NBA

Nets already feeling the draft

The 1963 draft had a big impact on how the Nets approach matters.

“The San Francisco Warriors, picking third, had the greatest offensive center of all time, Wilt Chamberlain, and they drafted Nate Thurmond,” said Nets team president Rod Thorn.

So Thorn saw a principle he has adopted throughout his career as an NBA exec. Talent trumps need. Always take the best player available. Thorn had another reason to remember that draft. The No. 2 pick was from West Virginia, Rod Thorn.

The Nets will pick no worse than fourth. Despite assuredly the NBA’s worst record, maybe the worst ever, the Nets have a 1-in-4 shot at No. 1, which likely will be Kentucky guard John Wall. There currently are five leading players on the Nets’ radar, all underclassmen, so NBA types can’t comment on them.

Those five are Wall, Ohio State’s Evan Turner, Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins, Georgia Tech power forward Derrick Favors and Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson. The Nets also have Dallas’ pick, which should land in the high 20’s. They also have their own corresponding second-rounder (from 31-to-34).

Thorn steadfastly declines comment on underclassmen, but he stressed how well the Nets could do in this draft whose overall talent he rates highly.

“At least one player drafted from 25 to 35 will have a really good NBA career,” Thorn said.

But what of the top five? Scouts and execs, some with the Nets, some not, gave capsule reviews of the top. All are in agreement that Wall and Evans are 1-2, although some insist their order is not etched in stone. Who’s No. 3?

“That is the great question,” one scout said.

If the Nets picked third and felt Cousins is the best, they’d take him, despite the presence of Brook Lopez. Talent first. Remember?

So here are the really capsule versions, provided by several scouts of the top five. Barring the bizarre, the Nets, who have scouted them all extensively, will get one of these.

Wall: “No one can stay is front of this kid. He’s that quick. Really special at the end of games. Not afraid of the big moment. He is a stud.”

One compared him to Derrick Rose “with the potential to be better.”

Turner: “A triple-double threat. Like a Brandon Roy. He’s a combo guard or a point forward. Terrific in transition, tough defensively.”

Cousins: “Rebounds, scores inside. Big, really strong kid. Excellent post game. Terrific hands.”

Favors: “Projects as a prototype four. Young, and like so many of these kids, probably could use another year in college. Enormous upside. Good hands. Needs to work on his shot.”

Johnson: “Has all the attributes to be a great player. Can defend, make shots, pass, rebound. Could be a consummate three man in the NBA.”