Sixers take a pre-draft look at Ty Lawson

Ty Lawson's resume would impress any NBA team: great speed, the quickness to penetrate, the strength to finish against taller opponents, excellent passer, improving shooter, a cool customer in big games, arguably the best player on North Carolina's national championship team.

The 76ers certainly are impressed. But with the NBA draft looming on June 25, they don't know if they'll need to use their first-round pick on a point guard, given the uncertain status of free agent Andre Miller, with whom they cannot negotiate until July 1.

So they brought in the 5-foot-11 Lawson yesterday to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine as they begin to wrap up trying to identify whom the best player will be when their turn comes in the draft at No. 17.

Courtney Witte, the team's director of player personnel, said the Sixers would look primarily at players at both guard positions while "taking into account" the Miller situation.

"I'm looking at trying to find with our scouting staff the best player at the 17th pick," he said. "Obviously we're aware of [the Miller] scenario, but I'm looking at trying to come to the determination with regard to the players that will be there."

Lawson said he would welcome the chance to learn from Miller.

"He's a good player," he said. "I've seen him play in this league for a long time. He would teach me a lot of things about playing the point guard position and help me grow. He would be a good mentor."

As pre-draft workouts get into full swing throughout the league, the question for the Sixers is whether a player of Lawson's caliber will be available at No. 17.

In four Internet mock drafts, Lawson is ranked anywhere from fourth to seventh among point guards. One (Draft Express) has him going to the Sixers, but two have him selected before the Sixers take their turn.

Lawson said he had heard he would go "anywhere from five to 20" based on reports from league general managers.

"I've got to do well in these workouts," he said, "and hopefully my stock rises."

For now, however, Lawson wants to show his abilities and silence critics of his height and the toe injury that kept him out of the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and the first game of the NCAAs.

"I've been hearing things I can't prove, that I'm injury-prone, I'm too small, things like that," said Lawson, the ACC player of the year. "The last couple of years they said I can't shoot. I shot 47 percent from the three-point line last season, so I don't know what I've got to prove. People tell me I can't do stuff, and then I turn around, and I do them real well."

Another player working out yesterday at PCOM was 6-5 guard Stefon Jackson, a Germantown native who played at Lutheran Christian and finished as the leading scorer in the history of Texas-El Paso.

Jackson said that he felt great working out for his hometown team and that he appreciated working out with and against players of Lawson's caliber.

"I think I got overlooked a lot," he said of his senior season. "I averaged over 24 points. But teams are starting to realize I can really play, and they've called me in for workouts, so that's a good thing."

Notes. Other players to work out were combo guard Toney Douglas of Florida State, shooting guard Jodie Meeks of Kentucky and small forward Terrence Williams of Louisville. . . . New assistant coach Mike O'Koren and holdover Aaron McKie conducted the workout. Head coach Eddie Jordan watched from the sideline but was not made available to reporters afterward. . . . According to a source, Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds was invited to take part in yesterday's workout but withdrew because of a sore back.