Chris Marlowe's New Blog Entry entitled Wednesday's Nuggets Workout...A Report on altitude.tv

Here is Chris Marlowe's New Blog Entry entitled Wednesday's Nuggets Workout...A Report on altitude.tv:

Wednesday, the Denver Nuggets worked out 5 legitimate, potential draft prospects at the Pepsi Center.

Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Masai Ujiri, was kind enough to give me permission to watch the entire session.

Here are some of my observations and opinions.

When I arrived at 9:45 AM, the five potential Nuggets were taking physical tests administered by Assistant Strength Coach Matt Fria and Assistant Trainer Dan Shimenski.

Jump testing was first up...

JuJuan Johnson, Purdue, touched 12 feet even.

Kenneth Faried, Morehead State, jumped 11’11”.

Tyler Honneycut, UCLA, cruised to 11’6”.

Klay Thompson, WSU, hit 11’1”.

Tobias Harris, Tennessee, jumped but I didn’t get his height…he was listed as number 14 but was wearing # 25 and I was momentarily confused. (I found out later that he thought the # 14 jersey was way too big…thus the change).

After the jump training, the fellas did the jump box, off and on as fast as you can go for 30 seconds, a cones shuttle drill, an 80 foot sprint, then another 80 foot sprint with the ball. The final physical test was to dunk 10 basketballs as fast as you can, picking them up from alternating red boxes (in the lane).

Believe me, after that last drill, the guys were puffing and dripping!

After the testing, Nuggets Assistant Coaches Adrian Dantley, Melvin Hunt and Chad Iske supervised a variety of one on one, two on two and three on three competitions.

After watching an hour of scrimmaging, the player that impressed me the most was Tyler Honneycutt of UCLA. He’s a solid, 6’8” wing, who can shoot, handle, and dish. Tyler’s feel for the game was very real. He has a long wiry frame and looked to be a tough defender. And he should be, after playing for UCLA Coach Ben Howland in Westwood. The thing I liked the best about Tyler, however, was his motor. The kid played all out, all the time.

They say the rebounding is the skill that translates best from college to the NBA. If that is true, Kenneth Faried of Morehead State is going to be a big help to some team on the boards. He led the nation in rebounding as a senior at 14.5 per game, and went after every miss like a tiger. Could the Nuggets use a stud like this kid? Absolutely! The concern about Kenneth would be his offense. He doesn’t appear to be much of a scorer outside two feet, and was a 58% FT shooter in college.

The other interesting kid in the workout was Klay Thompson of Washington State. Klay is the son of former NBA star Mychal Thompson, and was a four-year star for the Cougars. My evaluation: this guy can shoot the lights out! The form, the release, the arc of his jumper was perfect. To me, he is a guy who could contribute right away.

Tobias Harris, from Tennessee, looked like a very good all around player, but didn’t appear to have any special NBA skill. Still, in the scrimmages Tobias was very effective, scoring, rebounding and defending. Also, at 6’8” he seems like a “tweener” to me. Right now he’s a small power forward who aspires to be a small forward. Can he make the transition? Maybe, but teams will have to decide if they have the time to wait.

Finally, Purdue’s JuJuan Johnson was a bit of a disappointment. As a 6’10” first team All American, I expected a lot more. He’s talented, has a pretty good jump shot, but didn’t play hard when I was watching. When matched with guys like Honneycutt, Faried and Harris, the lack of all out effort was concerning.

All in all, it was fun to get a first-hand look at some youngsters who could be Denver Nuggets one day. Will any of these guys make it to the Mile High City? Tune into the NBA Draft, June 23rd to find out.