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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Thinking he would be an NBA lottery pick, Gilbert Arenas bought a Cadillac Escalade in the spring of 2001 and spent $50,000 tricking it out.

Then, largely because NBA executives wondered what position the explosive Arizona Wildcats guard could play, Arenas fell into the second round and earned only $330,000 as a rookie with the Golden State Warriors.

"After taxes, the Escalade was like half my money," Arenas told USA Today in 2002. "I was like, 'Can I give it back?' "

Maybe Arenas' purchase was overly optimistic. Or maybe he was just ahead of his time.

As Arenas proved by turning himself into a wealthy NBA all-star, having a point guard's body but a shooting guard's game is no longer a significant barrier for elite guards who carry potential into the NBA draft.

There is a learning curve, of course, but the success of guys such as Allen Iverson, Ben Gordon and Monta Ellis keep illuminating the value of smaller scorers.

Now, it's to the point where a quartet of combo guards — Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, USC's O.J. Mayo, Indiana's Eric Gordon and UCLA's Russell Westbrook — are all projected to land somewhere in the top 10 of Thursday night's NBA draft.

There still is a premium to having true point guard skills. Arizona coach Lute Olson says Memphis' Derrick Rose is the only one of this year's prospects ready to play point guard right away in the NBA, and he'll likely be picked first or second as a result.

But Bayless and company won't be far behind. They won't slip nearly as far as Arenas did.

"You want players," said Ryan Blake, the NBA's assistant director of scouting. "If you look at the game today, you're often going to have two combo guards running the team at the same time. There are a lot of formulas and a lot of beliefs that teams have."

More frequently, those formulas don't have to be filled by a traditional, pass-first point guard.

"There aren't a lot of true point guards anymore," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "A lot of them score and do different things, plus you're always looking for more versatile people who can play more than one position."

Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, who has constructed a largely international roster in Toronto, says it is not necessarily true that foreign influences have changed the definition of what a point guard should be. But with the NBA becoming increasingly multipositional, the league has put more of a premium on versatility than ever.

So if Bayless and Mayo are skilled shooting guards who have the potential to play the point, they have plenty of leverage.

"The versatility of players has become advantageous for teams," Colangelo said. "If you can play multiple positions or defend multiple positions, that's nice to have. I really only have two players at single positions — T.J. Ford (at point guard) and Rasho Nesterovic (at center). Everyone else has some versatility, and that's something we look for."

Colangelo says playmakers are no longer just point guards. Bayless said point guards are no longer just playmakers, either.

"You know what I've been thinking: What really is a traditional point guard?" Bayless said. "Steve Nash, they probably look at him as the most traditional point guard in the league, and he can score 40 on any given night. Chris Paul, he's getting 35 (points) and 18 (assists). So I don't really know what a pure point guard is anymore anyways."

For that reason, Bayless said it frustrates him when people say prospects are combo guards and not point guards.

Like they do about him.

"He's a combo right now, more a scorer than a passer," Thorn said. "But he's got a chance to be really good. He's a talented kid. He's got a lot of skills, plus he's a very good athlete."

Analysts and NBA executives have the same doubts about Bayless' peers. Gordon is a true shooting guard who doesn't quite have the size for that position, they say. Westbrook is a blazing quick combo guard who oozes potential but is not a true point, either. Mayo is a big, strong scoring guard who might be able to transition into a point guard.

Mayo, saying he planned to play point guard at USC but was told he would help the team more as a scorer, said he isn't too worried about labels.

"I'm a one or two — I'm just a basketball player," Mayo said. "I've worked a lot at the two and I can play the one. Whatever a team needs, I want to do what I can to help."

Since each combo guard's skills vary slightly, team needs and perspectives may be the ultimate determination of where draftees land more than pure talent.

But to Jonathan Givony, president of Draft Express — a Web site that focuses on pro basketball draft analysis — choosing Bayless isn't something any team is likely to regret.

"I think he's the most athletic of the three, and has the most upside of the three," Givony said, referring to Bayless against Gordon and Mayo. "I think people are a little bit worried about his position. He's a point guard down the road, and how quick he gets there is a little bit of a question mark, I guess. But I really like him. The guy's freaking unbelievable."

In other words, if Bayless wants to do a little shopping this week, he'll probably be able to afford it.