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The NBA Draft Lottery, like any lottery outside of Shirley Jackson’s, is a lot of fun until you lose. The reception before the event feels like the crowd of "The Price is Right" fell out of the sky and landed in Secaucus, NJ. Instead of matching t-shirts and oversized first-name-only tags, front office executives wear their usual business attire, but still share the same "anything can happen" grin. Everyone’s in good spirits because there’s still a chance they can home with a top pick, an easy decision and a future star.

Afterward is a much different scene, however. Outside of one or two general managers, the teams’ decision makers seem deflated as they file out into the spring night. Post-lottery interviews include phrases like, "we knew this is going to be a challenge," and, "there’s still a lot of talent at No. 13." The execs aren’t destroyed, but unlike one or two "lottery winners," they will be confronted with a real decision.

That first real decision in this draft will take place sometime after Duke point guard Kyrie Irving goes off the board. He only played 11 collegiate games, but that was apparently enough to sway the collective opinion of draft experts: Irving is the best point guard—and probably the best player—in the draft.

So who will be the next point guard taken?

It’s apparently a three-man race between Connecticut’s Kemba Walker, Kentucky’s Brandon Knight and BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. Some feel the latter could fall out of the lottery, but NBA scouting director Ryan Blake thinks Fredette has a lot to offer an NBA team because he shares a lot of qualities with the other two.

{AUTHOR_BOX}They’re All Combo Guards Right Now

"With Jimmer, he had to be the scorer," Blake said, when asked why Fredette isn’t known as a passer. "Obviously he has NBA range. He had to get his own shot in school, though. He was able to score. He was able to pas the ball extremely well when he had to."

Fredette finished his senior season with a 39.6% conversion rate from 3-point range, which is a big reason he averaged 28.9 PPG. His 4.3 APG are in range of Knight and Walker’s as well—and that speaks to the type of point guard that these three will be in the NBA.

Fredette, Walker and Knight have all played off the ball at times this season, and each were primarily asked to score in college. There’s no reason they can’t all develop as distributors at the next level, and they’re not going to get passed over simply because they’re not considered "pure point guards."

"What do you call Derrick Rose?" Blake asked. "Do you call him a pure point guard? There are very few pure point guards in the league right now. Name me guys beyond [Jason] Kidd, Steve [Nash] and so forth. So you’re going to have scoring combo guards in this league… [Walker, Fredette and Knight] have to understand their roles. They’re all able to pass. Once they get into quicker, faster, stronger NBA players, that’s where the decision-making is going to develop."

And even if it takes the three a while to learn how to become solid playmakers, they’re already serviceable as scoring guards.

"Around the league, they’re playing a lot of small ball with two points," Blake said. "There’s no definition of where they should be. If the skill set is high enough, then it just really depends on the system."

Fredette Isn’t Gerry McNamara

Gerry McNamara set the Big East on fire during his four seasons at Syracuse, but failed to generate much interest as a pro (not just in the NBA), because he lacked the athletic, defensive and playmaking skills of his competition. Shooting in college was one thing, but it’s hard to expect him to get off those same shots against bigger, faster, and stronger opponents. 

But Fredette isn’t completely limited athletically or as a defender.

"He’s very athletic," Blake said of the 6-2 Fredette. "And that means he’s not the quickest or a guy that’s going to jump out of the building, but what an athlete is here is someone who anticipates things on the court and can react more quickly than his opponents, like a Steve Nash.

"The knock on Jimmer was defense," Blake continued. "He didn’t fight through screens. He came under the hedge and tried to not get into foul trouble, and that’s what he was told to do because he had to be the man there. I think he’ a guy that’s strong and he works at it. Really competitive, you can’t really look into a guy’s heart and know what their drive is, but he is one of those guys that can do it. He just gives off that feeling."

Knight Showed Maturity… for a Freshman

Brandon Knight quarterbacked the Wildcats to the final game of the season, but still averaged 3.2 turnovers per game along the way. His 17.3 PPG proves he can score, but his terrible 1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio suggests he has a long way to go as a point guard. But Blake was impressed with the way Knight guided a young UK team.

"What I like about Brandon, he was mature when he played," Blake said. "Although he was a freshman, he played along freshman. Knight did make the wrong choices on certain things. He didn’t shoot well at times, but overall he did those things well as a freshman. He became mature over the season and you could see it with the way he worked with teammates."

Walker isn’t too Short, the League’s too Tall

Knight and Fredette are listed at 6-3 and 6-2 respectively, but it’s Walker’s listing at 6-1 that’s raising a few eyebrows. A sneaker-enhanced 6-1 is fine for college, but there’s a perception that it’s too difficult for players to survive in the NBA nowadays unless they truly stand at least 6-0 in socks. It’s sort of like the NBA Draft’s lemon law, and it’s not an idea that Blake subscribes to.

"It’s like when Jameer Nelson was coming up and everyone said he’s small at 6-1 and he was really 6-0, but he played great and came out after his senior year and proved that he can live in the NBA.

"They say [Walker is] undersized, but what’s undersized?" Blake continued. "He’s 6-1. Is he really 6-1? Who knows? He plays bigger than he is, like Jameer Nelson… I think he had a phenomenal year being a junior. He didn’t play to what his upside is but he matured throughout the year. Excellent athlete. Explosive. He defends well. He can be that stopper and really be that spark for some team."

HOOPSWORLD asked Blake to give us his pick as top playmaker, defender and shooter among the three:

Playmaker? Walker
Defender? Walker
Shooter? Fredette

And the Lady Bing Goes to…

Stephen Curry was named the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy, which is presented to the NBA’s top sportsman. (Although it kind of sounds like the award should go to the nicest guy on the meanest team, right?)

Curry garnered 88 first-place votes against the other five divisional winners: Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin, Chicago’s Luol Deng, New Jersey’s Deron Williams, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and San Antonio’s George Hill. The voters for this award were Curry’s fellow NBA players.

The NBA will donate $5,000 to the charities designated by the five runners up while making a $10,000 donation on behalf of Curry to Habitat for Humanity East Bay, which focuses on Alameda and Contra Costa counties in California.

Artest Suspended

Lakers forward Ron Artest will be suspended for one game without pay for essentially punching Dallas guard J.J. Barea with 24.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ 93-81 win on Wednesday, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson announced today. Artest will miss Game 3 of the series on Friday.

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