Newswire: Warriors, West impressed with Klay

ON THE HEELS of big draft board leaps in the eyes of Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News comes news that Washington State's Klay Thompson turned heads Friday at a private workout in front of Jerry West, Mark Jackson and other luminaries from the Golden State Warriors.

"The Washington State guard, one of the nation's top scorers as a junior, showed exactly why he's considered one of the sleepers in this draft," the San Jose Mercury News reported on Saturday. "At Friday's private, six-player workout at the Warriors facility, Thompson flaunted his premier shooting stroke and high basketball IQ in front of co-owner Joe Lacob, coach Mark Jackson and the entire basketball operations staff."

The day before, Thompson had climbed to No. 10 in Sports Illustrated's mock draft, going to Milwaukee, and to No. 12 in Sporting News', going to Utah. Knicks president Donnie Walsh helped fuel the rise, likening Thompson's stroke to legendary Pacers bomber Reggie Miller.

The Warriors have the No. 11 pick in the draft, which is coming up this Thursday.

The Mercury News said Thompson has workouts still coming with Utah and Sacramento. Besides Golden State, he's already had auditions with the Knicks, Bobcats, Wizards, Pacers, Nuggets, Suns, Cavaliers and Bucks.

To read the full Mercury News story, click HERE

Meanwhile, The Sporting News reported Saturday that Thompson has been invited to the "green room" at next week's draft. The NBA only invites players to the green room who are believed locks to go in the first 15 or 20 picks.