Terps' draft stocks go in different directions after NBA combine – Baltimore Sun
The four Maryland players who attended the 2016 NBA Combine in Chicago – along with senior guard Rasheed Sulaimon, who was not invited – will now begin the most important of the draft process when they start working out privately for teams.
The combine ended Saturday. Here is a look at where the five Terps starters stand when it comes to the NBA draft scheduled for June 23 in Brooklyn.
Whose stock improved the most?
Robert Carter Jr. probably made the most positive impression among the Maryland players in Chicago.
The 6-8 ½ junior forward, who seemed marginally on the radar of many general managers going into the NBA Combine, made a terrific statement with a 22-point, seven-rebound performance on the first day of the scrimmages Thursday.
Carter showed range by making two of three 3-pointers, and he showed his ability to score inside. As happened so often during his one season at Maryland, Carter’s 3-pointer cooled off Friday, when he missed all of three of his 3s. Still, he finished with 13 points and six rebounds
While Carter also shot the ball well in drills, he had one of the worst vertical leaps (29.5 inches with steps, 24.5 without) as well as one of the slowest 3/4 court sprint times (3.65 seconds) of any of the players measured. Despite the lack of athleticism, Carter might have shown enough for a team to ake a second-round chance on him.
Whose stock went up a little?
It took until the second half of Friday’s scrimmage for Jake Layman to show the same kind of aggressiveness – particularly on the offensive end – that he displayed toward the end of his senior year in College Park. He finished with 15 points, but the rest of his stat line was virtually empty. He had nine points and six rebounds Thursday.
Where Layman might have helped himself the most in Chicago was in the shooting drills, finishing second behind Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon shooting on the move (college distance 3-pointers and long NBA jumpers) and third in off-the-dribble shooting.
Layman also finished fourth overall – two spots behind Melo Trimble – in the shuttle run that measures how fast a player changes direction. His 39.5-inch vertical leap ranked fourth among forwards and centers.
If he knocks down 3-point shots at the private workouts he has scheduled – he was three of nine in the two scrimmages in Chicago– and shows the kind of defense and athleticism that was on display, Layman could see his stock go from the middle of the second round to the beginning of the second round, according to at least one NBA executive at the combine. Given his versatility, he will likely be drafted next month.
Whose stock went down?
Unfortunately for Trimble, he was part of a team that was blown out by 40 points on Thursday. While both the team and Trimble played better Friday, it was probably not enough to change the perception of the sophomore point guard.
The 3-point shot that was suspect for much of his sophomore year – particularly after he injured his hamstring in early January – was more consistent in the drills, but Trimble seemed to be a little hesitant to take those shots in the scrimmages (two of four). While he did well in the shuttle run (third overall), ESPN analysts made a point to mention his lack of athleticism.
The consensus opinion among Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Fran Fraschilla was that Trimble should go back for his junior year.
ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford listed Trimble, along with fellow Big Ten standouts Nigel Hayes of Wisconsin, Caleb Swanigan of Purdue and Troy Williams of Indiana on his “All-Go-Back-To-School” team.
Williams said that if he were a general manager, he would take at least three of the guards who played in Chicago – Oakland’s Kay Felder, Oklahoma’s Isaiah Cousins and North Carolina State’s Cat Barber – ahead of Trimble. That doesn’t even include several point guards expected to be first-round picks.
Trimble said he plans to take the decision right up until the May 25 deadline. It appears most experts believe he should return to College Park.
Whose stock is unchanged?
By choosing not to play in Chicago, Diamond Stone’s status is not much different than it was going into the combine. The 6-11 center is viewed as a likely first-round draft pick, and based on the fact that he is one of the players invited to the Draft Lottery in New York on Tuesday, he could be a lottery pick.
Some of Stone’s measurables might have raised questions: his standing vertical leap (29.5 inches with steps), hand size (8.5 inches) and body fat (12.85 percent) are all unimpressive, compared to his competition. The body fat was second-highest behind only Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer. (Carter, who put on more than 10 pounds since leaving Maryland, was at 12.45 percent.)
It’s not clear where Sulaimon stands, but it seems likely that the graduate transfer who many thought was Maryland’s most valuable player for much of last season, will probably go undrafted, as happened to Dez Wells last season.
