Measuring the Draft Combine

Posted by Brendan Jackson on May 21, 2011 2068025 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2011%2F05%2F21%2Fmeasuring-the-draft-combine%2FMeasuring+the+Draft+Combine2011-05-21+20%3A59%3A44Brendan+Jacksonhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D20680

I know everyone wants to hear some news about how the Celtics’ roster is going to shape up next season.  Trust me, nothing would make me happier than discussing potential free agent additions or jumping on trade rumors.  But the fact of the matter is that no one knows how the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is going to affect the salary cap, exceptions, and the of signing restricted free agents.  Any talk involving free agency would be pure speculation based on regulations that could very well end up being non-applicable.

Luckily, there is still the NBA Draft to get excited about.  Yesterday many hopeful young men were poked, prodded, measured, and asked to perform various athletic feats that may be helpful on basketball court.  Some will make the league, some will not but the best part of the draft is that no one really knows who is going to end up being a viable NBA player.  I believe the word “crapshoot” originated from the way the draft used to operate where draftees would be placed on black and red squares and GMs would roll dice to see who got to pick whom (at least, that’s what the Wikipedia page says after I edited it.  Go check it out before their editors ban me for life.).

Despite all the unknowns, the measuring and drill executions fascinate me.  I get giddy thinking about the mostly meaningless over-analysis I’ll be able to do between now and June 23rd.  Below is the list of combine results courtesy of ESPN.com along with some random musings:

• Greg Smith has huge hands.  They are the biggest hands measured in this year’s combine and two inches wider than Rajon Rondo’s.

• It’s hard to believe that Trey Thompkins is fatter the Aaron Gray was coming out of college but he apparently is (15.5% body fat to 15%).  Glen Davis‘ body fat percentage from the 2007 draft combine was not available, probably at the suggestion of his agent.  Yesterday, Kyrie Irving didn’t participate in the drill portion of the combine but still had his body fat measured.  He probably should have gone the Davis route because he registered the same body fat percentage as Markieff Morris (10.2%).

• The Celtics have the 25th overall pick which means a few things.  A) The Celtics can hope that someone they like that, and as of right now is projected to go much higher, somehow makes himself look useless enough to drop to 25th.  Think Hassan Whiteside (only Whiteside ended up being useless).  B) The value at the 25th spot is all the Celtics’ need.  This is sort of true.  For next year, it’s likely that no draft pick is going to have an impact on the Celtics’ rotation so picking at 25th becomes a “meh” situation. C) the Celtics package a player and the 25th pick to move up in the draft to get a guy that has a greater chance of  helping the Celtics.

As for A, I’m hoping that guy is Kenneth Faried.  Everything I am reading/hearing is that GMs are being scared off by the rebounding machine because he measured much shorter than his listed 6’8″ and he shows little to no offensive acumen.  It’s clear that the Celtics need to get better on the glass and as Ben Wallace and Kevin Love have proven, you either need to be freakishly athletic or a positional genius to be a superstar rebounder. Faried might be both.  Other possibilities include Chris Singleton, Darius Morris, Jordan Williams, Marshon Brooks, JuJuan Johnson, and Travis Leslie.  I see these as some of the players that have the most to gain or lose during the combine and predraft workouts.

This draft may lack in top tier talent, but it has a ton of players that could end up being seasoned role players.  If there was a draft where the Celtics had to have a late first round draft pick, this year would be it.  So while I said earlier that a player picked 25th probably won’t help the Celtics next season, there’s always a chance that I’m wrong and the draft pick steps up.

Has anyone else been keeping tabs on the combine?  Who do you want the Celtics to draft?  Also, if you don’t know the specific players, let’s talk positions?  The Celtics need a big man, a wing, and a shooter.  We want to hear from you.