Like our loyal reader GUnit pointed out yesterday, Micah Downs will be working out with the Portland Trailblazers today. A late addition, Downs is replacing Tasmin Mitchell, the forward out of LSU. He will be working out with Chris Johnson also from LSU, Omri Casspi from Israel, Jerel McNeal from Marquette, Greivis Vasquez from Maryland, and Chinemelu Elonu from Texas A&M. Aside from Casspi, all the players working out for Portland today are probably guys that will be projected in the second round or undrafted. The good thing for the six working out today is that Portland has a lot of picks to throw around. While Portland will probably be looking for a point guard in the first round, Casspi could be worth selecting with the Blazers 24th pick. You'll be hearing Portland's name a lot in the second round as they have four picks (#33, #38, #55, #56). It'd be great to see Micah remain in the Pacific Northwest and get drafted by the Blazers. Hopefully his work out goes very well and make sure to check BlazersEdge throughout the day as their writers will be at the workout today.
Also working out today is Gonzaga center Josh Heytvelt. JH has been projected as a mid-to-late second round pick and the Milwaukee Bucks will be testing him out today along with five other prospects. Josh has, much like Austin Daye, had some very mixed reviews throughout the pre-draft process. He got some raves during the combine and people were enamored with his size since graduating. The most recent review of Josh, however, was not so glowing:
Speaking of Gonzaga, several GMs were ranting about big man Heytvelt. "He looked completely disinterested," one GM said. "He was awful. He had his teammates urging him to compete harder. It was weird."
That was from ESPN's Chad Ford who has been covering the workouts. This makes you wonder about Josh's passion for the game, especially since he no longer has the option to come back another year. These three weeks could become very crucial for Josh because he is a guy that some think could be an end of the first round type guy but could also drop out of the draft. Milwaukee has two picks in this year's draft. With the tenth overall pick, Josh will not be the pick but if he impresses them enough, he could fit in as the 41st selection. Joining Josh in today's workout is UCLA's Josh Shipp, Miami of Ohio's Michael Bramos, Alabama's Alonzo Gee, West Virginia's Alex Ruoff, and North Carolina State junior Brandon Costner.