NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways from 2019 NBA Draft combine

Big Men, Part 1

Grant Williams, Tennessee

A player of his skill level and collegiate pedigree rarely participates in combine scrimmages, but it was certainly admirable that he wanted to prove himself to the scouts and executives in attendance, even with the noted concerns over his athleticism and size compared to who all he’d square up against at the next level. The 6-8 forward from Tennessee is by no means a traditional “athlete,” in that he is not one to wow spectators with quickness nor vertical pop; his athleticism, while more functional due to his acute understanding of how to angle himself and position himself defensively and in the post, doesn’t stand out compared to the other prospects alongside him.

Williams is not the type of player that usually pops in a scrimmage format anyway, as pure athleticism and shot creation can tend to manifest itself in pickup situations. Nonetheless, Williams’ size and athleticism did end up hurting him at the combine, only going 6-of-21 from the field in roughly 52 minutes of action. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t buy a bucket (although several players looked rough out there), missing shots around the basket and all of his attempts (0-of-7) from beyond the arc. For what it’s worth, luck wasn’t on his side, either, as he saw plenty of jumpers rim out, so his performance looked much worse than it actually was; of course, a miss is a miss.

He held his own defensively, as expected from a player of his strength and basketball IQ, corralling five steals and block six shots over the two games, overpowering wings in the post and keeping up with ball-handlers on the perimeter. For a player whose on-court value is placed in his non-scoring traits — short-roll playmaking, solid vision as a big, screening and positioning, tough defense, etc. — it is no surprise that those attributes shined while his scoring didn’t hold up. He won’t be drafted for his scoring, but this anemic shooting stretch left a bad taste in the mouths of those watching. As mentioned at the top, 52 minutes is not enough to make or break a prospect — this is only but an outrageously small sample, and should only be viewed as a piece of the larger picture.

Given how reactionary people are, which is only natural, it’s now difficult to envision Williams rising up the ranks of consensus draft boards. Publicly, he looks to be firmly in the 20s now, although his talent level is more than deserving of a higher selection. Ultimately, if you were a believer in Williams’ potential as a top-tier role player in the NBA because of his ancillary traits that impact winning, then his performance didn’t do much to dissuade you. And, if you were one who doubted his potential fit in the NBA due to his lack of ideal size and athleticism as a scoring option, then this only furthered your concerns.

Simi Shittu, Vanderbilt

Shittu’s decision to forego a sophomore season at Vanderbilt was widely viewed as premature since his freshman campaign (10.9 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.8 APG on 46.8 FG% and 57.6 FT%) was underwhelming for a top-10 recruit. The 6-10 big’s defense left much to be desired, and he shot poorly from the floor for someone of his size and athleticism, finishing with mediocre (61.7 FG%) percentages around the rim and showing poor touch in general. His performance at the combine started strong with a 14-point, 6-rebound, 3-assist outing on Thursday that included strong efficiency (7-of-12 shooting), but it gave way to a horrendous Friday afternoon showing, where the 19-year-old went 0-0f-7 from the floor, finishing with zero points.

His potential as a rim-running big with some passing equity will always be intriguing, but the lack of polish and consistency significantly lowers his stock. Shittu likely hoped that a strong showing at the combine would’ve improved his already-shaky chances of getting drafted in the second round; for his sake, he should’ve pulled out of the combine after the first day. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t.

Teams opting to pass on him on draft night wouldn’t necessarily be an overreaction to his performance in Chicago, since he didn’t show anything they hadn’t seen, but this undoubtedly didn’t do much to convince them that his up-and-down season at Vanderbilt was a result of unideal (i.e., not having point guard Darius Garland for all but five games) circumstances.

Dewan Hernandez, Miami

Hernandez was one of the more surprising performers at this year’s combine after earning an invite from a standout job at the G League Elite Camp last week. After leaving Miami this past season (due to a name-drop in the FBI’s college basketball investigation) and subsequently taking a break from competitive basketball, Hernandez popped as one of the more productive bigs in attendance, recording 32 points (13-of-27 shooting) and 15 rebounds in 41 minutes. He wasn’t seen as much of a candidate to get drafted heading into the NBA combine and even the G League combine, but a good week may have been enough to change that. Hearing his name called on June 20 is still an unlikely result, but performing well in front of a swath of NBA teams is important for his odds at garnering consideration for a spot in the G League, which would still be a good outcome for the 6-10 center.

Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky 

The 6-10 Western Kentucky center did very little to impress scouts in the 21 minutes of action on Thursday, ultimately choosing to not play on Friday after going 1-of-6 from the field without affecting the game in any real way. Bassey still has a shot at going in the second round, but his outlook is far more uncertain, with the combine doing little to assuage concerns about his transition to the next level (such as mobility, athleticism, defensive awareness, offensive role, motor, etc). Returning for a sophomore season isn’t out of the question now. He’s still quite young (doesn’t turn 19 until late-October) and was a top-10 recruit just a year ago, so he does have pedigree and youth on his side, but he looks to be far away from contributing to an NBA team.

Neemias Queta, Utah State

Utah State’s shot-blocking center measured well with a 7-0 listed height, 7-4 wingspan, 226-pound frame, 9-3.5 standing reach and the widest hands at the combine. Queta’s game is notably unrefined and raw at 19 years old, and the need for further growth — in regards to strength, mobility, feel for the game and offensive skill set — was apparent after recording only three points and 10 rebounds in 39 minutes of playing time.

Shot-blocking is unquestionably the biggest draw to his game and potential in the league, given his elite block rate (10.4 BLK%) as a freshman, and he showed signs of his patented rim protection with five total blocks, but the young Portuguese center was generally very, very rough while on the floor and should seriously consider returning to school for one more year.

He’s shown some nice touch around the basket and on limited jumpers and isn’t a terrible passer, which, added with his dominance as a collegiate shot-blocker and rim deterrent, makes him a legit NBA prospect with serious upside. Suggesting that he should return to school isn’t a result of any doubts over his status as a prospect — he should get drafted, with his physical tools and defensive technique being too much to pass up, but his stock could improve with another year of seasoning.

Moses Brown, UCLA 

His 7-3 height, 7-5 wingspan and 9-5 standing reach (all top-3 at the combine) are all nice on the surface, but without any discernible skill as a basketball player (other than being tall) and a total lack of on-court awareness, Moses Brown did little to prove that he’s worthy of a draft selection and little to prove that he’s a long-term NBA prospect.

His underwhelming freshman campaign at UCLA (9.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.9 BPG on 60.7 FG% and 35.2 FT%) was met with equally-underwhelming stats (four points, six rebounds) at the combine in his 12 minutes of action on Thursday. He’s long and mobile, but his thin frame, high waist, poor balance and lack of touch are all pretty troubling when it comes to projecting his viability as an NBA center. Quite simply, he needs to return to school.