**2016 NBA Draft Combine Thread (measurements, news, rumors, etc.)**

[sofutomygaha]

Zhou Qi, 20 years old (China), unofficially has largest wingspan (7'7.75") + standing reach (9'4.5") at '16 combine

That is nuts. I wonder if he's really 20 though.

He's actually 20 barefoot, 19 in shoes.

Is this humor? If so, I don't follow. Players listed heights are with shoes, so since this is without shoes it makes a difference.

ahhh come on. It's funny that they do both. I want to see them play 5-on-5 barefoot too

[Eddie20]

Kay Felder (5'8.25") + Tyler Ullis (5'8.75") are unofficially the only players under 6' (w/o shoes) at '16 combine.

[Eddie20]

Damian Jones with a solid wingspan

Only 20 years old and averaged:
PPG 13.9
RPG 6.9
APG 1.2
BPG 1.6
FG% 59
MPG 26.2

Unofficial longest wingspans at combine

1. Zhou Qi - 7'.75"
2. Cheick Diallo - 7'4.5"
3. Damian Jones - 7'3.75"
4. Caleb Swanigan - 7'3.5"

[sofutomygaha]

Kay Felder (5'8.25") + Tyler Ullis (5'8.75") are unofficially the only players under 6' (w/o shoes) at '16 combine.

Check out all of the fun Isaiah Thomas comparisons in Kay Felder's draft profile, BTW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKpk-D0UOI

[Tr1boy]

Kay Felder (5'8.25") + Tyler Ullis (5'8.75") are unofficially the only players under 6' (w/o shoes) at '16 combine.

Check out all of the fun Isaiah Thomas comparisons in Kay Felder's draft profile, BTW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKpk-D0UOI

Felder is a little tank.  Very good pg

[Eddie20]

Kay Felder (5'8.25") + Tyler Ullis (5'8.75") are unofficially the only players under 6' (w/o shoes) at '16 combine.

Check out all of the fun Isaiah Thomas comparisons in Kay Felder's draft profile, BTW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKpk-D0UOI

Felder is a little tank.  Very good pg

I think he projects as a Nate Robinson/Will Bynum type of undersized scorer off the bench.

[Emmette Bryant]

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/05/nba_draft_combine_5_things_to.html

" Ainge could be hoping some players hurt their stock over the next couple of days. He recently told the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach that he once rooted for Delonte West and Tony Allen to play poorly because the Celtics liked those guys and didn't want anybody else to pick them first."

[KG Living Legend]

https://amp.twimg.com/v/ca40985d-c2c2-4690-9767-4e5a9b6aeb1a


Anyone know who that is before Valentine?

 It's Deyonta Davis Eddie. Tp for this thread.

[CFAN38]

Kay Felder (5'8.25") + Tyler Ullis (5'8.75") are unofficially the only players under 6' (w/o shoes) at '16 combine.

Check out all of the fun Isaiah Thomas comparisons in Kay Felder's draft profile, BTW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKpk-D0UOI

Felder is a little tank.  Very good pg

I think he projects as a Nate Robinson/Will Bynum type of undersized scorer off the bench.

After watching a few of his games this season I think he will be a solid off the bench scorer in the NBA. For all the hype ulis gets I think fielder is the better player.

[Celtics4ever]

No internationals except the giant Chinese kid, which augurs well for our probable draftandstash strategy.

Danny does not have a history of draft and stash.   He has a history of draft and play now.   What would give the idea that we will draft and stash?   Danny really does not have a history of drafting a lot of foreign players either.

I wager we use those extra picks to move up and down or trade them rather than drafting and stashing.   The last draft and stash we had was Iverson.   That has not worked out that well.

[Eddie20]

No internationals except the giant Chinese kid, which augurs well for our probable draftandstash strategy.

Danny does not have a history of draft and stash.   He has a history of draft and play now.   What would give the idea that we will draft and stash?   Danny really does not have a history of drafting a lot of foreign players either.

I wager we use those extra picks to move up and down or trade them rather than drafting and stashing.   The last draft and stash we had was Iverson.   That has not worked out that well.

Actually, Marcus Thornton last season. We also haven't had to draft and stash in the past because we've never had the abundance of picks like we have this year. The probability of us stashing a player, including foreign players, is really high.

[TheSundanceKid]

No internationals except the giant Chinese kid, which augurs well for our probable draftandstash strategy.

Danny does not have a history of draft and stash.   He has a history of draft and play now.   What would give the idea that we will draft and stash?   Danny really does not have a history of drafting a lot of foreign players either.

I wager we use those extra picks to move up and down or trade them rather than drafting and stashing.   The last draft and stash we had was Iverson.   That has not worked out that well.

Actually, Marcus Thornton last season. We also haven't had to draft and stash in the past because we've never had the abundance of picks like we have this year. The probability of us stashing a player, including foreign players, is really high.

Let's also remember where they were picked. Regardless of whether they are a draft and stash or not, how many mid to late 2nd rounders even make opening night? Using a draft and stash on someone like Korkmaz or Zizic has a much higher chance of success than Iverson or Thornton. The expectation is different at each level of the draft.

With Korkmaz deciding to stay in the draft but not come over straight away, his stock will probably drop below his talent level like it did with Saric.This would be good news for us at 16 or 23.

[The One]

That's without shoes, so add another 1.5 inches to their height! Poeltl stock will soar especially with his projected 36-38 inch vert

Unofficially, the top three 2016 combine heights (without shoes)

1. Zhou Qi - 7'1.25"
2. Jacob Poetl - 7'0.25"
3. Thon Maker - 6'11.75"

I would not be mad if the Celtics selected those three towers.

[chilidawg]

Anyone have a link to the Combine results?

[Eddie20]

Chad Ford

1. The NBA draft combine continues to struggle to get the top players to participate.

For the first time since 2008, the combine featured five-on-five games last year -- a major selling point to NBA folks who had tired of shooting and layup drills.

Unfortunately just two players who were drafted in the first round -- Louisville's Terry Rozier and Wyoming's Larry Nance Jr. -- actually played.

This year it looks like the five-on-five portion is headed for a similar fate.



Five players in our top 20 -- Ben Simmons, Dragan Bender, Domantas Sabonis, Furkan Korkmaz and Dejounte Murray -- won't do anything. No drills, no athletic testing, no medical, no interviews. Nothing.

Bender and Korkmaz have team commitments in Israel and Turkey that are preventing them from playing.

For Simmons, Sabonis and Murray? It's more complicated. Simmons is considered the front-runner for the No. 1 pick. Last year, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and Emmanuel Mudiay all skipped the event as well. There's precedence.

Sabonis and Murray are both out of our top 10, making their moves much more unusual. Multiple NBA team sources have hypothesized that they may have promises from teams. Until we see their workout schedule (or lack thereof) it's only a guess.

Several other players, including Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray and Buddy Hield, went through official measurements and team interviews but will skip the five-on-five, drills and testing. Hield has a legitimate excuse; he has to return to Oklahoma for his graduation ceremony. Both Ingram and Murray see themselves as top-five picks.

Kris Dunn and Skal Labissiere are also slated to skip both the five-on-five, drills and athletic testing on Thursday and Friday

A number of other players in our top 30 (and one just outside it) -- Henry Ellenson, Marquese Chriss, Jakob Poeltl, Jaylen Brown, Denzel Valentine, Tyler Ulis, Diamond Stone, Malik Beasley, Malachi Richardson, Ante Zizic, Demetrius Jackson, Thon Maker, Brice Johnson, Timothe Luwawu and Wade Baldwin -- won't play in the five-on-five.

And one guy outside our top 60 -- Purdue's A.J. Hammons -- is skipping the event.

In other words, we are right back to where we were last year when three projected first-rounders played in the five-on-five.

Why would players refuse to participate in the combine? It's on the agents. More and more, agents care less about draft position and more about finding the right fits for their clients. By withholding information (especially medical examinations), it gives them leverage to steer their clients away from teams that are undesirable.

And what is the least desirable team in the NBA right now? It's the Sacramento Kings. Based on my conversations on Wednesday, it looks like the Kings will struggle to get any players in the top 10 in for workouts.

"It's the most dysfunctional team in the NBA," one agent said. "I've had several clients there. They were miserable. Miserable. They don't know what they're doing. And nothing they've done this spring has changed my opinion. It would be malpractice to send one of my clients there."


2. Good news: Several players ranked in our top 30 are planning on playing five-on-five.

St. Joseph's DeAndre Bembry, Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff and Villanova's Josh Hart are scheduled to play.

I spoke with a number of NBA scouts and GMs to see if there were any less obvious prospects outside our top 30 that might turn into first-round sleepers with a strong draft camp.

The names were pretty consistent:
▪
Isaiah Whitehead (some scouts think he's a better version of Dion Waiters)

▪
Joel Bolomboy (athletic, great motor, elite rebounder, may have been underscouted at Weber State)

▪
Pascal Siakam (athletic rebounder and shot blocker, also went a bit underscouted)

▪
Cheick Diallo (was ranked in the preseason top 10, but struggled to get meaningful playing time at Kansas)

▪
Malik Newman (also ranked in our preseason top 10, but struggled all season at Mississippi State)

▪
Patrick McCaw (athletic wing who can guard three positions)

▪
Jake Layman (athletic and can shoot the ball, but was under utilized at Maryland)

▪
Jaron Blossomgame (shot 45 percent from 3-point territory for Clemson last season)


3. Overall, scouts aren't enamored with the depth of this draft.

They love Simmons and Ingram. And some love Murray, Dunn, Hield and Bender. But after that scouts and GMs have been pretty universal in saying that the quality drops off dramatically.

By the time you get out of the top 10, you're mostly looking at potential rotation players. That means that we could see a very fluid Big Board after the top 10 leading up to draft day. Different teams have different players ranked in wildly different places. It's hard to find a consensus outside the top 10.


4. The most important part of the process? Virtually every GM will tell you it's the interviews and medical evaluations.

Teams spent up to four hours a day on both Wednesday and Thursday morning sitting down individually with players.

Several players got rave reviews from NBA GMs on the interview portion. One player mentioned by multiple teams as having a stellar interview: Demetrius Jackson, who has a Jimmy Butler-esque background story.

Buddy Hield was another player who drew praise, including this nugget from an NBA GM.

"I'll be shocked if that young man fails in the NBA. He has the mentality that reminds me a lot of Damian Lillard. He's a warrior. He's driven. He's a leader. He's relentless. We all loved him."


5. Finally, some of the best action at the combine happens outside the purview of the NBA.

On Wednesday night, it was Skal Labissiere putting on an impromptu workout at Roosevelt College.


Labissiere was ranked as the No. 2 prospect on our Big Board in the preseason but struggled all season at Kentucky with his toughness (both physically and mentally) when John Calipari asked him to work on his post game.

But freed from the paint, Labissiere looks like a different player. He has a silky smooth jumper and was nailing NBA 3-pointers from everywhere on the floor Wednesday night.


Yes, it was a workout setting. And yes, Labissiere has done this before at the Nike Hoop Summit practices in a similar sort of non-game setting.

He lacks strength. He looked overwhelmed when asked to play physically at Kentucky. There are also major questions about his on-court decision-making and drive. His production at Kentucky was disappointing.

But when you factor in his background as a late bloomer who didn't play in a high-level program his senior season of high school, struggled to qualify academically at Kentucky and was playing in the shadow of Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns with similar hype, perhaps he deserves a second look.

NBA teams love athletic big men who can shoot 3-pointers and protect the rim. Labissiere, in that workout setting, reminded me a lot of a young Channing Frye. If he can hit jumpers and block shots in real games, he's worth a top-10 pick in this draft.