June 7, 2002
By Kyle Ringo, Special to the Rocky Mountain News
May 30, 2002
Juan Dixon might not belong in the top dozen or so picks in next month's NBA draft, but he insists a lot of general managers and scouts are going to look silly a few years from now if they let him slip.
Dixon and six other players eligible for the June 26 draft worked out on May 29 for the Denver Nuggets brain trust.
Afterward, Dixon detailed the reasons he believes he will be a successful professional player when many of the league's personnel men are doubting his value because of his height (6-feet-3) and lean frame (165 pounds).
First and foremost, Dixon made it clear he believes he can play point guard, despite having played primarily at shooting guard for four years at the University of Maryland.
"I want to play the point," he said.
That attitude all by itself is at least encouraging to Nuggets officials, yet probably not enough to completely sell them on selecting Dixon with one of their three picks.
"The questions on Juan have nothing to do with his quickness, his basketball skill or his intelligence, really," Nuggets assistant general manager Jeff Weltman said. "It's really exactly what player is he going to be in the NBA. The thing that guys are really looking to assess, which he is well aware of, is his ability to play the point."
People have doubted Dixon all his life, so dealing with that familiar sentiment from NBA types is nothing new or even difficult for him.
"I think I'm out here proving a lot of people wrong," Dixon said. "It's something I've been doing a long time and something I don't mind doing. I think you have to prove yourself every single day."
Dixon's story has been well chronicled. He lost both parents at a young age to AIDS. He was raised by the rest of his family -- a brother, aunts, uncles and grandparents -- overcoming a difficult life in Baltimore to become a first-team All-America selection and the leading scorer this past season for the national champion Terrapins.
Dixon stayed in school all four years at Maryland. And he is the player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a league that included three sought-after players from Duke who all have entered the 2002 NBA draft.
Chris Wilcox, an underclass teammate of Dixon's, also has declared for the draft and is expected to be a lottery pick.
"I think I'm still developing as a basketball player," Dixon said.
