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

[sofutomygaha]

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.

He did a D&S with Semih Erden. Erden didn't turn out to be a world-beater or anything, but he did start a few games for us and not suck. That's pretty great for a 60th overall pick

[jpotter33]

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.

Haha it's absolutely comical how dysfunctional that Kings organization is. You just know if they keep Cousins that he's bolting as soon as his contract runs out.

[Denis998]

Wade Baldwin measured in with an extremly long wingspan. 6'1 W/o shoes: 6'11 wingspan

[Eddie20]

https://mediacentral.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2016/05/2016-Draft-Combine-Anthropometric-Results.pdf?cid=nbacomsocial_tw_sf26163323
 

Poeltl improved his stock. So did Qi. Ellenson is taller than I expected. Skal is a stick, only 218. So is Brice Johnson at only 208. Solid wingspan for Valentine. Benti should rise on mocks. Just over 6-8, but with a wingspan over 7-1, reminds me a lot of Millsap.

[alldaboston]

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.

Why isn't Murray in their top 10?

Edit: oh it's dejounte murray, not Jamal

[Evantime34]

Wade Baldwin measured in with an extremly long wingspan. 6'1 W/o shoes: 6'11 wingspan

6'2.5 w/o shoes 6'11.25 wingspan.

[Tr1boy]

Wade Baldwin measured in with an extremly long wingspan. 6'1 W/o shoes: 6'11 wingspan

6'2.5 w/o shoes 6'11.25 wingspan.

Danny is salivating

Ridiculous

[Lucky17]

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.

He did a D&S with Semih Erden. Erden didn't turn out to be a world-beater or anything, but he did start a few games for us and not suck. That's pretty great for a 60th overall pick

Also: Marcus Thornton was draft and stash last year, and Colton Iverson has been stashed since he was drafted.

[sofutomygaha]

So where did this "Thon Maker has small hands" thing come from? Says here that his hands are basically the same size as or larger than those of Labissiere, Stone, Criss, Diallo, Ellenson, Onauku...

[saltlover]

On the one hand Jaylen Brown is pretty short -- 6'5.25 without shoes.  On the other hand, he's built like an tank -- 5% body fat and yet 7 pounds heavier than Skal, who he gives up 5 inches to.  If he slips out of the top 10, I'd be fine to package 16 and 23 to move up for him.  I'm excited to see his athletic testing.

[Csfan1984]

Onuaku excellent measurements almost exactly as stone and he could be there at 51 or even worth the gamble by someone in 30s. A lot of guys with good size results this combine. Uthoff is good as maybe a guy at 45 OR 51 for C's. Buddy with a long wingspan may become a decent defender. Malik Beasley is just big enough to play SG like him at 23 or later. Hart also had decent size. Going to be a lot of options for SG, PF and Center this year. SF and PG seem weak.

[Tr1boy]

On the one hand Jaylen Brown is pretty short -- 6'5.25 without shoes.  On the other hand, he's built like an tank -- 5% body fat and yet 7 pounds heavier than Skal, who he gives up 5 inches to.  If he slips out of the top 10, I'd be fine to package 16 and 23 to move up for him.  I'm excited to see his athletic testing.

Not a big fan of such height for a everyday sf.  I mean crowder is managing but he has issues against good sfs

Pierce was a classic exception due to his strength and length

Maybe if brown has a 7'1-7'2 wingspan...

[Evantime34]

On the one hand Jaylen Brown is pretty short -- 6'5.25 without shoes.  On the other hand, he's built like an tank -- 5% body fat and yet 7 pounds heavier than Skal, who he gives up 5 inches to.  If he slips out of the top 10, I'd be fine to package 16 and 23 to move up for him.  I'm excited to see his athletic testing.

Justise Winslow is only 6'4.5 and he did a good job guarding 3's as a rookie. Stanley Johnson was only 6'6 without shoes and he did a good job guarding LeBron in the playoffs. I think 6'5.25 is plenty tall enough.

[Tr1boy]

On the one hand Jaylen Brown is pretty short -- 6'5.25 without shoes.  On the other hand, he's built like an tank -- 5% body fat and yet 7 pounds heavier than Skal, who he gives up 5 inches to.  If he slips out of the top 10, I'd be fine to package 16 and 23 to move up for him.  I'm excited to see his athletic testing.

Justise Winslow is only 6'4.5 and he did a good job guarding 3's as a rookie. Stanley Johnson was only 6'6 without shoes and he did a good job guarding LeBron in the playoffs. I think 6'5.25 is plenty tall enough.

Johnson got rocked. What do you mean??

There are only a few guys that have given Lebron any issues and they have been close to his height and have the length/strength to match him. Like Leonard. Demar Carroll in the past did an OK job against him

[Evantime34]

On the one hand Jaylen Brown is pretty short -- 6'5.25 without shoes.  On the other hand, he's built like an tank -- 5% body fat and yet 7 pounds heavier than Skal, who he gives up 5 inches to.  If he slips out of the top 10, I'd be fine to package 16 and 23 to move up for him.  I'm excited to see his athletic testing.

Justise Winslow is only 6'4.5 and he did a good job guarding 3's as a rookie. Stanley Johnson was only 6'6 without shoes and he did a good job guarding LeBron in the playoffs. I think 6'5.25 is plenty tall enough.

Johnson got rocked. What do you mean??

There are only a few guys that have given Lebron any issues and they have been close to his height and have the length/strength to match him. Like Leonard. Demar Carroll in the past did an OK job against him

He contested every shot, was in good position and didn't force the Pistons to run doubles at LeBron. Long term he has plenty of size to play the 3 and will eventually see time at the 4.