“We just gotta find somebody better than Steve Nash, and that’s just hard to do.”

Indeed, especially considering all the lottery-type talent chose to take a pass and one of the deepest drafts in years is relatively light in point-guard depth.

Toward the end of the camp, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Brandan Wright and the like came to Orlando to get their physicals taken, take part in some drills and undergo strength and agility testing - but that’s it. Many of those players, as well as some draft hopefuls playing throughout the week, will later go on to have private workouts with teams during their stays in central Florida.

Those workouts being restricted prior to the camp was a new twist this year, a rule change the league hoped would result in more top players competing. They didn’t. More second-round hopefuls showed, but many still decided to skip it, and the lottery picks all backed out.

“I think this is the best group we’ve had in the 26-year history of the predraft camp, and I was involved in the first one in ’82 in Chicago,” said Blake. “I think a lot of guys don’t want to play here because their agents are afraid they might not look good.”

Despite the overall depth of talent, it still wasn’t good enough to be the main event.

The four-day schedule brings out many of the leagues biggest names, but most of them are not solely focused on what’s going on at the gym. Virtually none were in the stands anxiously watching with pen and paper in hand jotting down notes.

Some were more interested in seeing the lottery talent when they finally showed up. Some were there just to make the social rounds with other league personnel.

The camp presents one of the few times all season when so many of the game’s most influential people get together in the same city at the same time. That leaves opportunity for plenty of schmoozing, whether to just chat with friends or, more importantly, to discuss job openings or do some wheeling and dealing.

Maybe that’s why where-have-they-been former stars like Shawn Kemp, Danny Manning and Moses Malone showed up. And it’s no coincidence that three coaching vacancies were filled during the four-day span, with Mark Iavaroni going to Memphis, Jim O’Brien to Indiana and Billy Donovan to Orlando - at least temporarily.

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So sure, some GMs might be checking out the competition, but as D’Antoni admitted, how much can he or other top coaches learn in just a few days? They have enough to worry about with their own teams, so they must rely on the scouts who have been analyzing these players throughout the college season.

“Somebody could play well here and maybe you don’t like them in the workouts, or vice versa, so we just try to cover all our bases and make the most intelligent decision you can make,” D’Antoni said. “Doesn’t mean you?re not gonna miss it, you just try to do your best.”

What most personnel know they aren’t missing at the camp is the likelihood of a first-round selection. Only two came from last year’s camp - Renaldo Balkman of the Knicks and Jordan Farmar of the Lakers - and that number is not expected to be much higher this time around.

Many thought the camp gained extra credibility last year with New York’s selection of Balkman, an unheralded player out of South Carolina who shined at the camp before being drafted 20th overall. However, apparently that performance didn’t matter as much as some thought.

“It was on previous work and the way he played at South Carolina and the things I saw him do there and the way he performed against some of the better teams is what I based my decision,” Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas said.

“What I saw here last year, you know it helped, but it wasn’t like I came here and saw him and was like, ’Oh my God, this is the guy I gotta take.’ A little bit more thought went into that than a two- or three-day thing.”

But for those on the fringe of being drafted at all, that “two- or three-day thing” just might be the thing that allows them to have their name announced on June 26. And that’s the dream that brings these players to Orlando.

That and playing in front of Michael Jordan.

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