CHICAGO -- Nik Stauskas spent Thursday afternoon strolling around Quest Multisport, a nondescript gym about 15 minutes outside of downtown Chicago, out toward the West Side.
Stauskas has spent much of the last few weeks here, holding court alongside a few other NBA hopefuls and working out while out of view. Former teammate Mitch McGary joined him. Last year's national player of the year, Doug McDermott of Creighton, was included. Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati), Joe Harris (Virginia) and Adreian Payne (Michigan State), among others, swung through.
All shared two things: Hopes of being selected in the June 26 NBA draft and an agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports.
The time to shine came Thursday. The NBA draft combine took over Quest Multisport and nearly 60 players -- some legitimate prospects, some scratching and clawing for hope -- took the floor in front of NBA executives, coaches and scouts.
Those NBA evaluators hoping to eyeball the 2014 Big Ten player of the year, though, were left watching Stauskas stroll.
The future pro sat this one out. One prevailing thought held sway: There's little to gain by participating in the combine.
"Knowing what the drills were going to be, I just felt like a lot of it was just jump shooting and obviously that's the strongest part of my game and I feel like teams already know I can shoot the ball," Stauskas said. "So coming in, I felt like even if I had a great day shooting, it really wasn't going to do much for me."
Instead, Stauskas will use the combine to undergo official anthropometric measurements, strength/agility drills and team meetings.
Currently projected as a late lottery pick, Stauskas was told that not participating in live basketball drills at the combine won't impact his draft position.
"To be honest I think I can help myself with the physical testing, so I'm just looking forward to seeing how that goes," he said.
Instead, his stock, and his hopes of creeping into the top 10 of the lottery, will hinge on individual workouts conducted with NBA teams. Those will unfold in the coming weeks.
In Chicago, meanwhile, Stauskas is getting a taste of one-on-one interviews with franchise representatives. He sat down with Detroit, Sacramento, Minnesota, Phoenix and Oklahoma City on Wednesday and was scheduled to meet with Memphis, Milwaukee, Boston, Golden State, Toronto and San Antonio on Thursday.
The Pistons are an intriguing option for Stauskas.
After ranking 29th in the NBA in 3-point percentage (32.1 percent) and 26th in 3-pointers made per game (6.2), Detroit announced the hiring of new head coach Stan Van Gundy on Wednesday. The former Miami Heat and Orlando Magic coach has long been known for running an offense dependent on heavy 3-point shooting.
The Pistons' current personnel doesn't match the idea. Only one current roster member, Kyle Singler, shot over 34 percent from deep while playing over 15 minutes per game last season.
"When (Van Gundy) was in Orlando, they had a lot of great shooters around Dwight Howard, so I think that would definitely be a great fit for me and I think they probably saw me more than any other team this year just because of the proximity (between Ann Arbor and Detroit)," said Stauskas, who met with six members of Detroit's front office. "It's definitely appealing with the guys they have there."
Stauskas said he intends to model his game after Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, two Golden State guards known for being both deadly from deep and versatile.
"With my ballhandling and my play in pick-and-rolls and things like that, I can immediately be a guy who can stretch the floor and make shots," Stauskas said. "That's something I've always been able to do, but I think teams are really going to be surprised when they put the ball in my hands and put me ball screens. They're going to be surprised by the plays I can make for myself and others."
McDermott, for one, was impressed by Stauskas over the past few weeks. He said Stauskas is "as good as I've seen off the dribble" on Thursday.
Because of that, teams are intrigued by Stauskas sliding to point guard in the league. He led Michigan in assists with 118 last season while scoring 17.5 per game by making 93 2-point field goals, 92 3-pointers and 168 free throws.
"If can get my handle to that next level, that's going to allow me to play a little bit of point guard and that's going to allow me to play more minutes," Stauskas said.
In addition to his defensive ability, a new question around Stauskas has emerged unexpectedly.
While his measurements drew little surprise -- 6 feet, 6.5 inches tall with shoes on; 206.9 pounds -- Stauskas posted the highest body fat reading of any player measured at the combine, checking in at 12.1 percent.
Stauskas looked stunned, laughing off the chubby distinction.
"I'm a little worried about that, man!," he joked, patting his stomach, which, for the record, looks exactly the same as it did all season. "I've been working out hard, so I don't know. Maybe it's baby fat. I have no clue."
Stauskas said he typically measured 7 or 8 percent body fat when tested at Michigan, which uses a different testing process.
"I'm the same weight and I've been running the same and jumping the same, so I don't know what happened," he said.
Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball and football. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com