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COPYRIGHT 2001 Sporting News Publishing Co.
Teams looking for immediate help in this year's draft might be disappointed
There are certainties about the June 27 draft: There are no franchise players, four high school seniors will be among the top 10 picks and next year will be better. (Isn't it always?) What's not so certain: Is it a good draft?
There's more depth this year than there was last year. In fact, the 40th player taken might be as good as last year's 20th pick. Next year, however, will be much better if, as expected, 7-6 Yao Ming of China and Duke's Jason Williams come out. They would have been the top two picks this year.
This year depends a lot on your perspective. If you have a first-round pick, you view the prospects a little more optimistically than if you're sitting it out.
Mavericks assistant coach Donn Nelson, whose team doesn't have a pick in the first round, says: "There isn't one guy in this draft who's going to help much next year. Shane Battier is the most complete player. Is he a rotation player? Yeah, maybe. Is he going to help me win one more game? Probably not. Maybe. There's a whole lot of maybes.
"We'd hate to be faced with the prospect of having a high lottery pick. Those are teams that are losing anyway and now you've got a project that...
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