[BASKETBALL] "The Sum of All Fears" is playing at a theater near Predrag Savovic's hotel in Chicago. The former Hawaii guard enjoyed the movie, but he said he's been enjoying the Windy City even more. Savovic has NBA scouts raving
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comChicago has become his kind of town, the place where the sum of all fears about his NBA future was somewhat allayed. After three days of intense drills and games, Savovic emerged as one of the few standouts among the 65 draft candidates invited to the predraft camp.
"This kid can shoot the lights out," one Northwest scout told CBS Sportsline.com. "I like his energy and he always finds the open spots on the floor. He needs to work very hard on his defense, but I think he's got an NBA game."
"A classic European with good court sense and an outstanding perimeter game," another scout said.
The Denver Post reported that Savovic was one of three players mentioned most often by the scouts as deserving of consideration as a first-round pick. The NBA Draft is June 26.
On Friday, the 65 campers had their NBA-mandated physicals. The 26-year-old Savovic weighed in at 217 pounds, about 15 pounds lighter than his playing weight at UH, and was measured at 6-feet-6 1/4.
"I'm glad I came," said Savovic. "I think I did the job I needed to do and I think I did well. That's what people I talked to said."
Scouts and coaches from all 29 NBA teams were in attendance at the camp at Moody Bible Institute, and at the United Airlines Center, where the games were held. However, by Friday night, the interest and attendance had dwindled as the NBA personnel headed out to find a telecast of Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Also at the predraft camp was former Kalaheo standout Julian Sensley, who never played college ball after showing up on campus at Diablo Valley (Calif.) College, Iona and Fresno State in the past 10 months. Sensley reportedly did not impress the scouts and may end up in the CBA or NABL.
Savovic was returning to New York and then heading out to seven more individual workouts with NBA teams before the draft. He has already had sessions with the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors.