Grayson Allen is showing out at the NBA Draft combine
Grayson Allen’s on-court behavior at Duke was certainly questionable, but his NBA Draft Combine testing leaves no questions about his athleticism.
It’s safe to say that Grayson Allen is a rarity in this year’s NBA Draft class. He could be the only four-year college player to be selected in the first round. He’s also the only prospect who will have to answer multiple questions about his proclivity to trip opponents. Fortunately for Allen, yesterday’s athletic testing at the combine shows he may be a rare athlete as well.
The most impressive number the former Duke guard put up was his lane agility speed score. His 10.31 is good for one of the top five marks in combine history per Draft Express. The score is important because it’s an excellent indicator of a player’s ability to move laterally.
In other words, this score tells NBA teams that Allen is quick enough to stay in front of lead guards at the next level. That was certainly a question about Allen’s stock heading into the draft process.
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
Allen’s impressive athletic performance didn’t stop there. He also showed that he’s capable of big things vertically. That may not seem overly important for a guard of his size, but it’s never a bad thing to be able to get up.
Allen posted a vertical leap of 40.5 inches. That was good for sixth during yesterday’s testing. His vertical leap doesn’t have quite as much functionality as the lane agility score, but it still shows he’s an excellent athlete.
Add it all up, and yesterday was an excellent day for Allen’s draft stock. He’ll still need to answer questions about his questionable on-court behavior, but teams will be much more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt now that they know he’s such a good athlete.
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Allen isn’t going to break into the lottery, but these test results should help solidify his status as a first round prospect. If he acquits himself well in interviews and shoots the ball well during workouts, we could see him move into the low-20s.