Hansbrough to work out News Detroit Pistons

The mocks have him all over their boards, from lottery pick to second round. And the Jazz have him in town for a workout today, which is why ? even though they're often mocked by everyone from NBA scouts and executives to the prospect himself ? it's worth a peek at what, in advance of the June 25 NBA Draft, the Internet specialists are saying about University of North Carolina power forward Tyler Hansbrough.

At 6-foot-8 without shoes and 6-9 with shoes, and with a 6-11 wingspan and an 8-10 standing reach that is an inch more than that of projected No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin, ESPN.com's Chad Ford predicts the 234-pounder will go No. 11 overall to New Jersey. "Hansbrough has a legit shot at going this high," Ford writes. "He isn't going to be a dominant player in the league, but he's been productive, is as tough as nails and has measured better, in size and athletically, than people predicted." Hansbrough himself has said he thinks he may go higher than 12th. InsideHoops.com says No. 13 to Indiana, but both DraftExpress.com and NBADraft.net have the 23-year-old senior going No. 20 to the Jazz . And while SI.com projects No. 24 to Portland, RealGM.com ? get this ? says No. 40 in the second round to Charlotte. "There's a good chance he'll go in the late teens because he'll be a reliable, hard-working second-unit player," Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen writes. "If he's still available (at 24), look for Portland to snap him up." Utah State forward/Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year Gary Wilkinson also is among the 12 pro prospects scheduled to audition in Utah today. The other 10: Villanova forward Dante Cunningham, Pittsburgh guard LeVance Fields, Southern Cal forward Taj Gibson, Arizona forward Jeff Pendergraph, Boston College guard Tyrese Rice, Wisconsin forward Marcus Landry, Georgia Tech forward Gani Lawal, Washington State guard Taylor Rochestie, Baylor forward Kevin Rogers and North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside. Besides Hansbrough, Pendergraph, Gibson and Lawal are potential first-rounders. BOOZER BABBLE: According to ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan, "Detroit has Allen Iverson ($21.9 million) and Rasheed Wallace ($13.7) coming off the (team payroll salary) cap, and would like to get as far as $23 million under the cap, which would give the Pistons the ability to acquire two high-level free agents. "Impacting their financial equation will be Kwame Brown's decision this month on whether to pick up his player option of $4.1 million for next season, and (Pistons general manager) Joe Dumars' efforts to move Amir Johnson's expiring $3.6 million deal without taking back an equal contract in return. "If the Pistons find themselves stuck with both of those players, their best option to make a pair of impact acquisitions would probably involve moving Tayshaun Prince (owed $21.5 million over the next two seasons) as part of a sign-and-trade deal for an unrestricted free agent, whether it is (Orlando's Hedo) Turkoglu, (Utah's) Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom (of the Los Angeles Lakers) or someone else." BOOZER BABBLE II: According to The (Ohio) Morning Journal on Sunday, "If (Boozer) opts out of his deal in Utah, which is expected, he might draw some interest from (Cleveland). "Some fans still haven't forgiven him for burning the (Cavaliers) in 2004. ... Some think if he hadn't left, the Cavs would have won a title by now. "In order to sign him, however, it would have to be a sign-and-trade. He's looking for about $15 million a season. The 27-year-old forward would be a great addition to the Cavs, but it's going to be very difficult to pull off." TRADE TALK: Ex- Jazz guard Sasha Pavlovic is part of a proposed trade preliminarily being discussed, ESPN.com and the Arizona Republic both reported Sunday. Pavlovic would go from Cleveland along with Ben Wallace to Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal and his final-year $20 million salary. If Wallace agreed to a buyout and Phoenix waived Pavlovic, who has just $1.5 million of his last-season $4.95 million salary guaranteed, the Suns ? according to the Republic ? could save more than $9.9 million in payroll and projected luxury tax money. E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com