NBA Draft Combine: Athletic Test Released

They can be found here. Take these numbers with a grain of salt. Athleticism does not a great basketball player make.

Clearly, the biggest surprise in these tests was James Harden. One of the biggest knocks (I said it myself) on Harden heading into the draft was that he was not as athletic as some of the other prospects at his position.

False.

Check out these numbers: 37" max vertical, with a max reach of 11'8.5" (equal to Blake Griffin). 3.13 seconds in the 3/4 court sprint (only .01 behind Ty Lawson and .03 behind Patty Mills and Darren Collison). 17 reps at 185 lb on the bench press. Combine those numbers with Harden's wingspan (6'10.75") and the fact that, well, he is one of the most talented players in this years draft pool, and he could make a push for sliding into the top 3.

We also learned that Blake Griffin is, well, a freak. He checked in with a 35.5" max vert (and a 32" no-step vert), 22 reps on the bench, and a 10.95 in the agility test.

Other guys that helped their stock in the athletics testing:

• Derrick Brown - Xavier: Brown may have convinced some doubters who didn't think he could play in the post at the NBA level - 7'2.5" wingspan, 20 reps on the bench, and a 35.5" max vert for a guy that runs a 3.13 sprint is pretty impressive.
• Steph Curry - Davidson: Posted good numbers in the max very (35.5") and the bench (10 reps), as well as putting up a decent agility time (11.07).
• Rodrigue Beaubois - France: One of the most athletic players at the combine - 39" vert, 10.49 in the agility test, and a 3.15 second 3/4 court sprint is nice for a guy that is 6'1.25" without shoes but has a 6'9.75" wingspan. Leondro Barbosa anyone?
• Wayne Ellington - UNC: You shouldn't be concerned about Ellington as an NBA athlete - he posted solid numbers in the sprint (3.2), the bench (13 reps), and the max vert (38"), although his agility time (11.14) was not spectacular.
• Jonny Flynn had the highest max vert (40"), Jermaine Taylor had the highest no-step vert (34"), Luke Harangody had the most bench reps (23, and ran an impressive 11.15 in the agility test), Jack McClinton won the agility run (10.44), and Toney Dougles won the sprint (3.03).
  

Guys who hurt their stock with the athletics testing:

• Austin Daye - Gonzaga: Daye does not look like he will be a first rounder this year. He couldn't get 185 lb up once (the only player that didn't), and he had the worst max vert (28"), the slowest sprint time (3.55), and the second slowest agility run (12.11).
• Jordan Hill - Arizona: He did well in the max vert (35") and the sprint (an impressive 3.3 for a big man), but his agility run was the worst (12.23) and he only put up 11 reps on the bench.
• Demar Derozan - USC: His 38.5" max vert is awesome, but his numbers in the agility test (11.88), the sprint (3.31), and the bench (5) will lead some to question how well he can play on the wing in the league.
• Greivis Vazquez - Maryland: Battling with Daye for the worst showing - 28" max vert, 1 bench rep, 11.13 in the agility run, and 3.48 in the sprint.
• Sam Young - Pitt: Surprisingly low numbers for Sam - 33" vert, 11.47 in the agility run, and 3.45 in the sprint (he did not participate in the bench).