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http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...ikembe-mutombo

Jop' would be a 4-ever pick for the Bulls

In the wake of the news.


May 21, 2001|By Skip Bayless.


Cries of conspiracy echoed around the NBA Sunday night. Calling Oliver Stone. From "JFK" to "MJJ"?

Michael Jeffrey Jordan vaulted over the man who plagued his Bulls life, Jerry Krause, to win the draft lottery. Hmmm. Jordan wants to make a comeback, but only if he can improve his supporting cast in Washington with at least one premier free agent (Chris Webber? Dikembe Mutombo?) and a draftee who can contribute immediately (Shane Battier?). Aha. After losing millions worth of credibility with its XFL fumble, NBC desperately needs a ratings blockbuster (MJ Returns?).

Two plus two equals four for the Bulls? Krause looked as if he had gotten hold of some bad burritos when it was announced the Bulls, with the worst record, had fallen as far as lottery rules allow, to No. 4.

But I say 4 could turn into a sweet spot for the one Jordan called "Crumbs." I say Krause could have the last laugh. I say Bulls fans should learn to pronounce Diop.

It's not Dye-op or Dee-ope. It's "Jop," as in Janis Joplin, as in, "Freedom's just another name for nothin' left to lose."

What do the Bulls have to lose picking DeSagana Diop at No. 4? Yes, fans will pay now for having to live with an 18-year-old from Senegal who played only two years of American high school basketball. But Jordan will pay later for taking the 6-foot-8-inch Battier, who like fellow Duke product Elton Brand has an NBA ceiling. Battier isn't much of a leaper. Right now Battier is about as good as he'll get, which is merely very good.

Two or three years from now you'll look back and think: How could Jordan have not taken Diop No. 1? Diop is the one athletic freak in this draft. Diop is the only man alive age 18 or above with the potential to be better than Shaquille O'Neal. Diop will soon make Thornwood's Eddy Curry look like just another overhyped Chicago-area high school phenom.

Krause could even buy some time for himself by buying into Diop. I know Krause has seen him because I was there the night he did, at the KMOX Shootout in St. Louis. Playing for basketball factory Oak Hill Academy, the 7-foot, 310-pound Diop stole the show with his shot-swatting, jump-hooking, rebounding, free-throw shooting and court-running. Here was a physically mature man-child with the feet, touch and timing of a young Hakeem Olajuwon. All Diop needs is time.

Obviously he needed a year or two of ACC competition--he had narrowed his choices to Virginia and North Carolina. But an uncle who has done some NBA scouting advised him he'd go top 10 in the draft, maybe top five, and as the well-spoken Diop told me, "If I'm lottery, I'm going [pro]."

Oak Hill's Steve Smith, who has coached several players who made the NBA, including the Bulls' Ron Mercer, said: "Down low Sagana reminds you of Shaquille the way he moves. He's a big-time shot-blocker and rebounder who's only scratched the surface offensively. He runs the court like he's 6-7 and 240. He'll wind up being the best player we've had here."

But midway through last season Diop developed a stress fracture in his foot. A small pin was inserted to keep the injury from plaguing him the rest of his career. Obviously Diop will have to prove during NBA auditions that the foot has healed. But the good news for the Bulls is that in Diop's absence Curry's stock rose.

Picking second, the intriguing Clippers face an intriguing choice between Curry and 7-1 L.A. prep star Tyson Chandler. The Clippers' Chicago-area connection of Corey Maggette and Quentin Richardson and their buddy Darius Miles will lobby for Curry, whom DePaul coach Pat Kennedy once compared to "a young Shawn Kemp." But I saw Kemp when he was in junior college and Kemp was a much more explosive athlete than Curry, who's a shade under 6-10.

Curry will wind up being your basic weight-fighting NBA journeyman. The slender Chandler is a much more skilled offensive player whose natural position is small forward--the last thing the Clippers need. Curry goes to the Clippers. Atlanta will choose between Chandler and Eddie Griffin, who has the second-best upside to Diop but battles a quick-fisted temper.

This should leave Diop for Krause. Diop will contribute immediately as a defensive presence. He'll eventually put Chicago back on the NBA map.

I've called for Krause's job. Now I'm calling for "Jop," who could remedy Krause's heartburn and ours.