Draft Workout Draws Potential First-Rounders

There were several first-round-caliber players at Sunday's Suns draft workout - Stanford center Robin Lopez, Florida big man Marreese Speights and Australian import Nathan Jawai - but no one drew more attention than 7-footer JaVale McGee.

McGee is a raw but impressively talented 240-pound center who is coming out after two seasons at Nevada. He has jumped from nowhere into a possible lottery pick with a breakout season for the Wolfpack and could be this year's Andrew Bynum - an unpolished gem with crazy skills and no ceiling on his upside.

There are negatives. Not only is he raw, but there are questions about work ethic and skills in the low block. "He can literally be as good as he wants to be," Suns vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said.

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"Yeah, (drafting him) would be a leap of faith, but Amaré (Stoudemire) was a leap of faith too, and sometimes you have to take some chances."

MAKERS, TAKERS?

Lopez is preparing to play his first game as a pro and his first game without twin brother Brook - who will be taken among the first 10 picks in the draft while Robin will wait until later in the first round.

The two players used to share the center position in grade school until Brook moved to power forward so they could play together. The one-on-one games between the two 7-footers and their older brothers (who are 6-8 and 6-10) in the driveway of their Fresno, Calif., home were exhausting affairs.

Two players played to 50 points "by two and threes" and lasted so long they had to institute a halftime when the first player reached 25.

"The landscaping around the court suffered the most, especially when someone would lose," Robin Lopez said. "I'll say I won most of the games, but I'll assure you he has a different story on that."

Brook Lopez is the scorer of the brothers, and Griffin said Lopez has to show an ability to score to go along with his strengths - defense, rebounding and shot-blocking. But he had a strong workout Sunday. He's also easy to spot with a haircut reminiscent of another NBA player.

"A lot of people compare me to (Cleveland big man) Anderson Varejao, but I'm not sure why," he said, smiling.

INCRED-A-BULL?

Suns assistant general manager Vinny Del Negro has come from nowhere to one of the three finalists for the head coaching job in Chicago - the same job that has been open for nearly two months and has been turned down by both Mike D'Antoni and Doug Collins.

Speculation in Chicago is that Dwane Casey, the only candidate with previous head coaching experience, has the edge. But Del Negro's interviews were very strong and some people close to the situation say they would be surprised if he doesn't get the job.

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