The NBA’s Draft Combine is set to kick off on Sunday, May 10th from Chicago. The Windy City will be the unofficial headquarters for team executives over the next week or so, as the Draft Lottery will take place on the 10th, with the combine running from the 10th to the 17th of May.
The Draft Combine consists of several different aspects over the course of the seven days. The prospects will start with a series of measurements, movement tests and medical examinations. After everyone is onboarded, the prospects will run
through a series of drills and optional live scrimmages or simulated live actions (think three-on-three, transition four-on-four, etc.). The last couple of days are reserved for full five-on-five scrimmaging. Many of the top prospects will bow out before those scrimmages, but that can be huge in the evaluation of some of the borderline guys in this class. You can see the NBA’s full overview of the combine here.
After the lottery, teams will at least know where they will be picking. But as they get into Combine week, they’ll find out who they want to pick. Here are some of the biggest questions that will need to be answered at the NBA Draft Combine.
Medical questions
Darryn Peterson was a bit of a lightning rod during the college basketball season. After dealing with some serious full-body cramping during the preseason, Peterson never really showed the athletic pop that made him special in high school. Teams will be doing a ton of due diligence in both the medicals and in the interviews to see what the deal is there.
A Mavs Moneyball site favorite, how does Mikel Brown Jr. check out medically? He’s had a back issue since high school which cropped up several times this season. Is this a chronic thing, or was it just a freak thing that caused the issue to pop up again? Brown Jr. is one of the guys who has a very high ceiling, but that is all dependent on how he checks out and interviews in Chicago.
Other important medicals: Caleb Wilson (UNC), Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky)
Measurement and testing questions
How does Cam Boozer test out? There are no doubts about Boozer’s basketball acumen and skill, but there are very fair questions about where he slots in once he reaches the NBA. If he can show some athletic pop this week, that’ll help ease a lot of questions about him.
Every single guard that we’ve talked about in that pick five to ten range has questions entering the combine.
- Keaton Wagler has the size and elite skill that you’re looking for in a primary initiator, but he lacks the athletic burst that you might want. How does he test, specifically on the speed and quickness tests?
- Darius Acuff has the elite skill and athletic burst that you’d want, but he not the guard that will provide you with positional size or defense in today’s NBA. Just how tall is he? Acuff was listed at 6’3”, but if he comes in at 6’1”, does that change how he is viewed?
- Kingston Flemings is bigger than Acuff, has more burst than Wagler and plays solid defense. So, what are the questions? Well, teams will want to see him shoot. Flemings was a good shooter at Houston, but the mechanics were a bit funky, and he didn’t shoot much from deep. That is a question coming in that he’ll need to answer.
- Beyond the medicals, Mikel Brown Jr. will also need to show something in the drills this week. Coming out of high school, Brown Jr. was considered one of the best shooters in the class. However, this year at Louisville he shot below 35% from three. Can he prove the shooting truthers right this week in Chicago?
- Labaron Philon tested the draft waters last year but ultimately returned to Alabama and got better. That being said, Philon is still listed at just 185 pounds. Much like Wagler, it’ll be a big week for Philon in the measurement department to see how he’s progressed in the offseason.
Who stays and who goes
Several Mavs targets that could be available in the twenties are going to decide their fate during the combine. Teams are very open with feedback, and if some of these players don’t get the draft guarantee they’re after, they could just return to college and try again next year. Those players potentially include, but are not limited to:
- Dailyn Swain (F, Texas)
- Henri Veesaar (C, North Carolina)
- Allen Graves (F, Santa Clara)*
- Ebuka Okorie (G, Stanford)
- Morez Johnson (F, Michigan)
- Christian Anderson Jr. (G, Texas Tech)
- Tyler Tanner (G, Vanderbilt)
*Also entered the NCAA’s transfer portal
So for the Mavericks at pick 30, do you make a guarantee to one of these guys to see if they’ll stay in there if they really like the player? Or do you risk losing a target back to college? It should be interesting to track as the week progresses.
Who pops?
Last year, it was Yang Hansen and Ryan Kalkbrenner who built their stock up during the combine scrimmages. This year, the scrimmages should be very competitive as prospects jockey for positioning. All of these guys want first round deals, and as some players have dropped out to return to school, it has opened the door of opportunity. We’ll see who is able to rise to the occasion.
