Former Arizona basketball star Luke Walton was picked by the Los Angeles Lakers at no. 32 overall, early in the second round of the NBA draft last week.

"It is a great fit for him and a great fit for the Lakers, and the way they run their offense," said UA assistant coach Josh Pastner. "He is a perfect fit for them. He's a great passer that makes others around him better."

After getting snubbed by the draft, Walton's former UA teammates Rick Anderson and Jason Gardner hope to catch on as free agents with other teams. Anderson is slated to play this summer for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers summer squads, while Gardner remains undecided on where he will attempt to try out.

Gardner could very well end up with the Toronto Raptors since the team's new head coach, Kevin O'Neill, is an ex-UA assistant and they are in need of a point guard, according to Pastner.

O'Neill was an Arizona assistant coach from 1986 to 1989, a time during which Arizona was on the brink of turning into a basketball powerhouse.

If they do not make any NBA teams, Anderson and Gardner should be able to find a team overseas, Pastner said.

Houston prep star Ndudi Ebi, who signed his national letter of intent with Arizona, was picked by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 26th pick. Pastner, who recruited Ebi and whose father, Hal Pastner was Ebi's AAU coach, had no ill will towards the 19-year-old, noting that the chance to make millions of dollars guaranteed for playing basketball and to be able to support his family is an option that doesn't come along often.

"Everyone's been asking me about him, but how can you fault the guy. If he manages his money well he's set for life," Pastner said. "Yeah it's easy to say he would be higher if he went to school, but even that's not guaranteed."

The Timberwolves also picked University of Minnesota sophomore Rick Rickert late in the second round, who in his senior year of high school gave UA a verbal commitment, but spurned a move to Tucson to instead sign with the Gophers.

Former Wildcat Ruben Douglas, the 2002-03 NCAA scoring leader who transferred from Arizona to New Mexico after he lost his starting job to then freshman Gilbert Arenas, was not drafted, but Pastner expects Douglas to sign as a free agent soon.

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