2013 NBA Draft Combine: Prospects try to make an impression

CHICAGO -- You tend to believe Shane Larkin when he says the NBA’s current crop of hyper-talented point guards doesn’t intimidate him. From the moment Larkin made basketball his full-time focus, he’s been peppered with doubts.

He’s aware he’s undersized -- measuring at 5’11, Larkin is the shortest player at the draft combine who will garner consideration in the first round. He’s aware that some teams question his playmaking skills after he averaged under five assists per game as a sophomore at Miami. And he’s aware that point guard is the most stacked position in the NBA.

CHICAGO -- The 2013 NBA Draft combine can be an overwhelming scene if you’re the type of person who doesn’t normally hang around the very wealthy, tall and powerful people that make up the NBA’s elite. Seemingly every organization in the league is represented at Chicago’s Attack Athletics on Thursday and Friday as this year’s NBA hopefuls go through a variety of drills and testing under the watchful eyes of the people who will determine their draft day fate.

The noise of it all can be a bit funny if you have a certain perspective, though few would question the value of the event itself. The reason all of these rich and highly-recognizable people are hanging out on the West Side of Chicago is clear: they want to find the next diamond in the rough, the next player that fits a specific need and can possibly turn a good team into a great one.

Shabazz spent just one year at UCLA before announcing that he’s a year older than believed (20, not 19) and declaring for the draft. Now we’re talking about him falling to the late teens because he’s supposedly a bad teammate, a Rudy Gay type of player, overrated, a one-trick pony.

Barnes, by the way, just finished a first team All-Rookie season in which he was a full-time starter for a playoff team, averaged 38 minutes per game through two postseason rounds, and was the No. 3 scorer in the playoffs at 16 points per game. Most teams in the lottery would take that in a heartbeat.

It’s true that James is essentially a basketball category unto himself, but the effect of having a small, faster player with shooting ability at the four was unmistakable. This season, most teams took notice.

Nerlens Noel weighed in at only 206 lbs. Does an NBA center so slim stand a chance?

Larkin’s 44-inch maximum vertical stands second to Kenny Gregory’s 45-and-a-half inches in 2001. Larkin also posted a 34.5-inch standing vertical leap and the fastest time in sprint drills (3.08) thus far, according to Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports. Larkin’s raw athleticism is undeniable with the impressive combine results he posted.

CJ Leslie recorded a 10.19 in the lane agility drill. That’s the best time in the lane agility drill thus far, an impressive feat for a 6’9 prospect. He also posted a 32.5-inch standing vertical and a 40.5-inch maximum vertical leap.

The raw athletic numbers still aren’t the end-all-be-all in the draft process, of course, as some of the best athletes at the combine have failed in the NBA due to holes in their game:

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As Muhammad and the rest of the 2013 Draft hopefuls began interviews, workouts and scrimmages at the combine on Thursday, questions were raised about UCLA’s freshman forward. There’s no denying he can score the basketball, although he did not do much else during his time in Westwood.

Another front office member said it was possible he fell out of the lottery.

CHICAGO -- Dennis Schroeder wants you to know he isn’t like these American kids. Just 19 years old, Schroeder spent the last two seasons as a lightning-quick point guard in the top German pro league. While the majority of the 2013 NBA Draft class have spent their entire lives playing against peer-aged competition (or, in the case of Shabazz Muhammad, younger competition), Schroeder is the exception. He has been fighting off bigger, older opponents since he first picked up a basketball. He believes he’s better for it.

“I think the German league is a very good league because you play against men,” Schroeder said on Thursday at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. “I think I can use that to my advantage because when I come over here, I’ll play against men, too. I got the advantage that I know I can play in the German league.”

Thursday marked the beginning of the 2013 NBA Draft Combine, and with every participant being weighed, measured and interviewed, it made for a very busy day in Chicago. Here’s a look at how some of the future draftees checked in, courtesy of Chad Ford on Twitter.

While his length measurements were impressive, one potential red flag was raised: his weight. Noel weighed in at just 206 pounds, which is astonishingly low compared to other NBA centers. Davis was recorded at 222 pounds last summer and bulked up before the regular season began. Dwight Howard is listed at 265 pounds. Tyson Chandler plays at 240 pounds, while Joakim Noah weighs in the neighborhood of 230 pounds.

Some wondered if Noel would return to Kentucky after having his freshman campaign cut short, but after evaluating his draft stock, he determined he would continue his career in the NBA next season. Here is what he told Jason Lloyd of Ohio.com at the NBA Draft Combine on Thursday.

Even with Noel not expecting to play the first two months of the regular season, it still seems likely whichever team lands the No. 1 pick this summer will take the lanky big man. This year’s class lacks star power, according to most draft experts, but Noel’s upside could make him a defensive stalwart in the league for many years to come.