With the NBA draft field tentatively set, the Nuggets wasted no time lining up a group of well-known college players to work out for them.
The group includes two third-team All-America players – Oklahoma State small forward Joey Graham and Washington guard Nate Robinson.
Louisville small forward Francisco Garcia, New Mexico small forward Danny Granger, Maryland guard John Gilchrist, Tennessee-Chattanooga power forward Mindaugas Katelynas and Graham’s twin brother Stephen, an Oklahoma State shooting guard, also will visit the Pepsi Center next week.
While the rest in the group are seniors, Garcia and Granger both left college with a year of eligibility remaining. They count among 108 players announced by the NBA Thursday to have applied for early entry to the draft.
Denver assistant general manager Jeff Weltman said the list of early entrants could have been even longer.
“There were a couple of high school kids who probably would have been first-round picks if they’d put their names in and not gone to school,” he said.
Players in that pool may withdraw up to a week before the June 28 draft.
Footnotes
Weltman, who interviewed for Cleveland’s vacant general manager position, said he has not been in contact with the Cavaliers since his interview. …
Katelynas is the reigning NCAA slam-dunk contest winner. …
Nuggets forward Mark Pope and wife Lee Anne are expecting their third daughter to be born within a week.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
