Kill Portsmouth

Look, kids are allowed to dream. Maybe it's not fair to deny them the hope. But why in the world does the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) still exist? Four players who played in Portsmouth last year were taken late in the second round. In 2004, only one player from the PIT was drafted. The idea may be to showcase the players, but it's not like the whole season hasn't already done that.

Chad Ford at ESPN.com has been bagging on Portsmouth for a number of years as a worthless tournament. As he points out, the most popular thing in talking about Portsmouth is discussing who didn't come to it. This year, it's even worse.

And, for the first time in recent memory, a number of the league's top GMs are skipping the event.
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"It's a waste of time," one prominent NBA GM who passed on Portsmouth said. "The talent isn't there. The timing is wrong. There are no NBA coaches or offenses. The most you can learn from Portsmouth is that a small handful of seniors played well enough to get invited to the real predraft camp in June [actually late May now]. Why not just wait to see them there?"

To complicate matters, the Nike Hoop Summit now takes place the same weekend in Memphis, Tenn. For the NBA GMs who make the trip to Portsmouth, it will be a short one. They'll get on a plane Friday morning and head to Memphis where the Hoop Summit will, in contrast, actually showcase a few players with a legitimate shot at being first-round picks.

Still, the officials for the PIT keep saying next year will be better. The NBA offices say things will be better thanks to new rules that ban individual pre-draft workouts until after the NBA pre-draft camp in late May. That means a compressed schedule and less player workouts.

The rule is in effect this year, but it did nothing to affect the attendance at the PIT. The official spin is that the sports agents are just not fully aware of the impact of the rule, but next year for sure. Uh-huh. Ever hear of the "law of unintended consequences." At least one agent has given it some thought.

Dallas-based agent George Bass said the new rule actually could help those in his profession get a better picture of their clients' status.

"From what I've heard from a couple of NBA teams, they'll be working out fewer players than before because they don't have as many days," Bass said. "And that way, you probably get a better idea of where your guy is going to be drafted because they can't be bringing everybody in now."

Which means, they can direct their efforts towards preparing to send the expected non-drafted players overseas and to European leagues for their paychecks. They can start the process sooner and be ready to present other options to the client when the NBA doesn't come calling. Portsmouth actually loses further relevance.