Parker, as was reported by ESPN, supposedly went into his workout last Friday with the Cavaliers, holders of the No. 1 pick, overweight and uninspired. One source was quoted, anonymously, as saying Parker, “tanked.”
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The motivation? Parker, a Chicago native, could be closer to his family playing in Milwaukee, which holds the No. 2 pick and has targeted him as the preferred choice.
“That didn’t happen, I have a pretty competitive nature when it comes to the court,” Parker said, meeting the media here on Wednesday. “I have too much pride to just waste other people’s time. I come from Duke. And most important, I come from a family with good values.”
Still, Parker — who averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds as a freshman at Duke — said he thinks he is destined to go to Milwaukee, because the Bucks flat-out told him they would take him if he were still on the board. In meeting with the Cavaliers, he said, there was not a solid commitment that he would wind up there.
No. 1? No. 2? Parker said he understands he is in a very talented draft class, and can’t go wrong either way.
“This is a really good draft, we have a lot of veteran players and a lot of young players at the same time,” he said. “We all represent something, whatever it is, we need to embrace it. I wouldn’t feel no pain to go No. 2, or to go No. 1. I am not too worried about that.”
What’s more, Parker said he would like the opportunity to discuss the tanking rumor with whatever source originally passed that along.
“There’s going to be a lot of speculation and a lot of negativity,” he said. “But honestly, I would be glad to look that person in the eye that wrote that stuff and can give me those assumptions.”
