Wake Forest guard Chris Paul won't be able to steal the spotlight from Utah center Andrew Bogut and North Carolina forward Marvin Williams before the NBA Draft. There are concerns about Paul's size and debates on whether he is actually the best point guard available.

But when this draft is looked back on several years from now, the black Steve Nash could end up being the most exciting player of them all.

"I hate to lose no matter what it is,'' Paul said. "If I'm playing against my mom in a little board game, in the end I want to win. I just hate to lose."

What Wake Forest is losing is a feisty, tough and unstoppable scorer who will go down as one of the school's all-time greats despite playing just two seasons.

Paul was a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore during the 2004-05 season. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native averaged 15.3 points, 6.6 assists and had a 2.4-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. Paul's career free throw percentage is 83.8 and he nailed 46.9 percent of his 3-pointers. The Atlantic Coast Conference first-team all-defense selection led the conference in steals per game last season with 2.4.

Paul showed he could step up in big games averaging 21 points in this year's NCAA Tournament. He has shown the ability to be a great leader despite being just 20 years old. Also, the confident Paul has compared himself to former NBA great Isiah Thomas. When asked what was Paul's appeal, Charlotte Bobcats general manager and head coach Bernie Bickerstaff said: "His future. A guy whose been ranked as the third best player in the draft. I think that remains to be seen because they've got to do it. But he's a quality young man, he's a quality player. I think he's going to help some team. I don't know whether it will be immediately, but I think he's worth the risk."

It would also be appealing for the Bobcats to get Paul in uniform since he has North Carolina ties and they are in need of a point guard. Charlotte, however, may have work out a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, owners of the third pick, to make it happen since its fifth selection is probably too late for Paul.

The Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks, owners of the June 28 drafts' top two picks, respectively, are expected to pick between Bogut and Williams. While the Blazers have the third pick, they drafted a point guard last year in Sebastian Telfair and don't seem interested in obtaining another.

It would definitely be to the benefit of the New Orleans Hornets to draft Paul with the fourth pick. After trading star point guard Baron Davis to Golden State, the Hornets could use the addition of an exciting young point guard with the ability to sell tickets like Paul. Dan Dickau and Speedy Claxton don't have the game or stature to replace Davis, but Paul does. But considering New Orleans' potential interest in Paul and Illinois point guard Deron Williams, don't be surprised if Charlotte works out a trade with Portland to move up to third. Bickerstaff believes Portland is open to a deal. The Utah Jazz are also interested in trading up from the sixth spot with New Orleans to get in the point guard mix, too.

"It would be crazy if you're at the two, three, four or five, if you wouldn't explore all your options," Bickerstaff said. "If you don't, then you're not doing your job."

Deron Williams' stock has risen dramatically since his stellar play in the NCAA Tournament. He has drawn comparisons to NBA star Jason Kidd and has great court vision. North Carolina guard Raymond Felton led his team to an NCAA title, is a great playmaker, owns keen court vision and is the quickest of the three.

But what Paul has over Williams and Felton is an ability to do everything a guard needs to be able to do and regularly bring the fans out of their seats.

On what type of impact he could have next season, Paul said: "Huge impact. I feel like if I go to the right team with the right system, anything can happen."

Williams, however, does have a major edge over in Paul is size.

Williams was recently measured at 6-foot-2 ¾ in shoes and weighed a slimmed down 202 pounds. He also has a 6-4 ½ wingspan and an 8-2 standing reach. Paul was recently measured at 6-1 with shoes and weighing 178 pounds. He had a 6-4 ½ wingspan and a 7-9 standing reach. But Paul said that no NBA team has told him they were concerned about his size.

"I always felt like if you can play, you can play," Paul said. "It doesn't matter how tall you are. In Chicago, me, Raymond and some of those guys were laughing at the tests because I was 5-11¾ (without shoes) and Raymond was 5-11½ (without shoes). It was kind of funny, but I don't think it matters if you can play."

Prior to the draft, NBA teams pick and prod all the prospects to find something wrong. But like Paul said, all that matters is if you can play. Expect this kid to show he can at a high level once he puts that NBA uniform on. "I really want to know bad," said Paul, about speculation on where he will be drafted Tuesday. "I think a lot people think that you know, but you really don't. A lot of people come up when I'm out in public and ask, 'You know where you're going?' Honestly I don't know."