NBA Draft Combine confidential: What we learned about Cooper Flagg and others in Chicago

CHICAGO — Well, that didn’t turn out how we expected.

The Dallas Mavericks’ shock win in the NBA Draft Lottery set the stage for a topsy-turvy draft combine week in Chicago, where the conversation immediately turned to what the Mavs might do going forward and whether the teams that moved up to second and third (San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers) might now be able to do some wheeling and dealing of their own.

While initial smoke signals are that Dallas intends to keep the pick and select Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the question remains about the best pathway forward for the Mavericks. Remember, general manager Nico Harrison initially talked about a “three-year title window” when he traded Luke Dončić for Anthony Davis; might he now reconsider that approach in light of both the luck bestowed by the lottery gods and the torn ACL suffered by All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, events that both brightened the Mavs’ long term and dampened their short term?

Logically, the rational move now would seem to be to trade Davis, who is 32 and will never have more trade value. That would pivot the franchise toward maximizing its roster right when Flagg hits his prime seasons at the end of the decade.

Alas, “I’m not sure you’re dealing with a rational actor here,” as one league spy cautioned me.

The alternative scenario where the Mavs try to win with an Irving-Flagg-Davis core likely leaves them still among the also-rans in the hyper-competitive Western Conference, but with a limited future given the ages of Davis and Irving and the fact that Dallas owes futures first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 and a swap to Oklahoma City in 2028 that likely will end up at the back of the first round. (The Mavericks do at least own future firsts from the Lakers in 2029 and 2031 and swaps in 2026, 2028 and 2030 as a result of the Dončić trade.)

The ultimate win-now move for Dallas would be to trade Flagg for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but in the wake of recent events, Harrison may no longer be able to get approval for that type of move.

If there is no organizational will to trade Davis and ownership won’t let Harrison trade Flagg, then the Mavs’ likely best move, somewhat ironically, is to suss out the market for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington … the same guys they acquired to fuel their 2024 NBA Finals run. Each has an expiring deal worth around $14 million, and both will get squeezed in a Flagg-Davis-Dereck Lively II alignment that is like the Mavs’ frontcourt of the near future.

Dallas needs short-term guard help with Irving likely out until at least midseason, and longer term, the Mavs need another creator in the backcourt anyway. Additionally, the Mavs are pushing the first-apron threshold (pending what Irving does with his $43 million player option) once we add in Flagg’s $13.8 million salary for next season, more than double the $5.7 million the Mavs’ pick would have made if they had stayed in the 11th position.

The Spurs, picking second, and the Sixers, picking third, present interesting trade questions of their own. With Rutgers guard Dylan Harper being the obvious choice at No. 2, does that further crowd a Spurs backcourt that has 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and the recently acquired De’Aaron Fox? Obviously, there’s the tempting spectacle of the Spurs trading for Giannis with this pick, but what about other moves? Is it plausible they could keep the pick and cash in their stock on Castle … or, dare we say, Fox, who never totally fit after the Spurs acquired him at the trade deadline and might be pushed into even more off-ball reps with Harper’s arrival?

The other scenario you wonder about with San Antonio and Philadelphia is trading down, perhaps to acquire a more immediately helpful talent while still staying in the draft. For instance, the Brooklyn Nets have the eighth pick and Cameron Johnson; could they dangle an unprotected future New York Knicks pick plus No. 8 and Johnson to get up to the top three, especially for a win-now team like Philly? Would the Spurs swap No. 2 for No. 5 with the Utah Jazz to get Lauri Markkanen (perhaps with other sweeteners from the San Antonio end), and would the Jazz go for something like that? Could the Houston Rockets use one of their unprotected future Phoenix Suns picks to entice a move from No. 10 to No. 2 and snag Harper?

Maybe none of this happens, but all those possibilities are now on the board. Trade activity ahead of the draft should be far friskier than if, say, Washington, Charlotte and Utah had been the top three and we just expected them to make their pick and keep rebuilding.

Combing through combine

Anyway, there was also an entire Draft Combine this past week, so let’s talk about that, too.

As per usual, the likely first-round picks didn’t participate in any of the on-court activities, although a welcome change to the collective bargaining agreement required all of them to show up for media, medical and measurements. We now know, for instance, that Rutgers forward Ace Bailey — listed as 6-foot-10 all season — is 6-7 1/2 in socks.

I’ll get more into the measurements instead, but the new twist to the combine is how many collegians were playing for their next contract … and not necessarily from the NBA. Arkansas guard Boogie Fland withdrew just before the combine, with a pending name, image and likeness bag rumored to be the reason, while players like Jamir Watkins, R.J. Luis, Darrion Williams and P.J. Haggerty arrived as NCAA free agents.

Several other players were on the court knowing they had an NIL fallback if they couldn’t secure a longshot first-round promise. The net result is that a lot of the players who were on the court last week probably aren’t going to be in the NBA for at least another year. Only 106 players applied for early entry this season in the first place, and of those, I only counted 31 NCAA players whom I consider serious threats to stay in the draft.

The scrimmages, of course, were their own subset of low-key entertainment. The players were doing their best, but they were on thrown-together teams and came in with individual agendas; inevitably, it turned into a low-end summer league contest. From my perch on the baseline, I could hear one hilarious case of a player continually calling his new teammate the wrong name, and another of two former college teammates having a laugh after one bear hugged the other (who was a foot taller) under the basket.

That doesn’t mean we learned nothing; even in an environment this convoluted, the ability to produce on a court with other NBA-ish-caliber players offers some genuine signal. Scouts also get a chance to see these players in new environments away from the systems in which they operated all season, helping flesh out a judgment on whether these players were helped or hurt by their situations.

When it comes to the likely draft picks, however, let’s break it down.

Measurement movers

One nice thing about the combine is that we learn everyone’s true height and weight, and not just what their college program wanted us to believe. Between that and the athletic testing and on-court shooting drills, here’s what we learned:

• First, the info you need to know: Cooper Flagg measured 6-7 3/4 in socks with a 7-0 wingspan, weighed 221 pounds, made a solid 67 of his 106 shots in the shooting drills and had a 29-inch no-step vertical and 35.5-inch max-vertical.

• The guy who might have done the most for his draft stock was Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, who didn’t set foot on the court for scrimmages but measured a giant 7-1 without shoes with a 7-6 wingspan. He also ripped off a 29-inch no-step vertical.

That wasn’t much different from his measurements in 2023, before he pulled his name out, but his results in the shooting drills were very different. He furthered the case for his stretch game by making 66 of his 103 shots, compared to a measly 40 of 105 two years ago.

• Another guy whose tale of the tape left an impression is St. Joseph’s forward Rasheer Fleming. He measured 6-8 1/4 with a 7-5 wingspan, making him more than big enough to play power forward full time and even offering some hope for him as a small-ball center.

• Perhaps the biggest winner from the athletic testing was North Carolina forward Drake Powell, who only measured 6-5 1/4 in socks but with a massive 7-0 wingspan. Additionally, his 37 1/2-inch no-step vertical was easily the best at the combine. (If you’re wondering, that is generally the leaping test you care about when projecting basketball players, although the “max vert” usually gets reported since it’s a bigger and thus sexier number.)

• UConn’s Liam McNeeley might have eased some athleticism concerns with a 30 1/2-inch no-step vertical — half an inch higher than VJ Edgecombe! — and standing a solid 6-6 1/2 socks.

• Duke commit Cedric Coward might never show up on campus after teams see his measurables. His 7-2 1/4 wingspan is shocking for a 6-5 1/4 height — a “plus-9” in NBA terms, in a league where the average is about plus-4 — and he no-step jumped 32 1/2 inches. The cherry on the sundae was his making 72 of 105 shots in the shooting drills.

• Texas guard Tre Johnson measured 6-4 3/4 in socks but registered a 6-10 1/4 wingspan and uncorked a 32-inch no-step vertical. Teams will be pretty comfortable with him as a full-time shooting guard with those measurements.

• Georgetown center Thomas Sorber couldn’t get on the court while he recovers from a foot injury, but his massive 7-6 wingspan likely helps his case that he can play center in the NBA at 6-9 1/4.

• On the flip side, measurements might hurt the stock of Derik Queen and Johni Broome. Both players were listed at the same height as Sorber at 6-9 1/4, but the wingspan told a different story: Queen came in 7-0 1/2, Broome at 7-0 1/4. The fact that neither could get off the floor was another negative; Queen’s 23-inch no-step vertical was the worst at the combine, and Broome’s 24 1/2-inch vault was not much better.

• Bailey, as noted above, measured only 6-7 1/4 in socks; his 27 1/2-inch no-step vertical was slightly below what you’d expect as well. Positionally, these numbers might cause teams to project him as a small forward rather than a power forward, especially at just 202.8 pounds.

• Duke wing Kon Knueppel measured a bit smaller than expected at 6-5 in socks — he was listed at 6-7 — and that may cause teams to reevaluate him as a one-position guard rather than a true wing. Knueppel sat out the shooting drills and athletic testing with an injury.

• Finally, Michigan State guard Jase Richardson, listed at 6-3 on the Spartans roster, turned out to be 6-0 1/2 in socks. Yikes!

Scrimmage stars

The two scrimmages mostly featured second-round and two-way guys, although in most years, one or two scrimmagers sneak into the first round.

• The Jekyll-and-Hyde award goes to Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford, who looked like a first-rounder in the first day of scrimmaging with a 23-point, eight-assist, two-steal performance that included a massive dunk in transition (at 6-0!). His next day, alas, he went 4-of-15 with six turnovers. Pettiford will have an interesting choice as to whether to keep his name in the draft, projecting as a likely early second-rounder; the 19-year-old rising sophomore could have three years of NIL riches ahead of him before he turns to the NBA.

• In a related story, Florida State’s Jamir Watkins will need to decide whether to keep his name in or use his last year of eligibility with the Seminoles. His choice became harder after a defensively dominant second day, where he amassed five steals and harassed Pettiford into the performance noted above. Watkins only measured 6-5 in socks after being listed at 6-7 at Florida State but showed enough perimeter skill as both an on-ball operator and a defensive pest to fill an NBA role at that size. A 31 1/2-inch no-step vertical didn’t hurt either.

• San Diego State guard Miles Byrd also faces a tough choice after showing he can be a “stocks” monster in the second game, where he had four steals and three blocks in 27 minutes. The wiry wing can also shoot it, but his game remains limited inside the arc, with only three two-point baskets in the two games. Still, he played well and likely cemented his status as an early-to-mid second-rounder.

• Stanford’s Maxime Reynaud had 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the first game and then shut it down the second day, but this one might not pass deeper scrutiny. His big opener came mostly at the expense of the worst player on the court, and then he took his money off the table before Day 2. The Stanford big man is likely to get looks in the second round and his shooting performance and measurables (7-0 in socks with a respectable 27-inch vertical leap) this week probably helped.

• Auto-eligible Australian big man Lachlan Olbrich was a pleasant surprise, registering double-doubles in both scrimmages. Despite lacking ideal center size (6-8 3/4 in socks with a 6-11 1/4 wingspan) and not being a 3-point shooter, he showed enough skill as a passer, secondary handler and elbow operator to think he could provide functional minutes as a backup center someday. He’s likely a draft-and-stash but might now be a popular name in the tail end of the second round.

• With 21 points, 14 assists, and five steals across the two games, Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard may be using his older brother’s playbook by following a strong combine into a spot in the second round. However, unlike his brother, Nembhard only measured 5-11 in socks, which might give teams pause on draft night and push him into two-way territory.

• Chinese big man Hansen Yang has slow feet that may severely limit him on the defensive end, but he showed enough size and skill combination to be draftable as a long-term stash. Measuring at a giant 7-1 in socks and showcasing a stretch game and some genuine feel, he scored 23 points in the two games and — more surprisingly for a big man — handed out eight assists. Comparisons to former Dallas big man Wang Zhizhi seem inevitable here.

• Greek mystery man Neoklis Avdalas is only 19 but looked like he belonged, filling the stat sheet with 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists across the two games. I’d had an overseas spy whisper good things to me about him despite his fairly ordinary stats in Greece this season, and he showed why on the court this week. Measuring 6-7 1/2 in socks but displaying clear perimeter skill, he’ll certainly be on watch lists for 2026 if he doesn’t stay in this draft.

• Alabama guard Mark Sears was the smallest player at the combine (5-10 3/4 in socks) and didn’t exactly blow everyone away with his 3.28 full-court sprint. But in the scrimmages, he showed why he still might cut it as backup point guard; he’s just a superbly crafty pick-and-roll operator who finished the week with 31 points and 11 assists across two scrimmages. Sears was also the big winner in the shooting drills, making a preposterous 86 of his 107 shots.

• Nebraska guard Brice Williams and Missouri guard Tamar Bates are birds of a feather as 6-5 wings who struggled the first day before blowing up the second. William followed up a Day 1 bagel with a 24-point outburst in Day 2, while Bates shot 1 of 6 on the first day but scored 19 points on eight shots on the second day. Bate is more of a pure 3-and-D candidate who earned his invite after a strong G League Elite Camp, while Williams has more versatility as a ballhandler and creator. Both should get looks in the back half of the second round.

 Scrimmage strugglers

• Mexico City guard Dink Pate shot 4 of 13 across the two games, with more turnovers than assists. The former G League Ignite product had a chance to make an impression after an up-and-down season in the G this year, but despite the outlines of an alluring size-skill combo, he’s an erratic shooter who doesn’t get to the rim enough to offset it.

• I’m a huge fan of Marquette’s Kam Jones, but this wasn’t his week. He had just seven points in 18 minutes in his one scrimmage before pulling out with a hamstring injury. Measuring at 6-3 1/4 in socks with a meh 6-6 wingspan, and pulling off a meager 24 1/2-inch no-step vertical, Jones had to shine on the court to offset his iffy measurables, and it didn’t happen.

See ya on campus

While I noted a couple of exceptions above, among the contingent that could plausibly have turned pro with a solid week, most seem headed back to school:

Michigan commit Yaxel Lendeborg wasn’t overtly bad but likely didn’t do enough on the court to garner a first-round promise, including shooting 2 of 6 on the second day. … Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams was completely ineffective, with only one made field goal in two games, and likely needs to head back to Lubbock (or elsewhere) to improve his draft stock. … Houston’s Milos Uzan handed out 10 assists across the two games, but only shot 3 of 12 and grabbed one rebound in 40 minutes. … Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser probably did the most to help his draft stock, but the junior still seems more like a 2026 guy. He was promoted out of the G League Elite camp into the main field and showed flashes as a rim-running, shot-blocking 5, but would probably be playing on a 2-way next year if he turned pro. … Among those who weren’t all that bad but also didn’t do enough to send pulses racing, Kentucky guard Otega Oweh, Arkansas forward Karter Knox, Indiana forward Mackenzie Mgbako, and the aforementioned Haggerty and Luis all seem likely to be playing NCAA ball again next season.

(Photo of Mark Sears and Tahaad Pettiford: Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)