Guards sized up by Wolves, each other

Darren Hauck, Associated Press

Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn was among a group of top guards expected to be taken early in next week’s NBA draft who worked out at the Target Center.

An elite group of prospects showed their skills and pondered their fates in the upcoming draft.

By NATE TAYLOR, Star Tribune

Last update: June 20, 2009 - 8:40 AM

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TIMBERWOLVES DRAFT PREPARATION

Up next: NBA draft, 6 p.m. Thursday • New York City • TV: ESPN

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Jeff Teague brought up the discussion first. He asked the five other guards where they thought they would be taken in Thursday's NBA draft. The conversation lasted for a few minutes before the Minnesota Timberwolves held their 10th pre-draft workout at the Target Center on Friday.

This session was different in that all six participants were guards who could find their way to Minnesota next fall. The Timberwolves, with three first-round picks, are in need of a point guard. David Kahn, the Wolves president of basketball operations, said he knows this year's draft is full of guards that could help the team.

So here was Teague, the former Wake Forest point guard, showing guys such as Memphis' Tyreke Evans, Syracuse's Jonny Flynn and North Carolina's Ty Lawson his general manager skills. He was telling them where everybody could go based on his draft knowledge.

"We talked about that in the locker room of where guys are going to go and what trades might happen," said Teague with a smile. "We were just asking each other where do you think you can go."

Usually given how close the draft is, just a few players will do a workout session together for a team. For most of the guys at Target Center, having five other players also competing for the attention of Kahn was fun and stressful.

"This is by far the best workout I've been in," Flynn said. "Every player out there is a top point guard. You look at a guy like Tyreke Evans, why would he come here and work out when he is slated to go so high? That really brings the best out of you."

Evans, at 6-6 and projected by many to be the best guard in the group after averaging 17.1 points and nearly four assists a game at Memphis, was scheduled to work out by himself in the afternoon. Instead, he showed up in the morning. "I wanted to let them know I'm not running from nobody," he said. "I'm willing to take the challenge against the other guards."

Jrue Holiday, the UCLA guard and a member of the Pac-10 all-freshman team, and Brandon Jennings, the former high school star from Los Angeles who played in Italy last year, also participated in the 90-minute workout. In the session, players did drills, took shots from every spot on the court and played against each other in a short scrimmage.

"I thought we had a lot of good players here," Kahn said. "Sure, there is a look of nervousness, but sometimes that nervousness can provoke even better play."

This year's draft is guard-heavy. The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to make Oklahoma's Blake Griffin the No. 1 pick. After that, any number of the guards at the workout could be drafted in the top 20 spots. One of them probably will be drafted by the Timberwolves, who have the sixth, 18th and 28th picks in the first round.

It is enough to keep Teague thinking about how the guards are fighting for draft spots. He understands that when one of the other guys at the workout gets drafted, it affects where the others will fall.

"I just hope some of these guys here go really early so it can make it a lot easier for me to be on the draft board for other teams," he said. "It depends on where everybody else goes. One pick here could dictate where I could go."

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