6/18 ESPN Insider - Bosh a lock at #4 ?

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Draft Rumors: Bosh a lock at No. 4?
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, June 18
Updated: June 18
10:53 AM ET


He's a late comer to the scene, but it hasn't taken long for freshman Chris Bosh to make a name for himself in the NBA Draft.


Bosh, a 6-foot-11, 225-pound forward from Texas (he played at Georgia Tech), only recently decided to keep his name in the draft and hire an agent. Since then, he's strung together several impressive workouts for the Bulls, Heat and Pistons.

Today he's in Toronto and is scheduled to go to Denver this weekend.

Bosh's workout with the Pistons raised a few eyebrows. GM Joe Dumars said last week that the team would draft Darko Milicic with the second pick in the draft. However, Bosh wanted to work out for the Pistons anyway. He left everyone on the staff very impressed.

"He's going to be a real special player," one Pistons source told Insider. "He reminds me of kind of a young Tim Duncan. He's just so solid fundamentally. His ability to play both inside and outside is very intriguing. And, he's a great young man."

While some teams worry that Bosh might be a few years away because of his slight build, the Pistons aren't that worried.

"He does need to gain a little weight and get stronger," the source said. "But you could say that about 90 percent of the young players in the draft. He's not that far away."

The Pistons aren't the only ones who believe that. The Raptors are leaning toward taking Bosh with the No. 4 pick, a league source told Insider. They've also worked out T. J. Ford, Chris Kaman and Pavel Podkolzine. All three players worked out well, but none of them did enough to dissuade the Raptors from taking Bosh. If Bosh works out well today alongside KU's Nick Collison, he'll be a lock for No. 4.

Celtics all set?

The Boston Celtics are still running workouts. However, according to one source inside the organization, they already know who they want at No. 16 and No. 20.

"The workouts we're doing now are contingency scenarios in case the guys we want aren't on the board," the source told Insider.

While the source refused to divulge the names of the players the Celtics want, league sources have told Insider that UNLV's Marcus Banks, Montenegro's Alexsandar Pavlovic and Zarko Cabarkapa are at the top of their wish list.

Banks and Pavlovic both had impressive workouts for the Celtics. The team also likes Cabarkapa, even though he hasn't worked out for them. Cabarkapa left the U.S. two weeks ago after just two workouts to attend to a family matter.

In or Out of the NBA Draft

Starkville's Travis Outlaw will remain in the draft, his high school coach.Greg Carter told the Sun Herald.

"For a 6-foot-9 player, Travis can handle the ball and play on the perimeter," Carter said. "He can do a lot of things on the court."

If Outlaw is in, most likely he received a first-round guarantee from an NBA team.

Agent David Bauman told Insider that Argentina's Carlos Delfino will also keep his name in the draft. Bauman expects Delfino to go somewhere in the mid-to-late first round.

Workout News

Raptors: Georgia Tech's Chris Bosh, KU's Nick Collison and Serbian forward David Brkic are in Toronto today. KU's Kirk Hinrich, Oregon's Luke Ridnour and Hawaii's Carl English will be in town on Thursday.

Heat: Marquette's Dwyane Wade, Kentucky's Keith Bogans and Maryland's Drew Nicholas worked out in Miami on Tuesday. Serbian shooting guard Alexsandar Pavlovic is in Miami today.

Jazz: Russian big man Pavel Podkolzine, Serbian Blagota Sekulic and Arizona's Jason Gardner are in Utah today.

Sonics: Russian big man Pavel Podkolzine and Greece's Sofaklis Schortsanitis worked out for the Sonics on Tuesday.

Suns: Russian Viktor Khryapa will work out for Phoenix on Tuesday. The workout went well, but Khryapa may have killed his chances of getting drafted by one team. "Andrei Kirilenko tells me it is very good in the United States . . . but he also tells me that Memphis is not so good," Khryapa told the Arizona Republic.

Hornets: BYU's Travis Hansen is in town today for workouts. Serbian shooting guard Alexsandar Pavlovic will be in on Thursday.

Hawks: Wake Forest's Josh Howard, Duke's Dahntay Jones, Auburn's Marquis Daniels, Serbia's Aleksander Pavlovic, Hawaii's Carl English and Serbia's David Brkic worked out in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Bulls: GM John Paxson and assistant GM B. J. Armstrong left Chicago for France late Tuesday to see Mickael Pietrus work out.

Warriors: The team will bring in Greek big man Sofaklis Schortsanitis today.

Blazers: Russian forward Viktor Khryapa will be in Portland today.

Knicks: KU's Nick Collison, Mississippi State's Mario Austin, San Diego's Jason Keep and high school big man James Lang worked out for the Knicks on Tuesday.