Richard Mackson-US PRESSWIRE

The Kentucky Wildcats advanced to the Final Four Saturday night beating Louisville. The will be the second time that John Calipari has taken a team to the championship game since 2008 when he did it with the Derrick Rose-led Memphis Tigers.

This year Calipari’s squad is led by another freshman by the name of Anthony Davis. Davis has been the most dominant player in college basketball this season especially on the defensive end. He is the no doubt number one overall pick of the upcoming NBA Draft as well.

The only question is: what kind of NBA player will Davis be?

For how incredible Davis has been this season, he isn’t exactly the prototypical mold of a superstar in the NBA. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have the talent but his build and game resemble the likes of Marcus Camby and someone like Brandan Wright to some degree. I’d say he is better versions of those players but he isn’t an electric wing scorer or huge big man as much as he is the versatile tall, thin athlete type.

He’s also not Kevin Durant. Now let’s take a moment to think about how awesome Durant is. He kind of makes Davis seem not all that. They have similar builds except Durant has the handle of a guard and sweetest jumper from 30-feet maybe ever. It’s not fair to compare anyone to Durant but for some reason when I see Davis (probably because of his build) I expect more Durant in him. He is a way different player but I think could have superstar potential as well.

Davis is the most dominant college player that is also the sure number one pick since who? Kenyon Martin or Tim Duncan? This guy is ridiculously talented and he is a sure thing in the NBA too as far as I’m concerned.

I have a couple of questions about Davis that I will naturally answer myself.

Can he be a center in the NBA?

I think he can in the right system. I like him as a player that handles the ball a lot on offense and I think he is big enough and his defensive instincts are good enough to handle covering opposing centers. It’s not like anyone’s saying he needs a center to play alongside him once he gets into the league and the center position isn’t that deep anyway. He’ll have trouble with Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum but that’s about it. Instead of a point-forward, he could maybe become the first point-center.

Is he the type of big that will need to play alongside a great point guard?

He would be awesome with a great point guard but wouldn’t we all. He is a great finisher on alley-oops and very quick getting shots to the rim after a catch inside. He also scores a lot from offensive rebounds and can create himself to a degree off the dribble and with the jumper. I have no doubt that he will be able to eventually develop a very formidable post game. He is so skilled and has so much more room to grow with learning how to be a big man. Remember he was only 6-foot-2 two years ago. His offense has room for improvement and he will definitely get better. He won’t need a great point but it would of course help.

Can he be a 20-10 guy?

Right now the type of player he looks like seems like he’d peak around 17-13-4 or some stat line like that. Does he have more potential in the scoring department though? I think he can like I mentioned above his skills are so great and his touch is something too. I think he develops a great arsenal of post moves and has the potential to be one of the best in the league at scoring from the block. Maybe a little Kevin McHale potential in some ways? Maybe I’m the only one that’s questioning his scoring?

Will he ever be the best player on a championship team?

I know. Too early to tell. But there are guys who come into the league where you can immediately envision this. LeBron, Howard, Durant. Davis seems like the type that would become an awesome second option on a title team like Pau Gasol is to Kobe Bryant. But the way the league is turning into such a point guard driven league I think that future champions will eventually have point guards as one of their top two players alongside a player like Davis. In six years will be a top five player in the league? Could he become the Defensive Player of the Year by that point and surpass Kevin Love and Blake Griffin as the best power forward? I believe he has this potential and will reach it.

Anthony Davis is the future mold of superstars in the NBA. Centers were the thing years ago then the Jordan-type was the next superstar. Durant has given us a taste of the alien-like tall guys who are super skilled. Davis is the next one. He will join Rose, Howard, LeBron and Duncan as the top five best number one overall picks of the last 15 years.

It’s just too bad I always think of Durant when I watch Davis play and question why he isn’t stroking 30-footers on a regular basis.

Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports is reporting that Duke freshman Austin Rivers has declared for the NBA Draft.

I couldn’t be happier.

I was lucky enough to watch basically Rivers’ entire career in high school. He won the Florida state championship his junior and senior seasons at Winter Park High School. I went to his last 10 high school games. What? He’s my favorite player.

At Duke, Rivers was underutilized. This was no surprise playing under Mike Krzyzewski. Rivers was obviously featured as much as possible in high school and scored around 30 points per game his senior season. Every opportunity to score, he took. That wasn’t the case at Duke at all.

It really should have been though to some extent. Duke totally lacked players who could create off the dribble this season other than Rivers. This always held them back trying to rely on Seth Curry and Tyler Thornton to run the offense when neither could get by tough defense. It worked for a lot of the season but it was inevitable that by the end of the season, Duke was going to have to rely on Rivers more, and the fact that he wasn’t prepared for that and handed over the point guard job was a failure on Krzyzewski’s part.

Rivers obviously isn’t a point guard as far as his DNA goes. He’s a cold-blooded scorer. But if Rivers is going to make it in the NBA – measured 6-foot-5 with shoes on – he will probably have to play at least some point.

He really didn’t get that chance at Duke. The reason is he doesn’t initially look like a point guard on the floor. He’s not a great passer and misses open guys on occasion to try and force his own shot. Early in the season this resulted in Rivers getting called for charges or some low-shooting percentage nights. Duke was still always at its best with Rivers creating off the dribble though.

Paul Abell - US PRESSWIRE

This is my problem with college basketball. It’s more about the coaches and the school than the players. I loved Duke this year because of Rivers so it was naturally very frustrating for me to watch. Sure, he played more minutes than any Duke player but the ball should have been in his hands much more. The fact that this was not addressed is amazing. Duke lost in the NCAA tournament in the first round to Lehigh showcasing the same problems they had all season long.

When I first heard the news that Rivers had picked Duke as his college choice I was very pleased. I thought it would help him with his defense and discipline overall. Now, I’m glad he got out of there as quickly as possible. The college game and especially Duke’s is not for him. He was born to play in the NBA, there’s no question there.

Rivers was initially projected a lottery selection but this draft class has grown in depth and now he is more likely to be selected around pick number 20.

I’m happy with this because it means he will likely get picked by a better team and I think for him that will be good. If he were to be selected by a lottery team and labeled their star of the future I would fear he could become a bust.

His greatest skill is his elite first step. It is as good as any player in college and already elite at the NBA level. He has NBA three-point range but he’s not a catch-and-shoot guy so I wouldn’t expect a high percentage from three early in his pro career. He is a good penetrator and finisher but lacks some explosion and elevation that you see in the NBA game so I don’t think this will be a huge strength for him immediately.

He moves like a combination of Derrick Rose and Deron Williams but isn’t the athlete that Rose is, but who is? His handle will always be as good as any player in the league but it has always been used to create for himself. With the extra space in the NBA game Rivers will have more opportunities than in college to learn to be more of a playmaker for others and expand his game.

For the first few years of his career I’d project him to be a similar to pro to what O.J. Mayo has become. Down the road he has the potential to be an All-Star as a two-guard but since he isn’t the athlete that a lot of young players are coming into the league, that’s not something I see happening until he is considered a veteran.

Some sites are saying that Rivers is still a lottery pick but I expect him to be picked around 20th. Here are the teams picking from 10-20 as of their current records this season:

10. Milwaukee
11. Portland
12. New Orleans
13. Utah
14. Phoenix
15. Houston
16. New Jersey
17. Boston
18. Denver
19. Atlanta
20. Philadelphia

Those teams sound much better than Charlotte, Washington, Toronto or Detroit.

The coolest thing that could happen would be if Boston picked him and he played for his dad Doc Rivers. That’s definitely what I’m rooting for but I’ll also be okay with Utah, Houston, Phoenix or Denver.

I’ll finish with this: if there’s one thing I’ll say with confidence about Rivers it’s that he will succeed. I can’t imagine anything otherwise. He has a great foundation around him and work ethic and attitude that’s determined to be the best. I can’t imagine many teams being disappointed with a guy like that.