DENVER — James Young is a sure-fire first-round pick in Thursday’s NBA draft. Tarik Black will be lucky to have his name called at all. Young is malleable and full of potential, a hyper-athletic wing with deep range on his jumper. Black is relatively fully developed, and was relied upon in college for toughness, rebounding, and energy.

The similarities between the two are few, but right now, they share one thing in common: exhaustion. Before Young can don his new team’s hat and shake Adam Silver’s hand, and before Black can accept a spot on a Summer League roster, both had to complete the rigorous pre-draft process. That means shuttling from city to city, and team to team, performing shooting drills, three-on-threes, two-on-twos, learning offenses and plays they may never use again, and interviewing with coaches and executives alike.

It’s a whirlwind routine that leaves little time for rest or relaxation. So, when Black is asked, after a recent workout for the Nuggets, what he does when he’s not auditioning for teams, his answer was hardly surprising.

“I’m sleeping,” he said.

“It’s crazy,” added Young. “It’s a lot of traveling. You have to rest when you can to get your body and mind right.”

College seasons can’t fully prepare you for this kind of tiring schedule, but both Young (Kentucky) and Black (Memphis, then Kansas) played at the highest level of collegiate competition, where they faced their fair share of adversity. Dealing with those lessons, good and bad, have helped both players push through the pre-draft grind.

“Coach is [always] telling you to keep your head up, to keep fighting. People tend to not believe that; people tend to give up and hand the game over,” Black said. “But when you go through situations where you actually fight back, it prepares you to come out here work as hard as you can, get dog-tired and still be able to push yourself and get to the next level. That’s what you have to do in this process.”

These workouts carry different meanings for Young and Black because of their projected draft status. While Young says he doesn’t pay attention to projections, most mock drafts have him firmly in the mid-to-low teens. Thus, for him, the workouts are less about proving himself and more about raising his stock. Black, who averaged just five points, four rebounds and three fouls in 15 minutes per game his senior year at Kansas, is using these sessions to show teams he’s worth a shot, be it in the draft or immediately after with a free agent contract.

Teams have had all season to scout these players, but both Black and Young feel that they’re capable of much more. Young used the national title game as a platform, dropping 20 points (including a nasty dunk over two UConn defenders) hauling in seven rebounds. It was not, though, a performance Young thinks showed the full breadth of his abilities.

“I can play a lot more defense,” Young says. “I didn’t play as much defense in college, and I’ve been working on my footwork. One of the coaches [here] told me to be more foucsed on the pick-and-roll. I was worried too much about my guy instead of the big man coming up, and he gave me pointers on how to watch both players.”

Young taking the coach’s advice was perhaps as important as any three he swished or dunk he slammed. The workouts are just as much an opportunity for teams to see if a player takes to coaching. When teams look at Young, they see a developing player they can still mold to fit their system, but his potential means nothing if he proves resistant to learning.

It’s different for Black, who’s viewed mostly as a finished product. Teams won’t necessarily look at Black as someone to build around, or even someone that’ll be integral to their plans. If a team drafts him, it’ll be for his everything he provided at Kansas — rebounding, grit, energy and so forth. Even though he knows what’s expected out of him, Black’s also using the workouts as a chance to show teams he’s capable of more than what he showed this past season.

“Coaches bring you in because they know what you’re capable of and what they want out of you,” Black says. “It’s different in this atmosphere. Some [college] coaches ask guys to be rebounders or energy guys when they may be capable of a little bit more. So, in this situation, it’s a blessing because you can show that there are other things you can do. I’ve shown some things I can do a little bit more.”

The seemingly endless string of workouts now have come to an end, and Young and Black now face the worst part of any job interview: waiting. Luckily, they won’t have to wait too much longer. The initial answers arrive on Thursday. Until then, they should try and get some rest.