NBA Combine: Some Quick Thoughts

The NBA Combine has come and gone. It's a fairly lame event as hardly any of the elite prospects partake in the drills, but it's still fun. We got some official measurements and the players got to interview with teams and set up private workouts. Here's what I took away from it.

• First and foremost, Bradley Beal's critics about his size should be silenced. Beal measured in at 6 feet-4.75 inches in shoes and has a 6 foot-8 wingspan. That's basically prototypical size for a shooting guard.
• Here is the full list of measurements released from the combine.
• Harrison Barnes is incredibly polished. While most guys who aren't working out come in street clothes, Barnes looked like a true professional. Some people are concerned that he's too concerned about his "brand". I'm choosing to interpret that as the fact that he's a just a pro. He's ready to transition to the NBA game. There will be no maturity or adjustment issues for Barnes.
• Thomas Robinson is big. He measured just under 6 foot-9 in shoes and has a solid 7-3 wingspan. People seem to be concerned about his size for no reason.
• Andre Drummond is HUGE. He's just under 7-feet tall and has a ridiculous 7-6.25 wingspan. We're still not sure how well he will be able to actually play basketball, but he's an absolute beast. He had 7.5% body fat. That makes him bigger than Dwight Howard. Yeah.
• I once again loved what I saw from Jeff Taylor. He's a guy that they kept comparing to Thabo Sefolosha. He plays defense, he's a freak athlete, and he's got good size for a defending wing. On top of that, he's a really good shooter.
• Meyers Leonard boosted his stock significantly -- or, at least as much as you can boost your stock at one of these things. He was the tallest guy at the combine, coming in at over 7 foot-1 and looking surprisingly mobile. He can run the floor, he can jump, he's tall. The only question is if he can develop his raw offensive game. If the Cavs trade and get a pick in the 10-15 range, Leonard should be an option.
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist missed his group for athletic testing....because he got the times mixed up and was working out in a different gym. That's right -- he missed his time because he was working out. I think that says everything we need to know about his work ethic.
• Finally, Dion Waiters got a promise from somebody. Waiters was a fringe lottery pick, but after the first day, he closed up shop. Waiters cancelled all of his remaining workouts and drills and went home. He got a promise from a team in the lottery, but we're not sure from whom. The best guesses are the Toronto Raptors at #8 or the Phoenix Suns at #13.
• We don't have the results of all the athletic tests that they did yet. We'll get verticals and sprint times at some point next week.