Mainly because it amuses me at this point.

The day after the introductory press conference for the new Bulls players they headed out to that other Reinsdorf property — the Chicago White Sox.

Bulls 2007 draft picks Joakim Noah, JamesOn Curry and Aaron Gray were honored before Tuesday’s game, with Gray throwing the ceremonial first pitch. Noah wore a jersey that read “Booozynski,” in reference to Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, a rabid University of Florida supporter.

I’m guessing that Noah wasn’t able to throw out the pitch because of his rotator cuff. Since there was no mention of it and nothing I noticed on SportsCenter, I assume Gray got it over the plate.
Gray was also thrown into the local gossip/sightings page.

The Bulls’ GM John Paxon entertained new draft picks Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray and JamesOn Curry at Morton’s the Steakhouse in Northbrook.

Finally just to note that article on Aaron Gray and Darren Morningstar. The only thing that had “parallels” with them beyond being centers at Pitt was their place in the NBA draft. Hardly parallel careers to this point.

The Chicago Bulls introductory press conference won’t be until Monday — apparently Noah didn’t make it to Chicago on Friday.

By most accounts, Gray’s drafting by the Bulls means there will be no effort to retain 7′ Center Martynas Andriuskevicius and Michael Sweetney — he will be cheaper and at a minimum no different than the two but only occupying one roster spot. There also isn’t much in the free agent market to entice the Bulls for centers — Chris Mihm, Vitaly Potapenko (he’s still in the NBA?), Dale Davis or Melvin Ely. Hell, just looking at the names of big slow centers still playing in the NBA further suggests that Aaron Gray may not be a big name in the league, but he will be able to earn a paycheck for quite some time.

That’s why the Bulls continued to go big with the first of their two second-round picks by grabbing Aaron Gray of Pittsburgh, a solid defender and rebounder with excellent size (7-feet, 270 pounds).”Here’s the thing about Aaron Gray: He is a big, thick 7-footer,” Paxson said. ”He played at a great program at Pittsburgh. He’s not going to knock you out with athleticism or anything like that, but the kid knows how to play.”

This is why Hawes was smart to come out this year and Patrick O’Bryant (15th pick) last year. Hibbert may have made a mistake coming back to be picked apart, and Josh McRoberts of Duke definitely stayed too long. Big men, are either potential or maxed out.

What happens now, is that Aaron Gray will be hopping an early flight from Philly to Chicago. The day after the draft are the post-draft press conferences in the franchises respective cities with the draftees being present.

The Chicago media naturally was much more focused on the Bulls pick of Joakim Noah at #9. As for the second round picks, well JamesOn Curry has more of a story since he had issues back in high school. Gray is just there.

“Aaron Gray is another big body,” general manager John Paxson said. “Obviously not the athlete that other players are, but he can be very solid for us.”

Gray was steady, but rarely dominating, as an upperclassman for the Panthers. He averaged 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds last season, but concerns arose about his lack of speed and athleticism.

Those issues dropped him from a borderline first-round prospect early in the predraft process to a late second-round selection.

“He’s got a soft touch,” coach Scott Skiles said. “He moves around the floor pretty well. We look at him as a guy that, if he can make it, can body up some of the bigger players in the league for a few minutes.”

Gray, must have read some of the snippets after he was drafted about “making it,” judging by his comments.

”I still have a lot of work to do, but my foot is in the door,” Gray said. ”I just have to go out there and do my best.”

One of the major knocks on Gray was that he wasn’t athletic or quick enough, but he’s in better shape than he was in March when his college career ended, and he believes that he will be in even better condition after playing summer league with the Bulls.

Gray’s bags are already packed for his trip to Chicago.

”People right now, I’m sure are doubting me,” Gray said. ”It’s just the same thing at a different time of my life, people not thinking I’m going to make it. I just have to go out and prove them wrong.”

Well, at least he has something to help motivate him. The Bulls may look to find some more low-post help in free agency, but being so thin there and a couple restricted free agents (like Nocioni) will make Gray a low cost option to provide depth at the Center spot.
The lateness of where Gray was picked and the hour meant there wasn’t much in the newspapers yet. A little bit about other Centers taken before Gray. If Gray makes it with the Bulls, he stands to get a three-year deal worth nearly $2 million. The summer league will be vital.

With Aaron Gray being picked 49th by the Bulls, Chad Ford at ESPN (Insider subs.) was offering comments on all draft picks.

He’s big. He put up good stats in college. But how does he keep up with the speed of the NBA? I’ll give him this, though — he may be the most polished low-post scorer on the Bulls roster, if he makes the team.

It was the “if he makes the team.” that surprised me.  Yes, he’s a late second rounder and he could be released with a non-guaranteed contract. Here’s the thing. This is the Bulls Roster of centers:

Ben Wallace, Center, 4 years on his contract.

That’s it. The other centers and forward-centers on their roster: P.J. Brown, Michael Sweetney and Martynas Andriuskevicius. They are all free agents. Maybe they resign one of them.

That puts Gray in great shape to stay with the team.

7:33: Portland is on the clock.
I’m starting this with one hand. My son is out cold on my lap.

Question: Who would you want to give a free kick to the nuts more? Steven A. Smith or Dick Vitale?

7:36: Shocking Oden goes first. Stunned I tell you. Stunned.

7:41: Naturally Durant to Seattle/Oklahoma City. Easiest draft pick ever.

7:42: Awesome. The Celtics are apparently going to swap the #5 pick (or pick Jeff Green of Georgetown) along with Delonte West and Wally Sczerbiak to Seattle for Ray Allen. I’m with Mark Jackson who has been blasting this deal for the Celtics all day. That’s why I love it. Hate the Celtics.

7:46: Okay, Atlanta and Pitt’s Billy Knight have the #3 pick. Heard that the Hawks because of their pathetic and infighting trinity of ownership blew a chance to get Amare Stoudamire in a deal that would have involved the #11 pick. Yeep.

They go with Al Horford from Florida as expected. Best player left. I have no problem with it. That means they’ll take Acie Law IV at #11.

7:50: Those Adidas Draft/NBA hats bother me with that narrow piping. Makes it look like everyone has a pointy head.

7:52: Predictable draft so far as Conley, Jr. goes #4 to Memphis. I see him as a slightly better Dominic James with more mystery creating the nebulous “upside.”

7:57: Yes! The Celtics do take Jeff Green. That means Boston will just be inadequate and not have any potential growth in the future.

(more…)

And all the stories today reflect that. This article concludes that it’s best that he goes in the second round, since he’ll be a back-up player for his career. That way no one can call him a bust.

Part of it is simply that the style in the NBA has changed in the last few years. I keep mentioning this, but Chris Mihm (who Gray reminds me a lot of for the NBA) was the #7 pick. Now, it’s about being able to penetrate the lane and showing much more athleticism.

Gray’s agent is rightly stressing that getting drafted by the right team will help his career a lot more than being drafted in the first round.

”He’s a big center, who can score with his back to the basket, and in today’s NBA that’s not something that all NBA teams use or reserve roster spots for,” Zanik said.”It’s not about being on a roster. It’s about him being able to contribute, so we’ve targeted some teams where that would make sense.”

…

”It really has to do with the fit of the team,” Zanik said. ”That’s what we’ve been concentrating on in the draft process, regardless of the number, because he can step in and help a team right away.

”Whether it’s a team at No. 25 or 45, his ability is going to allow him to get guaranteed years and an opportunity. I have teams where Aaron is going to play.”

On Phoenix’s roster, Gray would have no chance, and would be released or traded quickly. A team like San Antonio, Indiana, Miami or Washington would fit him much better.

Still, there’s a big difference in Gray’s shape and his game from his freshman year to now.

For Gray, this is a time to reflect and celebrate how far he has come. ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas described Gray as a “non-prospect” coming out of Emmaus High in 2003. Four years later, he is on the verge of being drafted by an NBA team.

“It’s ridiculous to think about,” Gray said. “If you saw me as a freshman in high school, people wouldn’t even believe it was me. The NBA was just a dream.

“Things have worked out really well for me. I was surrounded by great people at Pitt. The coaches gave me an opportunity. I wouldn’t change a thing that’s happened to me over the last four years.”

This was the from the first time I noticed Gray playing. It was the February 2004 game against UConn.

Okay, who the hell is the big slow white guy for Pitt that just scored on the nice pass from Brown? Looking at the box score, it’s a 7′ freshman named Aaron Gray from outside of Allentown. This was the 13th game he’s made an appearance in, but the first one I’ve seen.

I believe Gray recounted that story at times this past year about his poor physical conditioning and how he huffed and puffed too late to stop an Okafor score.

For the record, I’ll be liveblogging the NBA Draft tomorrow, as I did last year.

A couple days ago the P-G had an article about how Aaron Gray could be the first 1st round draft pick of the Howland-Dixon era. That was after Gray had already dropped to the second in most mock drafts. So, now they get around to revising and noting he will likely go in the second round.

That’s what NBA draft experts are saying about Pitt’s All-American and his immediate future on the eve of the draft. No matter what Gray did in those big games on the national stage, he would be in the same position today — a borderline late first- or second-round pick.

“He has established a body of work as a player over time,” ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said. “That’s what the NBA people will look at. They’ll look at what he did over his four years.”

Gray will be staying home with his folks to watch the draft. He’s actually enjoyed traveling all over the place to do workouts for teams.

”It’s been exciting,” Gray said. ”I was in San Antonio, and they just won the championship. The city was crazy. We [other draft candidates] were walking around, and people were thinking that were were part of the team.

”And I was like, ‘Nah, nah, I’m not part of ya’ll yet.”

Yeah, I can see how a bunch of really tall young athletic men would be assumed to be members of the Spurs.

The timing was impeccable. The article on Aaron Gray being a potential 1st round pick. The first 1st round pick in the modern renaissance of Pitt basketball. So in 6 different mock drafts, naturally Gray is outside the 1st round in 4 of them.

• DraftExpress — #41 to the T-Wolves
• Hoops Hype.com — #41 to the T-Wolves
• NBAdraft.net — #38 to the Sixers
• RealGM.com — #38 to the Sixers
• InsideHoops.com — #30 to the Sixers
• CollegeHoops.net — #22 to the Bobcats

I’m trying to figure out how Sean Williams keeps being listed ahead of Gray. A guy who failed multiple second chances with BC. A guy who you can guarantee a couple suspensions for failed drug tests. Someone who is a shot blocker and little else.

Otherwise, I do understand how Gray can be outside of the first round. A few years ago, Gray would have been a top-15 pick on his size. Now, for centers, the focus is on which players can get up and down the floor and shoot from further out.
In a big number breakdown of college centers, Aaron Gray comes out pretty good, and Spencer Hawes has bust written all over him. Oden, obviously dominated the stats.

In the last GrayWatch post, I noted that Aaron Gray went out to Vegas for a specific conditioning program and 1-on-1 service. The intense (and expensive) program really made a noticeable difference. Reducing his body fat and making him look more defined. Joe Starkey did a column on Gray’s draft status and condition that takes a slight shot at Gray being in great condition.

Pitt was hoping Gray would whip himself into that kind of shape for his senior year, after eschewing the 2006 NBA Draft. It didn’t happen.

See, he didn’t directly say he expected Gray to be in this kind of condition for the past season. Nor did he make a direct allegation that Gray was out of shape. Just that others had hoped that Gray would be able to get to this kind of condition, and maybe implying that because Gray wasn’t in NBA draft shape he wasn’t in shape. He’s merely taking note of what others hoped.

For example, the rest of the article is simply a rehashing from other stories on Gray’s draft status, the Orlando camp, and quotes from other papers and web sites. At that point I could say something like, “a more paranoid blogger would think Starkey merely skimmed the links and quotes from prior posts to do his own article.” That way I’m not actually saying I think he did it. Merely making an observation, and making it appear like a slimy action of stealing my work.

In all honesty, I think Starkey probably did. And that’s good. There’s nothing wrong with that. That means he’s reading (considering the daily referrer logs contain hits from Trib computers I already knew some were reading) and taking advantage of one of the things I do with this blog — aggregating the information.

Plus Starkey added some quotes from Gray’s agent doing a bit of spinning on Gray’s conditioning.

“He’s finally healthy,” Zanik said. “Nagging injuries didn’t allow him to condition properly. Also, he can concentrate on basketball every day now. It’s not anything Pitt didn’t do, it’s just having more time to focus on conditioning. I’m excited to see what he’s going to look like six months from now.”

Pretty much what you would expect the agent to say.

Anyone else remember when Chevon Troutman, for no reason that made sense other than “what the hell,” would launch a 3-point shot? And the abject shock when it actually went in. I’ve always been grateful that Aaron Gray never tried that at Pitt. He’s apparently willing to take them, though, in the workouts.

”It’s something that I’m willing to do,” said Gray, who was measured at 7 feet, 2 inches in last week’s NBA pre-draft camp in Orlando, which is two inches taller than he was listed at in college.

His height is not the question. There are more pressing questions about the former Emmaus High star that the Sixers and other NBA teams which will be working out Gray over the next 19 days want to know.

Gray is more than willing to show them how much he has improved his overall skills and how much leaner, trimmer and NBA-ready he’s become since his final college basketball game in March.

His 3-point shot was a start. It wasn’t Dirk Nowitzki-type accuracy, but he shot from beyond the arc with a light touch and with confidence.

That’s just an unnerving image of Gray launching a 3. Gray still has workouts with Sacramento, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Toronto, San Antonio and Utah over the next 8 days.

As for the secret of how Gray slimmed down 20 more pounds and dropped his body fat to around 10.1%, well it involved individualized workouts at the Joe Abunassar Impact Training Program in Las Vegas. Abunassar is one of the top trainers to help kids get ready for the draft — and points to NBA players like Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince as pros with which he has worked. It also isn’t cheap. For just taking part in his summer camps it runs $750/week (PDF).

That’s why you don’t see players still in college going there during the off-season. When you are going pro, it’s a direct investment and your agent will be able to put the money up for you.