Predraft camp returns to gymless Chicago
Activities will no longer include official games or workouts
 | Special feature |
 | Race for Rookie of the Year Special feature: There's plenty of play remaining for a talented group to catch front-runners Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo. NBCSports.com |
 | Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Lakers basketball great shares cancer journey Nov. 11: Countdown’s Keith Olbermann talks with Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about his battle with a rare form of leukemia. |
Ask the NBA expert: Ira Winderman |
Do you have a burning question about your favorite team or player? Submit it now, and then check back for our reader mailbag on the 1st and 15th of each month. |  |
 | Slide show |
 | Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos |
|
Well, sort of. A league memo is going out to all 30 general managers this week, an NBA source tells Sporting News, which will inform teams the predraft camp will no longer include official games or workouts. Because there is no need for a gym, it will move back to Chicago. The league moved the camp to Orlando only because it no longer had use of the gym at the Moody Bible Institute just outside of downtown.
In a way, the move is a nod to the reality of the NBA's predraft workout system, which has become orchestrated by agents. Originally, the camp was a place for players to show their wares in five-on-five games in front of all manner of NBA personnel executives. But, in recent years, as players and agents have become more cautious about how they conduct their predraft schedules, most potential first-round picks avoid the camp. Most of the players who actually participate, then, are second-rounders, at best. "The guys we end up watching are mostly non-draftable players," one GM said.
Asked what, exactly, the players would do at the camp if there were no games or workouts, the source joked, "They'll play checkers." He went on to point out that the focus of the camp now will be interviews, testing and physicals.
Still, the camp remains fertile ground for general managers looking to begin trade talks, and for agents looking to boost their players' stock. In the comfy confines of Chicago's Rush-and-Division eateries, those talks will still be able to flourish.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
LowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM NBA |
 NBA Section Front |
| Add NBA headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links