Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 24, 1990 TAG: 9006240121
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And they won't be.
"We simply need to raise the talent level on our team," said Allan Bristow, who took over in May as the Hornets' vice president of basketball operations. "We're an expansion team. We're still building. No matter what position, we're going to take the best player available."
Charlotte has the No. 5 pick in the first round, just as it did a year ago. Three players Bristow is certain will be gone by then are Syracuse power forward Derrick Coleman, Georgia Tech shooting star Dennis Scott and Oregon State point guard Gary Payton. New Jersey has the No. 1 pick, followed by Seattle, Denver and Orlando.
Barring a trade, the Nets are expected to take Coleman. The SuperSonics have Dale Ellis at shooting guard, but still may take Scott, although Payton seems a more likely pick. Scott, who left Tech a year early, will go no lower than third. An overwhelming majority of scouts agree Payton and Scott will be the second and third picks, whatever the order.
So, who does Charlotte take? Certainly the Magic, selecting just ahead of the Hornets, will help determine that.
"Those other three guys will be gone," said Bristow, a Richmond native and former Virginia Tech star who comes to Charlotte after combining assistant coaching and player personnel duties in Denver. "The players we're looking at and figuring we'll have a shot at are Kendall Gill, Rumeal Robinson, Lionel Simmons and Felton Spencer."
Spencer, a 7-footer from Louisville, "is probably the best big guy [center] in the draft," Bristow said. The Hornets, woeful rebounders in both of their seasons, could use a strongman to play in an inside rotation with J.R. Reid - last year's No. 5 pick - and Armon Gilliam. But Spencer isn't a sure thing.
"Spencer will play in the NBA," Bristow said. "He will have a career. But you have to decide how long that's going to take. Anytime you take a center, he might take three or four years to develop. You can get impatient in that time. You have to prepare for it."
Gill, from Illinois, is a big guard but could play the point. Because Charlotte has former Virginia Tech star Dell Curry and Rex Chapman, the club's original college draft choice, at the two-spot, Gill seems to be the least likely choice.
Robinson is considered the No. 2 point guard in the draft, behind Payton. Charlotte has Michael Holton returning from an injury-filled season, and Bristow likes 5-foot-3 Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues better than his front-office predecessors. But Robinson, who led Michigan to the 1989 NCAA Tournament championship, could give the Hornets more offense at the point than the incumbents.
Simmons, the No. 3 scorer in NCAA history with 3,217 points for LaSalle, has a lot of fans among NBA scouts. At 6 feet 7, he will have to play small forward in the NBA, and he will not be able to score around the basket as he did for the Explorers. If Charlotte doesn't take Simmons, either Minnesota or Sacramento, the next two teams in the selection process, will.
"If we can pick big, that's where we need the most help," Bristow said.
What about 7-1 Dwayne Schintzius, whose troubled Florida career ended in the middle of his senior season?
"We didn't even have him in for an evaluation," said Bristow, joining a litany of NBA personnel men who won't risk their first pick in a two-round draft on a potential problem.
So, Spencer or Simmons probably will be the Charlotte choice.
Charlotte also picks 12th in the second round, 39th overall. The Hornets got that pick from Houston in a deal involving Charlotte swingman Robert Reid. The Hornets' original second-round pick, No. 31, went to Phoenix in December in the Gilliam-Kurt Rambis trade.
Charlotte's second-round draft history is forgettable.
The Hornets chose forward Tom Tolbert from Arizona in 1988 and gave up on him early in their inaugural season. Tolbert emerged in 1989-90 as a solid backup for Golden State.
In 1989, Charlotte traded its No. 2 pick to Indiana for 7-foot center Stuart Gray. He was dealt to the New York Knicks on Feb. 22 for a 1991 second-rounder, which immediately was sent to Cleveland for forward Randolph Keys.
by CNB