Embiid workout video from Friday LAL workout

[chambers]

I don't get the Hakeem comparisons.  If Embiid was white or black but not from Africa, would the comparison still be made?  Hakeem was a great athlete regardless of size.  He had as much fluidity and gracefulness as any small guy.  Embiid is a good athlete for his size and two-way players with his skill don't come around often.  But he's a little tight in the hips and he doesn't possess the supreme center of balance that Hakeem did.  He's gangly and looks awkward at times.  Embiid definitely has franchise player potential and considering the rarity that is at the center position, puts him above Wiggins and Parker but Hakeem was on another stratosphere. 

I think Olowokandi and Embiid were similar athletes with similar size.  Embiid could be whoever Olowokandi was supposed to be.

His footwork and 'lean' like Hakeem are probably where the comparisons come from, although I don't really agree with you about his 'hips', I think his jab step and left to right, spin and lean moves are stolen straight from Hakeem. 7 feet tall, can shoot and has footwork WITH a back to the basket game.

He's a post playing 7 footer with the footwork and ball skills of a small forward.
A little old school and that's why the Tim Duncan and Hakeem comparisons are rife.
I do agree with those comparisons though.

Jabari Parker's workout is up tomorrow, and he has lost a bit of weight. I think he's going to become the consensus # 2 pick tomorrow.

[colincb]

Is he working out FOR LAL or working out in LA. LAL of darn near every team has the LEAST chance of acquiring him. All they have of value is the 7th pick and a better pick isn't enough, there is NO WAY he will fall to 7th, I don't care what the report on his back says it's not dropping him past us at worse.

https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/469860276108419072/photo/1

In Santa Monica which is west of LA on the coast.  There was a wokout for him, Parker, and Smart and a bunch of lesser lights by the Wasserman Media Group (Arn Tellem, super agent).  All three looked good, but Embiid was the headliner because he's viewed as the only potential franchise guy and supposedly a lot of GMs were p---ed he didn't show at the Combine. Rumor at the Combine was that Tellem was trying to steer Embiid away from Bucks.  Not sure how Tellem feels toward the Cavs who have been worse, but Embiid's not lasting to us in any case. Simmons said he saw Embiid last week in Santa Monica and he looked good and fluid then too.

The Clippers also held an open workout for a lot of second tier guys late in the week.  A lot of guys looked good according to Ford who could be there at 17. There was a workout in NY also for Vonleh, Ennis, and others and Vonleh and Ennis looked good supposedly.  Vonleh's even freakier doing drills with his huge hands, but unlike some others (Rondo) can really shoot too. Can see why he's a great rebounder with his wingspan and huge hands. Ford moved him up to #5 on his board early this week.

Yeah, funny how big hands are supposed to keep Rondo from being able to shoot--and they're supposed to make Vonleh able to shoot.

No, the observation that was made by Chris Ford while at the drills was that Vonleh's able to shoot well despite the big hands (which contradicts the common wisdom).  What he did exceptionally well because of his hands during the drills ford saw was catch anything thrown to him, handle the ball going up to the basket like a tennis ball, as well as rebound.  The guy has is a physical freak with shooting skills that you wouldn't expect was Ford's main point. He did shoot over 48% beyond the arc, so Ford shouldn't have been too surprised.

[chambers]

TJ Warren (looks incredibly slow and his shot release is still about 7 seconds long, but he finds a way to score).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxm3kjbAaY4

Stauskas- slow, but is taking is easy. If he can master some of those step back shots he could become a rich man's JJ Reddick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXsnoYAYJHU

[Galeto]

I don't get the Hakeem comparisons.  If Embiid was white or black but not from Africa, would the comparison still be made?  Hakeem was a great athlete regardless of size.  He had as much fluidity and gracefulness as any small guy.  Embiid is a good athlete for his size and two-way players with his skill don't come around often.  But he's a little tight in the hips and he doesn't possess the supreme center of balance that Hakeem did.  He's gangly and looks awkward at times.  Embiid definitely has franchise player potential and considering the rarity that is at the center position, puts him above Wiggins and Parker but Hakeem was on another stratosphere. 

I think Olowokandi and Embiid were similar athletes with similar size.  Embiid could be whoever Olowokandi was supposed to be.

His footwork and 'lean' like Hakeem are probably where the comparisons come from, although I don't really agree with you about his 'hips', I think his jab step and left to right, spin and lean moves are stolen straight from Hakeem. 7 feet tall, can shoot and has footwork WITH a back to the basket game.

He's a post playing 7 footer with the footwork and ball skills of a small forward.
A little old school and that's why the Tim Duncan and Hakeem comparisons are rife.
I do agree with those comparisons though.

Jabari Parker's workout is up tomorrow, and he has lost a bit of weight. I think he's going to become the consensus # 2 pick tomorrow.

How does Embiid have the ball skills and foot work of a small forward?  Because he can spin around and also make some jumpers?  There is a chasm between the fluidity of NBA  perimeter players and Embiid.

Hakeem did everything more fluidly than Embiid.  I like Embiid a lot but Hakeem was one of the best pure athletes ever in the NBA.  He was a great pure leaper but also a great second leaper.  He could spin and change pivots with incredible speed and grace.  And he could shoot fadeaways with a body lean that rivaled Jordan's.   

[clover]

Okay, instead of giving Minny half their assets for Love, maybe the C's could wiggle themselves into  a three-way whereby they gave Minny half their assets, Love went to Cleveland, and the C's got the #1 for Embiid.

[fitzhickey]

Okay, instead of giving Minny half their assets for Love, maybe the C's could wiggle themselves into  a three-way whereby they gave Minny half their assets, Love went to Cleveland, and the C's got the #1 for Embiid.

Minny would just trade Love for the #1 instead, if they had the opportunity

[michael 26]

Hmm... to bad we can't have him.

[vjcsmoke]

Zach Lavine looks like Gerald Green on those Dunks...Can he actually PLAY Basketball though--?

Sick dunks.  Looks like the next NBA dunk contest champion.  But that's the million dollar question -- how does he play in a real game?

Re Embiid.  He looks like a monster in the making.  If he slips to 4, DA better make phone calls or I'd question his sanity.  If we can get Embiid, I'm happy even if we have to ship out some picks and current roster players.

[Spilling Green Dye]

This is so depressing.  As a fan since the late 80's early 90's, the thing I wanted the most was a dominant Center.  I can still remember the drafting of Eric Montross like it was yesterday, and the horrible luck missing out on Duncan.  The Chief in his later years is still the best center I've seen the Celtics have.. it's just not fair!  I really hate Cleveland sooo very much.  Hopefully they never win a championship.

[DraftSmart33]

Two thoughts....

Embid looks like a stud.

I hate the Cavs.


After thought..

Stauskas might score 20 a game if he played with Rondo

[jambr380]

TJ Warren (looks incredibly slow and his shot release is still about 7 seconds long, but he finds a way to score).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxm3kjbAaY4

I feel bad for TJ Warren - he absolutely tore it up for major division 1 school (25 ppg on 53% shooting) and many people think he is nothing more than a late first round pick pretty much based on the fact that he has a weird shot release.

I realize he may not be a superstar in this league and he needs to improve his passing and rebounding, but I like the fact that he is a player and can score in so many different ways. If given the opportunity, he really could thrive. Also, I imagine he is going to come in with a major chip on his shoulder.

[Snakehead]

TJ Warren (looks incredibly slow and his shot release is still about 7 seconds long, but he finds a way to score).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxm3kjbAaY4

I feel bad for TJ Warren - he absolutely tore it up for major division 1 school (25 ppg on 53% shooting) and many people think he is nothing more than a late first round pick pretty much based on the fact that he has a weird shot release.

I realize he may not be a superstar in this league and he needs to improve his passing and rebounding, but I like the fact that he is a player and can score in so many different ways. If given the opportunity, he really could thrive. Also, I imagine he is going to come in with a major chip on his shoulder.

I don't get it either but I don't feel too bad for him because I think he'll get selected just later in the round and probably to a better team.  Where he won't be asked to do as much.

Anyways, this is the guy I want with our second pick.  I am fully on board with him as a very versatile scorer with nice size.

[Tr1boy]

TJ Warren (looks incredibly slow and his shot release is still about 7 seconds long, but he finds a way to score).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxm3kjbAaY4

Stauskas- slow, but is taking is easy. If he can master some of those step back shots he could become a rich man's JJ Reddick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXsnoYAYJHU

Warren measured at 6'8.5 with a 6'10.25 wingspan. His max vertical was 35.5 also

People say all kinds of things to predict he will be bad.  But they don't want to acknowledge that his PER rating was over 30. Scored on avg 24 points, good or bad teams.   He shots over 50 percent overall, shot just under 40 per in threes  i think for the last 10 games of the year, rebounds, steals etc.

If we get him at 17 i will be ecstatic.

Stauskus worries a little more. He really has t rex arms, not overly athletic or quick. Good ball handler and pretty deadly shooter. But in the nba will he be consistently able to get his shot off against guards with longer wingspan, better athleticism?. He will be glued on. Even if Chris Johnson was shadowing him, i don't think he could shake him off too easily

I would consider Stauskus at 17 but i rather go with Warren, Payton, Young, early , hood, hairston

[colincb]

...
Warren measured at 6'8.5 with a 6'10.25 wingspan. His max vertical was 35.5 also

People say all kinds of things to predict he will be bad.  But they don't want to acknowledge that his PER rating was over 30. Scored on avg 24 points, good or bad teams.   He shots over 50 percent overall, shot just under 40 per in threes  i think for the last 10 games of the year, rebounds, steals etc.

If we get him at 17 i will be ecstatic.

Stauskus worries a little more. He really has t rex arms, not overly athletic or quick. Good ball handler and pretty deadly shooter. But in the nba will he be consistently able to get his shot off against guards with longer wingspan, better athleticism?. He will be glued on. Even if Chris Johnson was shadowing him, i don't think he could shake him off too easily

I would consider Stauskus at 17 but i rather go with Warren, Payton, Young, early , hood, hairston

Staukas and Warren have both looked good in their workouts Combine and otherwise. On Thursday Warren was so-so in his drills, but in the 3 on 3 drills he was killing it per Chad Ford:

"But when the ball rolled out for 3-on-3 action? Holy ... Warren is so aggressive as a scorer and can get his shot off in multiple ways. You can't sit on him defensively. He just has too many moves, floaters, hesitations and ways to get that ball in the bucket. That explains why he shot nearly 76 percent at the rim this year and 44 percent in his 2-point jumpers. The guy can score."

Ford's moving him up into mid-first territory.  The trouble is that Ford's got a lot of people moving up off of what he's seen in the workouts during the last week.  OTOH, other pundits have been saying the same thing.  With the draft so oriented to one and done now, it doesn't take too much coaching by trainers once the season ended to improve some of these kids.  One guy whose name has been conspicuously absent is Gordon however.  I think he's sliding if he can't come out and show some improvement post season in his shooting. Otherwise, looks like there is talent into the early 20s that would have been top 10 the last 2 years although what the 3 foreign kids do may affect that. Still, at 17, we're going to get a player (or a foreign big project with real upside).

[Tr1boy]

...
Warren measured at 6'8.5 with a 6'10.25 wingspan. His max vertical was 35.5 also

People say all kinds of things to predict he will be bad.  But they don't want to acknowledge that his PER rating was over 30. Scored on avg 24 points, good or bad teams.   He shots over 50 percent overall, shot just under 40 per in threes  i think for the last 10 games of the year, rebounds, steals etc.

If we get him at 17 i will be ecstatic.

Stauskus worries a little more. He really has t rex arms, not overly athletic or quick. Good ball handler and pretty deadly shooter. But in the nba will he be consistently able to get his shot off against guards with longer wingspan, better athleticism?. He will be glued on. Even if Chris Johnson was shadowing him, i don't think he could shake him off too easily

I would consider Stauskus at 17 but i rather go with Warren, Payton, Young, early , hood, hairston

Staukas and Warren have both looked good in their workouts Combine and otherwise. On Thursday Warren was so-so in his drills, but in the 3 on 3 drills he was killing it per Chad Ford:

"But when the ball rolled out for 3-on-3 action? Holy ... Warren is so aggressive as a scorer and can get his shot off in multiple ways. You can't sit on him defensively. He just has too many moves, floaters, hesitations and ways to get that ball in the bucket. That explains why he shot nearly 76 percent at the rim this year and 44 percent in his 2-point jumpers. The guy can score."

Ford's moving him up into mid-first territory.  The trouble is that Ford's got a lot of people moving up off of what he's seen in the workouts during the last week.  OTOH, other pundits have been saying the same thing.  With the draft so oriented to one and done now, it doesn't take too much coaching by trainers once the season ended to improve some of these kids.  One guy whose name has been conspicuously absent is Gordon however.  I think he's sliding if he can't come out and show some improvement post season in his shooting. Otherwise, looks like there is talent into the early 20s that would have been top 10 the last 2 years although what the 3 foreign kids do may affect that. Still, at 17, we're going to get a player (or a foreign big project with real upside).

good post.  Warren won't wow in the drills, sprinting etc. But give him a team, and he knows what to do out there.  The way he head fakes and cuts to the basket is going to be such a headache for anyone to defend

I thought a few days ago Lavine and Gordon were performing private workouts for a bunch of scouts and gm's.  I can't find detail analysis or a video confirming this though

I do agree if Gordon can't make the open jump shot consistently and doesn't look like his FT has improved to at least 65 percent mark, i would be worried.   Ainge or nobody else in the top 10 will likely pick him then