MSU's Valentine, Davis ready to hear names at NBA Draft
Bryn Forbes, Matt Costello also hoping to get selected Thursday night
EAST LANSING – Deyonta Davis and Denzel Valentine are in New York, waiting to find out where they will be taken in the NBA Draft. It's a matter of when and where.
Matt Costello and Bryn Forbes are at home, hoping to either hear their names called or get a phone call to get their pro careers started. It's a lot more if.
The four former Michigan State teammates all have different circumstances but the same dreams as Thursday’s draft night arrives: Getting their shot to shine in the NBA.
“All my life I’ve watching NBA Drafts. And that’s been my dream, to be in their shoes and shake hands with the commissioner and put on the hat and go to a team,” Valentine told reporters Wednesday in the Grand Hyatt New York Hotel. “It’s going to be finally after all these years watching it.”
ESPN’s Chad Ford projects forward Davis to Boston with the 16th selection and guard Valentine to Charlotte with the 22nd pick in his latest mock draft. Sam Vecenie has Davis going to Milwaukee at No. 10, while his CBSSports.com colleague Garry Parrish has the Muskegon native going to Phoenix at No. 13. Both analysts project Valentine to the Detroit Pistons at No. 18.
MSU coach Tom Izzo said Lansing native Valentine going to the nearby Pistons wouldn’t faze him or cause any distractions.
“It’s not like he has a posse. It’s not like he’s bringing anybody with him. If he brings his mom with him, I feel sorry with the posse that could try to be there,” Izzo said Wednesday. “Not in any way, shape or form do I see it. Denzel needs to be somewhere that appreciates that he can play three positions, that’s going to coach him. I could sit here and be prejudiced and say I’d have the Pistons. I think Stan Van Gundy is a heck of a coach. And you know what, I want to get our in-state programs going. But I don’t think it would hurt.
“You know, some people say you gotta get away, and there are certain kids that do. Denzel Valentine’s not one of them. I think he could play at any of the 30 teams.”
The 6-foot-11, 237-pound Davis played just one season for the Spartans, averaging 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while setting the school freshman record with 64 blocked shots, second-most in a single season in program history. The 19-year old worked out for five teams – Orlando, Utah, Denver, Phoenix and Milwaukee – and is projected as a higher pick than Valentine because of his youth and potential.
“He fits the suit,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said of Davis. “He’s big and athletic and long-armed. He runs well. He’s just raw. … He is not an offensive player yet, so he needs more development in that area. But as a rebounder, as a shot blocker, as a guy that can run the floor, and then especially an offensive rebounder, he’s got a lot of value.”
Davis told reporters Wednesday that he’s “just looking for a team that helps their rookies, veterans that help. A team that’s going to win.”
Concerns about the long-term health of Valentine’s knees have been swirling in the leadup to the draft. The 22-year old missed four games in late December and early January after having arthroscopic surgery. It didn’t deter the 6-5, 210-pound player from winning six national player of the year awards this season as a senior after averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.
“It’s really surprising,” said Valentine, who worked out for Milwaukee, Orlando, Utah, Chicago and Phoenix. “It’s really funny to me because I’m healthy now. It’s only going to get better going forward. Because I’m going to get time to focus on me and focus on getting healthy and getting stronger and becoming a better athlete. But whoever has that opinion of me or feels a certain way, then they feel that way.”
Bilas doesn’t feel either 6-3 guard Forbes, a Lansing native who is a 3-point specialist, or 6-10 forward Costello, a high-energy rebounder from Linwood, will be taken in the second round of the draft. However, he said if they sign as undrafted free agents, it would allow each of them to find teams which need their specific skills.
“Bryn and Costello are on some boards. There’s been more than two or three teams. They both had 10-12 workouts,” Izzo said. “There were times here where I had kids that I begged people to get them to workout. This time, we turned people down because they just couldn’t make many.”
Izzo said he will be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with Valentine, Davis and their families. He gushed about those two and Forbes and Costello’s pro basketball futures like “a proud dad.”
“I think all four of them will sign something tomorrow night or the next day. I really do. It’s where and who and when,” Izzo said. “If they’re with the right team, trust me on this, getting picked third, eighth, 10th, 20th, it doesn’t matter. It’s where you’re going to have the best chance to be successful as I think they will be in the long term.
“I think each one of them, their best basketball is going to be ahead of them.”
Follow Denzel Valentine's NBA Draft journey
NBA Draft
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
TV: ESPN, NBA TV