Schrager's Mock draft has DJ going.

[77ncaachamps]

From Peter Schrager's Mock Draft (FOXsports):

A tenacious defensive point guard who ran the Marquette offense like a seasoned vet his last two seasons, James fits the hard-nosed mold of Detroit's core nucleus. Chauncey Billups is a free agent this summer. And though Detroit should be able to re-sign the All-Star point guard, scooping up a guy like James would not be a bad idea regardless of the former Finals MVP's status. In one of the weaker point guard drafts in recent memory, James should be the third or fourth taken at the position. Lindsey Hunter's not getting any younger. At the very least, James could be a serviceable back up point in the Motor City.

EDITED: He projected DJ to the Pistons at the 27th pick.

[ecompt]

Rosiak's blog said he worked out for only one team (Houston?). I thought he was scheduled to work out for the Nets and Knicks, too. No?

[NYWarrior]

Rosiak's blog said he worked out for only one team (Houston?). I thought he was scheduled to work out for the Nets and Knicks, too. No?

yeah, that was reported in the Post and/or DailyNews this week

[Harrison]

My guess is he will return.  Latest news has him invited to the Pan Am games workouts and going to the Lebron James HS camp.  both things are done by returning players not pros.

[NYWarrior]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2902697

[77ncaachamps]

Edited OP.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2902697

I read that article yesterday and found it to be very vague. All I kept reading that it was a "bad fit" for Tucker; or, a "bad fit" for the Raptors (why draft him then?); or, Tucker's daddy saying it was simply a "bad fit". Some details would be nice.

This is yet another mark for the "no sh@t" club. Of course it's all about "fit". Then again, Diener looked to be in a "good fit" and that didn't really turn out so maybe it isn't just the "fit" of the player and organization.

I don't know. Things just don't "fit' for me. Let's hope they "fit" for everyone else.

[NYWarrior]

Of course it's all about "fit". Then again, Diener looked to be in a "good fit" and that didn't really turn out so maybe it isn't just the "fit" of the player and organization.

True.  But Diener was also a graduating senior, so returning to school was never an option for him as it was for Tucker.  Plus, TD nabbed a guaranteed two-year contract with the Magic . . . so they were content to invest what they could in him.  Doesn't look like that was the case for Tucker

[Avenue Commons]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2902697

DJ should read this. No, MEMORIZE this article.

ESPN.com: Men's College Basketball  [Print without images]

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tucker's post-Texas career has been bumpy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

P.J. Tucker has a message for all those underclassmen who have decided to stay in the draft or are even waffling at this juncture: You had better get with the right team, one that fits your game.
If you don't, expect the road to be quite bumpy early in your career.

Look, you can debate who is to blame for Tucker's plight. After leaving Texas with one year of eligibility remaining, he was drafted by Toronto at No. 35 in the second round in 2006 and released less than a year later when the Raptors picked up Luke Jackson from Oregon.

 
P.J. Tucker averaged 10.7 points in 19 games with the Colorado 14ers in the D-League.
Still, the reality is that Tucker and the Raptors weren't a good fit, unlike what his former Texas teammate Daniel Gibson has found in Cleveland. Gibson, like Tucker, left Texas early. And like Tucker, Gibson was selected in the second round (42nd overall in 2006).

"It's not about the pick or the round," said Tucker. "I'd rather go in the second round to a team that I could play for than a team in the first round that doesn't need me. It wasn't a great fit for me or the team. It just didn't work out. It's all about the fit, just look at Daniel, look at Paul Millsap [No. 47 to Utah in the 2006 second round] and Dee Brown [No. 46 to Utah in the 2006 second round]. If you go with the right team, then everything will work out."

Tucker played in 17 games for the Raptors and averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds. He played for the Colorado 14ers in the NBA Developmental League and averaged 10.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19 games.

This was the same Tucker who was the 2006 Big 12 Player of the Year and averaged 16.1 points and 9.5 boards a game despite being undersized at 6-foot-5.

"He didn't get an opportunity," said Tucker's father, Anthony. P.J. is currently working out in Raleigh, N.C., and hanging out with his family as he decides which NBA summer league team he will play for in the hope that he can make a roster in the fall.

"He wasn't going to go overseas," Anthony Tucker said. "I wasn't pleased with what happened. I just wish he could have gotten an opportunity."

Multiple sources said Tucker believed he was a first-round pick when he told Texas coach Rick Barnes that he was leaving. But Barnes advised him that he wasn't hearing from one single NBA team that Tucker was going in the first round.

"I do think P.J. Tucker can play in the NBA, but you don't need the whole league to like you, just one person," Barnes said. "He's got to find the one person [team] that likes him."

Tucker said he has no issues with what transpired in the 2006 draft. He said he was told prior to the draft that he was likely to go late in the first round or early in the second. He was the fifth pick in the second round.

 
Daniel Gibson was selected seven spots behind Tucker last year but has averaged 32 minutes in the first three NBA Finals games.
"It wasn't a surprise," said Tucker, who left after his junior year. "I made the choice and I live with it. I had a good assessment of where I was. I never had a regret, not one, never."

Tucker said that testing the draft process wasn't for him. He said he doesn't believe in players' sitting on the fence. He made his decision to enter the draft and he was all in from that point forward.

"If you [test], then you're not going to class as much, you're not working out as much, and you're dealing with your team and your coach," Tucker said. "You've got to go and roll with it. It's a hard road either way, whether you're a first- or second-round pick. The team could take you in the first round and decide it doesn't need you."

Tucker said he felt like there was a pull for him and Gibson to go back to Texas for another season (not so much for Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge who ended up going No. 2).

"Everybody wishes that me and Daniel stayed and played," said Tucker of a scenario that would have made Kevin Durant's choice of schools interesting if Tucker remained as Texas' primary scorer. "But you make your decisions in life and you keep going. Some guys are doing better than others. I've still got a lot of playing ahead."

Tucker didn't guarantee he'll be in the NBA next season, but he is anticipating being on a roster.

"This past year made me grow up and understand what this is all about and how to go about things," Tucker said of professional basketball.

Tucker made his draft decision without hesitation. He took a gamble. So far it hasn't paid off, but he's not close to quitting.

"He is where he is now," Barnes said. "Now he's just to work hard. … Someone out there will give him a chance and he'll grab the moment."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.

[NYWarrior]

DJ should read this. No, MEMORIZE this article.

yup.  And dont forget about the Maurice Evans debacle at Texas a few years ago

[ecompt]

Or Omar Cook. Or Sebastian Telfair.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

Of course it's all about "fit". Then again, Diener looked to be in a "good fit" and that didn't really turn out so maybe it isn't just the "fit" of the player and organization.

True.  But Diener was also a graduating senior, so returning to school was never an option for him as it was for Tucker.  Plus, TD nabbed a guaranteed two-year contract with the Magic . . . so they were content to invest what they could in him.  Doesn't look like that was the case for Tucker

It has nothing to do with being a graduating senior or not. It's about the NBA, regardless if you're straight from prep, after frosh year, or a graduating senior. The only lesson here is that if you get drafted, your work isn't finished. I don't think work ethic has ever been a question mark for DJ. To imply that these are all cautionary tales that he should memorize is a little over the top and condescending.

I think people are just loving to see this kid fail. Btw, Diener may have gotten his two year guaranteed contract but he also racked up an inordinate amount of Inactives.

[ozmetal71]

No one is rooting for DJ to fail, but no one feels that he is anywhere close to being ready for the NBA.  We think he is making a terrible decision by remaining in the draft and one that he could end up regretting for the rest of his life.

People are justifably upset about DJ's terrible play during the second half of last year.  People are also upset because, whether it is truly the case or not, DJ seemed to be selfish last year and hurt the team with his relentless jacking up of terrible shots.  Yes, he was facing zone defenses that limited his penetration, and yes, we didn't have a great outside shooting threat, but by all objective, non-Harrison or ESPN analysis, DJ's play was subpar in the second half, and it hurt the team.

No one wants him to fail, but I think there is a backlash against kids who leave for the draft early when they are clearly not ready.  Its one thing when you are a Durant, Wade, or Oden and a guaranteed lottery pick.  Its quite another when you aren't even invited initially to the pre-draft camp, and then proceed to score about six total points in the games.

Its nice that DJ has a dream for the NBA.  I have a dream to bang supermodels all day long.  Neither has much chance of happening this year, or in my case, ever.

DJ needs to go back to Marquette, commit himself to improving his play, learn how to lead a team, and how to make his teammates better.  0-9 from the field against teams like St. Johns is going to kill us next year.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

No one is rooting for DJ to fail, but no one feels that he is anywhere close to being ready for the NBA.  We think he is making a terrible decision by remaining in the draft and one that he could end up regretting for the rest of his life.

People are justifably upset about DJ's terrible play during the second half of last year.  People are also upset because, whether it is truly the case or not, DJ seemed to be selfish last year and hurt the team with his relentless jacking up of terrible shots.  Yes, he was facing zone defenses that limited his penetration, and yes, we didn't have a great outside shooting threat, but by all objective, non-Harrison or ESPN analysis, DJ's play was subpar in the second half, and it hurt the team.

No one wants him to fail, but I think there is a backlash against kids who leave for the draft early when they are clearly not ready.  Its one thing when you are a Durant, Wade, or Oden and a guaranteed lottery pick.  Its quite another when you aren't even invited initially to the pre-draft camp, and then proceed to score about six total points in the games.

Its nice that DJ has a dream for the NBA.  I have a dream to bang supermodels all day long.  Neither has much chance of happening this year, or in my case, ever.

DJ needs to go back to Marquette, commit himself to improving his play, learn how to lead a team, and how to make his teammates better.  0-9 from the field against teams like St. Johns is going to kill us next year.

Fair enough. Everyone has their own opinion.

To bring it back into some perspective though, DJ has much more of a chance playing in the NBA then you do of banging one supermodel, much less banging different ones all day long. There's a difference between chasing a realistic dream and a fantasy. I'm just of the opinion that you can't fault anyone who goes all out in chasing their realistic dream while at the same time not feeling the need to impose your own insufficiencies to augment the argument that the dreamchaser is going to fail and somehow pleasure, no matter how subtle it is, will be taken from it.

Good luck to DJ.

[ozmetal71]

Your points are well-taken.

Of course DJ has a shot at playing in the NBA someday, and a more realisitic chance of doing that than me banging models.  My allusion to my dream of banging supermodels was supposed to be funny, but also to illustrate that dreaming isn't enough.

My concern for DJ is that if he stays in the draft that he will go undrafted and end up playing in Europe or the NBDL.  I think that he needs to be more realisitic about his abilities and work this season on shooting, how to run a more effective offense, and trying to make better decisions on the court than trying out for NBA teams.

I don't want to see DJ go undrafted.  That would embarrass him.  I don't want that.

I want him to return to Marquette and become a better basketball player and help lead MU to what could be a special season.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Ozmetal -- don't give up the dream. You may not be aware of the fact that the term "supermodel" is one that is granted in perpetuity.

Therefore, in twenty years or so, were you to happen upon a lusty 75-year old Cheryl Tiegs  -- by all accounts a "supermodel," you would have achieved your dream.

[ozmetal71]

Thanks for making a really slow day go faster.

Cheryl Tiegs looks better than a lot of women half her age.  Nothing wrong with a little cougar hunting.

[ecompt]

With my luck, I'd dream of bagging a supermodel and it would turn out to be Fabio.

[NYWarrior]

Ozmetal -- don't give up the dream. You may not be aware of the fact that the term "supermodel" is one that is granted in perpetuity.

Therefore, in twenty years or so, were you to happen upon a lusty 75-year old Cheryl Tiegs  -- by all accounts a "supermodel," you would have achieved your dream.

Ah....life's possibilities.

fellas, who are we kidding.  EVERYONE OF US has won in the category in the past because beauty is but a lightswitch away.  As Mickey Gilley said, The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time!   

[MUCam]

"As Mickey Gilley said, The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time!"

I can personally vouch for the fact that for every rule, there is an exception. Man, what was I thinking...

[The Lens]

Ozmetal -- don't give up the dream.

Also don't give up your dream of a special season.  Very few teams return 7 of 8 contributors.  With or without DJ we could make some serious noise.  I think we'll see Wes put up 30 a couple of times.  I think too often people forget that Wes & Jerel are special special players too.

[muwarrior87]

Dominic James (InsideHoops.com to James: Go back to school)

http://www.insidehoops.com/nba-mock-draft.shtml

I have no idea how accurate these guys have been and really haven't compared them too much w/ espn or sportsline or anyone like that but i think their little parenthetical statement after sticking him in as a possible second round is something a lot of us are saying.

[ozmetal71]

I still think that we will be a very good team with or without DJ, but if he returns he does give us a veteran, talented PG who is clearly better than Cubillan or Acker.  His return is the difference between a team that could make a Final Four run and one that is capable of winning one or two games in the NCAAs.

I think that next year is Wes' breakout year.  He was developing a better outside shot towards the end of the year and showed an ability to get to the hoop.

I also think that Hayward will be a key as well.

[77ncaachamps]

The term "Breakout" belongs solely to Lazar next season.