ORLANDO, Fla. -- After three days of watching second-round players in pickup games, all eyes turned Friday to the top 15 American prospects in the NBA draft.


While the camp participants battled in front of a sparse crowd, most of the top NBA executives and coaches crowded into the corner of the gym to watch the players who chose to skip the camp go through some shooting, ballhandling and athletic drills.


Here's a quick hit at how they looked:



Michael Beasley showed great shooting range on Friday.
Michael Beasley, PF, Kansas State

Beasley was the first player on the floor but the last to go through the workout. While other workouts were going on, we all watched in awe as Beasley drained NBA 3-pointer after NBA 3-pointer. That continued in the workouts, in which Beasley shot as well as any prospect here. Deep or midrange, Beasley can shoot the lights out.


I also caught a sneak peek of Beasley's vertical jump test. He touched the 11-foot-9 mark on his running jump. Assuming he has a standing reach of about 8-foot-10, that's a 35-inch vertical. Not off the charts, but not too shabby, either.

Derrick Rose, PG, Memphis

Rose won't look especially great in these drills. His jump shot is his weakness, though it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. He hit a respectable number of shots in the workouts and showed his value with his speed, leaping ability and ballhandling.


O.J. Mayo, SG, USC


Mayo's fundamentals really showed here. He looked as smooth and as comfortable as any of the prospects in the gym. His shot was falling from everywhere, and he showed great poise.


It was interesting to watch one front-office team -- from the Heat -- zero in on Mayo. Many times, NBA executives and scouts spend as much time talking as they do watching the action. When Mayo was on the floor, he had the undivided attention of Pat Riley and GM Randy Pfund.


Jerryd Bayless, PG, Arizona


Bayless also looked good in workouts. He ran the floor well, shot the ball well and looked like an all-around good prospect. He's slighter than most of the players he's competing against in the draft, but his skill really showed.


Anthony Randolph, PF, LSU


I thought Randolph really helped himself in this workout. He moves incredibly well for a big man, showed great quickness and leaping ability, and shot the ball much better than expected. Randolph also looked as if he has gained some weight, which should really help his cause. I think Randolph is one of the five top prospects in this draft.


Brook Lopez, C, Stanford


Lopez was one of the few prospects who didn't look great. These types of drills aren't really tailor-made for big men -- especially ones who don't have elite athleticism. Lopez did show some nice touch around the basket in some big man drills, but he wasn't going to stand out here.


Eric Gordon, SG, Indiana


Gordon is the strongest and possibly the biggest of the combo guards vying for a lottery pick. He seemed a little more tentative than some of the other prospects and shot some air balls and some eyebrow-raising jumpers at times. However, he calmed down as the workout went on and ended with a much more solid shooting performance in the final minutes.


D.J. Augustin, PG, Texas


Augustin showed his ability to shoot the basketball. He doesn't get to do a lot of point guard things here … and those are Augustin's forte. He definitely looked really small out there and doesn't have the explosive quickness or athleticism that some of the other prospects had, but overall, I thought Augustin looked good.


Russell Westbrook, PG, UCLA


Westbrook was another prospect who really helped his cause here. His quickness, explosiveness and ability to change direction were scintillating in workouts. He also shot the ball extremely well in a number of drills, answering the critics who claim he's not a good shooter. If you compared Westbrook and Augustin head-to-head in just the drills, Westbrook would win hands down. However, it's his ability to be a floor leader in the game that teams still question.




UCLA's Kevin Love put the ball on the floor with success.
Kevin Love, PF, UCLA


Love also performed well here. He continues to slim down, and a number of scouts mentioned that he's in as good shape as they've ever seen him. Although Love doesn't run the floor the way some of the other top athletes do, he hustled up and down the floor and showed good athleticism.


Just as important, Love shot the ball very well in the workouts. At times, he looked like a guard out there. Love also did well in the strength training, bench-pressing the 185-pound bar 18 times.


DeAndre Jordan, C, Texas A&M


Jordan also has dropped some weight and looked in much better shape than we've seen him in the past. Although he runs the floor well, he struggled a bit in the skills portion of the workout. No real surprise here. He worked pretty hard … but there's no one with more questions swirling around him. Everyone loves him and hates him at the same time.

Darrell Arthur, PF, Kansas


I thought Arthur looked as skilled and athletic as any big man here. He exploded in some of the footwork drills, showed an excellent 15- to 18-foot jump shot and really flew up and down the floor. Arthur's ability to score, both inside and out, makes him a really intriguing choice. I think he could rise as we get closer to the draft.


JaVale McGee, C, Nevada


McGee came in a little bulked up. He clearly has hit the weight room. However, McGee struggled in the workouts. He looked really uncomfortable shooting the ball and looked a bit out of shape. He was breathing awfully heavy just a few minutes into the workout.


Joe Alexander, SF, West Virginia


Alexander showed off his elite athleticism. He drew a few oohs and ahhs from the crowd with his dunks. His jump shot was more of a mixed bag. He gets great elevation, but didn't shoot it as well as his workout partner, Love. Alexander also wowed people with his strength. He bench-pressed the 185-pound bar 24 times and, according to one source, is going to show a vertical jump of 40-plus inches.


Donte Greene, SF, Syracuse



Greene wasn't great in the workouts, either. He is a good athlete, but his shot wasn't falling as well as some other prospects' and he didn't do anything to stand out the way some of the others did.


The bottom line is that there isn't a lot you can learn from these workouts and they won't have much, if any, impact on their draft stock. It's just an early, brief, sneak peek of what NBA teams will see in the coming months. Players can begin team workouts Wednesday.

Lopez Love Mcgee,Green are all gona have issues at the net level for whatever reason.

Anthony Randolph, PF, LSU


I thought Randolph really helped himself in this workout. He moves incredibly well for a big man, showed great quickness and leaping ability, and shot the ball much better than expected. Randolph also looked as if he has gained some weight, which should really help his cause. I think Randolph is one of the five top prospects in this draft.


Russell Westbrook, PG, UCLA


Westbrook was another prospect who really helped his cause here. His quickness, explosiveness and ability to change direction were scintillating in workouts. He also shot the ball extremely well in a number of drills, answering the critics who claim he's not a good shooter. If you compared Westbrook and Augustin head-to-head in just the drills, Westbrook would win hands down. However, it's his ability to be a floor leader in the game that teams still question.

Posted by Allanfan20:

Why do you say Love? It said he had an impressive workout and he's lost weight.

Lopez was one of the few prospects who didn't look great.

read the fine print^

Posted by Allanfan20:

And I will answer your question to Briggs for you. Yes, I believe Andrew Bynum would have been great with or without Kareem. His work ethic seems to be out of this world, so no matter who he was working with, I am pretty sure he'd become a star without microfracture. With it, we will have to see.

Agreed! I'm still pissed we didn't draft him, when he was right there, waiting for us.

Posted by Allanfan20:

And I will answer your question to Briggs for you. Yes, I believe Andrew Bynum would have been great with or without Kareem. His work ethic seems to be out of this world, so no matter who he was working with, I am pretty sure he'd become a star without microfracture. With it, we will have to see.

I asked would Bynum have advanced so quickly without Kareem Abdul Jabbar being his mentor, not if he would be great star one day.

Here is nbadraftnets review of the last day of camp. Nine of the top 15 are reviewed and flaws and weaknesses are mentioned.


By Borko Popic
6/1/08




Derrick Rose


The final day brought a change of scenery to the gym. Although there were still three games being played, everyone’s attention was averted to the action occurring on the side courts and rightly so because the Top 15 (measurement only) guys were going through workouts (with the respective teams they were placed on), while waiting for their measurements.

Much talk was going on in regards to Beasley’s actual height; while he is listed at 6-9, some believe he might only be 6-7 (without shoes).

This lack of size could adversely affect his draft status as he is considered more of a 4 by some and could struggle to fit a position to a degree without the height to measure up.

The workouts consisted of some full court shooting drills, moved on to dribble attack moves with finishes at the basket, floaters in the lane or pullups from midrange for the guards, and some flashes, cuts, post moves, and moves out of the triple threat for the bigs.

The last thing the guards did was cone shooting from 5 spots simulating coming off screens. It is pointless to put too much significance onto these workouts, as they really only show shooting form and the players’ athletic ability, but it was still nice to see these guys in action.

Derrick Rose looked great getting up and down the court, he showed some of his explosiveness on a few finishes (as pictured) and handled the ball very well on dribble moves. In the shooting drills he was decent, but looking at his form it is no secret that he still has ways to go before becoming a consistent shooter.

As he brings the ball into the shooting pocket, he holds it too close to his head, shooting it almost right off of his forehead. Another problem is that his elbow is not under the ball, but rather to the side, which may cause some problems with consistency and effectiveness shooting the long ball.

Michael Beasley had a decent workout, not really shooting the ball or impressing too much in any of the other drills. He seemed more interested in talking to the media and his fellow draftees rather than showing what he can actually to in front of the NBA brass.




Anthony Randolph


Anthony Randolph was sporting a long sleeved shirt, which may be a display of his formidable fashion sense, but more likely a good way of concealing his rail thin frame. As expected, his wingspan and athleticism were on full display as he was able to finish in emphatic fashion. His jump shot was off, but his form and release are pretty much textbook.

Jerryd Bayless went through the workout fairly well and didn’t shoot the ball too bad. There has been some mention of his shooting mechanics being flawed and there’s no better time to see than when he is shooting from beyond the NBA 3. His pre-shot stance is balanced, elevation and release point are good, but as he follows through, instead of having his arm just stay there for a second (ala MJ vs. Bryon Russell) he pulls it back almost immediately after the ball leaves his fingertips. He also shoots a bit of a fadeaway every time, with his body going backward, which leaves him offbalance and short on some of the shots.

Donte Green looked skinny, but has strong legs and a frame that has potential to fill out and become very refined. He was pretty impressive finishing at the rim and it is always exciting to see a player of his size handling the ball and shooting a very smooth jump-shot.

Russel Westbrook didn’t disappoint with his high flying array of moves and showed a much improved jump shot which he converted at a great percentage.

JaVale McGee seems to have put on a little weight, but with his incredible length it is hard to not look skinny. He looked a bit uncomfortable, struggling to finish some near the basket shots. The rim rejected a few of his dunk attempts and in order to get even he decided to punish it by shooting numerous bricks. All in all, he is still very intriguing and if he’s put in the right system and given time to develop he could become a very effective player in the NBA.

Brook Lopez looked awkward running the floor, he has some very stiff legs and at times he had people in the crowd worried he might get hurt by continuing to run in this manner. The rest of his workout was nothing out of the ordinary as he did little to impress or hurt his stock.

We received word that Donte Greene was able to lift 185 just once, which considering his lack of upperbody bulk is not surprising. How much this will hurt Greene is probably minimal as Greene is considered a long term potential pick anyway.

Kevin Love was said to measure 6-8 1/4 (without shoes), which considering his lack of great athleticism is not a great result.

Although the games were less watched than usual, let’s not forget that this was still a chance for some guys to show that they have what it takes to get drafted.

And suddenly, Lopez is some kind of stiff bum, who's legs might get broken??