Kevin Durant, the NBA Rookie of the Year, has known Jerryd Bayless since the former UA star's freshman year of high school.

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Minutes after the NBA's draft lottery finished May 20, Jerryd Bayless received a mandatory text message.

It was from Kevin Durant, the Seattle SuperSonics' rookie star last season.

"He texted me right away and we started talking about the situation," Bayless said last week during the NBA's pre-draft camp. "I've known him since my freshman year in high school. It would be a great situation to play with him and (Jeff) Green."

Bayless, who is the consensus mock draft pick at the Sonics' No. 4 spot in the June 26 draft, according to NBA.com, could actually wind up playing in Oklahoma City if the Sonics draft him and then move.

But Bayless said he believes the Sonics will stay in Seattle for at least another year, joking that he liked what he saw when the Wildcats visited Washington in late February.

"We got lucky," Bayless said. "It wasn't raining. It was really nice outside. We stayed downtown and it was a nice city."

Bayless, a native of Phoenix, also had plenty of positive things to say about New York, another potential new home for him. The Knicks, under ex-Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, hold the No. 6 pick in the draft.

"I love New York," Bayless said. "My brother lived there the last three or four years working on Wall Street. I love the atmosphere. If I did get to play there, it'd be a dream come true."

Bayless said he also liked the idea of playing for D'Antoni, who left the Suns after they were eliminated in this season's playoffs.

"I think I'd do well with the Knicks," Bayless said. D'Antoni has "the run-and-gun style. I grew up watching him because he was in Phoenix. So I know him and I don't see anything wrong with that system."

The NBA is limiting teams to a maximum of three-on-three drills during private workouts of draft prospects this month, keeping teams from running full-court five-on-five games.

But Bayless said he's still confident he can prove he can play point guard, having done so during the Pac-10 season when Nic Wise was lost to a knee injury.

"I showed I can play point guard when Nic was out," Bayless said. In three-on-three, "you can control the game. You can show what you can do. If it's one-on-one, obviously, I can't show all I can do. In three-on-three, I can show what I can do."

Duncan Budinger, father of UA draft prospect Chase Budinger, said Bayless, Chase Budinger and USC's O.J. Mayo are likely to play together in some team workouts.

Denver Nuggets basketball operations VP Mark Warkentien called the naming of Mike Dunlap as the top UA assistant coach "no less than a great hire."

"Name any of your big-time (college) coaches — Ben Howland, Rick Majerus or any of those guys — and the only difference is the address," Warkentien said of Dunlap, who built a powerhouse at Division II Metro State before joining the Nuggets as an assistant coach.

Warkentien said Dunlap is strong in strategy and has a personality that makes him "equally comfortable having lunch with the vice president of academics as the coach at L.A. City College." He also said Dunlap did exceptionally well at Metro State because he created a strong niche recruiting international players.

"Did you ever read the book 'Good to Great?' " Warkentien said. "He is Mr. Good to Great. (Like successful companies,) you figure out what you have a great passion for and what you can be the best in the world at. … He's as good at international as anybody."

Chase Budinger, along with UCLA's Kevin Love and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, have been among those working with trainer Joe Abussanar in Carson, Calif., to prepare for pre-draft team workouts.

It isn't easy.

Abussanar said Budinger has added muscle and "changed his body a little bit" while continuing to work on creating his shot and other perimeter skills.

Love, meanwhile, said he's dropped 15 pounds from what was a 270-pound, 6-foot-9-inch frame at UCLA by giving up chocolate milk and late-night dining, while putting in full days at the Home Depot Center.

"I feel a lot quicker. I feel great," Love said. "It's the hardest thing I've ever done. But it's going to be worth it come draft day."

Love, a projected lottery pick, said he has team workouts scheduled for Seattle, New York, New Jersey (which holds the 10th pick) and Minnesota (3) so far.

Both Love and Bayless said the predicament Mayo is in, because of allegations that a sports agency improperly funneled money to him through events promoter Rodney Guillory, was a difficult but hardly an unusual spot to be in.

"I've seen it happen," Bayless said. "O.J.'s situation is definitely unfortunate. You've just got to try to weed them out. … It's just the system. Go to Big Time (a prestigious summer-circuit tournament) and you'll meet 20 (street agents). They're everywhere."

Bayless said the representatives are not blatant but warrant caution.

"They don't come at you like, 'Meet with me in my hotel room, I'm going to give you a suitcase full of money,' " Bayless said. "It's just people with an agenda. They might not give you the money right away, but they're going to try to do something in the long run if you do turn out to become that person."

Saying he was not speaking of Mayo's family, Love said it helps to have a strong support system at home to negotiate through the maze.

"In my perspective, just having a family there and people you can talk to on a daily basis, and have support, it builds a steady background," Love said. "Then you don't need to have people like Rodney Guillory around. It was tough for (Mayo) because he doesn't come from such a stable place like Lake Oswego (an affluent suburb of Portland, Ore.) like I do."

The playing time and statistics of ex-UA center Channing Frye dropped this season in Portland, after playing two seasons with the Knicks. But Trail Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard said he expected Frye would improve next season after having a full year under coach Nate McMillan and his system.

Frye was obtained from the Knicks in a draft day deal last June that sent Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau to New York for Frye and Steve Francis.

"Channing will play a lot better," Pritchard said. "We expect a big year out of him."

Frye averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while starting just 20 of 78 games with the Blazers, averaging 17.2 minutes per game. He started 59 of 72 games in 2006-07 in New York.