Sometimes the best player isn't the most obvious choice. Sometimes, you have to look past the athletic measurables and see what really matters. And according to ESPN's John Hollinger, that's exactly the case with Cameron Boozer.

Hollinger just made waves by arguing that Duke's Boozer - not the consensus top pick - should go No. 1 overall in the upcoming NBA Draft. His reasoning? Boozer was essentially "college basketball's Nikola Jokić" last season.

That's not hyperbole, folks. That's analysis backed by what we saw on the court.

Let's start with the obvious concerns, because Hollinger doesn't ignore them. At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, Boozer struggles to elevate and finish against length around the rim. Virginia's Ugonna Onyenso blocked his shot repeatedly in the ACC championship game. His rim protection is suspect - a minuscule 0.9 percent block rate in conference games. He's undersized for a center but might not have the mobility for power forward.

So why take him No. 1? Because of what he can do.

Boozer is a huge, wide big man who can handle the ball on the perimeter and shoot threes - 39.1 percent from distance, 78.9 percent from the line. Duke ran inverted pick-and-rolls for him last season, with Boozer picking out three-point shooters on the weak side and flicking one-handed crosscourt passes that teenage centers simply don't make.

As Hollinger writes: "Teenage centers do not do this, and when they do, they turn out to be pretty special."

Here's where it gets really interesting. Hollinger has what he calls the Marc Gasol Rule: "Bigs who can pass, figure it out." Gasol was thought to be so vulnerable defensively that Memphis drafted Hasheem Thabeet to play next to him. Gasol ended up winning a Defensive Player of the Year trophy.

Defense for big men is about reading plays, understanding positioning, figuring out angles. It's why players like Gasol - or - end up being solid-to-good defenders even without elite athletic tools. Their basketball IQ compensates.