DeClercq giving it a last shot
Published September 17, 2006
After 18 months of rehab on a bad right knee, Andrew DeClercq wants to give his career one final chance.
DeClercq, a 10-year NBA veteran who last played in the NBA with the Orlando Magic in the 2004-05 season, will spend this week working out in Chicago, hoping to impress the Bulls enough to be invited to their training camp next month.
He has no contract, no promises, no guarantees of anything but a chance to show whether his knee is good enough to play again.
"I'm going after it as if I'm a rookie again,'' DeClercq said after a recent workout at RDV Sportsplex. "I'll give it everything I've got left and see if that's good enough. At this point, people don't know.''
DeClercq is a former Florida Gator from Clearwater who spent five seasons playing center with the Magic. Although he always was a little undersized and offensively challenged, he compensated with his smarts, hustle and a workmanlike approach.
He hardly was considered a starter, yet he started 140 games for the Magic. Every summer, they tried to replace him, but every fall he was back in the lineup -- until a bum knee finally knocked him down. He played just eight games during the 2004-05 season, his last one in February.
At the end of that season, he had two microfracture surgeries on his right knee, sending him into a semi-retirement state. Although he became more active at church, he wasn't active again on a basketball court until this summer, when he started working out regularly at UCF.
With the Magic's permission, he has been working out lately at RDV Sportsplex. At age 33, he still believes he can be an effective center, considering the lack of effective centers in today's NBA.
"I don't think until now that my knee really was strong enough to come back and play again. I know what it takes to play in this league, but now it's a matter of getting my body to do it,'' DeClercq said. "I need to give it one more shot.''
DeClercq has been contacted by a few teams who are interested in a veteran backup, but most first want to see how their younger players do in training camp.
The Bulls are getting the jump, looking for a third veteran center to play behind Ben Wallace and P.J. Brown.
"I enjoyed my year at home. There's nothing better than hanging out with your family all day, but I still have some basketball left in me. I think there is still a place for the type of player I was,'' he said.
If his knee is strong enough but the Bulls don't offer him a spot in training camp, DeClercq still could be invited as a nonroster player to the Magic training camp in Jacksonville. Although they already have 15 guaranteed contracts, they still have a need for one more veteran power player to support their young cast that includes Dwight Howard and Darko Milicic.
"I've been out of NBA condition for a year-and-a-half, but I'm starting to get it back,'' DeClercq said. "I doubt I could play 35 minutes anymore, but I still could be a guy who plays 10-15 minutes, doesn't make any mistakes and is there as an insurance policy.''
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DeClercq Giving It A Last Shot
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