Some Official Measurments at Chicago

[KB21]

These are on the draftcity website:

Dwight Howard

6'9" without shoes

6'10.25" with shoes

240 lbs

7'4.5" wingspan

9'3.5" standing reach

His wingspan and standing reach are very impressive. He might be a little shorter in height than some thought, but he makes up for it with his long arms. This does not hurt his stock any.

Al Jefferson

6'8.25" without shoes

6'9.75" with shoes

263 lbs

7'2.5" wingspan

9'2" standing reach

Some thought Jefferson would be shorter than this, but he comes out a shade under 6'10" and only 0.5" shorter than Dwight Howard. Like Howard, Jefferson has an impressive wingspan and standing reach. I think Jefferson silenced questions about his size, and his length makes him a good pick for Atlanta at 17 if they can't get Howard.

Jackie Butler

6'8" without shoes

6'9.5" with shoes

263 lbs

7'1.5" wingspan

9'1" standing reach

I bring up Butler because he was very good in the games at Chicago, and he's coming to Atlanta for a workout next week. He could be a strong possibility for the Hawks in the second round. His numbers are almost identical to Al Jefferson's.

[Boondocks]

Been curious about Big Al's size for a while now

[Packfill]

Where are you guys getting the official measurements from?

[DominiqueWilkins]

Here are more from Chicago. Theses are with shoes.

Josh Childress- 6-7.25, 196 pounds

Ben Gordon- 6-2.25

Dwight Howard- 6-10.25

Emeka Okafor- 6-10

Kris Humphries- 6-9.5 (!!!)

Andre Iguodala- 6-6.75

Al Jefferson 6-9.75

Shaun Livingston- 6-7.5

Jameer Nelson- 6-0.5

Peter John Ramos- 7-3.25

JR Smith- 6-6.75 (!)

Josh Smith- 6-8.25

Kirk Snyder- 6-6.75

Tiago Splitter 6-11.75

Luol Deng- 6-8

Luke Jackson- 6-7

[JTFan31]

Draftcity.com

[Packfill]

Well, if Okafor is really 6-10 with shoes then he really can play center - especially in the east. He is the same size as Alonzo Mourning. This is good news for Orlando - they can now realistically play Okafor and Howard/Gooden in the same frontcourt.

[Traceman]

He measured 6'9.5" with shoes. Does that change your opinion of him any? He certainly is not undersized and he has proven he can play against a high level of competition. At any rate, it will be interesting to see who becomes the better PF between him and Big Al.

The fact that both Humphries and Jefferson measured over 6'9" might jolt them ahead of Robert Swift for some teams even though Swift is a Center. I'd love to know what Swift's official measurement was.

[Traceman]

That will certainly help his slipping draft stock! Kirk Snyder and Andre Iguodala will be helped by measuring at 6'6.75" as well.

[Blunt91]

I figured Howard would be 6'11 with shoes and 6'10 without. I am sorry but he still looks taller than guys like Shareef who are said to be 6'9 maybe reef is really 6'8.

[Traceman]

than Reef. Reef may very well be 6'8" without shoes.

[Diesel]

Actually... I just read a report suggesting that J.R. Smith might be going to the lottery despite reports and rumors...

Quote:

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Jackson Stars in Suns' workout

By Chad Ford

CHICAGO -- While the NBA pre-draft camp continued to slog along at the Moody Bible College, Insider got exclusive access to what was shaping up to be the most interesting workout matchup of the week.

Wisconsin point guard Devin Harris, UConn point guard Ben Gordon, Oregon swingman Luke Jackson and junior college star Donta Smith were scheduled to work out against each other early Thursday morning at Hoops Gym. The workout, staged by the Suns, was significant for a few reasons.

It was the first time Harris and Gordon, who have been ranked neck and neck all season, would meet on the same court. The Suns are seriously considering taking a point guard with the No. 7 pick, and Harris and Gordon are the two most likely candidates. It also was a chance to see Jackson, who has been rocketing up most draft boards, work out against one of the best athletes in the draft in Smith.

The Phoenix Suns are eyeing a point guard at No. 7, and Harris is on their list.

Unfortunately, as these things often go, by the time we arrived at Hoops Gym the Suns had learned Gordon wasn't going to make it. He had problems with his flight out of New York, and Phoenix had to scramble to find someone to work out with Harris. At the last minute, they brought in Roko Leni Ukic.

While everyone was disappointed the marquee match-up didn't go down, the workout still was pretty spirited. Ukic, with his long arms and quick feet, gave Harris plenty of problems.

While there's no question Harris is quicker and much more offensively talented than Ukic, he struggled at times to take Ukic off the dribble and get to the basket. Though Ukic is just 6-foot-3, his length bothered Harris for much of the workout. Harris also struggled a bit shooting the ball in the drills. He still was shooting well, but he has shot it much better in the other workouts this week.

Defensively, Harris did a nice job on Ukic as well. His quickness and speed bothered Ukic to a certain degree, and several times Harris did a nice job of stripping Ukic of the ball.

The real stars of the workout, though, were Jackson and Smith. While Jackson didn't shoot the ball as well as I've seen him in the past, he showed a couple of things that validate why he's rising on most draft boards.

Jackson's athleticism is better than advertised. During a special shuttle drill the Suns run, Jackson's time was the quickest the Suns have measured this year. That's right -- faster than quick guards like Harris and Jameer Nelson. There's no question the scouting report that he has slow feet is false. In fact, Jackson's feet look very quick for a player his size (6-7).

His toughness and competitiveness were also on display against the stronger Smith. At one point he leveled Smith with a tough screen. Whenever he touched the ball on offense, he was in attack mode and was able to get past Smith to the basket.

Jackson's stock is rising with every workout. He could be the first senior drafted.

Smith also had his moments, though. He shot the ball really well, was spectacular flying through the air and finishing dunks in a drill where the point guards threw him alley oops, and he had several blocks on Jackson during the one-on-one portion of the drill.

Seeing him in this environment was much more enlightening than anything I saw in his individual workout on Tuesday.

I'm not sure where the workout leaves the Suns. They've liked Harris for some time, but he didn't do enough in the workout to make him a slam dunk for the No. 7 pick. This is the second straight workout where Harris was less than spectacular (he also struggled against Northwestern's Tim Young in a workout for Golden State on Wednesday). Don't be surprised if the Suns try to schedule a rematch with Gordon in Phoenix over the next few weeks.

If Phoenix keeps the pick -- and that still is a big if -- I still think Harris could be their man. There are intangibles that just can't be measured in a workout, and Harris has them. He'd be a great fit in Phoenix and one of the few players in this draft who could step in right away and help a team.

The workout also could end up helping Jackson. Several members of the Suns' contingent walked away raving about the Oregon star. Drafting Jackson at No. 7 seems awfully high, not to mention a bit repetitive with Joe Johnson and Casey Jacobsen already on the roster. Still, it's tough not to like what Jackson is going to bring to the table. His shooting, athleticism, competitiveness and his wealth of experience could make him the first senior drafted this year. He also may end up joining Emeka Okafor and Gordon as a favorite for Rookie of the Year if he lands on a team that will give him minutes.

Livingston still a question mark

Shortly after the Suns finished working out Harris and Jackson, they joined the Wizards, Hawks, Sixers and Cavaliers for a private workout for Shaun Livingston. All five GMs and four head coaches (the Hawks still don't have one) attended the workout, to which Insider obtained exclusive access. Trainer Tim Grover took Livingston through an hour of shooting and dribbling drills. Unfortunately, though, Livingston worked out alone.

Livingston has added muscle, but teams still haven't seen him against top competition.

He shot the ball fairly well -- he has a very nice release point and can do some nice stuff off the glass, a lost art these days -- and did a number of impressive things with the ball in some of the dribbling drills -- he has the longest fingers I've ever seen -- but the bottom line was that no one got to see what they really wanted to see: His decision making and feel for the 5-on-5 game.

It's tough to get much information out of workouts like these. The most important tidbit was a confirmation that Livingston has put on 20 pounds since the McDonald's all-star game two months ago.

The reaction from teams and scouts was mixed. Everyone was disappointed they couldn't see Livingston go head-to-head against another top guard in the draft. With that said, they also were impressed with the skills they did see and were most impressed with his body.

"That 20 extra pounds changes everything for me," one executive told Insider. "If his body is improving that quick, it means he'll have a real shot of playing right away. That will make a big difference for a lot of the teams here."

Livingston really staged the workout in an effort to get enough feedback to make his final decision on whether to stay in the draft. So far the feedback has been pretty positive. According to sources, it's very likely he'll stay in, and he could make that official as early as Saturday at the NBA media day.

Livingston is one of the toughest players to project in the draft right now. Based on sheer talent and potential, I think he's the best prospect in the draft. However, given team needs and his relative lack of exposure, his draft range is anywhere from No. 4 to the Bobcats to No. 10 to the Cavs, if no one makes a trade.

Another day, another list

On Wednesday, Insider obtained the "physical only" list -- players invited to Chicago to take the league's physical and be officially weighed and measured, despite not taking part in the actual pre-draft camp. It's typically a very good indicator of which players the NBA believes are first round locks.

Thursday, the league released an even more important list -- the players invited to Saturday's NBA Draft media session. Typically the players invited are considered by the NBA to be locks for the lottery. Here's a look at who got the invite:

Andris Biedrins, Latvia

Josh Childress, Stanford

Luol Deng, Duke

Ben Gordon, UConn

Devin Harris, Wisconsin

Dwight Howard, SW Christian Academy (Atlanta, Ga.)

Andre Iguodala, Arizona

Shaun Livingston, Peoria (Ill.)

Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's

Emeka Okafor, UConn

Josh Smith, Oak Hill Academy (Va.)

J.R. Smith, St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)

There were only two real surprises: J.R. Smith's appearance on a second big list by the NBA means he's probably going in the lottery. There are teams that really like him and believe he can be a superstar. After a couple of poor workout performances, we had dropped him to No. 18 on our mock draft. It looks like he won't be on the board that long.

Inviting Jameer Nelson is less of a surprise. I don't think this is indicative of his draft position as much as it's an acknowledgement that he's the college player of the year and the only senior in the room.

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[Diesel]

Yeah, it will be interested to follow their careers. From his exit interview with us, I don't know if Jefferson is got the drive. He said stuff like.. "Welp, I looked up and they said I could go in the first round so I decided to enter the draft." HUH???? Is that your prerequisite? I want a player who feels like he's the best... Not some guy that's happy to get a check...

[DominiqueWilkins]

I will be very suprised if J.R. Smith ends up being a lottery selection.

Amazed now just thinking about it, because his workouts were horrible.

[Diesel]

JR Smith got beat up by Andre' Emmett in PTL. Yes, that's bad, but first off, who hasn't Emmett made look bad on his tour. Secondly, I think that teams are looking at overall skill and potential. When you think about his size, his speed, his ability to hit shots (mechanics), and his atheletic ability.... Smith sizes up as a guy who could be worthy of a lottery pick after it's all over. He's definitely a project... But for a team who has the space on the bench... you haven't missed out on much.

[OGRat]

Which project would you rather take on- Big Al or JR Smith? I think that may be our choice if we keep 17.

[emorystar]

Jefferson but I think he won't be there at 17.

[Diesel]

Up until a few weeks ago, I would have said Al Easily. You always like a big man who can play around the goal... However, he worked out for the Hwks and this is in my mind....

Quote:

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Al Jefferson

On the workout:

“I feel like everything went o.k., it could have been better. Today was good though, I got a chance to play against some better players. I had a hard workout yesterday and I’m still a little sore from it.”

On his other workouts:

“This is my fourth one. I’ve been to Boston, New Orleans and I was just at Washington yesterday. There hasn’t been much of difference between them. Other than Boston, where they make you run for three minutes to see how many sprints you can do. Everything is basically the same though.”

On his outlook heading into the draft:

“I really don’t know. I’m a first-rounder, I guess.”

On the level of competition in high school and the NBA:

“It’s going to be totally different. The guys at this level have more experience and they’re bigger. It’s a good challenge for me. I feel like I can deal with it, like I can play with these guys.”

On his decision to jump from high school to the NBA:

“A lot of people have been saying I am going to go in the first round. So I didn’t think it would hurt for me to test the waters to see what I could achieve in the NBA. This might be my only chance, so I felt I should take it now.”

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I'm a first rounder I guess????

In his first answer, he called Anderson V., Peja, and Brandon Brass Better Players than himself? And whoever beat him up in Washington musta left him deflated. Then when asked about jumping to the NBA he said...

This might be my ONLY chance??

My thoughts reading this is that he doesn't think much of himself. The one thing I would hate to have is a guy with no confidence. Confidence is the difference between KG and Kwame.

[Blunt91]

Yeah Diesel that is a little scary Big Al saying Brandon Bass and the other guys were better competition. I also think that he has a problem with his stamina. Words like it was a tough workout and I am still sore from yesterday's workout leaves me to believe he needs to get in better shape. I think he has the tools to succedd but I question is drive. If Dwight Howard was stated to be in "SO SO" shape then how good of shape can AL Jefferson be in who is 23lbs heavier and a 1inch shorter. He still may be worth picking at 17 but if J.R. Smith is there I might go with him especially if we don't get Josh SMith. J.R. could be our hightlight reel guy along with Hansen and Diaw.