David Lee is actually an athletic individual with physical tools that far surpass his perceived abilities as a white big...Hansborough is no athlet...
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Draft combine: Hansbrough big winner
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Ford By Chad Ford
ESPN.com
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The results of the strength and agility testing rippled through the league Wednesday, along with some interesting and distressing findings from the medical portion of the testing that are creating some interesting draft-stock fluctuations.
Here's the latest:
Hansbrough
Hansbrough
For all of you who wrote me all season furious that I didn't have Tyler Hansbrough in my mock draft lottery
now's the time to yell, "I told you so!"
I think it's time to declare Hansbrough the big winner of the 2009 NBA draft combine. Although he was what you would expect him to be in the skills portion of the combine, he came out better than expected in the measurements and strength and agility testing.
Hansbrough measured a legit 6-foot-8¼ in socks and 6-9½ in shoes. He also had a surprising 6-11½ wingspan and a standing reach of 8-10 -- one inch better than Blake Griffin.
He basically measured the same size as Kevin Love, Drew Gooden, Paul Millsap and David Lee.
But that's just half the tale.
His vertical-jump numbers weren't terrible, either. At 34 inches, he matches up with the combine scores of Emeka Okafor, LaMarcus Aldridge and Nene. And better than Chris Bosh.
His no-step vertical was a little more troubling at just 27½ inches, but that equaled or bettered Carlos Boozer, Aldridge and Charlie Villanueva.
Lateral quickness? His 11.12-second score was stellar for a big man. He bested Tyreke Evans, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson and Earl Clark from this draft class. And he also was better than Amare Stoudemire, Bosh and Tyrus Thomas.
And his 3.23 three-quarter-court sprint? Another strong score for a big man. His numbers were better than Griffin, Jordan Hill and Michael Beasley.
In fact, if you want a good physical and athletic comparison to Hansbrough, try Beasley, the No. 2 pick in the draft last year. They are within an inch and a few half seconds of each other in virtually every category.
What does all this mean? We already know Hansbrough is a terrific basketball player. There was never a question about what he does on the court. The concern was always about his lack of size and athleticism.
Now that he has physically proved he's a solid NBA-caliber athlete, will the objections to drafting him in the lottery start to fade?
Some early signs point to yes. I think a number of teams, including the Bucks, Nets and Pacers, will all give Hansbrough a closer look.
"I think we have to re-evaluate him," one lottery-team GM told me. "You get used to seeing a guy through a certain set of glasses. This forces you to rethink and ask yourself whether you misjudged him. I think if you need a big, you have to consider him."
