NBA Waters Don’t Pass Kapono’s Test

After swimming away from UCLA to the NBA draft, forward Jason Kapono is doing the backstroke.

Back to the Bruins.

On Friday, Kapono sent a letter to the NBA withdrawing his name from consideration for the draft. The deadline for the move is next Wednesday.

“I had a lot of things to consider,” Kapono said in a statement. “I believe I would have been a first-round selection in this draft. The deciding factor for me was being able to come back to UCLA, be with my teammates, play for the Bruins and continue my college experience and education.”

After announcing his decision to test the NBA on March 13, Kapono, a freshman, indicated he would follow through on the move if he were considered first-round material.

His father, Joe, said Friday that Kapono had private workouts with the Lakers, Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.

But Kapono did not attend last week’s Chicago pre-draft camp.

“At one point, the idea of playing for the Lakers was very attractive in terms of realizing a childhood dream to play at UCLA and play for the Lakers,” UCLA Coach Steve Lavin said in celebrating Kapono’s return.

“But he also saw the possibility that someone picking in the 25th or 26th or 27th spot may take him. That’s a difference.”

Several factors contributed to Kapono’s original decision to leave UCLA, including the possibility that he could return as long as he didn’t hire an agent.

Also significant was the early departure of forwards Jerome Moiso and JaRon Rush, both of whom opted for the lure of the professional ranks before their class graduated.

Another Bruin, center Dan Gadzuric, already has announced that he will play one more season and leave.

That one more season brightened Friday.

“Obviously, he’s a critical piece to our future because of the experiences he had last year,” Lavin said of Kapono.

“He has the chance to be one of the better players in the league and one of the better players in the country. And because he’s such a threat from the perimeter, that helps Dan Gadzuric. That will open up so many more things inside for Dan.”

Kapono’s draft stock depended on his outside shooting, an element largely missing in this season’s crop of college players.

He averaged 16 points a game in being named the Pacific 10’s co-freshman of the year, and he set the UCLA season record for three-point baskets with 82.

Kapono, a 6-foot-7, 199-pounder from Lakewood Artesia High, came to the Bruins as a high school All-American and immediately established himself as a factor at small forward. Unselfish, at times, Kapono was the Bruins’ best and most versatile player, handling the ball and shooting.

But through workouts, NBA teams grew concerned about his lack of speed and athleticism. They sensed missing those attributes would make it tough for him to play defense and get open unless plays were run for him.

They also were concerned about his strength, lack of creative ability and short attention span.

“What he conveyed to me was that he knew he would be a first-rounder, but that he also realized that he could gain more experience, get stronger and work on his game so that he would go even higher next year,” Lavin said.

Those are things he will work on this season, one in which the Bruins will have three starters back from a team that reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament: Kapono, Gadzuric and guard Earl Watson.

Six lettermen will join them, as will three freshman recruits, including Phoenix Shadow Mountain High point guard Ryan Walcott, who said he plans to sign with the Bruins. Walcott is the nephew of USC Coach Henry Bibby, a former UCLA All-American.