"To Declare, or Not To Declare?" That is the question...

I don't know about you, but to me it looks like for some reason they keep making it harder and harder on the players of today. Giving them less time, and even less of an opportunity to prove themselves prior to the Draft.

It may have made financial sense to the NBA to do away with the Pre-Draft Camp, but for the actual player who's attempting to give it their all for a chance to perform on the biggest stage possible in "The League", that opportunity is slowly slipping away.

There is still the Portsmouth Invitational, but it is only for Seniors. What about the underclassmen? Not everyone is a guarunteed 1st round draft pick, and for those who aren't they need that opportunity to play and earn their into the minds of those making the war room decisions.

I don't know about you, but I think they need to bring the Pre-Draft Camp back.

What do you think?

check out the article below by Mike Decourcy, and respond with your thoughts when time allows.

'Zo

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http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=539355

Economy, death of pre-draft camp work to detriment of early declarers
April 16, 2009

Mike DeCourcy

The trickle of players "testing the waters" of the NBA draft unofficially became a flood when Arizona's Nic Wise and South Carolina's Dominique Archie announced their decisions to enter while retaining their college eligibility. Each has about as much chance to be a first-round pick as Hannah Montana, but it would seem neither has much to lose at this point.

This can't even be viewed as a waste of their time, because it's quite likely neither will spend much time on this endeavor.

"Testing the waters" isn't what it used to be. For most players involved this spring, it will amount to a couple of press releases: one to declare for the draft, one to withdraw. It used to be a terrific deal for college players, particularly those who reached their junior seasons and were permitted to spend their one get-out-of-jail-free card. They could file for early entry, attend the pre-draft camp at the league's expense, fly to individual workouts at the teams' expense and then, with all that experience gained, return for a final season of NCAA basketball.

Last year the process worked out great for North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson. Coming off his sophomore season, he competed at the 2008 pre-draft camp in Orlando. After withdrawing from the draft, he became an All-American and the key player for the NCAA champions.

It functioned nicely for UNC wing Danny Green, who worked out for the Toronto Raptors and returned for a senior season that was by far his best -- and ended in the best possible fashion.

So much has changed in the past year, however. In case you hadn't noticed -- and lucky for you if you haven't -- money has grown much tighter around this country. Even in the NBA. LeBron James isn't in danger of losing his Maybach sedan, but the league chose to lay off 9 percent of its staff, and the Charlotte Bobcats cut 35 employees.

Teams are quietly saying they will not fly in players who aren't likely draft choices merely as a favor to the player, or his college coach or his prospective agent. So maybe Notre Dame's Luke Harangody gets an invite from the Indiana Pacers or Chicago Bulls, because they know he'll go hard through his workout and challenge the real prospect they're bringing in for serious evaluations -- and because Harangody easily can make the drive. But it's doubtful players of this ilk will be on the kind of national tour North Carolina's Ty Lawson was able to take last spring.

An even greater loss to borderline prospects such as Xavier's Derrick Brown, Texas' Damion James and LSU's Tasmin Mitchell is the demise of the pre-draft camp. Once an annual Chicago exercise and lately conducted at Orlando's Milk House, the pre-draft camp was taken off life support by the NBA last November because it was deemed too costly to get a long look at mostly second-round picks.

Now, truly draftable players will be shipped to Chicago for combine-style testing and measurement. Perhaps that's better for the league, but it's of dubious value to marginal prospects.

The draft camp really did add value for early entrants who participated. Players were able to get a few days of pro-style coaching, be exposed to the level of talent they'd have to conquer even to be considered as draft picks and perhaps to suggest to the assembled scouts they'd be worth watching in future years.

Rice guard Morris Almond was terrific at the 2006 camp in Orlando but not quite great enough to surge into the first round. When he returned to college and backed up that fine camp performance with 26.4 points per game as a senior, the Utah Jazz picked him in the 2007 first round.

The camp also sent some loud messages to prospects about who truly was ready to be a pro. In 2007, Marquette guard Dominic James discovered all the Internet columnists who insisted he was a first-round talent and had to beat the rush of the 2008 point guard class -- those folks were totally uninformed. He wasn't really a pro, certainly not so soon. James wisely returned to school and finished his career at Marquette, which was the proper use of his ability.

With the camp gone, all these players who are entering the draft mostly for the experience will discover there's not much of an experience to be, well, experienced. Declaring for the draft used to be the best deal in basketball. Now, it's like signing Eddy Curry for $10 mil a year.

Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.

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