CHICAGO -- The NBA Draft Combine is over for 2015. All 30 teams have now met with potential NBA prospects, and will continue to do so over the next month after getting to see them up, close and personal for a few days.
The Friday session was a bit sleepier than the Thursday session, but there were still some things worth pointing out that raised eyebrows. Here's what you need to know.
1. The “Pat Connaughton Combine” continues
When I look back on this combine, I will remember it as the “Pat Connaughton Combine.” Part of that has to do with the general lack of supreme talent that tested or played in scrimmages. But the Notre Dame wing had an absolutely terrific day on Thursday, including his 44-inch vertical jump that placed him tied for second all-time, and he followed it up with a great scrimmage today. Connaughton knocked down 18 points, including 5-9 from the field and 4-8 from 3, and was one of the best players to play today.
This week couldn't have gone better for the Massachusetts native. When he came into Chicago, he was something of an afterthought due to all of the talent around him. However, he's going to leave firmly on the NBA Draft radar with the potential to actually be selected in the draft. Whether or not that comes to fruition, who knows, but one thing that shouldn't stop it is the fact that he is also a professional baseball player whose rights are owned by the Orioles after they gave him a $428,000 signing bonus.
"I'm trying to get the word out that I'm two feet in, 100 percent in,” Connaughton said regarding his basketball career. “That's the goal for me, to come to these things to show them that if I was one foot in, I wouldn't be here because I'd be trying to make millions and millions of dollars playing baseball right now. I'd be wasting my time. So to be here, I'm hoping it shows that. To go to Portsmouth, when not many people necessarily go there. To have meetings and workouts with teams and tell them I'm in this for the long haul and until I don't make an NBA roster, I'm looking to be an NBA basketball player."
2. Devin Booker looked very good in athletic tests
Booker put up a ridiculous 10.22-second lane agility score that was the best for an off-guard since 2001, and the third-best overall of the last decade. That score was the best in this camp by a very healthy margin, beating Keifer Sykes by .28 seconds. He then followed that up with a 2.75-second shuttle run time, which also led the combine. And really, if you think about it, that makes sense. Sure, he might not have expected to do that well. But if you watch his tape, he's extremely quick coming off of screens, and also is very slippery against defenders. This type of score also points to some potential defensive upside, the side of the ball where Booker showed quite a bit of weakness this season.
Overall, between the agility tests, his solid (if unspectacular) 34.5-inch vertical leap, and coming in a bit longer than expected with a 6-8.25 wingspan, Booker had a good week here in Chicago, combatting some of the athleticism concerns about him.
3. Robert Upshaw does well in media session, but his stock is still all over the board
Upshaw held court with the media today, and overall came off positively in the session. He was polished, eloquent, and very well-put-together in his responses, blaming all of his past transgressions on himself, citing “bad decision-making and immaturity.” He also said that he's getting “some of the top help in the country” to surround and help with what has plagued him. That's a great sign, because Upshaw has an awful lot of talent that he can provide to an NBA team. If he had a clean background, it's fair to say that he would be a consensus lottery pick given the value on shot-blocking and protecting the rim in the NBA.
But that's obviously not the case, and that's why Upshaw is probably the most complicated situation in the 2015 NBA Draft. I've chatted with a few different scouts this week about him, and it's basically been all over the place. A pair of those guys even said that personally they do not consider him to be a draftable player. But it only takes one team, and that's what Upshaw is going to have to do: convince one team on what he's selling as far as being a reformed person. That could happen as early as the 20s or as late as the 50s. My guess is someone takes a shot on him, but it's tough to predict when that will happen right now.
4. Terry Rozier's decision to play in scrimmages pays off
Rozier has been terrific in just about every single facet of the combine this week. His agility scores were awesome and he put up a 38-inch vertical leap in the athletic testing side. He was great in media sessions, showcasing the energy and fun that many have come to expect from him. But most of all, he was rewarded for playing in scrimmages this week when other potential first-round picks did not.
In the first game, he put up 13 points on 5-9 shooting and played solid defense. Friday's game though was his most impressive performance. Even though he only shot 4-12 from the field, he dished out five assists and generally controlled the tempo of play throughout his entire time on the floor. His floor vision was superb, and he always seemed to make the right pass in this game, something he occasionally struggled with this season. He used his long arms to wreak havoc defensive too, both in transition and in the halfcourt where he caused quite a few issues for Joe Young.
Basically, this was a very good week for him that left many people talking.
5. Overall, the talent level in the scrimmages disappointed
While this is admittedly a weak draft class once you get past the initial 25-30 players (even moreso than in past years), the talent in the scrimmages seemed to confirm some of the worst fears about what would happen if the powers that be brought 5-on-5 back. The games generally tended to be very sloppy with few standout performers. Overall, there wasn't a lot to take away from what was happening.
The ideal situation for the NBA would likely be to find a way to incentivize the top players to participate fully. I'm not sure how they could go about doing that, but it would certainly spice up some of the action around Chicago. It was nice to get an up-close look at some potential second-rounders playing for their NBA lives. I'm just not sure scouts will be totally pleased with what they saw.
Some other notes and buzz from around Chicago:
- Michael Qualls injured his hip on Thursday during the three-quarter court sprint and was unable to compete in any of the 5-on-5 scrimmages despite wanting to do so. He doesn't believe it is a serious injury. One other thing worth noting about Qualls is he told me that before his injury, he cleared the entire rack on his third max vertical leap attempt. He feels that his 39.5-inch score doesn't necessarily reflect his full leaping capability. Qualls said that he's been told his draft stock is somewhere in the 25-40 range right now.
- Qualls' Arkansas teammate Bobby Portis was the clear winner of Friday's media session. Some of the best quotes from Portis, who as I've noted in the past plays with a mean streak:
-"I bring something different to the basketball court that I think most 20-year-olds don't bring. I bring a sense of urgency. I play with a log on my shoulder. Not a chip. I play with a log on my shoulder simply because I think I'm one of the best-kept secrets in this draft."
-"I play angry. I play mad. I play very angry. Every game, I sit in the locker room and I have a vision that the other players on the team slapped my mom. So that's why I get mad, and then I got to get true because you slapped my mom."
- Chris McCullough tore his ACL in January at Syracuse, which threw a wrench in his NBA Draft decision process. McCullough said today that he has just started running again, and that strength-wise it's getting back to normal. His timeline right now is to be ready to start playing again by the beginning of training camp.
