Nets GM prefers talent over need

Nolan Smith (
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JaJuan Johnson (Getty Images)

The example, used many times, goes back to 1963. The San Francisco Warriors, secure at center with Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain, owned the third pick in the draft.

So they drafted a center, Nate Thurmond.

The lesson: Never pass on talent.

“I never, even when drafting in the lottery, I never went for need. I go for best player,” said general manager Billy King, who will guide the Nets’ selections at 27 on the first round and 36 on the second at the NBA Draft on Thursday in Newark.

So what may the Nets find at 27, assuming they stay put (which given King’s draft trade history is a tough assumption)?

“You tend to get guys that are more four-year players,” King said. “They’re more ready to play, more ready understand that they have to sit to earn their spots.”

After 24 wins, the Nets should have drafted third, but that pick went to Utah in the Deron Williams deal, a swap the Nets would do 100 times over. Instead they pick at 27. From a talent standpoint, King never has wavered in the qualities he seeks weighing and evaluating draft prospects. He wants athleticism. He wants length.

The Nets plan one more workout tomorrow then will finish drawing up the final list. Picking 27th makes it tough to plot the draft, but the Nets feel they have a good idea of the sort of talent that will be available.

So some of the names they will consider are JaJuan Johnson, a 6-foot-10 All-America from Purdue; Justin Harper, a 6-10 power forward from Richmond; Iman Shumpert, a 6-4 shooting guard from Georgia Tech; Nolan Smith, a 6-3 point guard from Duke; Kyle Singer, a 6-9 forward from Duke; and Josh Selby, Kansas’ 6-1 guard. They also are high on 6-10 USC center Nikola Vucevic, but do not expect to see him at 27.

King admitted that going big at 27 may cause him to look small at 36, or vice versa, but if any of the original group make it to 36, they will get obvious consideration — along with College of Charleston scoring guard Andrew Goudelock, Kentucky wing DeAndre Liggins and Ohio State shooter deluxe Jon Diebler, who is very one dimensional — but they said that once about Kyle Korver, who wound up with King in Philly.

Johnson and Harper easily would fill King’s bill of athletic and long. Both worked out for the Nets; both felt they impressed their prospective employers.

“I think I was able to show my shooting ability and versatility [and that] I can defend the post,” said Harper who shot .534 while averaging 17.9 for Richmond — up from 10.6 as a junior. “The main focus is just keep improving. … I really changed my mindset working out before my senior year, just approaching the game more as a professional.”

Johnson low on many mock drafts for a guy who was a first team All-America, said he has more than numbers — he projects as “definitely a stretch four, being able to run the floor, knock down the outside side” and being a “pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop” guy, which is “really important when you have such a good point guard.”

“I have said it consistently,” King said. “If we can get athletes, it helps.”

fred.kerber@nypost.com

A look back at 27

You only have to go back one year to find the Nets drafting 27th, the only time in their history they had that first-round selection. With a pick acquired from Dallas, the Nets selected guard Jordan Crawford from Xavier. The Nets promptly pulled a draft-day deal, sending Crawford and 31st pick (Tibor Pleiss) to Atlanta for Texas SF Damion James, whom the Hawks had drafted at 24. Crawford’s biggest claim to fame was dunking on LeBron James at a skills camp, and King James trying to remove the video of it from YouTube.