Maric awaits NBA draft
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Aleks Maric doesn’t watch ESPN. He doesn’t read the mock drafts on DraftExpress.com or NBADraft.net.
Any feedback from his recent workouts with NBA teams goes directly to his agent, Andrew Vye, and stays there.
“I don’t want to hear anything,” Maric said. “That’s what I told him.“
Presumably, Maric hasn’t a clue that various Web sites are leaving his name off the list of players expected to be chosen in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
Likewise, he doesn’t know that at least one basketball analyst believes Maric, the former Nebraska center, should be drafted.
“I’ll be mildly surprised if he’s not drafted in the late second round,” said ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla, a former college coach.
“Everybody has their flavor of the day, so to speak, in the second round, but I think he’s going to get drafted. He’s played in a high-profile league over the last four years and had a lot of success, and I’d be surprised if he’s not drafted in the second round.”
Nebraska hasn’t had a player selected in the NBA Draft since 1999, when Venson Hamilton went in the second round as the 50th overall pick to Houston.
Marty Blake, longtime director of scouting for the NBA, agrees that Maric has a realistic chance of being drafted late in the second round.
“I liked him when he came to Orlando (to the pre-draft camp in May). He really played well,” said Blake, who also noted Maric’s poor performance in April’s NABC All-Star Game. “He works hard, and he’s gotten in better shape. He has toughness.”
Maric, who’s from Sydney, Australia and whose parents are from Serbia, is among several international players in the draft pool. Blake said he expects several to be drafted in the second round.
“This guy’s got some skills, and I think there’s a chance to play in the NBA someday,” he said of Maric. “If that someday is next year, then great.
“He’s definitely going to get signed with somebody. He’ll probably play in the Las Vegas league.”
Blake said he has Maric rated ahead of Kansas center Sasha Kaun, who recently signed a three-year contract with CSKA Moscow. Kaun could still be drafted; many mock drafts have him a middle to late second-round pick.
“Everyone is looking for bulk and size,” Fraschilla said, “and (Maric) has the added advantage of having good hands and being a reasonably good scorer around the basket, and being a much better outside shooter than people realize.”
Maric returned to Lincoln on Tuesday after spending the past month working out for various teams — Boston, Indiana, New Orleans, San Antonio and Houston, among others.
“I gave it all I got, and that’s all I can do,” Maric said. “Whatever happens, happens.
“It’s very stressful, but I try to keep myself busy so I don’t think about it, to be honest. As the (draft) day gets closer, the more jitters I get and more gray hairs I see.”
Earlier in the spring, Maric spent six weeks at Abunassar Impact Basketball, a training facility in Las Vegas for NBA-hopeful players. It prepared him well, he said, for the pre-draft camp, and for the aforementioned workouts.
“I’m in the best shape of my life,” said Maric, who’s dropped 10 pounds from his Nebraska playing weight of 275.
Fraschilla said he’s not heard reports of Maric’s recent workouts.
“But the workouts should be about 10 percent of your body of work,” he said. “He’s been one of the more productive big men in college basketball the last four years.”
The 6-foot-11 Maric finished his Nebraska career ranked fifth all-time in scoring (1,630 points), second in rebounds (1,030) and sixth in blocked shots (145). Maric also tied the NU single-season record with 335 rebounds.
A first-team All-Big 12 Conference player, Maric was one of only three players in the league to average a double-double last season. He set the league career record for double-doubles in conference-only games with 26.
“I love the game. I just want to play, to be honest,” said Maric, who could also sign and play overseas.
“I’d like to see me in a uniform — it doesn’t matter where it is — playing. I just want to play.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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