• For complete analysis of who's in and out of the 2008 NBA draft, click here.
LOS ANGELES -- Every year, top NBA prospects go through a certain rite of passage. They leave behind their college teams, sign up with an NBA trainer and try, in the space of a few weeks, to quickly polish their games for NBA draft workouts.
Sometimes, the quick results can be a little hard to swallow. Players who couldn't shoot a lick in college are suddenly draining 3-pointers in an empty gym. Big men look like they have the handle of a point guard.
Prospects can blow you away in a few minutes, and you pinch yourself and wonder, why didn't they play that way in college?
However, I've been in enough gyms over the years to know that players can get a significant advantage to both their draft stock and rookie years if they get in the right program. Players can change and, with great trainers like a Tim Grover or a Joe Abunassar, the results can be impressive.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be traveling across the country checking in with some of the top prospects in the draft. On Thursday, the process began at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. UCLA big man Kevin Love, Arizona swingman Chase Budinger, UCLA defender Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Colorado's Richard Roby headlined the group led by Abunassar Impact Basketball's founder.
Here's my report from Day 1.