Kyrie Irving Fits As Brayden Burries Posts 38.5-Inch Vertical
kyrie irving entered the draft fit conversation as Brayden Burries posted a 38.5-inch maximum running vertical leap at the NBA Combine. The 20-year-old Arizona guard also ranked highly in nearly all shooting drills earlier this week, giving him a stronger case to stay in the first-round mix.
Burries At The NBA Combine
Brayden Burries followed that with a 35-inch standing vertical jump and drew praise on Tuesday as one of the most impressive players. He told that a drafting team would get "They’re getting a great person, somebody who's a winner, who loves to compete, and somebody that's funny and likes to troll, mess around."
That profile lines up with the draft buzz around him., The Athletic and CBS projected Burries at No. 9 after Dallas acquired that pick in Sunday’s lottery draw, and Sam Vecenie wrote that he would be a terrific complement to Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving as they look to make a jump next year.
Tobe Awaka And Jaden Bradley
Tobe Awaka helped the group’s case too. He posted a 37.5-inch maximum vertical leap and shot 63.3% off the dribble and 52.0% in spot-up shooting, while Jaden Bradley matched 63.3% off the dribble and added 48.0% in the 3-point star drill and 40.0% in spot-up shooting.
Awaka’s numbers matter because he is not on major mock draft boards, but the testing gave him a cleaner path to draw attention. Bradley also had a scrimmage role lined up, with him scheduled to be the point guard for a team that included Emanuel Sharp and Reuben Chinyelu.
Koa Peat’s Shooting Split
Koa Peat produced the most uneven line of the three. He hit 50% off the dribble and posted a 37.5-inch maximum vertical leap, but he shot just 28.0% in the 3-point star drill and finished last in spot-up shooting at 24.0%.
He also turned in a 3.16-second three-quarter court sprint. That mix is why his combine week cut two ways: the athletic tools held up, but the shooting numbers do not help him if he is trying to stay in the middle of the first-round range instead of weighing a return to Arizona.
Burries, Awaka and Peat were not scheduled to take part in the Combine’s five-on-five scrimmages on Wednesday and Thursday, so the testing and shooting numbers now sit at the center of their cases.
