AP Photo

In terms of offensive potential, Austin Daye has as much of it as any other member of this class and could be its purest shooter behind Stephen Curry.

Daye has a compact and quick release on his jumper that is really a thing of beauty. He has plenty of negatives that will be difficult for him to overcome, but as a shooter, Daye could become a legend given his height.

He will consistently hit open spot-up looks all day long, but he is also an excellent shooter off the dribble. Most really good shooters hit the age of 25 or 26 before they develop true accuracy when shooting off the dribble, but Daye is already there. He also has enough skill with the handle where he can lose his man in order to create an open look.

Daye is very active moving without the ball. Like many sons of pro ballplayers, Daye does so many things instinctually and the way he moves into space and seams is clearly one of those things. He also is a huge asset in the transition game and makes a conscious effort to consistently get out quickly. In early offense situations, Daye is able to greatly take advantage of the various ways he can score ahead of the halfcourt grind it out.

He has great court recognition on both sides of the floor and it also allows him to be a highly imaginative passer. The rarified things Daye does at his height clearly extends to his abilities as an assist man will be another area of his game that exponentially improves with his physical maturity.

In the post, Daye doesn’t have the muscle to be a reliable option, but given the quality of his footwork and touch, he can become an unstoppable force down low in time. He already has a nice little hook going middle out of the left block. He works hard to post up and unlike many bigs who play small that will avoid the block, Daye enjoys going there and is eager to improve this facet of his game.

Defense will be a huge problem for Daye, particularly during his first few years; there really is no getting around that fact. He isn’t close to being strong enough to guard 4’s and is way too slow to defend 3’s. The mismatches he creates offensively will come back as a negative defensively. But he will at least be a savvy defender and could eventually develop into a respectable shotblocker. He blocked nearly just under four per 40 minutes during his sophomore season.

In two short years under Mark Few at Gonzaga, Daye has come a long ways in terms of his confidence, strength and how aggressively he plays the game.

The team that drafts him must be patient in his development because his body isn’t close to being at his skill level yet, but when that merging eventually happens, Daye could be one of the top-3 overall players from this draft.

Click here to read RealGM's draft reports on other members of the '09 class.