DaytonDailyNews.com

Wander into a jewelry, gun or electronics store. There are products available on general display, and there are items under protective glass.

Those things under the glass might not be any better, but you're supposed to think they are. You just can't touch them any time you want.

The NBA draft process is a little bit like this. There's a game inside the game when it comes to NBA teams getting to see prospective players.

It's why the best of the best again didn't play at the NBA pre-draft camp at the Milk House Gym this past week near Orlando, Fla.

If you're the ultimate, shiny new product everyone wants — Ohio State center Greg Oden or Texas forward Kevin Durant — you don't have to think about playing. Sure, maybe a couple drills and some quick testing, but that's it.

You don't have to work out for more than a couple teams. If everybody says you're going first or second to Portland and Seattle, why work out for Atlanta (No. 3), Memphis (4) or Boston (5)?

The next subset are the lottery picks — North Carolina's Brandan Wright, OSU's Mike Conley, Florida's Al Horford and Corey Brewer, etc. Those guys didn't play either. They did show up for media availability and testing, and will make a few visits since there's uncertainty about who will pick whom in the lottery.

The NBA banned individual workouts before the camp to spur more top players into showing up. It didn't work.

"They're out to have some type of a combine like pro football does where you come and participate or you don't draft them," one scout said. "I don't know how you solve that."

Yi Jianlian, a possible top-five pick from China, didn't even show up for a physical. The feeling is his handlers want to "control" the process and just work out for certain teams to discourage others.

So, you end up in the camp without the top 20 guys in a league where the top 30 draft picks get guaranteed money. The guys playing are display models. Funny thing is, some guys who did play will have better NBA careers than those who did not.

But agents know the game. Why expose a weakness when the prevailing opinion about a player may be better than the actual player?

Dunbar grad and OSU freshman Daequan Cook was on the fence about attending. After a poor first day, it looked like a bad decision. After Day 2, it looked OK. After his 22-point third day, it looked like the right choice.

He was one of those commodities that teams could talk to, see and touch. In the game within a game, Cook's camp can turn down workouts for teams picking below his new predicted slot.

Some "sleepers" always emerge from the three-day camp.

"I'm sure there are quite a few, but most of us hope we're smart enough not to give away too many secrets," said Alter and Notre Dame grad John Paxson, the general manager of the Chicago Bulls.

After that, NBA teams jockey to trade places because they've "fallen in love" with a certain prospect. But friends in the NBA bluff each other like poker players.

"Some of it is misinformation, sure, because nobody wants to play their hand," Paxson said. "We're all trying to accomplish something, whether it's get the best player we can or get a position we need. I think a lot of times people aren't talking the exact truth, but that's part of the game."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.