I believe players/agents pay out of pocket to travel to these workouts, and maybe also for a hotel room too. If a team isn’t predicted to pick in your range, then why should you waste resources working out w/ them? Especially Portland as the nearest team to us are Sacto and GS who are not picking anywhere near us.

That said, its ridiculous for a player to decline an invite from a team that ACTUALLY MAY pick them w/ little to no maneuvering. So what if you’re a talented SG who may not see minutes right away? If you’re a great player you’ll get played, and paid to do so. Maybe not by Portland, but you can learn from one of the best and see firsthand what it takes day-in and day-out to be the best. Then when an injury happens (and there almost always is) you can show what you have and get interest from a team that CAN use you more. This goes for C’s too.

PF’s would have a role, so I doubt there are many shunning us. PG’s could come into play immediately IF talented enough, same w/ SF.

you’re not gonna find too many rookies who are more focused on winning championships than just becoming a successful NBA player. You could make them sound humble or greedy depending on how you look at it. I just think most people would look for the greatest opportunity to “make it” in this league and sitting on the bench behind established players does not represent that opportunity.

If the Agents were smart they would be thinking longterm, any player with a championship ring and playoff expieriance is going to get paid more then one who doesn’t and if there players are half as good as they think they are then they will earn playing time

please cite the original article next time…
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/06/top_draft_prospects_decline_to.html

The Blazers have been used to getting first-class treatment from draftees because of their high/lottery draft picks. Chances that Portland is going to move up to select any particular player are extremely small. There’s less than zero percentage in the top-flight prospects working out for Portland. I say “less than zero” because in many ways the LESS people see of these players the more room for mystique and overvaluing. Players with bad reputations want to work out as much as possible to dispel them. Players with good reputations, which by definition all of the top guys have this year, want to work out as little as possible. If you’re slated for the top three you don’t want to be seen in public until somebody calls your name on draft day and you get to shake David Stern’s hand. You can only go down from your current perch.

—Dave