Ron Lewis' Draft Status Still Cloudy With the NBA Draft less than a week away teams are getting a last look at guys and finalizing their draft strategy. With even the top half of the first round pecking order uncertain it's even more of a mystery as to how the 2nd round will play out. That could be good news for Ron Lewis, who still hopes to be a late 2nd round selection. Lewis worked out for the Bulls yesterday, a team with the 49th and 51st picks looking to add a guard off the bench. One report indicates Lewis impressed the Bulls brass with his defense and his athleticism fits in to Scott Skiles' up-tempo style. Even better, HoopsWorld reported that Ron put on a shooting clinic in a recent workout with the Houston Rockets, a team that might be open to trading down (26th pick) in hopes of getting more value out of a 2nd round pick. Besides raining jumpers, Lewis impressed with his ability to run the floor and attack the rim. The problem could be that the Rockets just picked up PG Mike James to compete with fellow PG Rafer Alston by trading Juwan Howard making them more likely to draft a big.
Greg Oden's Pacific Northwest Tour Rages On Greg arrived in Portland yesterday for a two day meet and greet with the Blazers. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge met Oden, his mom and Conley Sr. at the airport as a sea of media and travelers looked on. Oden is expected to take part in light workouts and meetings before heading to Seattle on Friday to go through the same song and dance with the Sonics, who remain coachless.
Conley Making The Rounds Following a strong workout with the Grizzlies, Mike Conley put on a show for the Bucks. Milwaukee's Director of player personnel certianly seems impressed:"Athletically, he's as good as it gets," Babcock said. "A pass-first (point guard) would be a tremendous addition to our team, because we do have a lot of scorers. Even though he's 6-1, he's a good defender. He's solid and he's strong. Will he get taken advantage of by the bigger point guards? They all do, Chris Paul, T.J. (Ford), all those guys. But they take advantage of them at the other end with their quickness."
Conley spoke briefly of how sweet it would be to team with Michael Redd in a Buckeye backcourt:
"He's a great slasher, a great shooter," Conley said. "I could definitely get accustomed to passing the ball a lot. He could get me a lot of assists."If a Conley/Redd backcourt pans out, I suspect we'll see a few more Milwaukee fans sprout in the Buckeye state although I don't know if a boost in merchandise sales is realistic until they change that ridiculous color scheme. Purple, Red and Green? Seriously.
