who could be selected by the Utah Jazz
with their 25th overall pick.

Last week, I had emerging Croatian center Ante Tomic as Utah's pick at No. 25
in my mock draft. Nothing's changed this week, except that my support for
Tomic has grown exponentially.

First, a few statistical updates are in order. Last week, I gave Tomic's
weight at 220 pounds, light for an NBA big man. But his more recent
weigh-ins, according to ESPN.com and NBADraft.net, show him to be at 237
pounds, which is more comparable to many of the other bigs in this year's
draft, ranging from 230 to 250 pounds.

While Tomic will still need to add more muscle as he goes along, his
development compared to his contemporaries is right on schedule. For example,
Joakim Noah, who was part of the University of Florida team that just won
back-to-back NCAA titles, is 6-11, 230 pounds.

Tomic, at 7-1, 237 pounds, is not as highly touted as Noah, but he is way
more gifted offensively. Again, my biggest concern is that Tomic is gone
before the Jazz pick at No. 25.

Touting Tomic's offensive skills isn't a dig against any other big man in
this draft. But given that he already has an impressive arsenal of post moves
both facing the basket and with his back to it, is an excellent passer, and
he can also hit jumpers out to 18 feet, he's got a lot going for him that
many other NBA big men work years to develop.

Tomic is also adept enough to play at either forward position as well as at
center, the kind of versatility that NBA teams are starting to look for these
days.

Also, while Tomic is still not the defender yet that Utah needs in the paint,
I believe that his development as a shotblocker and rebounder will progress,
and he'll become solid in those areas within a season or two.

After just finishing play in the Croatian A1 playoffs, Tomic may not be able
to secure his passage to the states for private workouts with NBA teams
before the draft.

But I strongly believe that this young man can be a player similar to the
Spurs' Tim Duncan down the line, and I'm hoping that he winds up in a Jazz
uniform, whether Utah brings him over now or secures his rights and lets him
season in Europe another year or two.

That said, word is out that Utah already has two players scheduled for
pre-draft workouts. According to DraftExpress.com, the Jazz will be working
out former Tennessee Volunteer Major Wingate on June 22. Wingate failed a
drug test and was booted from Tennessee, and he played this last season for
Turkish team Tofas Bursa.

Wingate participated in the pre-draft camp this past week in Orlando. While
observers noted that he had made some improvements, the 6-10, 250-pounder, is
still sorely limited on both ends of the floor. The outlook is that Wingate
can keep improving, but he'll have a hard climb ahead of him to fulfill his
potential.

The other workout DraftExpress.com reported for Utah shows a bit more promise
for landing that No. 25 spot. Fresno State Junior Dominic McGuire, a 6-8,
220-pound forward, had an excellent showing in Orlando.

McGuire is another very versatile player who can play at either forward
position or at shooting guard, as his athleticism and quickness combined
with his strength allow him to compete against guards and big men alike.

Of course, playing in the Western Athletic Conference as he has, McGuire isn't
as highly recognized as a lot of other players in this draft class. But a lot
of teams overlooked Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap, too, allowing Utah to scoop
him up in the second round last summer. We all know how that worked out.

As always, you can check out my complete mock draft at
http://draftexpress.com/mymock.php?mid=677&detail=3 .
With private workouts and the international draft camp in Treviso, Italy,
coming up, I'll be tweaking it often. Plus I'll be revisiting the topic
either next Friday or Saturday.

Tomorrow, I'll be making an early foray into free agent and trade prospects
for the Jazz, so don't miss it.



www.southidahopress.com/articles/2007/06/08/sports/local/1jazzsession.txt

--