CHICAGO -- The city was abuzz Wednesday morning, fresh off the news that the Bulls had done the impossible -- winning the draft lottery despite having just a 1.7 percent chance.
As the city debated whom the Bulls should take with the No. 1 pick -- Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose, I spent the day watching draft prospects in Tim Grover's new state-of-the-art training facility -- the A.T.T.A.C.K. Athletics Center.
Grover's new gym is so cutting-edge it puts even the best NBA training facilities to shame. Four full NBA courts, spacious locker rooms, incredible workout machines, including an underwater treadmill, plus a players' lounge with an 85-inch plasma screen, pool tables, and private rooms for sleeping and playing video games -- it's amazing.
In the dressing room are lockers for Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade -- three of Grover's most famous professional clients -- along with individual stalls with gold-plated names for his pre-draft clients: O.J. Mayo, Bill Walker, Brandon Rush, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Donte Greene and others.
Grover's gym has become such a destination that William "Worldwide" Wesley sat at courtside the entire day. He seemed perfectly at home.
I've been coming to Grover's pre-draft workouts since 2001. No one has a better reputation for getting players stronger and more explosive and for teaching core pro fundamentals that will be crucial to NBA success.
On Friday, we'll do a full feature and breakdown of Grover's top client: Mayo. Here's a look at some of the other top prospects in the gym, starting with Mayo's high school teammate Walker.
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Bill Walker, G/F, Kansas State
Walker has been on the NBA radar screen since 10th grade. His explosive leaping and scoring abilities drew comparisons to Vince Carter. By the time he first became eligible in December 2006 at Kansas State, many NBA scouts had him pegged as a potential top-5 pick in the 2007 NBA draft.
But then disaster struck. Just seven games into Walker's college career, he ruptured his ACL. Walker struggled to come back. He showed up with a touring American team in Italy at the Reebok Eurocamp and looked slow and overweight.
By the time his sophomore season started, Walker was regaining some of his athleticism, but he was still 20 to 30 pounds overweight and struggled to put it together on the court. With the exception of one huge game versus Cal, Walker didn't start turning it on again until late December.
By the end of the season, Walker was beginning to look like the player we once knew in high school but still seemed far from becoming a potential lottery pick again. A disappointing NCAA tournament for Kansas State ended most of the talk about Walker's even cracking the first round.
However, two months later, a different Walker is on the court. Walker has dropped nearly 30 pounds and has totally rehabbed his knee, and I'm happy to report he is dropping highlight reel dunks by the minute.
"He's been an animal in here," Grover said. "He wants it. He's been working really hard, and it's paying off. He's so explosive, and he's always in attack mode."
Walker also is working on stabilizing his jump shot. Although his shooting has improved over the years, he doesn't have the needed consistency. Grover also has been working on teaching Walker the nuances of the game. He's been showing him film of Wade and Paul Pierce. Walker spent a considerable amount of his time on Wednesday working on his jab step, for example.
Walker told me he's skipping the Orlando pre-draft camp and is hoping to land in workouts against some of the other top small forwards in the draft -- Greene, Joe Alexander, Rush and Douglas-Roberts.
If he feels he'll be a first-round pick, he likely will stay in the draft. It will be interesting to see how NBA teams react to Walker. The last time he looked like this, he was considered one of the top players in the draft. Does he have enough time to convince GMs that the old Bill Walker is back? He's off to a scintillating start.
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Brandon Rush, G/F, Kansas
Rush is an old hand at this. He declared for the draft out of high school and again last year after his sophomore season. An ACL injury that summer put his NBA dream on hold. Rush came back two games into the season and slowly, as the campaign went on, got back into form. He seemed to get stronger every week, and by March, he looked like the best player on the Jayhawks again.
He's been working nonstop for several weeks and looks as though he, too, finally has regained his explosiveness and lateral quickness.
What is appealing about Rush is his beautiful jump shot, his smooth demeanor and his above-average size for his position. He also can be a lockdown defender and possesses a great basketball IQ.
The only real knock on Rush is that he wasn't as aggressive as his talent suggested he should be. He often left Kansas fans wanting more. He seems comfortable, at times, just fitting in.
On Wednesday, I saw him work out with Wolves forward Antoine Walker. Rush shot about 80 to 90 percent from the field in the workout. He can hit his shot from just about anywhere. He also has the size and skill to post up smaller guards.
He reminds me, in a lot of ways, of the Hawks' Joe Johnson. He has such a smoothness to his game that he looks effortless at times. I expect Rush will draw some serious attention just outside the lottery from teams with an eye toward the playoffs. Teams such as the Suns, Cavs and Magic could insert Rush directly into the rotation and get solid production from him as a rookie.
Right now, I have him going No. 22 to the Magic, but I wouldn't be shocked if he went as high as 15 to the Suns. He's the type of athletic shooter/defender that should be a perfect fit in Phoenix.
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Chris Douglas-Roberts, G/F, Memphis
It's interesting to see Douglas-Roberts working out in the same gym as Rush. They were matched up head-to-head in the NCAA title game. Douglas-Roberts had the better stat line, but Rush ended up with the win.
The final outcome of the NCAA tournament highlights the differences between the two. Douglas-Roberts is a slasher with an aggressive scoring mentality. He wills his way to hole. He's capable of huge scoring outbursts, and that's always going to be a plus for NBA scouts.
Douglas-Roberts doesn't have the size or the athleticism of Rush, however. Nor is his aim as accurate from long distance. And as good a scorer as he is, he doesn't seem to have the calm demeanor and leadership qualities Rush possesses.
With that said, a handful of NBA GMs that I spoke with have Douglas-Roberts ranked higher than Rush. Said one, "The league always needs guys who can score. We can obsess all you want about physical attributes, leaping ability and wingspan, but at the end of the game, the team with the most buckets wins. Douglas-Roberts will get you buckets."
I didn't see anything Wednesday to change my opinion from the season. Douglas-Roberts has a chance of being an excellent NBA scorer and should land somewhere in the 20s in the first round.
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Jeremy Pargo , PG, Gonzaga
Jeremy Pargo was the other really intriguing player in the gym.
He is a very explosive athlete who attacks the basket. He's a streaky shooter, but when he's hot, watch out. He's debating whether to play in Orlando. If he does, I could see him moving up draft boards. After the first few point guards are off the board, teams will be looking in the late first round and Pargo will be interesting.
Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.