Draft Combine Athletic Testing

Who tested as the best athletes at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine?

While the height, weight and length measurements from the NBA Combine are pretty straightforward, it’s less clear to see how the athletic testing numbers fit into the NBA context.

The NBA released its official athletic testing numbers on Wednesday.

Everyone takes these numbers with a grain of salt. The “best athlete in the draft” is usually far from the best player in the draft.  

That said, it does provide some definition to what NBA scouts mean when they talk about “athleticism.”

What are the drills? The players’ vertical jump is tested in two ways, and they run several short courses to gauge their speed and lateral quickness.

Several players clearly excelled. Tennessee’s Keon Johnson set the new NBA combine record with a 48” vertical jump. (Keep in mind that many NBA players have not participated in past combines.) I’ve been calling Texas’ Greg Brown the best athlete in the draft, but I now concede that to Johnson, who excelled in every test.

Brown, Florida’s Scottie Lewis, Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp, Florida State’s Scottie Barnes, Tennessee’s Yves Pons and South Carolina’s AJ Lawson excelled in multiple tests.

Iowa’s Luka Garza, Germany’s Ariel Hukporti, Florida State’s RaiQuan Gray, Duke’s Matthew Hurt and Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas fared less well in some tests, as explained below.

VERTICAL LEAP

Best Max Vertical Leap Numbers (players get a running start to their jump)

Keon Johnson (48”)
Jericho Sims (44.5")
Scottie Lewis (42")
Joe Wieskamp (42")
Jaden Springer (41.5”)
Ochai Agbaji (41.5")
AJ Lawson (41")
Scottie Barnes (39.5”)
Ziaire Williams (39.5”)
Terrance Shannon Jr. (39.5”)
Greg Brown (39")
David Duke (39")
David Johnson (39")
Ayo Dosunmu (39”)

Best Standing Vertical Leap Numbers (players get one step before their jump)

Keon Johnson (41.5”)
Jericho Sims (37.0")
Scottie Barnes (36.0”)
Yves Pons (36.0”)
Jaden Springer (34.5”)
DJ Steward (34.5”)
Scottie Lewis (34")
Trey Murphy III (34")
Greg Brown (33.5")

Worst Max Vertical Leap numbers

Luka Garza (29.5")
Ariel Hukporti (31")
Makur Maker (31”)
RaiQuan Gray (31.5")
Julian Champagnie (32)
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (32)
Isaiah Mobley (32)

Worst Standing Vertical Leap

Luka Garza (24")
Ariel Hukporti (24.5")
Austin Reaves (25")
Matthew Hurt (25.5")
Makur Maker (25.5”)
Julian Champagnie (26")

Analysis: NBA teams generally regard the standing vert as more indicative of “in the game” athleticism than the max vertical jump.

Keon Johnson’s 48” max vertical shattered the combine record set by Kansas’ Kenny Gregory 20 years ago (45.5”). He also recorded a record 41.5” standing vertical. It was the most incredible athletic feat I’ve ever seen at the Combine.

Will it help Johnson’s draft stock? He’s ranked No. 8 on our Big Board, and most of the concerns about him involved weaknesses in his offensive game -- so no, I don’t think it will do much to boost his stock. Looking over the vertical leap winners in the past, most of them didn’t accomplish much in the NBA if they made it at all.

Players who did help themselves include Texas big man Jericho Sims, who posted a 44.5” max vertical (and 37” standing vertical), which was just one inch off the previous record. It’s one thing for a guard to post numbers like this. But a big man? Sims has showed well in scrimmages as well and may have moved himself from undrafted into the second round.

Scottie Barnes’ excellent 39.5” max vertical will only fuel more conversation about whether he should move up and be considered a top-5 pick. He’s got elite size, length and feel for the game, but scouts didn’t see this sort of athletic performance coming from Barnes. He’s been training at P3, which is known for getting the most out of players athletically.

Ziaire Williams and Jaden Springer will be helped by their numbers here.

And for those college basketball fans who keep asking why Iowa Luka Garza isn’t ranked higher, look at his numbers across the board. They’re relatively poor. That’s no surprise if you watched him play, but nevertheless, this confirms what NBA teams feared.

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LANE AGILITY

Best Lane Agility times

Scottie Lewis (10.45 seconds)
Nah'Shon Hyland (10.53)
Ziaire Williams (10.69)
Joe Wieskamp (10.70)
McKinley Wright IV (10.76)
AJ Lawson (10.78)

Worst Lane Agility times

Isaiah Mobley (12.70 secs)
Julian Champagnie (12.38)
Marcus Bagley (12.26)
Ariel Hukporti (12.20)
JT Thor (12.19)

SHUTTLE RUN

Best Shuttle Run times

Greg Brown (2.98 seconds)
Scottie Barnes (2.99)
Corey Kispert (2.99)
Aaron Wiggins (3.00)
Scottie Lewis (3.04)
Ziaire Williams (3.04)
Yves Pons (3.05)

Worst Shuttle run times

Ariel Hukporti (3.53 secs)
Isaiah Mobley (3.50)
Neemias Queta (3.5)
Max Abmas (3.49)
Moses Wright (3.42)
Luka Garza (3.38)
Kessler Edwards (3.38)

Analysis: Lane Agility and the Shuttle Run measure lateral quickness and the ability to change directions quickly. Teams typically regard these as less important drills because players can often ace these tests with proper technique taught by athletic trainers. In short, you can game these tests. Guards typically dominate these, and they did on the Lane Agility drill, but it was surprising to see a bigger players like Brown, Barnes, Williams and Kispert do so well here.

This outcome may be especially good for Kispert. He also posted an impressive 37.5” inch max vertical. He’s getting drafted because he’s an elite shooter, but these athletic numbers will justify him getting picked in the lottery. If he can be a solid defender in the NBA, he’s worth it, and these numbers, plus the game film, suggest that he can.

I think everyone was a bit surprised to see Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas score so low on both these drills and the vertical jumps. No one thought he was a great athlete, but his scores were the lowest of any guard in the draft. He also measured as the smallest player in the draft. Being smaller and less athletic isn’t a bullish sign for NBA greatness. He has been an amazing scorer and shooter, but I think these numbers will have teams rethinking him a bit. He was on the first-round bubble before the Combine, and I’m not sure he will be after it.

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3/4-COURT SPRINT

Best 3/4-court sprint times

Scottie Lewis (2.98 seconds)
AJ Lawson (2.98)
Keon Johnson (3.0)
Daishen Nix (3.0)
David Johnson (3.03)
Joe Wieskamp (3.04)

Worst 3/4-court sprint times

Luka Garza (3.51 sec)
John Petty Jr. (3.35)
Makur Maker (3.34)
Matthew Hurt (3.34)
Sam Hauser (3.34)
Justin Champagnie (3.34 secs)

Analysis: This drill measures straight line speed, and most of the usual suspects showed up here.

Wieskamp showed well in all of these drills and could find his draft stock boosted. He’s a very good shooter who tested really well. That should be attractive to teams, despite his age.

The G League Ignite’s Daishen Nix also tested better than expected. He’s got himself into much better shape, and a slimmed-down Nix is moving better than we saw in the G League. He was considered a lottery pick before the season and is an elite passer. I think getting in shape should help his draft stock. Now he just needs to start hitting jumpers.

Note: A number of top prospects didn’t participate in athletic testing, including Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Kuminga, Davion Mitchell, Jalen Johnson, Moses Moody, Isaiah Jackson, Kai Jones, James Bouknight, Sharife Cooper, Tre Mann, Cameron Thomas, Roko Prkačin, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Brandon Boston Jr.