Chicago – Draft workouts, with their quantitative numbers and measurements, probably told scouts more. But back in December, Chris Paul and Deron Williams felt like nothing would state their cases better than how they would do against each other.
“I know the game in Champaign this year definitely had a lot of scouts there,” Williams said at predraft workouts here. “I know definitely when I played him people were going to be watching. People were going to be anticipating.”
Williams is understandably happier talking about the marquee meeting of No. 1 Wake Forest at No. 3 Illinois that ended up being a dud. The Illini guard’s team rolled over the Demon Deacons 91-73 as he had eight points, 11 assists and five rebounds to Paul’s 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.
In a year when point guards are considered by many NBA decision-makers to be the strongest position in the draft, at least at the top, Paul and Williams are the crème de la crème.
Both are considered potential top-five picks, and since they play the same position, their time together could be uncomfortable if they didn’t like each other so much. The two hit it off last summer while attending two camps over three weeks run by Nike and Michael Jordan.
“Just being point guards, you just start talking,” Williams said. “He’s a great guy. It’s good to talk to him, get to know him.”
Still, Paul said, “We’re pretty good friends, but there’s always that competition where you want to go as high as you possibly can.”
At 6 feet, Paul is shorter but quicker than the 6-3 Williams, and he earned more hardware in college. He was the national freshman of the year in 2004 before earning consensus All- America honors this past spring, consigning Williams to the second team.
Asked what sets him apart, Paul said: “I think I control the game. I think that’s what I do best. I feel like at whatever tempo I want the game to go, that’s what I can do.”
For his part, Williams has drawn comparisons to Jason Kidd, which never hurts. College fans will long remember his team’s 15-point comeback in the last four minutes of its Elite Eight victory over Arizona, a game in which he had 22 points and 10 assists.
“I think a lot more people got to see my games and I think I had some pretty good games in the tournament that helped me out,” Williams said.
The best guess around the league is that Paul will be chosen higher, possibly at No. 3 by Portland, unless it trades the pick. The Blazers appear to have already banked their future at the point on Sebastian Telfair, chosen a year ago.
Charlotte and the Los Angeles Lakers are teams thought to be interested in moving up to possibly take Paul or Williams.
