When you think of Thursday’s NBA draft, think of it in pieces.
As in, puzzle pieces.
There isn’t much star power, but it should be a big splash for the specialists. Shooters, rebounders, defenders, slashers, scorers and shot-blockers will take center stage for their ability to dominate in one area. Teams looking for help in a specific area will find this draft has the potential to do that. Teams looking for home run-hitting, franchise-changing players probably won’t find them. It is a role player’s draft.
But, as the Dallas Mavericks showed in winning the NBA title, the right mix of high-level supporting talent can help a superstar carry a team to a championship.
Lottery teams picking after No. 5 will be in a bit of a quandary balancing expectations of greatness associated with the pick with the reality that their choice isn’t going to come into the league and dominate.
“This is not one of the best drafts for anything that we’ve seen, but there’s a depth of good players,” ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said. “Guys that can come into the league and play and be pieces to good teams and maybe rotational players. But I don’t see a ton of guys that really excite you.”
Players getting the most attention are Duke point guard Kyrie Irving, Arizona forward Derrick Williams, Turkish center Enes Kanter and Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight. Those are the likely top four picks in whatever order the teams — Cleveland, Minnesota, Utah and Cleveland again — pick them.
After that, things get a little murky.
“I’m not sure that there’s that big a difference between the third pick in this draft and the 10th pick,” ‘s Chad Ford said. “I think they are flavors of ice cream. Each of them has a fairly equal balance of risk and reward.”
Connecticut point guard Kemba Walker, San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard, 7-foot Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas, Colorado swingman Alec Burks, Congolese forward Bismack Biyombo, Czech Republic forward Jan Vesely, Kansas forward Marcus Morris, BYU guard Jimmer Fredette, Florida State forward Chris Singleton and Texas forward Tristan Thompson are in the mix to go anywhere from No. 5 onward.
Because of that, expect teams to focus on filling needs much faster than in past drafts, where the depth of star-quality talent was so rich that the inclination was to take the best player available.
If not for a shaky NBA 3-point jump shot, CU’s Burks would probably be a consensus top-five pick. As it stands, the athletic, slashing guard will likely find himself in the top 10, perhaps at No. 10 going to Milwaukee, which is in need of a shooting guard. He could go lower, though, as two of the biggest movers in the last week — Washington State’s Klay Thompson and Providence guard Marshon Brooks — have played so well in workouts that they are shooting up draft boards.
Teams looking for pure shooters will gobble up Thompson and Fredette, who has impressed in predraft workouts to the point where he might not get beyond the top 14 picks of the lottery, either. Fredette’s rise is of greatest concern to teams just outside the lottery such as the (No. 17) New York Knicks, who sorely need an upgrade in their outside shooting.
Those in search of shot-blocking need look no further than Biyombo, who not only shares a native country with Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka, but has a similar game to his countryman. In one of the best basketball leagues in the world, the ACB League in Spain, Biyombo averaged 2.3 blocks in just 16 minutes per game. He’s raw offensively, though, so the team that chooses him is solely looking to add defense, rebounding and effort.
Center is an intriguing — and largely unknown — position in this draft. Kanter was supposed to play for Kentucky but was declared ineligible because of a violation of amateurism rules. He’s a beast of a player, though, at 6-11 and 255 pounds, and Cleveland could snatch him up with the No. 4 pick to pair with Irving, who is expected to go No. 1 overall.
The 6-11 Valanciunas, a skilled 19-year-old, has been compared to Pau Gasol and Arvydas Sabonis.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Who to keep an eye on
Denver Post Nuggets/NBA writer Chris Dempsey’s top five players at each position for Thursday’s NBA draft:
Point guard: Kyrie Irving (Duke), Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Kemba Walker (UConn), Nolan Smith (Duke), Reggie Jackson (Boston College).
Shooting guard: Alec Burks (Colorado), Klay Thompson (Washington State), Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Mar- shon Brooks (Providence), Malcolm Lee (UCLA).
Small forward: Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), Marcus Morris (Kansas), Jordan Hamilton (Texas), Chris Singleton (Florida State), Tobias Harris (Tennessee).
Power forward: Derrick Williams (Arizona), Jan Vesely (Partizan Belgrade), Bismack Biyombo (Baloncesto Fuenlabrada), Tristan Thompson (Texas), Markieff Morris (Kansas).
Center: Enes Kanter (Turkey), Jonas Valanciunas (Lietuvos Rytas), Nikola Vucevic (USC), Jeremy Tyler (Tokyo Apache), Jordan Williams (Maryland).
