Inside the NBA

Gold Nugget?  

By taking Carmelo Anthony, Denver would get the scorer it badly needs

By Ian Thomsen

What more could be asked of Carmelo Anthony? As a freshman he led Syracuse to its first national championship, averaging 20.2 points and 9.8 rebounds during the NCAA tournament to become the dominant player in college basketball. But come the June 26 NBA draft, he'll be taken behind a pair of 18-year-olds, high school star LeBron James and 7'1", 250-pound Darko Milicic of Serbia and Montenegro.

Anthony lifted Syracuse to new heights but won't rise above No. 3 in the draft. Manny Millan

Anthony has known since the May 22 NBA lottery that Cleveland would use the top pick on James but didn't know until last week that Detroit had settled on Darko, who could fulfill the Pistons' need for a scoring big man to complement defensive-minded center Ben Wallace. Anthony responded to news of Detroit's decision by canceling his workout with the Pistons, and showing his maturity, he didn't whine about being disrespected. "It's O.K. because I would've been splitting time in Detroit with Tayshaun Prince," says Anthony, who figures to be taken by the Denver Nuggets with the No. 3 pick. "Denver has a big need for scoring, so I figure I'll get to shoot 18 or 19 times a game -- and I know I'm going to score at least half of those times."

His predictions may sound cocky, but they are softened by a beatific smile reminiscent of the young Magic Johnson's. Anthony has been shooting 1,000 jumpers per day and working with personal trainers on his footwork; the latter should help him handle the rugged man-to-man defense demanded by Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik. "A lot of people talk about my defense because we played that 2-3 zone at Syracuse," Anthony says. "But they don't realize that we played man-to-man at practice every day, and I grew up playing man-to-man."

Anthony's projected selection by Denver was not 100% guaranteed last week because of the sudden appearance of the biggest question mark of the draft -- 18-year-old center Pavel Podkolzine, a 7'5", 303-pound Russian from Siberia. Podkolzine's June 6 individual workout created the loudest buzz at the Chicago predraft camp, and the Nuggets were expected to put him through a private workout this week. "He's built better and moves more fluidly than Yao Ming," says an executive whose team possesses a high lottery pick. "He has enormous hands and a terrific shooting stroke. Every team in the lottery, except for Cleveland, has to consider drafting this guy."

Consider, but with great trepidation. Podkolzine played only 62 minutes in 10 games for Metis Varese in the Italian league last season, which raises the question: He's built like a dominant center, but can he play basketball? A top NBA international scout who attended one of Podkolzine's rare performances in Italy was unimpressed, saying, "He would run the court a couple of times and look like he was hyperventilating, like he was really nervous."

Whatever the case, it's of little concern to Anthony, who last week prepared for a visit to the White House with his Syracuse teammates, preceded by a light workout with the Nuggets, during which he would feel little pressure to perform. "All he has to do is show them his NCAA championship ring," says Bill Duffy, who with fellow agent Calvin Andrews is representing Anthony. "The ring says, 'This is how I play.'"

Issue date: June 23, 2003

For more Inside the NBA see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, June 18. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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