Dudley, Nichols intrigue clubs with different skill sets

	NBA teams in search of a cold-blooded shooter may want to pay close attention to Syracuse guard Demetris Nichols. AP
	RELATED • DAY 1: UMass shot-blocker puts on show • DAY 2: Nichols, Green, Gray impress • DAY 3: Dudley the complete package

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Playing impressively at the NBA predraft camp and being drafted are two entirely different things. This is a fact I've learned through painstaking observation. Most of the players who play in the camp are targeted as possible second-round picks, with a couple lucky enough to crash the first round. Last season, only Renaldo Balkman of South Carolina (20th to the New York Knicks) and Jordan Farmar of UCLA (26th to the Los Angeles Lakers) played in the camp and were selected in the first round.

The first round usually goes like this: Teams take the player they believe is the most talented left on the board. That's it. Occasionally, a team will stretch (or reach) for a player who fills a positional need, although fewer teams are doing this after some were famously burned by that practice. That's why you hear general managers roll out the exhausted mantra about taking "the best available player, regardless of position."

The second round is another matter altogether. Some teams that spend a great deal of time, money and effort to scour the international leagues get to show their stuff drafting in the second round, selecting players they have judged to have better potential than the garden-variety collegians still left on the board. Anderson Varejao of the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, Mehmet Okur (originally taken by the Detroit Pistons) of the Utah Jazz and Zaza Pachulia of the Atlanta Hawks are three recent examples of international gems chosen in the second round.

Drafting an international player can benefit a team because that player often agrees to stay overseas until the drafting team is ready to sign him, and NBA teams retain the rights to these players in perpetuity by making a "required tender" (or contract offer) that is then left unsigned. Most players from colleges in the United States (and their agents) want to sign a contract, attend the team's training camp as a rookie and try to make the team. But if that player doesn't make it, he must be cut by the start of the season and the team loses all subsequent rights. That's why international players have been such a big part of the second round in recent years.

But this year may be a bit different. Teams don't seem quite as enamored by the international contingent that is likely to be available once the first round is over. That means more chances to be drafted for U.S. college players who get passed over in the first round. In the 2006 NBA Draft, nine players who played at the predraft camp were selected in the second round. I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that quite a few more than that will be selected June 28.

Here is a thumbnail look at 10 players who enjoyed excellent performances at the just-concluded predraft camp and have put themselves in position to be drafted.

Jared Dudley, Boston College senior forward

I've seen a lot of Dudley over the years, so I tried to focus on any differences in his game that might be apparent at the camp. The most obvious one is that his perimeter shooting stroke seems much smoother, and he appears more confident shooting in the 20- to 22-foot range. He didn't force any shots, and averaged a respectable 10.7 points and five rebounds per game, shooting 60 percent from the field.

Other than his perimeter shooting, Dudley played much like the guy who anchored BC's team and earned ACC Player of the Year honors. He got deflections and showed activity on defense, made the extra pass and powered up a couple of putbacks on offense.

Dudley lacks what some scouts call the "knockout punch," the one definable skill that makes him a definite long-term NBA player. But his broad range of skills and ability to play intelligently all over the court stamps him as a glue player in the mold of a Shane Battier.

Demetris Nichols, Syracuse senior forward

I can't resist listing Nichols immediately after Dudley, because they are such opposites in what they offer NBA teams. While it might be hard to define what Dudley does best, Nichols is a cold-blooded three-point shooter. Nichols may not be the greatest defender, most creative passer or slickest ball handler, but my goodness, can he shoot the basketball!

In the first two games at the camp, Nichols made 13-of-16 shots, including 7-of-9 from three-point range. While he slumped a bit in the third game (2-for-7 overall, 2-for-4 from downtown), he still finished the camp having made nine of 13 three-point shots, a statistic that is likely to garner attention from NBA teams.