Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Gary Bedore’s Kansas basketball notebook

Advertisement

Kaun concludes tour

Graduated Kansas University center Sasha Kaun returned to Lawrence on Monday from his whirlwind tour of NBA camps: Indiana, Cleveland, Portland, Seattle, Utah, San Antonio, Washington, New Jersey and Detroit.

Kaun, who signed a three-year contract with CSKA Moscow over the weekend, will leave the U.S. on June 29 and does not plan to return until next summer, when he hopes to be back in Lawrence.

He will try out for the Russian Olympic team July 3 in Moscow. In all, 16 players will vie for 12 or 13 spots.

"The coach told my agent if I work hard there's a good chance to be on the team. That would be exciting," the 6-foot-11 Kaun said.

Thursday's NBA Draft also will prove exciting for Kaun, whose agent tells him he likely will be tapped in Round Two despite the fact he will play in Russia at least the next two seasons. He has a buyout clause after year two.

"Some team still might want to draft me," said Kaun, who Chad Ford of ESPN.com says will be tapped by Boston at No. 30 of Round Two. Draftexpress.com believes Utah will select Kaun at No. 23 of the second round.

"I'm going to a team that is as close to an NBA team as you can find. It's a great organization. Last year, they had a $60 million payroll. It's a very prestigious club."

It's believed Seattle, which has the No. 20 and 26 picks of Round Two, has great interest in Kaun. Kaun will be paid $1,047,042 U.S. dollars per year the next three seasons.

Chalmers rising

Mario Chalmers has vaulted ahead of KU teammates Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush in Ford's ESPN draft. Ford believes Chalmers will be selected No. 12 overall by Sacramento, Rush No. 15 by Phoenix and Arthur No. 18 by Washington.

Arthur picks agent

Arthur has contracted with agent Jerry Hicks, an attorney in Dallas. Arthur worked out for Memphis on Monday and today will be in the camp of the Philadelphia 76ers. Arthur and Rush will be in the "Green Room" at Thursday's draft at Madison Square Garden.

Self speaks in Tulsa

KU coach Bill Self was keynote speaker at Monday's Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards banquet in Tulsa, Okla. Today, Self will speak at 810 radio's sports luncheon at the College Basketball Experience next to Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

Comments

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

We all know that Mario Chalmers is an amazing player, but I think we would all be kidding ourselves if that "shot" didn't catapult him into the eyes of all the NBA GM's. Once his name got out there, he was watched closely during his workouts and it's all paying off for him.

Congrats Mario! The KU faithful will be following your carrer with greats interest, along with Brandon and Darrell. Thanks for giving us something that was well deserved and needed......A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

June 24, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

plasticJHawk (anonymous) says...

Yeah the shot got him a lot of attention, but it's amazing that he has been able to climb from being a second rounder to a potential lottery pick just by participating in team workouts. I thought it was a bad idea for him to not take part in the Orlando Pre-draft Camp, but of course we constantly underrate him. Even as Jayhawk fans

June 24, 2008 at 7:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

cklarock (anonymous) says...

I've never underrated Mario. :) Just sayin'. :)

I think he's become my favorite Jayhawk of all time. My wife and I have referred to him as "the dagger," because when you absolutely, positively need an opposing team's momentum jumped and stabbed to death in a dark alleyway . . . Mario's your guy.

Remember all the times he'd jump in the face of guys that were a foot taller? Love that about him.

I don't think it's easy for a lot of observers to really quantify that assassin mentality, but when you combine it with a player as talented as he is, you're going to end up with a top-shelf pro who knows which little things need doing when in order to win -- in other words, an NBA point.

June 24, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmkjayhawk (anonymous) says...

Wayne Simien is my all-time favorite Jayhawk.

Any recruiting updates anywhere?

June 24, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kushaw (anonymous) says...

Anybody else thinking it's kind of late for Arthur to have chosen an agent. He announced a couple of weeks ago he was for sure staying in the draft. This is maybe why his stock has dropped a bit. I don't know, but it seems a little late choosing an agent with two days left before draft day.

June 24, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

txrockchalk (anonymous) says...

kushaw - agreed. No clue as to why he took so long. Does anyone know if Mario has chosen an agent yet?

June 24, 2008 at 11:53 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

oldalum (anonymous) says...

Remember his last minute choice of a college? I always gave the credit to his mom and AAU coach, but had no basis for that. Maybe it just takes the kid a long time to make up his mind, so all of his decisions are last minute.

June 24, 2008 at 12:15 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

gauthecca (anonymous) says...

Darrell probably didn't hire an agent in case of injury, learning from Brandon's example last year.

June 24, 2008 at 12:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

txrockchalk (anonymous) says...

Good point, gauthecca.

June 24, 2008 at 1:34 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Wow! Kaun earns some money--they werent kidding about the 7 figure salary. Hooray for him! I hope it goes all well for all the other KU champs.

June 24, 2008 at 10:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )