Jan Vesley, a Czech forward prospect who entered the 2011 NBA Draft, will not work out for teams ahead of the June 23 derby, his agent told Jorge Sierra of rumor bible HoopsHype. The 21-year old Vesley, who plays for Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, is slated to go as high as No. 5 in the draft, and is almost assured to be a lottery pick.
Well, almost. Aleksandar Raskovic, Vesely's agent, told Sierra that the prospect will visit New York in mid-June to take a physical and undergo measurement and athletic tests, but won't showcase his talents for teams considering making him a very rich man.
The last international player slated to go this high to be this secretive was Ricky Rubio, who declined to visit any team but the Sacramento Kings in advance of the 2009 NBA Draft. In Sacramento, Rubio did shooting drills and an interview in addition to the physical testing; the Kings passed on him in favor of Tyreke Evans (who did one private workout and a second competitive workout for the team). Rubio ended up going No. 5 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He remains in Spain.
Yi Jianlian was made the No. 6 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks after very limited workout action. Yi famously did post drills against a folding chair in a workout in Los Angeles. The anti-social pre-draft standard is not limited to international players, though; Hasheem Thabeet, who played at UConn for three years, refused to work out for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2009. The Grizz picked him anyway. He soon became the highest pick to be assigned to the D-League.
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