FanHouse NickCalathes

In an uncertain NBA Draft, that so many prospects have avoided competitive workouts is a bit odd. No player but Blake Griffin is guaranteed a spot in the top three, so you think the usual "boy versus chair" auditions would be out. Nope. To date, Hasheem Thabeet has not worked out with another player, nor have James Harden or Tyreke Evans.

As the draft moves closer (one week away), Evans has changed his stance: he'll work out against Stephen Curry this Sunday in Sacramento. Evans had previously blamed scheduling conflicts for his evasion of big talker/defender Terrence Williams. The Kings had reportedly tried to set up the two when both were in town, but Evans' camp (led by brother Reggie -- no, not that one) nixed it. Either way, Curry and Greece-bound Nick Calathes will provide less physical foils for Tyreke. (And yes, this also serves to debunk the "Curry shuts it down" rumor ... although the sharpshooter still hasn't rescheduled with Minnesota.)

After two years at the University of Florida, Nick Calathes is turning pro ... but instead of waiting to be drafted by an NBA team next month, he's apparently settled on a one-year deal to play in Europe with Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.

Details of his contract have yet to be officially announced, but Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel reports that the point guard will earn around $1.1 million in addition to lodging, transportation and tax credits. That's roughly equal to what Calathes would have earned had he been drafted late in the first round, which is where he was projected to go. But given his Greek heritage, he has a chance to quickly emerge as a star for Panathinaikos and earn lucrative endorsements as opposed to an unheralded role player in the NBA.

FanHouse covers the 2009 NBA Draft.

All mock drafts are not created equal. And why would you want them to be? That'd be awful boring, just reading lists of names over and over. At FanHouse, we emphasize the commentary -- so in our mocks we'll (try to) explain why we think certain players fit in their theoretical slots. We will also project our own biases (positive and negative), of course.

At this early stage -- and let's be honest, at every stage -- this is 5% homework, 5% supreme divination, 90% guesswork. (A great endorsement, no?) After the jump, a full first-round mock draft for your amusement bemusement.

This week, FanHouse is taking a look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted MLMinTampa of the Alligator Army to break down the Florida Gators.

The Florida Gators return the core of a team that finished in the final four. Of the NIT.

Last season was a disappointment for the Gators not just for the fact that they did not make the NCAA Tournament, breaking a streak of nine consecutive appearances. But the reaction of head coach Billy Donovan after the Gators bowed out of the SEC Tournament first round ("They're not committed to it," in speaking of his team) led fans and outsiders to believe that this group of players was beyond saving. After rallying in the NIT, there is some optimism for this year's edition despite subtractions. The Gators' only front line presence, Marreese Speights, is in the NBA. Sophomore guard Jai Lucas, after playing the first preseason game, will transfer. UF hopes they can overcome both losses.

It's not that the two-time defending national champion Gators are bad. They're talented, but young and rather skinny. Oh, and despite a 13-2 record coming into tonight's game against the Crimson Tide, almost all of those 13 wins came against paycheck opponents. They lost convincingly to the two decent teams they've played: FSU and Ohio State.

So nobody, not even your resident FanHouse Gator, expected them to waltz into Tuscaloosa and beat a pretty decent Alabama team in their SEC opener. But that's what they did. Final: Gators 90, Tide 83.

The Gators trailed for the entire first half, finding themselves down by 10 points before freshman point guard Jai Lucas sank a trey at the buzzer, cutting the lead to 7. The Gators had allowed the Tide to score 47 points in twenty minutes. Unacceptable? Yes, but what can a young fella do when the hot hands of juniors Alonzo Gee and Richard Hendrix are pouring the points on? Apparently, Billy Donovan gave his team a tongue-lashing because they came out with renewed defensive intensity in the second half.

Despite that effort, they found themselves down by 10 points yet again thanks to a burst of scoring from the Tide, but the Gators managed to close the gap thanks to their prolific freshmen. G-F Nick Calathes had a banner night, scoring 21 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and dishing 7 assists. And supershorty Jai Lucas managed to score 19 points, including perfect shooting from the free throw line.