The following is an excerpt from the NBA Draft Media Guide, Editor: Rob Reheuser

The NBA Draft is essentially one long conversation.

Whether it takes place in a rental car on the way to the Circle Restaurant in Portsmouth or in the balcony section of the Milk House Center at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, each year the same cast of characters gathers at various games, camps and tournaments for the express purpose of covering the draft ... and all the analysis, speculation and second-guessing that comes with it.

Ryan Blake, the NBA's Assistant Director of Scouting, Chris Ekstrand, a consultant for the NBA and former editor of this publication, and Jonathan Givony, President of DraftExpress, a leading Web site that provides year-round coverage of the NBA Draft, are fixtures on the NBA Draft circuit. Each was kind enough to sit down and address several key themes surrounding this year's draft.

Q: The 2008 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament saw a large number of seniors withdraw at the last minute, or decline invitations altogether. With a growing number of underclassmen and international players taking up spots at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp, and increased restrictions on when NBA teams can start working out players, are seniors doing themselves a disservice by not electing to be seen at the PIT? Do you still see Portsmouth as a valuable resource for teams?

Ekstrand: The PIT remains an important event for all NBA teams. Teams get the chance to see a player perform three times in a short space of time, and it allows them to evaluate areas like a player's conditioning and his suitability as a teammate as well as his skill level. Many college players have to make a transition to another role or another position when they reach the pro ranks, and Portsmouth is the beginning of the fact-finding of how well players are prepared to make that transition. I think it is always interesting to find out which players have hidden abilities they didn't get the chance to show on their college teams and which players' weaknesses were masked by the talents of their college coaches. Both are often evident in Portsmouth.

There have been many cases in recent years of players who declined an opportunity to play in Portsmouth, then went on to struggle at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp. Those players shortchanged themselves out of an opportunity for teams to start "falling in love" with them. They have left themselves only one chance to shine -- at the Pre-Draft Camp -- and if they don't play their best basketball there, for whatever reason (including injury), they have wasted a valuable opportunity to improve their prospects of playing in the NBA.

Givony: Some of them are, yes. I think Portsmouth is a very valuable resource for teams, and that was confirmed once again by the large amount of executives that attended the tournament. I don't think anyone should lose any sleep over it -- a lot of the players who decided to pull out were fringe players, and they were replaced by other fringe players, who in turn had a chance to help themselves, and in many cases succeeded. Those who want to compete and be seen by NBA teams will attend, and those who don't won't, and might not ever get a chance again.

Blake: I think when you look at the number of domestic early entries, international players and draft eligible early entry players invited to the Pre-Draft Camp, the risk factor of pulling out of the PIT and not getting invited to the Pre-Draft Camp is too high.
Plus, the NBA evaluators want to see players who want to play and compete. Without a doubt, the PIT is valuable and a necessity for teams to evaluate. One can never give up an opportunity to view a possible first-round or second-round pick, but, more importantly, someone that a team can bring into camp that could fill in a void as a role player with potential to improve. How many PIT players that have been drafted in the second round or undrafted that continue to make NBA rosters each year? In 2006 it was 11. Last year, it was nine. Furthermore, a team can evaluate a player that may need to be tracked for the following year, whether that prospect is in the D-League or overseas.