LSU's Thomas eager to show he's worthy of No. 1 pick

	LSU's Tyrus Thomas wasn't even on the NBA radar until the latter half of the 2005-06 season. Now he's a possible No. 1 pick. Luke Winn/SI
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ORLANDO -- At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, as the NBA Pre-Draft Camp's mass of first-round bubble men, second-round hopefuls and likely free agents were commencing their daily drills at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, a possible No. 1 overall pick was in a more secretive setting 15 minutes away. In a quiet, white-walled high school gym, LSU's Tyrus Thomas was halfway through his morning workout, standing at the free throw line during a brief pause in the action.

Thomas' basketball trainer, ex-Tiger and NBA vet Randy Livingston, bounced him the ball and said, "This is the difference between 15 [points] and 20, between 13 and 18." Thomas dribbled at the stripe and proceeded to announce his shots in a peculiar fashion.

"New York City one!"

Rim, backboard, in.

"New York City two!"

Swish.

Those are lines, Thomas later explained, from the 1999 Eddie Murphy-Martin Lawrence joint Life, and he was reciting them arbitrarily -- but was willing to acknowledge their geographical significance. Thomas has been in Orlando, along with Livingston, strength-and-conditioning guru Tom Shaw and workout partner Nick Lewis of San Diego since Mother's Day, on a mission to polish his game and his body for the June 28 draft in New York City.

There, the 6-foot-9 Thomas will be in the running with fellow forwards Andrea Bargnani of Italy's Bennetton Treviso, LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas and Adam Morrison of Gonzaga to become the first player selected in a wide-open draft. Toronto, holder of the No. 1 pick, is rumored to favor Bargnani, as the team plans to add Bennetton GM Maurizio Gherardini to its front office this summer. But that's no guarantee; one of Thomas' agents, Michael Siegel, said the Raptors planned to see Thomas workout later this week. If Toronto passes, it would be a shock to see Thomas fall past Chicago at No. 2.

On this day, the observers were Thomas' reps, Siegel and Brian Elfus; two of his uncles, Darcy and Shedrich Franklin (Shedrich is set to become Tyrus' "day-to-day guy" and travel companion for his rookie year); as well as three guys from Nike, who had to watch Thomas, a footwear free agent, strut his stuff in a pair of Kevin Garnett-model kicks made by Adidas. Curious high school students -- a few kids gathering for summer conditioning -- periodically peeped through the glass in the gym's doors, eager to catch a glimpse of the future NBA star on their home hardwood. Or perhaps they were just concerned that Thomas would inflict irreparable damage to their facilities; in one drill, he picked balls up off the floor near the block and then dunked them with such force that the basket's entire ceiling-support system was shaking.