June 28, 2000

Darius Miles will be sitting shoulder to shoulder this evening with the best amateur players from around the world, waiting to hear his name called in the NBA Draft. And while the 6-foot-9, 200-pound 18-year-old may not have the bulk to match up with many of his soon-to-be contemporaries, many believe a few extra pounds is all Miles needs to complete his game.

"It looks as though he may be the next Kevin Garnett," says college basketball analyst Dick Vitale.

"He's going to be a very exciting player," says NBA Director of Scouting Services Marty Blake. "He's a great athlete, 6-9, he's the total package, and I think he'll come along quicker than Tracy McGrady."

	Miles is expected to be one of the first five picks in the NBA Draft.

All indications are that Miles won't have to wait long to hear his name called. Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause appears ready to take Miles if he lasts until the fourth pick overall. And his mother, Ethel, has already said she hopes her son will be a Bull next year. So what team would you like to play for, Darius?

"Hopefully, I can go to the right team - a team I can fit in, a team that wants me to play, wants me to develop," says Miles, who met the media Tuesday in Minneapolis.

Miles, who graduated from East St. Louis High (East St. Louis, Ill.) earlier this month, added that he would "hopefully" go to a team where he could either start or be one of the first options off the bench. He invoked the names of Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant - the two most successful players who recently made the jump from high school to the pros - and suggested whoever selects him could use the same developmental techniques that have allowed both to become NBA All-Stars.

"If you put me in the game, I think that's when I'll develop more, like Kevin Garnett and Kobe," says Miles. "They put them in the game, even though they were still into the high school stuff, the show-off stuff. You put them in the game, and you see how they developed more and got more mature. And the more they played, the more they got better."

Unlike many players who turned up their noses at the suggestion of being drafted by a weaker club, Miles seems to embrace the idea of going to a lottery team.

	Miles wants the chance to lift a struggling franchise.

"I kind of like it," Miles said Tuesday. "The poorest teams need people. Somebody like the Lakers or Portland get the top pick - well, if I went to Portland, I know I ain't coming off the bench. Sometimes I'd probably just put my warm-up suit on, not even put my jersey on.

"I'm glad I'm going to a low team. They need the lottery pick, the type of players who can develop, like Vince [Carter]. Toronto had a real low team. They picked Vince, now they're making the playoffs. After what? Two years?

"You make a nice little improvement, then you get a great player with a whole lot of potential, he can turn your franchise from poor to new."