The official scrimmages, agility testing, shooting drills and measurements portions of the NBA draft combine in Chicago have concluded, but many NBA teams are still in the Windy City to continue interviewing draft prospects and watch private workouts and pro days.
Over the last couple of days, the Utah Jazz have conducted interviews with Reed Sheppard (Kentucky), Kyshawn George (Miami), Stephon Castle (UConn), Isaiah Collier (USC), Jared McCain (Duke), Dalton Knecht (Tennessee), Devin Carter (Providence), Cody Williams (Colorado) and Tyler Kolek (Marquette).
This is in addition to interviews with Zach Edey (Purdue), Rob Dillingham (Kentucky), Donovan Clingan (UConn), Ron Holland (G League Ignite) and Alexandre Sarr (Perth Wildcats), which were previously reported by the Deseret News.
Standouts and insider info
While there is a ton of work done leading up to the combine, and often teams already have an opinion about players that is unchanged by what happens in Chicago, there are a number of players who see their draft stock boosted at the combine, whether through workouts, testing or interviews.
Sheppard, the freshman guard from Kentucky, was considered undersized coming into the week and that was confirmed when he measured in at 6-feet-1.75 inches without shoes on. But what was also confirmed was his incredible athleticism. Despite his size, Sheppard had the eighth-best standing vertical leap, fourth-best max vertical leap among all combine participants and tied for 13th in the three-quarter court sprint. There were 77 participants during the testing day at the combine.
Edey, who intrigues teams with his size and agility also stood out after measuring in at 7-feet-3.75 inches without shoes with a 7-feet-10.75-inch wingspan and a 9-feet-7 standing reach. Though Edey did not participate in the scrimmaging, which was optional for combine participants, he impressed teams during his shooting drills, hitting 3-pointers off the dribble, on the move and in spot-up situations.
Enrique Freeman (Akron) was largely unknown for many heading into the week. He took part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and earned an invite to the G League Elite Camp, which precedes the combine. He was one of just five Elite Camp participants that was called up to take part in the NBA combine and in his first scrimmage scored a game-high 17 points. Though he isn’t likely to get a first-round selection, his performance and strength has multiple teams considering him for a second-round selection or two-way contract for the 2024-25 season.
There have been rumblings from multiple teams that Collier’s draft stock could be falling a bit after interviews and pre-draft meetings. League sources have indicated that there isn’t anything that stands out as a red flag for Collier, but there are other players who have stood out or impressed while Collier has come across as a bit flat.
Holland, who played with the G League Ignite last season, seems to be a bit of a polarizing player among scouts and executives. There are some who see Holland as a huge upside player with unique athleticism and explosive potential. He’ll be just 18 years old when drafted and at 6-feet-6.5 inches without shoes he has the ability to be a really versatile defender. But there’s some inconsistency to his game and he doesn’t seem to have the offensive tools that would be necessary at the next level.
Williams, who was previously expected to be picked somewhere between 10 and 20 on draft day has continued to rise over the last few weeks and there are several teams that seem to be interested in the Colorado wing in the top 10 of the upcoming draft. League sources indicated that both Charlotte (sixth pick) and Portland (seventh) are looking very closely at Williams.
Bronny James
It was reported this week that the Jazz could be one of the teams looking at Bronny James, in hopes of also luring his father, LeBron James, to Utah.
I looked into this as much as possible and although James impressed during the combine, it doesn’t seem like the Jazz are interested. A number of team sources seemed confused about where the Yahoo Sports report had come from, with one source telling the Deseret News that the name Bronny James has never come up in any draft conversations among Jazz decision makers.
