There are plenty of teams toward the front of this year's NBA Draft that will be looking for scoring when they come on the clock, and two shooting guards stand out as players who can help spark offenses.
Colorado's Alec Burks and Washington State's Klay Thompson are projected as the top two shooting guards in the 2011 class and should come off the board during the draft's first 14 picks. But the question fantasy owners will be asking is who will make more of an impact in the box score for their respective teams.
Much of that answer will be decided on who drafts each player, but since that will not be decided until next Thursday, we will try to do it here and now.
Both guards possess a different skill set at this point in their careers but both have the ability to enter a team's rotation immediately and produce.
Thompson, a junior, was a scoring machine for the Cougars in 2010, averaging 21.6 points and shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. A bit of a streaky shooter, Thompson finished with games of 35, 28, 29, 36 and 43 points but also disappeared in a handful of conference games.
He made 98 three pointers in 2010 and his range is one the main reasons he is shooting up draft boards around the league. With excellent height, 6-foot, 6-inches, Thompson is able to elevate over defenders and get most shots he wants. An area for improvement is driving the basketball, as he tends to fall in love with his jumper at times.
Burks, on the other hand, wants to get to the rim as much as possible, and made a living of doing so during his sophomore year with the Buffaloes. He got to the free throw line 302 times in 2010, making 249 of them (82.5%) and uses his excellent leaping ability to finish at the rim. He could stand to bulk up and add a few pounds this summer to make him more durable in the paint, but if he can get to the free throw line at the next level he will be relevant in fantasy leagues.
An area for major improvement comes on the outside, where Burks made just 29 percent of his three-point attempts. Like most players at the top of the draft, he can get hot and hit his outside shots but will need to become more consistent.
One area that both players excel and will translate at the next level is rebounding. Burks (6.5 rebounds per game) and Thompson (5.2) are both active on the defensive end and play above average man-t0-man defense, which will surely help them gain playing time in their rookie campaigns.
To the naked eye, Thompson's college numbers and ability to score from outside make him the better options to teams, but Burks' upside is intriguing at the same time.
At this point the teams that seem to be interested in a shooting guard are the Detroit Pistons (8th overall), Milwaukee Bucks (10th) and Golden State Warriors (11th). It's hard to see either guard getting past those three teams, but Phoenix (13th) and Indiana (15th) would also love to acquire either of the guard's services.
If either can land in fantasy heaven in Golden State, he would have the upper-hand in 2011. If shooting guard Monta Ellis is indeed shipped out of town, the shooting guard spot would immediately open up to whoever the team selects. In Detroit, either could learn under Rip Hamilton while providing valuable minutes to a Pistons' back court that desperately needs it. John Salmons is starting in Milwaukee but could be shifted to small forward if either guard is ready to play right away, while Phoenix's back court situation is cloudy, at best, at this point. Indiana would be a less than desirable situation for the two, with Thompson's outside shooting giving him the edge. But don't expect either to drop that far.
My mock draft has Burks going to the Bucks with the 10th overall pick, with Thompson being selected one pick later to Golden State. In that situation, Thompson would be worthy of a pick in fantasy drafts if Ellis is out of the picture, while Burks will have to work on the defensive end to gain minutes in Scott Skiles' rotation.
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