Bloomington, IN (U-WIRE) -- With the NBA Draft fast approaching, Bracey Wright is doing his best to stay busy -- his future career might depend on it.
After a standout year as a junior for the Hoosiers, Wright declared early into the NBA Draft and has been doing his best to impress teams and scouts to prove he is worthy of a first round pick and a guaranteed contract. Wright has spent the past few weeks working out for teams in the NBA and by the time the process ends he will have worked out for nearly every organization, said Wright's agent Bob McClaren of McClaren Sports in Houston.
Nearly two weeks ago Wright participated in the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago and did well to help his position in the Draft, McClaren said.
"He had a nice week up there," McClaren said. "Everyone knows he can score with the best of them. What he has done to help himself is show that he is a ferocious defensive player and it really came through over this week."
To help with his defensive work, Wright has worked out with former Utah coach Rick Majerus to improve his defense.
During the camp, Wright played in three games averaging 7.7 points per game. In Wright's first game he came out firing, scoring 13 points in his team's win. The next two games Wright struggled scoring, but helped his teammates get on the board as he finished camp with 10 assists.
Since the camp, Wright has stayed busy working out for whichever teams have a legitimate interest in taking the 6-foot-3-inch guard.
Wright was in Phoenix Tuesday working out with the Suns, who have the No. 21 and 57 picks in the Draft. For his next workout, Wright traveled north to practice with Toronto. The Raptors will be drafting four times at No. 7, 16, 38 and 58.
Wright will continue with workouts up until the draft night as he goes to Minnesota today and will be with the Pistons and addition to another team, McClaren said.
As Wright tries to prove that he can be a combo-guard rather than a just a shooting guard, one thing he has going for him is his wingspan.
At the camp, despite being listed at 6-feet-1 1/4-inch, Wright measured in with a wingspan of 6'10". Bryan Colangelo, Phoenix Suns president and general manager, said on the Suns Web site Wright's wingspan could play a factor in him being drafted.
"Bracey plays bigger than his size," Colangelo said. "He has a tremendous wingspan -- a 6-10 wingspan on a 6-2 frame. That's a big differential and something we always look at."
While there are Web sites all over the internet that predict from picks one to 58, Director of
Scouting for the NBA Marty Blake said it is just too early to tell where players will fall in the draft.
"You have to look at how many players on that team will be free agents, what do they need in the first round," Blake said. "There are teams in the second round that will take players from Europe and put them in the hopper in Europe for big people that won't be coming over."
Despite not getting into specifics on where he thinks Wright will be drafted, Blake said the guard will be taken.
"Somebody is going to draft him," Blake said. "He could be a first round pick. All it takes is one team."
Wright is working to impress the scouts not only with his play but his personality, something that most teams consider when drafting a player, McClaren said.
Although McClaren doesn't know a specific team or pick for Wright, he said he has received indications that Wright might be a first-round selection.
"There are teams that have told me that he is a late first-round or some that have seen him as an early second-round guy," said McClaren, who also represents Wright's former high school teammate and Illinois guard Deron Williams. "We have gotten very good reads from teams that he has a strong possibility of being drafted in the first round. He has the scoring and temperament to be a first-round pick and he has shown people for years that he can score and that he can match up defensively."
Attempts to reach Wright were unsuccessful by press time.
(C) 2004 Indiana Daily Student via U-WIRE
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