In addition to players who stayed in school, Thursday's draft includes top college freshmen who perhaps would have entered the draft last year had it not been for the league's rule requiring candidates to be at least 19.

"You've got the upper echelon of two drafts," says ESPN analyst Kiki Vandeweghe, former general manager of the Denver Nuggets. "You're going to have a lot deeper draft by the nature of that."

Ohio State center Greg Oden and Texas forward Kevin Durant, both 19, are at the top of the draft. They are projected to be picked 1-2 and give the draft its sizzle.

"Not every year do you have two franchise players in the draft," Vandeweghe says.

But it's the players who will be selected after Oden and Durant who make this year's draft special. They include Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah, a trio of juniors who helped the University of Florida win back-to-back NCAA tournament titles.

Noah was touted as the possible top pick in last year's draft had he left school then. He could be taken as low as 11th this year.

"This draft is better than LeBron's (James') draft (in 2003) as far as depth," NBA TV analyst Steve Jones says, "maybe not at the top one through 10. But when you go down to 30 it's a better draft."

The 2003 draft has yielded four All-Stars - James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh - among its top five picks.

"Everybody looks for a superstar, looks for a great player, a name in lights player," Atlanta Hawks general manager Billy Knight says. "Still there are a lot of other players who can help your team win. There are a number of players in this draft who fall into that category."

After Oden and Durant the talent pool is considered to be equal. That could lead to teams trying to trade up to draft a player or trade down thinking they can get a player of equal talent with a lower pick.