Our Best Shot

Here's an early line on how next Wednesday's NBA draft could play out, provided trades—some possibilities are noted—don't alter the selection order. (Washington forfeited its first-round pick.)

1 Spurs
Tim Duncan
6'10", Center
WAKE FOREST
San Antonio won the draft lottery and will get to choose the player who is head and shoulders above the rest in this year's talent pool. (There was no truth to rumors the Spurs would trade the pick to the Bulls for Scottie Pippen.) Provided that David Robinson, who missed 76 games with a broken left foot last season, returns to form, a front line of the Admiral, Duncan and Sean Elliott should make San Antonio a power.

2 76ers
Tony Battie
6'11", Forward-Center
TEXAS TECH
Philadelphia could use more size up front, especially if it can find a team desperate enough to take 6'10" problem child Derrick Coleman off its hands. The Sixers also might select point guard Chauncey Billups because new coach Larry Brown would like to move Allen Iverson to shooting guard, or Keith Van Horn, the kind of multiposition player—and good citizen—Brown likes.

3 Celtics
Chauncey Billups
6'3", Guard
COLORADO
Boston needs players at every position, especially in the middle, but it won't find inside help in this draft. The next most pressing need is point guard, assuming free agent David Wesley isn't re-signed, and Billups (above) looked impressive in a workout in Connecticut. Boston will also consider taking Van Horn and has explored trading its two first-round picks for Denver's Antonio McDyess.

4 Grizzlies
Antonio Daniels
6'4", Guard
BOWLING GREEN
Vancouver will be happy to nab Daniels, rated by many scouts as the best point guard available. Forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim and center Bryant Reeves are the core of the Grizzlies, and they need a playmaker who can get them the ball. At week's end Vancouver was talking about trading the pick to the Nets for the No. 7 choice and forward Jayson Williams.

5 Nuggets
Keith Van Horn
6'10", Forward
UTAH
Denver needs a point guard, but if Billups and Daniels are gone the Nuggets will address a potential shortage at forward. McDyess can be a free agent next summer and is on the trading block, and LaPhonso Ellis is a question mark because of an Achilles tendon injury and his desire for a rich contract. Denver loves the inside-outside game of Van Horn (left).

6 Celtics
Tracy McGrady
6'8", Forward
MT. ZION CHRISTIAN
See pick No. 3. With two selections this high, Boston can afford to gamble on this raw, talented 18-year-old high school player. He's no Kevin Garnett, hut with proper nurturing and coaching he has a chance to be a star somewhere down the road. The Celtics, with no center to speak of, will also give thought to picking Adonal Foyle in this spot.

7 Nets
Tim Thomas
6'9", Forward
VILLANOVA
New Jersey has several holes to fill, including point guard if it doesn't re-sign Sam Cassell. Given the point guards remaining, the Nets should take the best player available. The rap on Thomas: a questionable work ethic. But coach John Calipari has enough confidence in his motivational ability to grab an obvious talent, whatever his psychological shortcomings. If McGrady is available he will get a look, as will Ron Mercer.

8 Warriors
Adonal Foyle
6'10", Center
COLGATE
Golden State is looking for a big man, and Foyle (left), who played against modest competition in college, is intriguing. He has been described as a poor man's Dikembe Mutombo because of his acute defensive instincts—he holds the NCAA record for career blocked shots—and raw offensive skills. If the Warriors decide not to gamble, they could make the safer play by taking Mercer.

9 Raptors
Ron Mercer
6'7", Guard-Forward
KENTUCKY
Toronto is unhappy to be drafting this low and would rather trade the pick to save the first-round money, but at week's end it hadn't heard an offer that it liked. Unless Foyle falls this far, the Raptors can't pass on Mercer—even though his former coach, Rick Pitino, now with the Celtics, will have done so twice.