By Chad FordESPN Insider ESPN Insider talked to multiple NBA scouts and GMs to give you a look at the top five NBA prospects ( and a few more ) they ' ll be watching in each NCAA region . Atlanta Region 1 . Duke ' s J . J . Redick ( SG , Sr . ) , Shelden Williams ( PF , Sr . ) and Josh McRoberts ( PF , Fr . ) The Good : By now you may have heard of this guy Redick . He can shoot from just about anywhere on the floor . He is an unbelievable competitor who has diversified his offensive game and gives a great effort on the defensive end . Williams , nicknamed " The Landlord , " is a big - time rebounder and shot blocker who has expanded his offensive repertoire this year . McRoberts may have more NBA potential than Redick or Williams . He ' s a big combo forward with great all - around game . There ' s little this guy can ' t do . His numbers haven ' t been huge his freshman season , but that ' s a product of playing next to Redick and Williams . The Bad : Redick scores , but what else does he do ? He ' s not a rebounder and he doesn ' t dish out assists . He ' s undersized to play the two in the pros and will likely be a defensive liability thanks to a lack of lateral quickness and explosiveness . Williams isn ' t the world ' s best athlete , either . He gets off the floor quickly , but he ' s average everywhere else . He is still raw offensively and hasn ' t developed his game the way scouts had hoped he would . McRoberts is still inexperienced and scouts wonder who he ' ll be able to guard at the next level . The Upside : Redick has all of the player of the year buzz , but he may be the last of the three off the draft board . He needs to redeem a terrible tournament performance last year to have a shot at being in the top 10 . As good as he is in college , some scouts still aren ' t convinced that he ' ll be a star in the pros -- he may be better suited to fill a Jeff Hornacek - type of role in the pros . Williams is one of the few big men in the draft who can step in and contribute right away . He ' s a known quantity who probably can ' t move the needle much in the tourney . McRoberts has the most to gain . If he plays big on the big stage , he has the potential to be a top - seven pick in the draft . 2 . Texas ' LaMarcus Aldridge ( PF , So . ) , Daniel Gibson ( PG , So . ) and P . J . Tucker ( F , Jr . ) The Good : Aldridge is a fluid , athletic big man who can play inside and out . Despite his size , he ' s quite skilled . He ' s really improved his rebounding and inside play this year . Gibson is an athletic combo guard with an excellent jumper and a scorer ' s mentality . Tucker is hard to define . He ' s a 6 - foot - 5 power forward who may be the best player off the dribble on the Texas squad . The Bad : Aldridge needs more experience and he could still use another 20 pounds of muscle to bang inside in the NBA . Gibson is 6 - 2 and doesn ' t possess the point guard skills everyone though he did . He ' s really struggled to run the team . Did we mention that Tucker is a 6 - foot - 5 power forward ? The Upside : Aldridge is a great prospect whose numbers don ' t really reflect how good he ' s been this season . He just hasn ' t had the right guards to get him the ball . He ' s a likely top - three pick if he comes out , regardless of how he plays in the tournament . Gibson needs a huge tournament if he ' s thinking about coming out . Right now he ' s on the first - round bubble . Tucker is one of the toughest players in the draft to project . A handful of scouts love him and compare him to a young Charles Barkley . The rest say his game won ' t translate at the next level . He ' s been great all year , and it ' s not clear the tournament will resolve the question one way or the other . 3 . LSU ' s Tyrus Thomas ( PF , Fr . ) The Good : Thomas is an elite athlete who runs the floor like a deer , cleans the glass and blocks shots . He often gets compared to Stromile Swift , another top - tier athlete from LSU . However , Thomas has two things going for him that Swift didn ' t . one , he ' s got a great motor . Two , he actually understands how to play the game . How good would Swift be if he had those two attributes ? Exactly . The Bad : He ' s not ready for the NBA . He needs at least another year of experience . He needs to improve his offensive repertoire and bulk up to handle the rigors of the NBA . But that ' s about it . The Upside : Thomas is the biggest surprise of the year . He didn ' t begin the season in our Top 100 and has risen all the way to No . 5 . A small handful of NBA scouts say that he has more upside than anyone in the draft . His relative lack of experience will probably keep him from rising much higher , but if he has a big tournament ( he ' s been injured for the last few weeks , so it ' s still unclear whether he ' s even playing ) , he ' s got a shot . 4 . California ' s Leon Powe ( PF , So . ) The Good : Powe may be the best low - post scorer in the country . The guy is a warrior in the paint at both ends of the floor . His long arms and athleticism allow him to play bigger than he actually is . He really has a great feel for the game and plays hard on every possession . The Bad : Two major knee surgeries this early into his career have scouts worried . He ' s about 6 - 7 , short for a four . The Upside : When he decides to come out , his physical exam will mean more than anything he can do in the tournament . He ' s been one of the best players in the country this season . If his knee checks out , he ' s got a shot of going in the 20 s . If it doesn ' t , he has a shot at going undrafted . 5 . North Carolina State ' s Cedric Simmons ( PF , So . ) The Good : A big - time athlete with a body that ' s beginning to fill out . Unbelievable shot blocker . Explosive leaper . Excellent rebounder . Long arms ( has a 7 - 4 wingspan ) give him a chance to be a center in the pros . Has put on quite a bit of muscle . Shows a lot of toughness in the paint , especially on the defensive end . Great in the open court . The Bad : A very raw player on the offensive end . No real shooting touch to speak of . Gets most of his points via dunks . His four - point , zero - rebound effort against Wake Forest in the ACC tournament did nothing to help his stock . The Upside : Simmons had a breakout 28 - point , nine - rebound game versus Duke in January that grabbed the attention of a lot of scouts . This is a terrible draft for bigs , so any big guy with a pulse is catching the eye of scouts right now . Simmons isn ' t ready for the NBA , but he ' s got a lot of potential and that could be enough to get him drafted in the late first round … or maybe higher . SLEEPER : West Virginia ' s Mike Gansey ( SG , Sr . ) The Good : For a guy one scout called a poor man ' s J . J . Redick , he sure looks as though he could be more . For starters , he ' s shooting at a better clip from 3 - point land than Redick ( 45 percent compared with 41 percent ) . He ' s also a much better rebounder than Redick , keeps his turnovers down and , although he doesn ' t look it , is a better athlete . The Bad : He ' s undersized to play the two , he isn ' t an exceptional athlete and , as with Redick , his lack of lateral quickness is going to hurt him defensively in the NBA . The Upside : Gansey doesn ' t look anything like an NBA player . But scouts are having a hard time ignoring what he ' s doing this season . He hasn ' t had the hype Redick has this season , but a couple of scouts have whispered that he might be a better NBA prospect . He ' s still a second - round prospect at this point , but a big tournament for Gansey could lift him into the first round . Others to watch : Texas A & M ' s Joseph Jones ( PF ) ; LSU ' s Glen Davis ( PF / C ) ; LSU ' s Tasmin Mitchell ( SF ) ; West Virginia ' s Kevin Pittsnogle ( PF / C ) ; Syracuse ' s Gerry McNamara ( PG ) ; Syracuse ' s Eric Devendorf ( PG / SG ) ; George Washington ' s Pops Mensah - Bonsu ( F ) ; California ' s DeVon Hardin ( C ) ; Iowa ' s Jeff Horner ( PG ) . Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider .