Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 27, 1993                   TAG: 9306270126
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: D1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NBA SCOUTS SAY PROS OUTWEIGH CONS WITH LYNCH

Still, Lynch has the right stuff to become the first Roanoke native selected in the first round of the NBA draft.

It will happen Wednesday night at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., when NBA teams pick 54 college or foreign players in two rounds. Lynch, adding to his Star City hoops firsts, will be chosen in the bottom 10 of the first round, say those who are paid to know.

After becoming the first Roanoker to play in the NCAA's Final Four and then the first to win a national championship, the former North Carolina star has spent the past week in airports and gymnasiums, working out for three teams - Indiana, Chicago and Seattle - that are considering him. In a draft without the magic of a Shaq, Lynch is a typical prospect.

"It's not a bad draft," said Marty Blake, director of NBA scouting services. "There's an awful lot of talent in this draft that will develop. I like George Lynch. He should be able to play in this league."

The question is where - not franchise, but position. Lynch, measured at 6 feet 7 1/2 at the Chicago workouts in May, was a power forward for the Tar Heels. Can he play the four-spot in the NBA, or will he have to be a three, thereby making his ball-handling and perimeter shooting bigger question marks?

"He's a 3 1/2," Blake said. "I can't tell you where he will play, but he will be able to play. He's very aggressive. He hustles. He's played in pressure situations.

"But I'm not a coach. I know two things: Shaquille O'Neal belongs on the floor somewhere, and I'd play Michael Jordan, too."

Lynch's UNC connection certainly won't hurt. The NBA has high regard for players who make a certain Dean's list.

The highest-drafting team that has worked out Lynch is the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 12, followed by the Pacers, at No. 14. The Lakers' assistant general manager is former Tar Heel Mitch Kupchak. The Pacers' GM is Donnie Walsh, who just hired fellow UNC grad Larry Brown as coach.

Portland scout Keith Drum is a Tobacco Road resident who has seen Lynch often. He may be recommending him later this week.

"We pick 21st, and we think there's a decent chance Lynch will be there when it's our turn," Drum said. "Then, what we do is determined by who's still out there. After the first 10, 11 picks, it's really wide open.

"He's a safe, reliable pick. The things people are confident about with Lynch is that you know he'll be a coach's player and he showed this year he can be a leader. He'll be a solid locker-room guy, and he's going to work hard. He's not soft and he's not scared of getting banged around. He's also proven he's a very good post defender.

"The questions about him are the same they have been: Can he make the open jumper on a consistent basis, which he didn't show in college? And will he be able to handle the ball well enough to play small forward? No one is asking him to be a Scottie Pippen with the ball, but he'll have to be able to handle it out on the floor."

Some NBA scouts also hold a notion that Lynch's offensive game is bigger than we've seen, and that he's a typical product of a Carolina system that even enveloped the Bullish player who would become the greatest in the game's history.

At small forward, the position at which most clubs have Lynch slotted, he ranks behind Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn, Indiana's Calbert Cheaney, Hartford's Vin Baker, Arizona's Chris Mills and, perhaps, Connecticut's Scott Burrell.

Among ACC alumni, Wake Forest power forward Rodney Rogers and Duke point guard Bobby Hurley will be picked before Lynch. Malcolm Mackey of Georgia Tech and Douglas Edwards of Florida State are in the late first-round mode with Lynch.

Lynch's selection also will give the 1988 state Group AAA champion Patrick Henry High School team two NBA draft picks. No wonder they won the title. Guard Curtis Blair was Houston's second-round selection last year, stuck around for a few games and then spent most of the season in the Continental Basketball Association. He has been invited to the Rockets' free-agent and rookie camp in July.

Wherever Lynch is chosen, he should get rich quick. His former UNC teammate, Hubert Davis, was the 20th pick a year ago. He signed a five-year, $4.7 million contract with New York.

No matter what the city, that's a nice neighborhood in which to play.

Keywords:
BASKETBALL