Marreese Speights can finally just sit down, wait and relax with his family.
The days of barely knowing what city he's in after countless flights are over. There are no more workouts of trying to impress NBA managers and coaches, some of whom have been around basketball longer than Speights has been alive. Since declaring for the NBA Draft on April 10, Speights has been from Oakland to Orlando with many trips in between. Tonight he gets to find out who he impressed the most at New York in the draft.
Speights will have to wait for Michael Beasley, Derek Rose and OJ Mayo - as well as several others - to get their names called first, but, according to most experts, he should not have to twiddle his thumbs much longer than that.
"Speights is a really good value in the middle of the draft," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. "He's only been playing basketball for about five years. This last year he had to play with a very young team. As per minutes, he's as productive as any big guy besides Michael Beasley and Kevin Love."
But Speights made that productivity look very hard during his time at Gainesville. He would sometimes get winded after just a few minutes on the court and while his talent isn't questioned, the main detractors for scouts and managers has been his conditioning and determination.
"It's not like he had to use 75 pounds to be a better prospect," Bilas said. "I don't think [the conditioning issue] is going to follow him around."
If Speights wants to make it in the NBA, he better hope it doesn't follow him. The NBA is littered with the expired contracts of past big men who haven't worked out: Michael Olowokandi, Rafael Araujo, Shelden Williams and Patrick O'Bryant. And they were all top-10 selections, something Speights probably will not be.
"I thought at the end of the year he would go, definitely," UF rising sophomore Nick Calathes said. "Just because a lot of people were talking about him going. He was kind of talking about it."
What all the experts are agreeing on is that it will take time for Speights to develop. Whoever takes him will have a project on their hand, but there have not been many immediate impact newcomers, either. Former Gator Al Horford was the only unanimous All-NBA Rookie Team selection, and he barely averaged 10 points a game.
"It's going to take you three years," director of NBA scouting services Marty Blake said of Speights. "Look at Rudy Gay. This will be his third year coming up. Chris Paul is in his third year."
No matter how long it takes Speights to develop tonight is a special night for the family as they all huddle around the T.V. at his grandmothers' house in St. Petersburg
"I feel numb," mother Regina Glenn-Speights said. "It hasn't sunken in yet. I'm excited, but is this real?"
It is certainly real, and it's something that gets talked up a lot. With players' stock seemingly moving up and down for no reason each day, it's a lot for the 20-year-old Speights to block out.
"He's good at that," Glenn-Speights said. "He blocks out stuff out the time. He says I can't focus on that. I'm used to it, too. I always tell him to whatever he does take the Lord with him. The faith helps block it out."
The consensus for where Speights will be picked is somewhere around the mid teens to the early 20s. NBAdraft.net has him at No. 16 to the Philadelphia 76ers and DraftExpress.com has him at No. 21 to the New Jersey Nets. ESPN's Chad Ford has him at No. 22 to the Orlando Magic.
But there's no way to know for sure until their name is called.
Matt Ramker, Speights' former AAU coach and advisor through this process called mock drafts "crap." Blake said "they're just guessing." As for Bilas?
"I don't do a mock draft," he said. "Those are always wrong."
