Deep NBA draft holds few guarantees

WHEN 76ERS president and general manager Ed Stefanski polled his personnel/scouting boardroom earlier this week about thoughts and suggestions for the No. 17 pick in tonight's NBA draft, one thing was painfully clear:

There was no consensus.

This wasn't like 2 years ago, when the Sixers, holding No. 12, consulted their overall ratings board and focused on Thaddeus Young. So what if his skills were so similar to those of Andre Iguodala? This was the guy who showed them more than they had anticipated in an individual workout. This was their guy.

And this wasn't like last season, when you could sense a buzz of real excitement and enthusiasm as they settled on Marreese Speights at No. 16. The belief was that they had gotten lucky, that they had uncovered a potential gem. As the season went on, it appeared they had been correct.

But now, at No. 17 tonight, there is . . . a list of candidates. They all can play at some level. They all have that most cherished of characteristics: upside. They all have those damning holes in their games.

Some of them will still be on the board when the Sixers choose. Some others, unexpectedly, will also be there. The list will expand and contract until, finally, one will rise to the surface.

Scenarios have always been known to change at the eleventh hour, but there was no indication that the Sixers had plans to bring anyone back for a second workout.

"At this time, you'd think it'd be whittled down more than it is," Stefanski said. "I don't know what that says about this draft, but I'd say we're more around eight guys we're arguing about. And I mean arguing. If you have thin skin, you shouldn't be in our boardroom."

The buzz among the fans and e-mailers seems to range from the lightning-quick point-guard skills of North Carolina's Ty Lawson to the senior experience and size of Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor to the shooting guard skills and savvy of North Carolina's Wayne Ellington, the Episcopal Academy homeboy.

But inside the boardroom, the Sixers are also evaluating Wake Forest point guard Jeff Teague and the explosiveness of shooting guards Jodie Meeks (Kentucky) and Marcus Thornton (Louisiana State). Every Web site has a mock draft, and almost all of them have a different name plugged in at No. 17. Ian Thomsen, a respected and knowledgeable colleague at Sports Illustrated, has written in Gonzaga's Austin Daye, a 6-11 small forward with perimeter skills; that's not a name that has seeped out of the Sixers' inner sanctum.