Note: This is the fourth piece in a series of features making a case for each top prospect as the No. 1 pick. I've made the case for Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Emmanuel Mudiay. Today we go in depth on Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis.
Las Vegas -- At approximately 12:25 pm, the loud background hum coming from the NBA's top decision makers seated in the stands at the IMPACT gym in Las Vegas suddenly went silent.
For two hours, as a dozen or so bubble first- and second-round prospects worked out at the IMPACT gym in Las Vegas, the 30 NBA execs and scouting staffs in attendance spent more time focusing on each other than what was happening on the court.
They talked deals, shared the latest gossip, told war stories as players like Michael Frazier and Christian Wood auditioned for their NBA lives. Several GMs paced the sidelines, back to the court, with their cell phone attached to their ear.
Then it all stopped. All of it. Like a pride of crouching lions ready to pounce on an unsuspecting gazelle prancing across the savannah.
The gazelle? A 7-foot-2, 19-year-old prodigy from Latvia that looks and plays like a cross between Dirk Nowitzki, Andrei Kirilenko and yes, Kevin Durant.
Bounce. Bounce. Swish.
Bounce. Bounce. Swish.
Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.
No one wanted to move. No one wanted to scare him away.
Latvian prodigy Kristaps Porzingis bounded through his first and only workout in front of the NBA.