by ETHAN RAMSEY News staff writer , Birmingham News

But Vaden, who followed coach Mike Davis from Indiana to UAB and completed his eligibility in 2008-09, can still shoot the ball like few players anywhere, and that ability will likely afford him an opportunity to make the NBA.

Whether that comes as a second-round pick or,

more likely, as an undrafted free-agent, will be determined at the NBA Draft on Thursday night.

''Either way, he'll have to make a roster in summer league,'' said Joe Abunassar, who runs a year-round basketball training facility in Las Vegas. Vaden started working with Abunassar on March 20.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Indianapolis native is not projected as a draft selection by two Web sites that cover the draft, nbadraft.net and draftexpress.com.

Second-round picks do not receive guaranteed contracts.

Because of that, the undrafted route might work out best for Vaden, Bilas said in citing an oft-repeated theory.

''I think he's got a chance to be a second-round pick,'' Bilas said. ''But he might be better off not getting picked so he can find a team to fit in on, with a better chance of making the team as an undrafted free agent.''

That way Vaden can study teams' depth at shooting guard and pick a team, not have a team pick him.

Bilas said NBA organiza-

tions view Vaden, who could not be reached for comment, primarily as a spot-up shooter without strong ball-handling or defensive skills.

Abunassar said Vaden, 24, has worked so hard on his deficiencies - especially creating and scoring off the dribble - during his three months in Nevada that he has trimmed his body fat by 3 percent.

Aside from the days spent working out for what Abunassar said were 15 NBA teams, Vaden has trained seven hours a day at Abunassar's Impact Sports Academy alongside a group of 17 draft hopefuls that includes Alabama's Alonzo Gee and John Carroll Catholic graduate DeMarre Carroll out of Missouri.

Two of the NBA clubs who saw Vaden were the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks, Abunassar said.

''Teams that saw him in the workouts were impressed with his speed and quickness versus what they had remembered from UAB,'' Abunassar said.

Or from Indiana, which he first suited up for way back in 2004. Vaden began his career by starting all 60 games in his two seasons at the basketball-mad school, ranking second on the team in scoring (13.5) and rebounding (5.5) his sophomore year.

After sitting out the 2006-07 season because of his transfer to UAB, Vaden led the Blazers in scoring the past two seasons (21.1

points and 17.6 points, respectively).

Bilas, for one, said the transfer did not affect Vaden's draft status.

''Whether he was wearing a red jersey or a green one, these guys have eyes,'' Bilas said of NBA scouts.

Vaden will find out once and for all Thursday what those eyes see, and Abunassar said his pupil has the correct mind-set going into Thursday. Vaden knows the real work comes after draft day, not on it.

''He can't sit around wondering why he's not the 10th pick,'' Abunassar said. ''There are so many stories of guys in the NBA who stayed with it and stayed focused and now are some of the better players in the league.''

Copyright 2009 The Birmingham News All Rights Reserved
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.