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TIMBERWOLVES: Bayless, Gordon Conclude Workouts

After seeing O.J. Mayo, Danilo Gallinari and Brook Lopez over the weekend, Minnesota worked out its final prospects leading up to Thursday's NBA Draft: Jerryd Bayless and Eric Gordon.

Bayless (6-3, Arizona) and Gordon (6-4, Indiana) ran through shooting drills, worked on defensive rotations and took the ball to the hoop with a big - occasionally Rochester native Longar Longar, who joined the freshman standouts on Monday - waiting to contest.

Gordon showed that his stroke is every bit as pretty as advertised: during one drill he swished 10 consecutive NBA threes. Bayless wasn't as smooth from deep towards the end of the workout, but the elite athleticism of both players was blatantly obvious when the would-be college sophomores repeatedly exploded to the hoop near the session's conclusion.

While Bayless acknowledged that he would have liked to have shot the ball better, the Arizona product certainly doesn't lack for confidence ... He feels he's the best of the PAC-10 bunch heading into the draft, a group that includes Mayo, Kevin Love and Lopez. Gordon, meanwhile, said he's completely over a broken left wrist that hampered him down the stretch of the NCAA season, and is eager to prove to NBA teams that he's the best pure scorer in the draft.

Gordon was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year while earning second- and third-team All-America honors from various publications behind his 20.9 points per game. Bayless was on the PAC-10's All-Freshman team behind 19.7 points and four dimes a game. Both players said they wanted to show NBA brass that they are more-than-capable point guards and possess the ability to make plays for teammates.

After working out, assembled media heard from Bayless, Gordon, Longar and Wolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale.

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Bayless Q&A

Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless:
Q: On how Monday's workout went:
Bayless: It went all right. I didn't shoot as well as I hoped, but it still went pretty good.

Q: On what he hopes to show during individual workouts:
Bayless: That you can just do everything. They put you through a series of drills and they do little defensive things and you want to show them you can move your feet and do things like that. You're just trying to show them your overall game. That's what you're trying to hopefully do ... It's kind of tough when you're doing the individual drills to show them a lot of things. You're just going through the motions with the drills, but you can show them a lot of things they want to see.

Q: On what other teams he has worked out for:
Bayless: New York, Seattle and L.A. (Clippers).

Q: On if he was asked to carry the scoring load at Arizona:
Bayless: Definitely. At Arizona I needed to score for us to be successful. They told me to do that so I just tried to be a part of the team and that's what it ended up being.

Q: On how he thinks he would fit in with the Wolves:
Bayless: They have two other guards; I think we'd play a three-guard offense. That's what I was talking to (Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin) McHale about. And I think it would work out well.

Q: On if he thinks he is the best of the likely four Pac-10 players (USC's O.J. Mayo, Stanford's Brook Lopez and UCLA's Kevin Love) to be drafted in the lottery Thursday night:
Bayless: I would say so.

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Gordon Q&A

Indiana guard Eric Gordon:
Q: On how Monday's workout went:
Gordon: This is my fourth one. I thought it went pretty (well) for me. I didn't shoot as well as I thought I should, but I think overall I did pretty good.

Q: On if his draft sock is rising:
Gordon: I'm pretty sure my stock has gone up because towards the end of the season I had a little bit of turmoil with a lot of different situations. After the season, I think my stock has gone up because (I have) no injuries and I can play normal.

Q: On the toughest challenge his freshman year at Indiana:
Gordon: I broke my left wrist towards the end of the season and kept on playing. I just came here to get prepared to play for the NBA and see what goes on from there.

Q: On if he is nervous or excited for Thursday's draft:
Gordon: Not nervous, just anxious because you never know where you're going to end up. I'm just glad to be (in the draft).

Q: On what position he will likely play in the NBA:
Gordon: I will probably be a combo guard. A lot of people like my scoring ability, but I can play a little bit of point; a little bit at two guard. But I've got to see the situation the team is in.

Q: On which other teams he has worked out for:
Gordon: I worked out for the (Los Angeles) Clippers, Seattle, New York and here.

Q: On how he thinks he'd fit in with the Wolves:
Gordon: I think I'd fit in pretty good. Al Jefferson is a monster and Randy Foye; he's a good (player).

Q: On what he believes is his biggest strength:
Gordon: A lot of people like my scoring ability. I can score in many ways. Now I just got to prove that I can play point guard.

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Kevin McHale Q&A

Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale:
Q: On what he thought of Bayless and Gordon:
McHale: They are not your classic 6-6 guys, that's pretty easy to look at visually. But they are very explosive; they both play bigger than what they are. They both can play (both guard positions). Jerryd especially at this point a little bit farther along playing a little bit of a combo guard, Eric is still more of an off guard than (a point guard), but he can handle the ball and do some stuff. You have to remember; those kids are not finished products, they are just starting their developmental phase. I like them both.

Q: On if carrying the load for their respective schools helped develop their games:
McHale: That's good and bad. I think sometimes they might not be ready for all that. I think Eric was lucky (that) he played with (Hoosiers forward) D.J. White and and D.J. was really able, I felt, to have a great, great senior year and play well for (Indiana). Jerryd was asked to carry a lot and then they had some injuries and that whole thing happened with (Arizona coach) Lute Olson. So that was really kind of a funky year down there. But I thought they both did well. I just think with the one-and-done thing that's happening you're going to see more kids asked to carry the load.

Q: On the Wolves seeing USC guard O.J. Mayo and Italian prospect Danilo Gallinari this weekend:
McHale: I like them both. I liked them both going in and I don't think an individual workout is going to detour from the fact that you've seen them play a ton of games and you really liked them ... They are both interesting players and they both bring different things to the table so they are guys you like.

Q: On what he took out of watching the four potential Pac-10 lottery picks playing head-to-head on tape:
McHale: I watched them all many times. There was a lot of interesting stuff; different things happen in different games ... You try to look at each game as to what the defense did, what happened. But you get a flavor for the guys. I would not base my evaluation on any of these guys playing against some of the teams. I've watched all those games a couple times ... I don't think one game in one game, there are a couple 'wow' games where you want to see a guy playing at his best .... But I don't think after any of those tapes I said 'Wow I love this guy and I hated him after this game.' You can go watch O.J. Mayo have a 10-turnover game against UCLA and it is just like going to the dentist without Novocain. But there is a lot of stuff happening inside that game. You're going to play good and bad, these are 19- and 20-year-old kids ... You're going to have games like that and I don't think you can put too much emphasis on those types of games.

Q: On if he gets a sense that there will be a lot of teams moving around in the lottery:
McHale: Very hard to say. I think up to now there have been a lot of people who are throwing stuff out there. It will get more serious today and tomorrow, and on Thursday you'll get a good offer in. The teams you talk to, you say 'I'll do this' and they say 'well I'll do that' and they aren't matching up right now, so we'll see.