NBA Combine: Agility Testing

While most who attend the combine take part in the measurements, once we get to the agility testing, you start to see players decline to participate, usually on their agent’s advice, though sometimes due to injury. Fourteen players did not take part in the agility testing, many of them lottery picks, and almost all of them likely first-round picks.

For those who did take part, there are five drills which make up the testing:

The Lane Agility drill is used to test body control, change of direction and speed, as the players work their way around the lane, sprinting forward, backpedaling and moving laterally around cones;

The Shuttle Run drill has the players start in the middle of the lane, move laterally to one side of the lane, then laterally across to the other side of the lane, and finally, back to the starting point;

The ¾ Court Sprint is a timed sprint from the baseline to the ¾ point of the court;

The Standing Vertical Leap is exactly that – a no-step jump;

And finally, the Max Vertical Leap, in which the players are allowed a few running steps into their jump.

As with the measurements, it’s important to remember that this is basically a limited view on the prospects, and concrete determinations aren’t made solely on how they do in these drills. However, when you start to take this information combined with the measurements discussed previously, you can start to develop a more well-rounded profile of the player.

Agility Testing: Point Guard

*Jerian Grant and D’Angelo Russell did not participate in Agility testing.

The NBA is filled with quick, athletic point guards, and you can get a sense from the testing how some players may perform at the next level, especially on the defensive end with the lane agility and shuttle run testing, as well as the ¾ sprint. As you may expect, most of the smaller point guards, Ryan Boatright, Cameron Payne, Chasson Randle, Terry Rozier and Marcus Thornton performed well in both of these drills. TJ McConnell was never really known for his quickness in college, but he did have one of the quickest scores on the lane agility drill, though he was slightly slower in the shuttle run. The bigger guards, Olivier Hanlan, Andrew Harrison, George Lucas and Delon Wright, performed noticeably slower in these drills, with Wright having one of the slowest times overall. Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones were a bit slow in the lane agility given their size, though Jones did post a very good time in the shuttle run.

In the vertical leaping drills, it was the smaller guards who impressed, with three guards, Boatright, Keifer Sykes and Thornton, all posting max vertical leaps over 40 inches. Even some of the bigger guards performed fairly well, with Harrison, Lucas and Hanlan all posting strong numbers to go with their size.

Agility Testing: Shooting Guard

All of the shooting guards took part in the agility testing, with a few of the players standing out, in good and bad ways. Devin Booker put up the fastest times in the whole combine in both the lane agility and shuttle run drills. When he plays, Booker doesn’t come off as the quickest player, but this could be a sign of some improvement for him. RJ Hunter and Tyler Harvey also posted very quick times, among the tops in the combine. Justin Anderson put up one of the quicker times in the shuttle run, though he didn’t fare as well in the lane agility or the sprint. Anthony Brown’s numbers may not look impressive among the group, but he did perform well for the tallest player in the shooting guard category. Rashad Vaughn’s numbers in the three quickness drills are somewhat concerning, though he did come back from a knee injury that occurred in January.

The shooting guards did put up some of the best vertical leaping numbers at the combine, led by Pat Connaughton and Anderson. Norman Powell, JP Tokoto and Joseph Young all also posted max vertical leaps of 40 or more inches. Michael Frazier posted one of the worst standing vertical leaps, but then did fairly well in the max vertical leap, and the 11-inch disparity was the biggest in the combine. Harvey and Terran Petteway were also among the worst leapers at the combine, though if you know their games, it’s never been a major factor.

Agility Testing: Small Forward

*Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow did not take part in the agility drills

With Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow sitting out the agility drills, we were left with just four small forwards. Sam Dekker performed very well on the lane agility and shuttle run drills, both times especially impressive for his 6’9 size. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was among the tops at the combine in both the lane agility and sprint, while Kelly Oubre and Treveon Graham posted basically average numbers in the quickness drills. Hollis-Jefferson and Oubre both impressed with their leaping ability, which is no surprise for those who watched them play. I was a little surprised at Dekker’s leaping numbers; they weren’t bad, but I would have thought he could jump higher after watching him. Still, they are good numbers given his size.

Agility Testing: Power Forward

*Christian Wood, Trey Lyles, Kevon Looney, Cliff Alexander, Montrezl Harrell and Chris McCullough did not take part in the agility drills.

The largest group in the combine was markedly smaller when it came to agility testing, with six players choosing not to take part. Of the remaining players, Larry Nance was the clear winner when it came to the agility drills, posting strong numbers pretty much across the board. Jonathan Holmes also performed well in the lane agility and shuttle run drills, and Branden Dawson really surprised with his sprint time. As a whole though, this group is the hardest for player comparisons, as there really are different types of power forwards. You have your stretch 4 types, such as Brandon Ashley and Vince Hunter, your “classic” big-bodied power forwards like TaShawn Thomas, Rakeem Christmas and Alan Williams, and some tall, athletic players, like Jordan Mickey, Chris Walker and Nance.

As you would think, the drills really aren’t suited for the big-bodied forwards, whose games rely on being physical anyway. Of that group, Richaun Holmes did post some good numbers for his size, especially in the leaping category. The tall, athletic group posted strong leaping numbers, with Mickey, Hunter, Nance, and Walker all showing well.

Agility Testing: Center

The two top centers were already planning to skip the combine, and when the agility drills came along, even more decided not to talk part. Only two centers, French big man Mouhammadou Jaiteh and Dakari Johnson participated. It does make sense though, as agents try to limit their clients’ participation when possible, especially when they are potential lottery picks, as Myles Turner, Frank Kaminsky and Willie Cauley-Stein are.

As for the testing, it’s about what you’d expect from two big men not really known for their athletic ability. Johnson did lose a lot of weight before this past season, and it did show in his lane agility and shuttle run tests, where he put up decent numbers for his size. Neither was exceptionally quick in the sprint, and their standing vertical leaps were the two lowest in the combine. Jaiteh’s max vertical leap was impressive considering his standing vertical, but Johnson showed only a 2.5 inch difference, which is almost as if he hadn’t jumped at all.

Like the measurements, it’s important not to overreact to these numbers out of context. During training, a lot of guys are focused on doing all they can to just maximize their performance, and there’s no guarantee that it will ever carry over to game situations. Still, when you take all of the information together, you can get a basic sense of a player’s athletic ability.