Maybe I should have been a little more patient about getting the Gray post out there. Andy Katz has a full story on Gray, his workout, his decisionmaking and the whole shebang. He echoes the point from Luke Winn about no free lunch possibly reducing the turnout for the workout — who knew NBA folk were such moochers?
“First and foremost, we wanted to protect his eligibility, since he hasn’t decided to stay in the draft or go back to school yet,” said Gray’s father, Mike. “Doing workouts [in NBA cities] was an issue and we wanted to display him to the most NBA people as possible. This turned out to be the best arrangement to minimize the cost and maintain his eligibility.”
Yet, he is, by far, the most anticipated unsigned underclassman still in the draft. If the 7-foot Gray goes back to Pitt, the Panthers will be the Big East preseason favorite, with the only player of note not returning being point guard Carl Krauser. Losing Krauser is a significant hit, since he led them in scoring and was their leader the past three seasons, but Gray is a species that has been nearing extinction in college — the wide-body center who eats up space in the paint and alters the defensive approach for opposing teams.
Gray’s not of the new breed of center, the high-flying shot-blocking type. He comes from the era of immovable plodders who can be a pain to move out of the post once positioned. If Gray (13.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg) returns, the Panthers will feed him on the block probably have plenty of buckets being created for forwards Sam Young and Levon Kendall, who would be freed up by the constant double-teams on Gray.
Gray also would have a chance, possibly for the only time in his career, to be the focal point of his team, which could help his draft status next season. Right now, Gray is projected to be a first-round pick, but no one is guaranteeing him a spot just yet. His impact next season in the NBA likely would be limited.
Given all that, Gray has a tough choice. Should he go for the money and develop for a year or two in the NBA or stay at Pitt and be a cover boy in college for a year?
Coach Dixon agrees that the NBA teams aren’t promising a thing.
Dixon said he has received calls but the teams are keeping their options open. So, too, are the Grays. Where that leaves them is hard to say.
“This all happened so quickly for Aaron, just like it did for Chris Taft last year,” Dixon said of Taft who left after his sophomore season and went No. 42 in the second round to Golden State. “Neither were McDonald’s All-Americans. This is all new to him. He wasn’t heavily recruited. Aaron and his dad said they were going to keep their options open. This is exactly where I thought we’d be at this point. Everyone is still keeping their options open.”
Probably only for Gray and his family, is all of this occurring quickly.
