Inside the NBA draft: Shooters

Cream of the Crop

As unsettled as the top of Wednesday's NBA Draft is, Gonzaga small forward Adam Morrison and perhaps even Washington guard Brandon Roy may have as much chance at going No. 1 overall as Italian 7-footer Andrea Bargnani or big Texan LaMarcus Aldridge. In any case, both are sure lottery picks — with Morrison seemingly a certain top-five, and Roy perhaps going that high too. UConn small forward Rudy Gay is top-10 material. Villanova combo guard Randy Foye, Arkansas shooting guard Ronnie Brewer and University of Memphis swingman Rodney Carney are probable top-half-of-the-first-round picks as well — with Michigan State guards Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown and Memphis small forward Shawne Williams not far behind. All are super athletes. The big question: Does consensus national player-of-the-year J.J. Redick of Duke go top-10, bad back and all, or does he plummet to the early 20s? With Redick waiting and New York cameras watching, it's definite made-for-TV drama. The draft's best shooter/scorer, incidentally, may be Rutgers' Quincy Douby — but he supposedly does little else, perhaps pushing him to late first-round status.

Jazz time

If Roy were available at No. 14 overall, the Jazz would need five seconds, not five minutes, to make the pick. Won't happen. Foye might not be there either, but if so he's a strong possibility. Utah may be among several teams thinking long and hard about Redick; two weeks ago, before a back injury and an alleged drunken-driving arrest, they'd have snatched him up at 14. Brewer, Carney, Ager, Brown and perhaps Swiss guard Thabo Sefolosha are all possible Jazz picks too — though they'll be weighed against whichever top-rated centers remains available. Williams apparently has been ruled out by the Jazz. Some say West Virginia's Mike Gansey is a potential second-rounder for Utah because he resembles Jeff Hornacek, but others say he's awfully slow.

Utah now

The Jazz desperately need a shooting guard. Andrei Kirilenko can play there, but he's really a small forward. Ditto for versatile Matt Harpring, a free-agency market focus for Utah: Do the Jazz re-sign him as they say they want to, use him to salvage something in a sign-and-trade or let him leave with no compensation whatsoever? Off-guard Gordan Giricek, who started 36-of-37 games when not injured last season, supposedly is trade bait. It also remains to be seen if Devin Brown returns. At the 2, that could leave for now only 20-year-old C.J. Miles — a second-rounder out of his Texas high school last year. Miles, don't forget, scored a career-high 23 points in the Jazz's season finale — his only double-digits game in 23 appearances.

Fantasy pick

The Jazz use their No. 14 pick on Williams. Confused, the NBA awards Utah Shawne Williams, UConn point Marcus Williams and Duke power forward Shelden Williams — all first-round material. The Jazz then sign free-agent guard Jay Williams, and package him with the Class-of-2006 Williams trio, Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams and a few old albums by that other Andy Williams found in Kevin O'Connor's closet in a trade for Miami's Dwyane Wade, solving their shooting-guard woes. Sorry, Shaq. Who knew Pat Riley was such a huge Moon River fan?