NBA Comes to Look at Its Future

ST. LOUIS —  It has come to this: Forty-two NBA general managers and scouts from 28 teams requested seats to watch a couple of high school basketball games Thursday night at the Savvis Center.

To this: Three players in those games--three giant men-children--were auditioning to be the first pick in next June’s NBA draft. Unless Chicago Bull General Manager Jerry Krause talks Michael Jordan into coming back--and pigs learn to fly--the NBA-worst Bulls will have the best odds of winning the lottery for that pick.

So why wasn’t Krause on the pass list? Keith Pickett, director of the future NBA showcase called the KMOX-Shop ‘n’ Save Shootout, said he didn’t hear from the Bulls.

Had Krause convinced himself he was the only man on Earth who knew about these Daunte Culpeppers of the hardwood? While 42 of Krause’s rivals were sitting elbow to elbow in the first three rows, would the Inspector Clouseau known as the Sleuth be spied in the upper deck wearing a Groucho nose and glasses? Save us.

Krause finally was spotted across the arena in worse seats than his rivals. If this had been a football stadium, Krause would have been even with the backline of the end zone, nine rows up. Perhaps he just needed more room to spread out. Krause had acquired five seats for himself, his ego and his two scouting shadows, B.J. Armstrong and Gar Forman.

Here’s hoping Armstrong and Forman convinced Krause that this is what he saw: Baby Shaq.

The upset of the night was that the least hyped of the three near-future NBA centers was the one who had Krause’s rivals buzzing. Most were eager to see the night’s finale matching South Holland (Ill.) Thornwood’s 6-foot-11 Eddy Curry with 7-1 Tyson Chandler of Compton Dominguez.

Dominguez won, 54-50, and Chandler and Curry each scored 16 points, but the NBA evaluators all learned to pronounce DeSagana Diop.

The “De” is silent. So it’s “Su-GAH-nah Jop.” Just remember “Jop,” as in Janis Joplin, as in whoever drafts this kid will no longer be busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train. Here’s hoping Krause wasn’t dozing.

Growing up in Senegal, Diop didn’t play much basketball. An uncle who scouts for the Dallas Mavericks arranged for him to attend his last two years of high school at college-hoops pipeline Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va. In two years Diop has grown two or three inches, to 7 feet, and added 50 pounds of muscle, to a about 300. He lifts weights, or maybe buildings, three times a week. He’s a next-level combination: long-armed and beefy.

He now speaks fairly fluent English and plays very fluent basketball. Behold the Baby Shaq. With his shaved head, Diop even looks like Shaquille O’Neal in the face. Until whistle-happy refs took him out of the game, Diop terrorized Chicago Whitney Young with 13 rebounds, seven blocks and 10 points.

Diop is no Frankenstein with two left feet. He’s quick and agile. He has soft hands and a soft touch. He looks first to pass and looks as if he’d rather swat shots than dunk. None of his three 15-foot jump shots fell but he looked as if he could learn to make them regularly.

But what mesmerized the NBA scouting section were Diop’s two free throws. Both arced beautifully and swished cleanly. Though NBA execs aren’t allowed to comment for the record on players other than college seniors, one GM said: “Good God, Diop could be a monster. Imagine Shaq with that free-throw touch. I want all these kids to go to college, but if Diop’s there, how could you not take him?”

Diop, who hasn’t selected a college, has learned his NBA ABCs. “If I know I’m lottery, I’m going,” he said with surprising maturity. His offensive game isn’t as mature as Curry or Chandler’s, but he offers far more pro potential.