Nets own scout not optimistic about possibilities at No. 29

Fred Kerber spoke with Gregg Polinsky the other day about the depth of this year's draft and the Nets director of player personnel, essentially their chief scout, was not optimistic about the lower depths of the first round, where the Nets pick.

"I think it does not have the depth of many other drafts," said Polinsky, who goes back to the Rod Thorn era. "There’s a really, really talented five or six and a good, good 14. Everybody obviously sees it different. I think it gets really tough after 20."

The Nets of course pick at Nos. 29 and 41.

Polinsky is not alone, according to Kerber.  Bobby Marks, who toiling as a talking head after leaving the Nets a few weeks ago, is a little more optimistic, but only a little.

"Twenty-five is the drop-off," said Marks. "You can get a solid three-, four-year player who can be a good rotational player. If you’re picking in the late 20s, you probably would get the same thing a team gets in the 30s. I don’t think there’s much of a difference between the late 20s to late 30s."

Marks told Ryan Ruocco Monday that his two sleepers at the bottom of the first round are Delon Wright, the big point guard out of Utah and (of course), Chris McCullough, the stretch 4 with the torn ACL out of Syracuse.

There are others, Kerber notes, who think both Polinsky and Marks are way too optimistic.

"To me, the drop-off after around 15 is huge," said one Eastern Conference executive. "What you can get at the end of and right outside the lottery compared to late first round is night and day."

The Nets, of course, would be picking at No. 15 if it wasn't for the pick swap that was part of the Hawks - Nets deal for Joe Johnson.

Kerber quoted the executives as part of a story on whether there's another Draymond Green in this year's Draft. Green went No. 35 in the 2012 Draft to the Warriors. Golden State had acquired the pick from the Nets  in the Troy Murphy for Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright trade.

• Finding next Draymond Green: Execs evaluate draft depth - Fred Kerber - New York Post