Notes: Combine results, Bogut update, Sampson in demand?

NBADraft.net: Combine Test Results
The combine measurements leaked earlier this week, but it took a couple extra days to get the athletic testing results including vertical, bench press, and agility numbers. But before diving in to that data, it's worth noting how often this sort of information doesn't translate to the court. For instance, a year ago James Harden jumped past Tyreke Evans in the lottery at least in part because he surprised people by testing out better athletically than many expected (37" vertical, the most reps of any guard on the bench press). There wasn't a single category where Evans bested him--and we all know how that's turned out.

If you cruise through DraftExpress' measurements history, you'll find tons of examples of athletic freaks who were oversold (Kirk Snyder, Joe Alexander) as well as random guys who did much better or worse than you'd expect. For instance, Andre Iguodala's 34.5" vertical in '04 was less than Kevin Love's two years ago. And let's not forget that a vertical isn't itself the easiest thing to test with precision. For instance, Craig Brackins put up a very good 35" vert at the combine two weeks after Chad Ford reported he dropped a 40" vertical at Joe Abunassar's camp. Which one is a better indicator of how high he can jump? Who knows. Anyway, with that in mind here are some notes on the guys the Bucks will be looking at more closely at #15:

• Wings test well. Xavier Henry and Luke Babbitt (who may be more of a combo forward) took a page out of Harden's book, showing off excellent athleticism in spite of what scouts saw on the court last year. Henry put up a 36" vertical while the bigger Babbitt was even better (37.5"). Babbitt also put up one of the league's best agility scores while Henry wasn't far behind.
  
  Gordon Hayward (34.5" vertical) and James Anderson (35.5") also didn't hurt their stock, while Stanley Robinson's 37.5" mark helped him log the second highest jumping reach of anyone at the combine--his 12'1" mark was just a half inch less than Derrick Favors. Apparently Paul George did not jump or do any of the agility testing, but at least we know he can do this.
  
• As noted on Monday, most of the big men measured as well or better than expected. But their vertical numbers in particular were somewhat disappointing. Obviously there's a tradeoff between size and athleticism, and that also plays into how the measurements are done--a guy who "tanks" his standing reach (ie slumps his shoulders a bit) will inflate his vertical since they calculate it by taking the difference between standing reach and jumping height. With that in mind, Larry Sanders and his terrific standing reach (9'4") had a poor vertical (28"), while Hassan Whiteside and his 9'5" reach tested better (31.5") but not particularly freakish.
• Hand measurements. This year they've added hand height and width measurements at the combine, which I'd say is another worthwhile metric to have. But I've also never looked at this kind of data before so I'm still trying to figure out what to make of it. We know small hands can be a problem (see Glenn Robinson) and big hands can help, but with just one year of data there's not a lot of context for interpreting them. Brackins (11.25") and Sanders (11") had the widest hands, while the longest hands belonged to Dexter Pittman (10.25"), Brackins (9.75"), Sanders (9.5"), and Ekpe Udoh (9.5").
  
  On the other end of the spectrum, Anderson had some of the smallest hands with a 7.25" width (smallest at the camp) and a more averag 8.5" length.

SB Nation: Cavs Looking at Kelvin Sampson
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski and Cavs beat writer Brian Windhorst are both reporting that Sampson is among those being considered for the top job with the Cavs. Despite his sketchy history with Oklahoma and Indiana, Sampson has plenty of big name friends in the NBA, most notably Skiles and Gregg Popovich. Still, you have to wonder whether a first-time pro coach like Sampson would make the best move at this point--shouldn't the Cavs be looking for a big name coach to pair with LeBron James?

JS: Bucks eye prospects in Minnesota
Billy McKinney was in Minneapolis for the big set of draft workouts organized by the Timberwolves, which included tons of guys slated for the late first and second rounds. 

"We get a chance to see 42 players work out," McKinney said. "And with the draft being as kind of wide open as it is for us, the more looks we can get at players, the better we’ll be in terms of what we have in the first round at 15, and also our picks at 37 and 47 (in the second round). It’s a great week.

"Most of the players - I would say 98% of the players - we’ve seen throughout the course of the year. And then there’s a very small percentage that we haven’t seen, but those haven’t had the impact of the guys that we’ve seen."

Chad Ford highlighted Xavier SG Jordan Crawford, Cincy SG Lance Stephenson, and South Florida combo guard Dominique Jones among those that impressed.

Woelfel: Turner on Redd
Speaking of Crawford and Jones, Gery Woelfel brings word that the Bucks will be working out both of them next Tuesday. Both guys were serious scorers in college who would be nice picks if the Bucks could get them at 37, but it's looking less likely that either will last that long. DX has both going early in the second round at the moment. There's also some talk from Evan Turner about fellow OSUer Michael Redd's rehab.

"He’s doing well,’’ Turner said of Redd. "He might be ready by July, but I think he’s going to sit out a little bit longer.

"He came back too early last season and messed up the knee and he doesn’t want that to happen again.’’

July seems incredibly premature for Redd to be "ready," but then again we probably shouldn't be relying on Evan Turner for medical opinions in the first place. As we saw last year, even though Redd was "ready" by camp he was nowhere close to having his game in order, and in hindsight it's easy to suggest he should have spent more time working his way back into shape. John Hammond has thus far been non-committal on when the Bucks might get Redd back, a stark contrast to a year ago when he was predicting Redd to be back at "100%" by camp. Just another indicator that the Bucks have moved on.

Fanposts: Bucks' first round wing options
A week after tackling the big men, Superelkman has served up a great overview of the wing targets. Check it out and vote for your guy--Paul George is leading Xavier Henry at the moment.

Ford: 2010 NBA Mock Draft, Version 3.0
Ford has the Bucks taking Xavier Henry, just ahead of George (16), James Anderson (17), Damion James (20), Patrick Patterson (22) and Hassan Whiteside.

Teams as high up as the Clippers, Jazz and Pacers are looking at him closely. At this point, if Gordon Hayward goes higher, I don't see Henry slipping past the Bucks, who can use him at both the 2 and the 3. With John Salmons looking to opt out, they're going to need to add some more versatility to the wing position.

James Anderson and Patrick Patterson are other possibilities with this pick.

NBA.com: 2010 NBA Draft: Consensus Mock Draft
Like previous years, NBA.com is tracking mock drafts. Unfortunately they only have the top 14 guys listed for each mock, so it's not as useful with the Bucks outside the lottery.