Who's the best wing in the draft: Winslow or Hezonja?

ESPN Insider's Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton return to provide the kinds of discussions that are happening in front offices around the NBA -- where scouts and statistical experts are breaking down NBA draft prospects using their eyes, their ears and numbers.

With less than a month to go before the draft, we're ranking and debating the best players by position in the draft. After beginning with point guards last week, it's on to wings this time around.

Q: Who is the best wing in the draft?

Ford: Mario Hezonja, FC Barcelona

I've been back and forth for the past few months on Duke's Justise Winslow and Hezonja. I think it is very, very close. Three things really put Hezonja on top for me. One, I think he's the best or second-best shooting wing in the class. Shooting comes at such a premium, and what I especially love about Hezonja is that he's fearless in letting it fly.

Second, Hezonja has great size for his position. Winslow measured on the short end at the combine (6-foot-4½ without shoes), giving Hezonja a 2- to 3-inch advantage. Finally, I love Hezonja's aggressiveness. It borders on cocky. But to be great in the NBA, you have to believe in yourself. Hezonja does, and I think he has the tools to back up that confidence.

Pelton: Justise Winslow, Duke

You could talk me into either Hezonja or Winslow. Both players seem to have really high floors -- it's unlikely, given their skills, that they fail to develop into contributors. In that case, I suppose I default to the player with more upside, and that favors Winslow. If his 42 percent 3-point shooting at Duke carries over -- I'm skeptical, given Winslow made just 64 percent of his free throws, an important factor in projecting NBA 3-point shooting -- and if he plays as aggressively as he did in the second half of the season, Winslow could be a top-10 small forward at both ends of the court. I don't see that potential with Hezonja.

Q: Who is the second-best wing in the draft?

Ford: Justise Winslow, Duke

I see it just a little differently. To me, Winslow is the safe guy. He has all the intangibles of a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist sort of player. Great defender, gritty player. Unselfish. Doesn't need the ball in his hands to make a difference. I love him for all of those reasons. But I worry about his jump shooting. (He shot an abysmal 27 percent on 2-point jumpers this season, per Hoop-Math.com, and as you pointed out, his free throw percentage was poor as well.)

Toss in his very pedestrian measurements at the combine, and I worry that those limitations will keep him from becoming a star. Hezonja is bigger, equally athletic, a much better shooter and more aggressive offensively (though I too worry a bit about his failure to get to the line in Spain). That's why I think Hezonja has the better chance of breaking out into a star. He has more bust potential than Winslow but more upside, in my opinion.

Pelton: Mario Hezonja, FC Barcelona

You beat me to mentioning Hezonja's free throw rate, which I've raised as a concern in the past. He projects to attempt more 3s than 2s in the NBA, and it's hard to be a star that way. There have been just four All-Stars in NBA history who took more than half of their shots from beyond the arc: Dan Majerle (1995), Rashard Lewis (2009), Jason Kidd (2010) and Kyle Korver (2015). Maybe that will prove solely a function of Hezonja's role on a stacked FC Barcelona team, but I don't think he's going to play a significantly larger role early in his NBA career, and it's hard to think of a lot of guys who have gone from spot-up specialist to well-rounded star.

Q: Who is the third-best wing in the draft?

Ford: Kelly Oubre Jr., Kansas

This is where things get convoluted for me. I could make the case for several players here including Oubre, Stanley Johnson, Sam Dekker (if he's really a wing), Devin Booker and R.J. Hunter. I even have a fondness for Rashad Vaughn of UNLV. But I'm going with Oubre for a couple of reasons. One, he has the best physical tools of anyone in the draft. He stands at 6-7 with a crazy 7-2 wingspan. He's a very good athlete as well, especially when moving laterally.

Second, I think he has the best chance to be a coveted "3-and-D" type of player in the NBA. His 3-point shooting was a bit erratic this season (36 percent), but after watching him in workouts, I don't think that will be a long-term issue for him. He has a great stroke (although that free throw percentage -- 72 percent -- scares me).

When he arrived in Lawrence, Oubre was clueless about how to defend, which drastically limited his minutes in the first month of the season. However, by the end of the season I thought he was Bill Self's best weapon on defense. With his length and mobility, he can guard multiple positions. I think his lack of playing time early and questions about his maturity have artificially deflated his stock. If he gets it (and I agree that there's an "if" there), he has the highest upside of any wing in the draft. I'm assuming the numbers won't be kind, however. There's a risk involved with Oubre. But the upside is phenomenal.

Pelton: R.J. Hunter, Georgia State

It's crazy to me that Kentucky's Booker is getting looks inside the top 10 and Hunter is still likely to go outside the lottery. Booker projects as the slightly better 3-point shooter -- though not as dramatically better as their 3-point percentages last season would make it appear -- but everything else statistically favors Hunter, a much more versatile prospect who doesn't have the same kind of red flags as Booker does in terms of steal rate. If teams are looking for a shooter with size and Hezonja is off the board, Hunter should be the choice.

Q: Who is the fourth-best wing in the draft?

Ford: R.J. Hunter, Georgia State

I'm actually with you on Hunter. I like Booker a lot. And if a team took Booker ahead of Hunter, I wouldn't have a major issue. But I wonder how much the system at Kentucky hid some of his strengths (or, the reverse argument could also be true that it hid his weaknesses). Players of Booker's quality typically would get many more opportunities than he got at Kentucky. And I think what hurt Hunter is that he didn't play with any other real NBA talent, which meant he never got open looks.

I agree that Hunter has an advantage in size and is Booker's equal athletically, and both guys can really shoot. But Hunter's passing ability is what intrigues me. In a league that is increasingly looking for playmakers who can shoot the ball, Hunter is a prime candidate for me. I worry about his lack of strength. I worry that he struggled to get his own shot off the bounce at times. I worry about his defense. But I worry about all of those things with Booker, too. And I also believe that, given where Hunter will be drafted, he won't be asked to do it all on his own.

Pelton: Sam Dekker, Wisconsin

To me, this last spot comes down to Dekker and the other top freshman small forwards (Oubre and Stanley Johnson). I wouldn't say the numbers are unkind to them -- all three have similar WARP projections. The difference is that what Johnson and Oubre become in the NBA will depend on their ability to improve as shooters. I don't know what they provide offensively at this point. Dekker will get points efficiently in the flow of the offense, and his superior size (6-7¾ without shoes) allows him to finish in the paint. That also gives him the ability to play as a small-ball power forward at times, something that might be tough for Johnson despite his strength because he's just 6-5.