As a horde of media members huddled around former Brigham Young star Jimmer Fredette and a different pack congregated around former Connecticut point guard Kemba Walker, another player simply shot free throws at the other end of the floor last Wednesday at a Utah Jazz pre-draft workout in Salt Lake City.
Tuckered out from the rigors of Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin’s workout regimen, former UCLA guard Malcolm Lee still continued to shoot free throw after free throw, most of them finding the bottom of the net. With the NBA draft less than a week away, Lee doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.
“I think I improved just playing hard in these workouts,” Lee said. “It feels like I’m improving but I really don’t know till draft day.”
It’s been almost two months since he left school and hired an agent, effectively declaring for the NBA draft. Lee thinks he’s come a long way since his junior season ended in the third round of the NCAA tournament. The road to the draft for Lee started at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas before heading to the Chicago Combine in May and he has now traveled across the country to work out with several different NBA teams.
Lee, known most for his defensive game, went toe-to-toe with Fredette and Walker in the workout session. It was a Lee v. Fredette rematch, the first meeting coming in the Wooden Classic on Dec. 18. Lee held Fredette to eight-of-15 shooting in that contest and forced seven Fredette turnovers.
But it’s Lee’s offensive moves that were on display for the Jazz.
“He showed me some things that I didn’t know he could do before,” Corbin said. “Defense is the thing that he’s known for right now but he has the ability to be a good offensive player and I think he showed that.”
Lee said many teams have been working him out at the point guard position even though he played at the two-guard position for most of his UCLA career. He was forced to play some point guard in 2009 with mixed results.
“Look, he’s a guard right now,” said Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor, a former UCLA assistant coach. “To me, there’s maybe five or six true point guards in the league that can do all of the things that they need to do and then there are guards. He’s going to be OK. He’s going to play in the NBA.”
Draft day, June 23, is quickly approaching for Lee and fellow teammate Tyler Honeycutt. ESPN’s Chad Ford has Honeycutt going to the Bulls with the last pick in the first round in his latest mock draft, leaving Lee somewhere in the second round. SI.com’s Sam Amick doesn’t have either player going in the first round.
It appeared as though UCLA coach Ben Howland advised Lee to stay in school for his senior year under the assumption that he would be selected in the second round. O’Connor seems to think differently.
“No. That’s not correct,” said O’Connor when asked if Lee was thought of as a second-round choice. “He’s a guy that’s helped himself and coming from where he came from and the success that those guys had is certainly a part of it.”
Lee was appreciative when asked what he would say to doubters who said he should have stayed in school for his senior season.
“I would just say thank you because I just use that as motivation,” he said. “I feed off stuff like that and I’m an optimistic guy so I look forward to hearing doubt on my game so all I can say is thank you.”