Grayson Allen has some ridiculous NBA combine stats
If you didn’t know he was already a good athlete, well, now you know.
Grayson Allen was a pretty solid athlete through his four years at Duke, and that hasn’t changed as he’s attempted to make the jump to the pro level. Allen’s athleticism was tested at the NBA Draft Combine on Thursday, and some of his numbers jumped off the sheets — literally.
Allen posted a lane agility time of 10.31 seconds. According to ESPN draft analyst Jonathon Givony, that’s the fifth-best mark in NBA Combine database history, dating back to 2000. He also had the second-best shuttle run time (3.4 seconds) in the combine and tied for the fourth-highest in both max vertical leap (40.5”) and standing vertical (32.5”) among those who worked out this year.
Grayson Allen's 10.31 lane agility speed is one of the five best marks in our NBA Combine database's history. Seems like he's going to end up testing off the charts here athletically.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 17, 2018
Does this really matter?
Jamison Brewer set the mark in 2001 with a ridiculous lane agility time of 9.65 seconds. Brewer played a total of 468 minutes in the NBA and scored 89 points over four seasons. The answer is no.
Players with better lane agility speeds than Allen in the Draft Combine database are Joel Bolomboy, Devin Booker, C.J. Leslie and Norris Cole. It’s a mixed bag, and it’s like that across the strength and agility measurements over the years.
Allen is a great athlete, but athleticism isn’t the end all be all of talent indicators. How does a player use those physical gifts? How does he think? How does he react under pressure? Those are questions that need answers, not how high can he jump.
But it’s still pretty cool
A 40.5-inch max vertical is nothing to sneeze at. Allen jumped over Jahlil Okafor — without using a hand to vault over — in a McDonald’s Slam Dunk Contest.
His highlight reel is littered with occasions where he uses that very athleticism to create jaw-dropping plays.
And if he lands with a team that knows how to best develop and use those physical tools, Allen’s athleticism could help elevate him to becoming a solid player in this league. Those strength and agility numbers don’t truly matter, but they don’t hurt to have either.
Only time will tell if those tools will help Allen over the years.