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June 23, 2008
on Monday, June 23.
Video - Day 9 | UPDATED PICS - Gallery | Draft Central
Charlotte's preparation for the 2008 NBA Draft continued Monday at the Presbyterian Hospital Training Center at Time Warner Cable Arena with Alabama's Richard Hendrix, Miami's Anthony King, Rhode Island's Will Daniels and BC Khimky Moscow's Nikita Shabalkin (Russia) all participating in draft workouts with the Bobcats.
Richard Hendrix is an early entry candidate for the 2008 NBA Draft. As a junior, he earned First Team All-SEC honors from The Associated Press and league coaches after being the only player in the SEC to average double figures in scoring (17.7 ppg, ranked fifth in the conference) and rebounding (10.1 rpg, ranked first in the conference). He also was ranked third in field goal percentage (.598) and fifth in blocked shots (1.94 bpg). Hendrix was limited during the workout due to a quad injury he suffered over the weekend.
Anthony King. a 6-9 forward/center, led Miami in rebounding (7.0 rpg, ranked ninth in the ACC) and blocked shots (1.4 bpg, seventh in ACC). He also averaged 7.1 points during his senior season.
Will Daniels was named to the All-Atlantic 10 First Team after averaging 18.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 50.1 percent from the floor during his senior season. A 6-8 forward, Daniels finished his career as the ninth all-time leading scoring in Rhode Island history with 1,678 points.
Nikita Shabalkin was originally an early entry candidate for the 2007 NBA Draft before withdrawing his name from consideration. A native of Russia, the 6-9 forward was averaging 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds through 40 games with BC Khimky in Russian A League Superleague regular season and playoff play.
Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown and Hendrix spoke with the media following the workout.
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Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown
(On the workout)
It went good. I was sorry Richard Hendrix was hurt. If he had gone to Carolina, he wouldn’t have been hurt. I’m kidding. They all worked hard. It’s much more difficult when you have three guys. Physically, they don’t get much rest. It’s pretty demanding on them, but they all did fine.
(On Richard Hendrix)
We’ve done our homework on him. He had a terrific career. He’s a fine player. The fact that he wanted to go under these circumstances is a good thing. But you don’t want him to get hurt. He has a couple of others left and it wouldn’t make any sense, getting him hurt.
(On if he’s looking forward to he Draft)
I worry about Drafts. You don’t want to make a mistake. The nice thing is they’ve gotten a lot of players here that we could evaluate personally. We’ve gotten to watch a lot of film, so I think we’re going to get a good player. I’m excited about that. We have two more days ahead, so I’m looking forward to those two workouts.
(On if picks three through 10 are hard to predict)
Yes, I think it’s hard to predict the whole draft. I’m pretty confident Derrick (Rose) will go first, but I’ve heard all different scenarios. Every day you hear a different story. I think you have to be prepared for that. I’ve never been surprised when I’ve participated in a Draft, by any selection. It just takes one team to fall in love with a guy and that could change everything. We’re just looking at a lot of players we think are talented kids and try to work out every scenario that might possibly happen. I’m pretty confident we like the ninth pick.
(On if Brook Lopez could be there when the Bobcats draft nine)
Yes, I think so. The last three or four mock drafts I’ve read, he’s been at nine. Initially, everybody thought he wouldn’t go past three. That could all change in the next day or so. I would doubt that (Michael) Beasley or Rose would be there, but anybody else, there’s scenarios that could put anybody else there.
(On if Russell Westbrook could be there at nine)
He could. There are so many kids like him that people are talking about the future. You don’t look at some of these kids like they are going to have an impact on your team right away and he falls into the category. He’s certainly highly though of and as the workouts have progressed you hear his name anywhere from six to 11 or 12. You can say that about Alexander, and (D.J.) Augustin has had impressive workouts. It only takes one team to fall in love with you and that’s the most significant thing.
(On if he’s surprised that players haven’t stayed with the team’s that drafted them)
Not really. Free agency has changed everything. I think it’s going to worse now because of Boston’s success by going out and trading young kids for more experienced players that could win immediately. Miami did it. Pat (Riley) changed his franchise around to try to win a championship. It’s happening all over our league now. When you look at LeBron (James), Dwyane (Wade) and (Chris) Bosh not signing long term deals, that kind of shows you that even the players are looking around and saying where can I go to be a winner. Jason (Kidd) left New Jersey because he wanted to win. I think we’ll see more and more of that. You look at San Antonio though. They won four championships. They drafted (Manu) Ginobili, they drafted (Tony) Parker, and they drafted (Tim) Duncan. Think of their success.
(On if there are more trade talks now with Boston’s success)
Everybody talks. Whether you can get a deal done is really difficult in our league. It’s not like you can trade one player for the next. You have to get the money right. There are a lot of rules that affect that. I wouldn’t be surprised that teams that are close to winning that wouldn’t be afraid to take the risk because of what happened with Boston. They gave up a lot of young kids and draft choices and they’re still pretty young other than Ray (Allen), Kevin (Garnett) and (James) Posey. They still have a lot of young talent that contributed, (Kendrick) Perkins and (Rajon) Rondo started. Big Baby (Glen Davis) helped them. (Leon) Powe and (Tony) Allen are still young. They did it, but still didn’t mortgage their future.
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(On how the workout went despite being limited with an injury)
The workout still went well today. I was limited, coming off a setback, but I will be all right. They worked well with me, put me through some drills they knew I could handle. It was a good day.
(On why he wanted to do the workout even with the injury)
I’ve always been a competitor. I’ve only one time ever in my life missed a game. I just take a lot of pride and when someone has asked me to come out and play I’m going to push through it and give it all I’ve got.
(On how many workouts he has had)
Today would be my 13th and I have two more to go. I’m going to push through those too.
(On what he’s hearing about his draft status)
I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows except for the top guys. I’m just going to do everything I can control on my part which is just going out and giving it my maximum effort and hoping to play as well as I know I can.
(On what he could bring to the Bobcats)
I just think I would be an asset wherever I would be or whatever my role is. You don’t really get a chance to scout the Bobcats, but I know they have a lot of great talent on their team. Any team I can be a part of, I know I’m going to bring something to the table.
(On the workout)
A lot of the Carolina guys at this workout were giving me a hard time. My college decision came down to North Carolina and Alabama and I chose to stay at home. They have been giving me a hard time throughout this whole workout.
(On if he has talked to Bobcats forward and former Alabama teammate Jermareo Davidson)
He doesn’t give me a whole lot of feedback. He’s really laid back as am I. He just tells me he knows I will be all right wherever I am. He just has a lot of faith in me and gives me some encouraging words about the process. (He tells me) to keep working hard and (he) wishes me luck. It would be great to play with an old teammate again.
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