By Dylan Butler
Omar Cook believed he would be a first-round pick. His friends and family were also confident, so much so that they rented a penthouse suite at the New York Hilton ready to celebrate.
But last Wednesday as he watched the NBA Draft on television, Cook learned a tough lesson — there are no guarantees.
The St. John’s freshman point guard sat and watched the first round, as well as the guaranteed contract that goes with it, pass him by before finally being selected as the third pick of the second round by the Orlando Magic — the No. 32 overall pick.
Just moments into his burgeoning NBA career, Cook was dealt by the Magic to the Denver Nuggets for a future first-round draft pick.
“I feel good and I’m glad I know where I’m going,” Cook said. “But I’m very disappointed because I feel like I’m just as good as any of those players. Now I’ve just got to do what I’ve done my whole life and go out, work hard and prove to people I can play.”
The former Christ the King standout saw three other point guards, Raul Lopez from Spain, Brooklyn native Jamaal Tinsley and Tony Parker from France, all taken late in the first round before his name was finally called.
Cook, who didn’t even work out for the Nuggets, will serve primarily as a backup to Nick Van Exel.
“I was surprised,” Cook said of the trade. “I didn’t know what to think because I thought Orlando would be a good situation. Denver never worked me out, but I know I’ve got a chance to play there. They’ve got a good point guard there already but I’ve just got to prove to everyone that I can play in the league.”
Cook was projected to be a late first-round pick when he announced his intentions to turn pro after just one year at St. John’s last month and it appeared the 6-foot-1, 190-pound floor general improved his status with his play at the Chicago Pre Draft Camp, where he had 23 assists in three games and reportedly outplayed former Rice standout and Cincinnati sophomore Kenny Satterfield, as well as with his personal workouts with a bevy of NBA teams.
While Cook, who was second in the country behind Cal-State Northridge’s Markus Carr averaging 8.7 assists per game and also scored 15.3 points per game, his perimeter shooting was his biggest question mark.
“We’ve been watching tape and studying him,” said Denver president and coach Dan Issel. “We saw him play in Chicago. He’s 19 years old, he can really push the basketball and he’s an excellent passer. Like so many kids today, he really needs to work to improve his outside shooting.”
As suggested by his now former head coach Mike Jarvis, another year or two of seasoning at St. John’s certainly would have helped Cook.
Following the pre-draft camp, Cook, along with Tinsley from Iowa State, was thought to be one of the top two point guards selected in a draft dominated by big men. Instead it was Lopez, a pure point guard who averaged 6.6 points and 2.3 assists per game for Real Madrid, who was the first point guard drafted with the 24th pick by the Utah Jazz.
Vancouver took Tinsley with the 27th selection and it was Parker, a 6-foot-2 19-year-old who was raised in Paris and averaged 14.4 points and 5.6 assists per game for Paris Basket Racing, who was the last selection of the first round, going 28th to San Antonio. Parker also scored 20 points and had seven assists in head-to-head competition with Cook in the 2000 Nike Hoop Summit in Indiana last year.
By being selected in the second round Cook will have to make the Nuggets’ roster to earn a nonguaranteed minimum salary of $332,817 instead of the three-year guaranteed contact that nets first-round picks at least $2 million.
“Almost everyone in this draft is going to take a couple of years before they can make a sizable contribution,” Issel said. “Omar is no different than the rest of them.”
Cook follows in a long line of point guards from Christ the King, including Erick Barkley, Speedy Claxton, Khalid Reeves and Derrick Phelps, to be selected in the NBA Draft. He is the fifth St. John’s player to picked in the last four years, following Felipe Lopez, Ron Artest, Barkley and Lavor Postell.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
