FanHouse DJWhite

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

The locals thirst for a roster explosion. At least 26 other fan bases would trade for this roster in a second. The NBA: Where 'The Grass is Greener' Happens!

Picks: #29, #59.

Needs: Depending on the depth of Joe Dumars' detonation, depth requirements could pop up all over. In particular, the land behind Tayshaun Prince is a bit dry.

Best case scenario: Assuming Amir Johnson plays power forwards in days ahead, a smaller forward like Ryan Anderson (who has a touch of 'Sheed, at least on offense), J.J. Hickson, or Jason Thompson would look good in Pistons blue. At the end of the draft, a defensive-minded combo like DeMarcus Nelson could potentially pay dividends.

Bullets Forever has a great little look at a type of player they dub "Senor Propolo" -- second-round productive low-post players. This has been a pet cause of mine since last summer, when I spent half my free time building support for the Paul Millsap Doctrine, which argued that per-minute production in the NBA was a good indicator of talent level.

BF's championing of Senor Propolo takes a slightly different tact, looking specifically at short but strong college post players who end up producing just fine thankyouverymuch at the pro level. There have been big successes in each of the past three drafts, including Leon Powe, Ronny Turiaf, Brandon Bass and Millsap (yeah!). Carl Landry's the one who sticks out to me -- in Houston's run of almost two dozen straight W's, Landry sat right up there with McGrady and Scola in terms of importance. It's easy for us to ignore the garbage-can production of the Landry sort, but when offered consistently (that's the key), it's extremely valuable.

So who are the Propolos this year? BF argues for Richard Hendrix of Alabama and D.J. White of Indiana. Joey Dorsey misses the cut because his lack of offense, but in my view, even if he lacks a key Propolo attribute, he'd be a good pick in the second round based on his defense and rebounding.

New Indiana coach Tom Crean has an even more difficult job this upcoming season. Two Hoosier recruits ... Devin Ebanks and Terrell Holloway ... are deciding not to come to Indiana and are looking elsewhere.

Devin Ebanks, a high-scoring recruit whose signed letter of intent to IU included an escape clause, will pick from one of four schools, Ebanks' summer coach Lawrence McGugins told rivals .com Wednesday. Ebanks will visit Texas, Rutgers, Memphis and West Virginia.

IU's other star recruit, Terrell Holloway, told the Cincinnati Enquirer he will attend Xavier.

This comes on the heels of freshman star Eric Gordon announcing he's going pro, Big Ten Player of the Year D.J. White is graduating and the dimissals of Jamarcus Ellis and Armon Bassett from the team.

Crean has five scholarship players returning and two other recruits in the fold (Ellis and Bassett could be back, too). He also has some recruiting restrictions thrust upon him from the Kelvin Sampson Era, which will make it tough to go get guys.

I guess when it rains, it pours. After missing a second meeting in a week, Indiana interim head coach Dan Dakich has dismissed junior Jamarcus Ellis and sophomore Armon Bassett (pictured with Dakich) from the team.

HoosierNation.com sources indicate the first of those meetings was either last Wednesday or Thursday, although it's unclear if Ellis and Bassett missed the meeting or were simply late. That prompted Dakich to require them to report to Assembly Hall at 6 a.m. on Friday morning to run, with dismissal from the team the consequence if they didn't show up.

They didn't show up ... so Dakich kept his word.

This is a mess. Dakich still is working under the interim label so this could be crushing to anyone who is interested in the Hoosiers' job. D.J. White and (most likely) Eric Gordon will be gone to the NBA this summer and Kelvin Sampson's incoming recruits were granted releases from their letters of intent. Indiana figures to have just six players on scholarship for next season.