BERKELEY - Ryan Anderson had an uneasy smile and averted his eyes to the ground. Amid all the confidence, he seemed embarrassed.
"It still really hasn't hit me that all this is happening," he said.
That he could be in the NBA in June. That he could be a millionaire. That he could be leaving Cal, now, after two seasons. When he arrived from Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills in 2006, he hoped to be in the NBA and a millionaire some day - but not this soon.
With the direction of his future in the balance, Anderson has until June 16, 10 days before the draft, to decide. He could become a junior at a school and in a setting he likes and play another season for a program re-energized by the hiring of former Stanford and Warriors coach Mike Montgomery. Or he could be, you know, rich.
If he turns pro, he could be drafted late in the first round and get a guaranteed contract worth at least $1.655 million for the first two seasons, the slotted amount for the 30th pick the night of June 26 in New York. He also could realistically last until the second round and still get all or part of the 2008-09 deal guaranteed, depending on the team, but likely much closer to the league minimum and maybe even exactly the $442,114.
If he stays at Cal, as one of the top returnees in the Pacific-10 Conference and a preseason candidate for conference Player of the Year, Anderson could demonstrate the improved strength and quickness NBA evaluators would love to see added to his polished offensive game, boosting his draft stock for next June and earning millions in the process. He also could digress and drop deeper into the second round in 2009 or out of the draft entirely.
"It's going to be a tight call," the first-team All-Pac-10 selection said.
Anderson has been able to get informal feedback from teams, via Montgomery and former coach Ben Braun, and in conversations with potential agents, though signing with a representative will automatically end his college eligibility. Much more tangible information will come starting this week, with an important predraft camp that begins Tuesday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., although Anderson has not yet decided to participate. That's followed by traveling the country for a series of individual or small-group workouts for one or two teams at a time.
Along the way, as with every other prospect, he will be put through drills to test his skills, conditioning, strength and agility. He will talk with team officials hoping to learn more about his personality, findings that undoubtedly will fall in line with what most everyone has come to know since Anderson rose to prominence while helping Oak Ridge to the Division II state title as a junior and becoming the third-leading scorer in California as a senior. That he's a quality guy, smart and grounded to the point of being surprised at the number of people inquiring about his plans.
"This is an awesome kid, a totally humble kid," said Gus Armstead, Anderson's personal trainer in Sacramento who through the years has worked with several Kings and local products. "He takes everything in stride.
"Because of the type of guy he is and the job (his parents) Jack and Susan have done raising him, he can't help but be caught off guard. He's not the kind of guy who puts himself above other people."
Along the way, too, Anderson's hearing will be tested. This will be a more personal test. He will work out for teams, then listen as the executives give him feedback and, maybe, a clue to his chances of sticking in the top 30 for the guaranteed contract. Maybe more than a clue.
He said that consensus opinion or, better, an unofficial, non-binding promise by a team to take him in the first round will keep him in. Without that strong belief, Anderson said, he will be a Cal junior.
He will move from team to team, and opinion to opinion. Potential agents will be in his ear. June 16 will get really close. "I'd say, Be very careful," Montgomery said. "This, 'You're-a-first-round-pick' stuff doesn't mean anything. They'll all tell you that. They won't tell you it's not a position need for them."
Anderson is the middle class of the draft, far from a lottery superstar, not quite a first-round lock, but well regarded and certain to get picked somewhere barring an unexpected development. He is 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, can score from anywhere, has a savvy court presence, passes and rebounds. Few draft candidates are as versatile with the ball.
But there are concerns. NBA executives, prohibited from discussing players not officially in the draft, see someone whose lack of athleticism will present problems on the next level. They wonder where Anderson, not quick enough to check most small forwards and not strong enough to muscle around with most power forwards, will fit on defense. The upcoming showcases, in Florida and the subsequent individual workouts, will be his chance to disprove some of the doubts.
Along the way, the results will be meaningful to both sides. Anderson will work out, and Anderson will listen. Then, at some point before the deadline and maybe, he says, going all the way up to June 16, he will finally have a response to the shadowing query.
Are you turning pro?
"It's a great question to be asked," he said. "It's something so cool to be a part of. I know it's going to get even more intense before it's over, but ultimately, I'm still asking that question in my head. I still want that answer."
Call The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper, (916) 321-1210.
