LOS ANGELES -- Over the past few weeks, I've seen a number of top prospects. Here's a look at three more (all from Kentucky) I saw on the workout circuit last week, along with some news and notes.
(Note: On Tuesday, we'll feature a workout with this year's mystery man, Emmanuel Mudiay. Read more on Mudiay here.)
Willie Cauley-Stein, F/C, Kentucky
Cauley-Stein still remains a bit of an enigma as we head into the last few weeks before the draft. He's getting looks from teams as high as the New York Knicks at No. 4. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could still be on the board in the late lottery.
This is the challenge of trying to figure out the most intriguing prospect in the draft. I saw Cauley-Stein work out on Monday and then again on Saturday. Both workouts went pretty much the way you'd expect if you've followed Cauley-Stein the past three seasons.
Put simply, he's unique.
He's freakishly athletic, and he moves laterally as well as any big man I've ever seen (that includes Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond). He's bouncy and just glides up and down the floor. There's a reason teams think he might be able to guard all five positions on the floor, and everything he did in Los Angeles confirmed that ability.
He's also gotten bigger. He's bulked up considerably over the past few months without losing any of his explosiveness.
When it comes to skills, however, Cauley-Stein's still a work in progress. Going through ballhandling exercises and drills on creating off the dribble, it's clear he's still developing. In Cauley-Stein's three seasons at Kentucky, everyone knew creating his own offense wasn't going to be Cauley-Stein's strength. It remains his biggest challenge going forward. He has improved significantly since his freshman season, but individual offensive skills continue to be an area he'll need to stress.
One minor surprise was his midrange shooting ability. If you saw Kentucky in practice or in shootarounds before games, you saw that Cauley-Stein showed some ability on the perimeter. From his two days in L.A., it's clear his stroke is better than one might think. He started to break out that shot in games toward the end of the season. If he can hit a midrange jumper with regularity in the NBA, he'll be even more valuable.
The draft typically privileges offense in the top selections. Can a defense-oriented player really be worth a top-five pick? Cauley-Stein has a chance to win Defensive Player of the Year honors someday. In fact, he could own the award for a decade. His physical tools and instincts on that side of the ball are superb. Offensively? He's not going to give you a lot right away except on the break and on lobs. But the same could really be said about players like DeAndre Jordan and Joakim Noah as they entered the draft. And as good as both of them are on defense, Cauley-Stein has the potential to be better.
I wouldn't be shocked if the Knicks grab him at No. 4 or the Kings at No. 6. He fits a major need for both teams.
Devin Booker, SG, Kentucky
Booker is competing for the title of best shooter in the draft. He's supremely confident that he should hold the title, as any good shooter should be. You don't want your sharpshooters to be wallflowers.
Booker shot the ball well in the workout, and in the final drill hit 16 of 25 from NBA 3-point range.
He is coming into the NBA at exactly at the right time. As Tom Haberstroh so eloquently wrote last week, shooting is the most coveted skill in the NBA at the moment. Booker's 41 percent shooting for Kentucky wasn't the best clip among the elite shooters in our top 30, but it was close. Still, Booker is looking for a label stronger than shooter.
"I think the final five [playoff teams, including the Clippers] were the top five shooting teams in the NBA. It shows you how important shooting is to a team," Booker told ESPN.com. "I think teams can never have too many shooters. I think the league is evolving well for me. But I can do a lot of things. I had a lot of talent around me in Kentucky, where all I needed to do was space the floor. So I made the game simple. But I think I can show a lot more. I'm trying to develop into an elite two-way guard. I play with my IQ a lot. People are starting to figure out I'm a little more athletic than they thought with the combine scores. At the end of the day, it's all going to show."
Booker's athletic scores were a surprise at the combine. He ended up with the fastest shuttle run (2.75 seconds), fastest lane agility score (10.27 seconds) and a solid 34.5-inch maximum vertical. While the vertical didn't wow anyone, the other two scores did.
His athleticism showed in the workout, as well. He gets terrific elevation on his jump shot and showed quickness off the ball and explosiveness at the rim.
Booker was coming back from a Friday workout in Denver. He's already hit Oklahoma City and Phoenix and has a Heat workout scheduled for Monday. Essentially, he's working out for every team in the back half of the lottery, and the good news for him is that all seven need shooters. Denver, Detroit, Charlotte, Miami, Indiana, Utah, Phoenix and Oklahoma City are all good fits for Booker.
Dakari Johnson, C, Kentucky
Johnson is what he is. He's not going to wow anyone in a workout setting. But what he is can be very valuable to the right team. He's a likely backup center in the NBA who puts in 15 to 20 minutes a night -- think of Festus Ezeli on the Golden State Warriors.
He has the requisite size and strength to man the middle, is a good rebounder and in the workout, I watched as he showed a nice midrange jumper, as well. Conditioning has been an issue in the past, but on Saturday, Johnson looked as trim as I've ever seen him.
He's already worked out for the Grizzlies and Lakers and has a number of other workouts scheduled for the next couple of weeks with teams selecting in the 20s.
News and notes
• Cameron Payne continues to be a hot name in the draft. However, rumors of a promise somewhere in the late lottery appear to be overstated. Not only do teams late in the lottery (specifically the Thunder and Pacers) all deny it (as they always do) but Payne is also continuing to work out and now has sessions scheduled with the Lakers, Knicks and Kings.
I don't think he's going to the Lakers at No. 2 or the Knicks at No. 4, but it could mean the teams are thinking about moving down a bit in the draft. The Kings at No. 6? They're still kicking themselves after deciding on draft night last year to take Michigan guard Nik Stauskas over Elfrid Payton. They want a franchise point guard, and if D'Angelo Russell and Mudiay are off the board, Payne's the next best thing.
• UNLV's Rashad Vaughn is another player who had a great workout in Santa Monica a few weeks back and has built on it. He's shooting the ball with confidence, and teams are beginning to wonder whether he should be in the mix with Booker and R.J. Hunter. "I could see him in the late lottery or early teens," one NBA exec said after working him out. "He's not going to be there when we pick." Vaughn already has worked out for the Warriors, Lakers, Pacers and Heat.
• The other UNLV draft prospect, Christian Wood, appears to be heading in the other direction. The feedback from his interviews at the draft combine and in workouts has been disappointing. Teams seem concerned about both his focus and his motor. He looks to be in real danger of sliding into the second round despite his unique skills for a big guy.
• Duke's Tyus Jones hurt his back in a session in Houston and won't be working out for a while. Knowing the shenanigans Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has pulled in the past, I wouldn't be shocked if the "injury" might be a promise by the Rockets to select him at No. 18 if he shuts down his workouts. The Rockets have been on him for a while.
• Kansas' Cliff Alexander suffered a mild sprain of his MCL in a workout with the Lakers last week. It was a scary moment, but luckily the injury was minor. He should be ready to work out again this week.