Most NBA teams are revealing little about their plans for draft

Hasheem Thabeet realizes that his offensive game needs work and understands that it will be hard for him to dominate defensively the way he did in college. There are just as many questions about Ricky Rubio, starting with one even he can't answer: Will he play in the NBA next season?

And one of these guys could be the No. 2 pick tonight.

Thabeet, a defensive dynamo from Connecticut, Rubio, a promising point guard from Spain, have their doubters, but might be the best of the rest in an NBA Draft with no apparent sure thing beyond Blake Griffin.

"It's different because I think most of the players have some questions about them," New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn said. "Even the ones that are going to go real high, there are some questions: Can the guy guard? His body? He's got potential, but where is it? Those types of questions, but more so than in a normal draft."

The Los Angeles Clippers have the No. 1 pick and are all but certain to take Griffin, the player of the year from Oklahoma. Then it's up to the Memphis Grizzlies -- unless they trade the pick -- and they aren't ready to make any decisions yet.

"We don't have to take the test until (this) evening," General Manager Chris Wallace of the Grizzlies said. "All the options are out there. Not just drafting, but moving back, trading for the right veteran.

"Everything is still on the table."

If Memphis does decide to deal, Minnesota could be a willing partner. The Timberwolves have four picks in the first round, including the fifth and sixth selections.

Whoever makes the call at No. 2 likely chooses between Thabeet and Rubio.

Thabeet, a 7-3 center, was the co-Big East player of the year and was the league's top defensive player, but still struggles to consistently catch the ball and shoot it. He knows that people criticize his offensive skills and has been working to improve them, but said that none of the teams that he's talked to made them an issue.

"They say if we draft you, we want you to come over and just control the game," Thabeet said. "If you're going to be our guy, we want you to come over, even if you don't score, we want you to be able to control the game."

He did that just fine at Connecticut, averaging 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots last season. Yet Thabeet, a native of Tanzania who switched from soccer to basketball only seven years ago, is aware that the NBA makes it tougher to protect the rim than the NCAA, because the defensive 3-second rule forces defenders to leave the paint if they aren't guarding someone.

Rubio, an 18-year-old Spaniard, faces similar doubts about his offensive skills because of an unreliable outside shot, but the questions about him go beyond his play on the court.

Rubio has to pay a multimillion dollar buyout to his Spanish club, DKV Joventut Badalona, to get out of his contract. And while his lawyers are working on a deal with the team and he expects an amicable parting, he said that there's a chance he would stay in Europe if he isn't drafted high enough to get a salary that would cover a significant chunk of his debt.

And he hasn't persuaded teams to spend a high pick on him in recent weeks. He worked out only for Sacramento, which has the No. 4 selection, but didn't feel that it properly showcased his skills because his strength is in the fullcourt game. Yet Rubio thinks he's still the best in a deep pool of point guards.

"I have the Olympic games experience," he said. "For me, the difference from the other point guards is that I play against the professional guys, not the young players."

Though he refused to work out for the Grizzlies and said his mother is worried about Minnesota taking him because she dislikes cold weather, Rubio insisted he hasn't ruled out playing for anyone.

"I want to play here, it's my dream," he said. "It's the NBA. For me all the teams are OK."

Griffin knows where he is going, with the Clippers making their intentions clear right after winning last month's draft lottery. Despite heading to a longtime loser, he said he won't pressure himself.

"To be honest, I don't care about the history. I wasn't part of it," Griffin said. "I'm not going to have to go do anything I can't do."

Note: The Portland Trail Blazers dippped into their collection of draft picks to improve their top overall slot in the NBA draft, getting No. 22 from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for No. 24 and two second-rounders. The Trail Blazers still have the 33rd, 38th and 55 picks in tonight's draft.

The NBA Draft

• Day, time: Today, 7 p.m.

• Site: The WaMu Theatre, Madison Square Garden, New York

• TV: ESPN (Time Warner Ch. 33)

• On the Web: www.NBA.com

FIRST-ROUND ORDER

1. L.A. Clippers; 2. Memphis; 3. Oklahoma City; 4. Sacramento; 5. Washington; 6. Minnesota; 7. Golden State; 8. New York; 9. Toronto; 10. Milwaukee

11. New Jersey; 12. Charlotte; 13. Indiana; 14. Phoenix; 15. Detroit; 16. Chicago; 17. Philadelphia; 18. Minnesota (from Miami); 19. Atlanta; 20. Utah

21. New Orleans; 22. Portland; 23. Sacramento (from Houston); 24. Dallas; 25. Oklahoma City (from San Antonio); 26. Chicago (from Denver through Oklahoma City); 27. Memphis (from Orlando); 28. Minnesota (from Boston); 29. L.A. Lakers; 30. Cleveland

SECOND-ROUND ORDER

31. Sacramento; 32. Washington; 33. Portland (from L.A. Clippers); 34. Denver (from Oklahoma City); 35. Detroit (from Minnesota); 36. Memphis; 37. San Antonio (from Golden State through Phoenix); 38. Portland (from New York through Chicago); 39. Detroit (from Toronto); 40. Charlotte (from New Jersey through Oklahoma City)

41. Milwaukee; 42. L.A. Lakers (from Charlotte); 43. Miami (from Indiana); 44. Detroit; 45. Minnesota (from Philadelphia through Miami); 46. Cleveland (from Chicago); 47. Minnesota (from Miami); 48. Phoenix; 49. Atlanta; 50. Utah

51. San Antonio (from New Orleans through Toronto); 52. Indiana (from Dallas); 53. San Antonio (from Houston); 54. Charlotte (from San Antonio); 55. Portland (from Denver); 56. Portland; 57. Phoenix (from Orlando through Oklahoma City); 58. Boston; 59. L.A. Lakers; 60. Miami (from Cleveland)

EARLY ENTRIES

DeJuan Blair, So., F, Pittsburgh; Derrick Brown, Jr., F, Xavier; Chase Budinger, Jr., F, Arizona; Nick Calathes, So., G, Florida; Earl Clark, Jr., F, Louisville; Kareem Cooper, Jr., C, UTEP; Brandon Costner, Jr., F, N.C. State; Stephen Curry, Jr., G, Davidson; Austin Daye, So., F, Gonzaga; DeMar DeRozan, freshman, F, Southern Cal

Eric Devendorf, Jr., G, Syracuse; Wayne Ellington, Jr., G, North Carolina; Chinemelu Elonu, Jr., F, Texas A&M; Tyreke Evans, Fr., G, Memphis; Jonny Flynn, So., G, Syracuse; Taj Gibson, Jr., F, Southern Cal; Blake Griffin, So., F, Oklahoma; D'mond Grismore, Jr., F, Huston-Tillotson (Texas); RogDer Guignard, Jr., G, Texas-Arlington; Daniel Hackett, Jr., G, Southern Cal

James Harden, So., G, Arizona State; Paul Harris, Jr., F, Syracuse; Gerald Henderson, Jr., G-F, Duke; Jordan Hill, Jr., F, Arizona; Jrue Holiday, Fr., G, UCLA; James Johnson, So., F, Wake Forest; Ty Lawson, Jr., G, North Carolina; Darnell Lindsay, Jr., G, Tennessee Tech; Jodie Meeks, Jr., G, Kentucky; Nate Miles, Fr., F, Southern Idaho

Pat Mills, So., G, Saint Mary's, Calif.; B.J. Mullens, Fr., C, Ohio State; Ronald Ogoke, Jr., C Paul Quinn (Texas); Terrence Roderick, So., F, UAB; DaJuan Summers, Jr., F, Georgetown; Shawn Taggart, Jr., F, Memphis; Jeff Teague, So., G, Wake Forest; Hasheem Thabeet, Jr., C, Connecticut; Dar Tucker, So., G, DePaul

INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

Rodrigue Beaubois, Cholet (France), 6-0, 1988; Omri Casspi, Maccabi Elite (Israel), 6-9, 1988; Victor Claver, Pamesa Valencia (Spain), 6-9, 1988; Christian Eyenga, DKV Joventut (Spain), 6-5, 1989; Vitor Faverani, Unicaja Malaga (Spain), 6-10, 1988; Sergey Gladyr, Mykolaiv (Ukraine), 6-5, 1989; Baris Hersek, Efes Pilsen (Turkey), 6-9, 1988; Martin Kolikoli, (Tazmania), 6-2, 1989; Ricky Rubio, DKV Joventut (Spain), 6-4, 1990; Ibrahim Yildirim, Banvit (Turkey), 6-3, 1990

Note: Players listed with team, country team plays in, height and year born