Harper, Johnson and Smith Top Nets Charts at #27 and #36...If They Stay

Fred Kerber writes Sunday that absent someone falling or an trade permitting them to move up, the Nets like three seniors, two athletic shooting big men and a combo guard who knew how to win at the high school and college level: Justin Harper of Richmond, JaJuan Johnson or Purdue and Nolan Smith of Duke.

And as Al Iannazzone writes, no GM has been as active on Draft Night as Billy King. He quotes the Nets GM this way: "I like to get versatile athletes so the coach's hands aren't as tied. Special teams generally have pretty good athletes. They don't have to be 6-6. They can be 6-3. They can be 6-9."

There's a whole list of players the Nets like at #27 and #31, Kerber reports, that fill that bill and fit another King bill: they're more likely third or fourth year players than kids. Among those he mentions: Iman Shumpert, 6'5" combo guard out of Georgia Tech; Kyle Singler, 6'9" SF and Smith's teammate at Duke; Josh Selby, 6'3" combo guard out of Kansas; and if they were ever so lucky, the draft's only legitimate seven footer, Nikola Vucevic from USC.

• Nets GM prefers talent over need - Fred Kerber - New York Post
• Billy King ready to get dealing - Al Iannazzone - The Record
• NBA Draft 2011: A look at this year's class - Conor Orr - Star-Ledger
• Prospects like Jeremy Hazell, Jonathan Mitchell prepared for anything to follow their dream - Mike Vorkunov - Star-Ledger 
• NBA Draft Chatter: Draft Boards, Promises and News - Ryan Feldman - The Hoops Report
• After Shooting, Hazell Still Leery of Returning Home - Adam Zagoria - Zags Blog