Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star 2008

Other articles by Bruce Pascoe:

UA recruiters look down the road Freshmen mean array of options Now that's a switch Like Fogg, Williams will come in unseen Cats gain one more of USC's recruits NY duo sure they can make it here It's not Rocket science: Chase faces challenge Hill goes No. 8 to Knicks Budinger traded to Houston RocketsHill chosen No. 8 overall by Knicks

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Earlier this season, UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill said anyone who is a definite NBA lottery pick should leave school early.

If that's the case, then Arizona Wildcat basketball fans might not want to check out the latest draft projections.

Draft Express has moved UA freshman guard Jerryd Bayless up to the No. 3 spot in its 2008 mock draft. NBADraft.net has Bayless No. 4 while insidehoops.com has him fifth and collegehoops.net lists him seventh.

Sophomore wing Chase Budinger is also listed as a lottery pick (among the top 14 selections) by all but NBADraft.net, which has him, instead, as a lottery pick in the 2009 draft — where he's just ahead of UA signee Brandon Jennings.

While O'Neill said Tuesday that nearly all the draft projection sites are run by "dudes who wouldn't know an NBA player if they walked up to him," he acknowledged that Bayless is, in fact, being taken for real.

"The scouts I've talked to, a lot of (NBA) people, have told me that he's going to be a very high pick," O'Neill said. "Some people have told me, 'We would pick him at such and such a number.' So he's going to have a decision to make at the end of the year."

When O'Neill was then asked how high those numbers were, he declined to say.

"I don't want to get into that," he said. "It would depress all of us."

O'Neill said he plans to speak with Bayless and Budinger about the NBA after the season ends, and would tell any of his players to go if that is their best option.

But even going in the top 10, in some contexts, may not make sense to O'Neill. The difference in first-year salaries between a No. 3 pick and a No. 10 is nearly $2 million, and that doesn't even count outside-income opportunities.

"To me, it becomes a money decision," O'Neill said. "Let's say you can be picked eighth and get a $10 million shoe contract. Or the next year, you can be picked second and get a $60 million shoe contract. Those are the kind of things you need to weigh. If you get to the point that you're a top 10 pick, then it's, 'Where am I gonna be picked in the top 10?' "

Then there are the additions both Bayless and Budinger can make to their games.

"Both those guys can improve considerably over the next year, wherever they play, whether it be here or someplace else," O'Neill said. "Let's face it, and I've told Jerryd this to his face: He really doesn't have a bona fide left hand. I mean, this guy's scoring 21 a game going right. Now, when he gets to the league, he is not going right. They are not letting him go right.

"And Chase needs to get a better in-between game, a better pull-up game. That's just a fact: He needs to increase his shooting range. Those guys have work they can do. That's for sure. They know it, too. These guys are smart, level-headed guys for the most part."

Budinger wasn't available for comment at Tuesday's media session, and Bayless said he isn't worried about any of that now.

There's too much college basketball left to play.

"I don't care," Bayless said. "Right now, my main thing is playing basketball at U of A, and it depends on how many wins we get. That will help everybody else on our team out. So I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about getting as many wins as possible for the U of A."

● UA guard Nic Wise went through another light workout on Tuesday, but O'Neill said he doesn't know yet if Wise might be able to play March 6 at Oregon State or March 8 at Oregon. "I haven't ruled anything out, but in my mind, I'm thinking Pac-10 tournament," which starts March 12, O'Neill said.

● There's also a chance Bret Brielmaier (shoulder) could return next week, but O'Neill said he is doubtful. "Bret talked to me about that, but I'd say he's more along the lines of Pac-10 tournament, also," O'Neill said.