CHICAGO -- The 2013 NBA draft combine is a wrap.
While the drills and athletic testing the players went through this weekend are just a small part of a much larger picture, there are a number of things I took away from the event.
ESPN had access to the gym for the 10 hours of the combine, and I was in the hotel lobby talking to teams, players and agents for most of the afternoons and evenings.
Based on the information I gathered, here's some quick hits on what I'm hearing about a number of top prospects in the draft. You can also check out our Updated Top 100 to get a feel for where players now stand after the combine.
Also see: Measurements for all 60 players | Athletic testing results | Day 1 observations
Is Noel still No. 1?
Nerlens Noel probably is still the No. 1 pick, but it no longer seems as clear-cut as it did before the combine began.
Noel did not play in the event, but one particular measurement generated a lot of discussion from NBA teams. Noel weighed in at 206 pounds -- shockingly light for a player projected to be a center in the NBA.
I went back and combed through the measurements of draft prospects I've collected for the past decade. I couldn't find anyone listed as a center who was that light. The closest legit NBA player I could find? The Milwaukee Bucks' Larry Sanders, who weighed 222 when he was drafted in 2010, and the Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah, who weighed 223 in 2007.
Noel is more than 15 pounds lighter than either of those players. Noah isn't a great comp because he was much more skilled offensively. Sanders is a better comparison. They have similar bodies. But during Sanders' breakout year this season, he weighed 235 pounds. Noel is almost 30 pounds away.
Noel told me that he's lost weight since the surgery and was once as high as 220 during the season. Once he gets on an NBA weight program he should start packing on some pounds. But with dominant NBA centers currently averaging about 265 pounds (which is what Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol and Brook Lopez all weigh) Noel is going to have to put on a lot more weight.
"It's an issue," one GM said. "You look at the guys who really excel right now in the NBA at the center position and you wonder how in the world Noel can play with those guys right now. But you have to remember a couple of things. He can put on weight, and since he won't be back from injury until December or January at the earliest, it gives us a lot of time to start working on packing on the pounds. But more importantly to our staff -- and I asked everyone on our staff this question -- if he's not No. 1, then who is? I got a lot of blank stares when I asked that question. Someone has to go No. 1. If you have a better prospect, I'd like to know."
More important for Noel will be the results of the medical testing that was done on Saturday and Sunday. Once NBA teams get the full results, they will have a more complete picture of where Noel's rehab stands. We'd like to know, too.
No, I'm No. 1
A couple of players, Kansas' Ben McLemore and Michigan's Trey Burke, told reporters at the combine that they should be the No. 1 pick.
"Just coming from nowhere, coming from nothing, just being able to have the opportunity get a No. 1 spot is just a blessing," McLemore told reporters on Thursday. "I'm going to work for it the same way as [Noel]. He's going to work for it, and I'm going to work for it. It definitely is neck-and-neck."
"I feel like I can be [the No. 1 pick], absolutely," Burke said. "It depends on where the [lottery] balls drop, and depending on that team's needs, I definitely feel like I can, and I won't disappoint."
But do NBA GMs feel the same way?
McLemore got a positive response from GMs for his athletic ability (he ended with a 42-inch maximum vertical) and for the candid interviews he gave NBA teams.
"You could tell that an agent hadn't got to him yet and hadn't coached him on what to say," one GM told ESPN.com. "I was really wowed by how candid and open he was. I felt like we got to see is heart a little bit. He's a wonderful young man. He's naïve and he really needs someone with some experience guiding him, but he was one of my two or three favorite interviews."
Interviews matter. In fact, in some cases they matter more than any on-the-court stuff players do at the combine. But I'm not sure that they'd put McLemore ahead of Noel right now. If McLemore had a stronger motor on the court, he'd be a no-brainer for the No. 1 pick, but his "niceness" actually might work against him.
"You want a player who's going to be great with teammates off-the-court and a role model in the community," one NBA scout said. "But on the court, I want an [expletive]. Ben has zero [expletive] in him. I'm not sure how he'll fare as a rookie if he isn't going to demand the ball and try to prove to his peers he can play with them. But the upside is really there if he gets that he's an elite player."
• Burke doesn't have the same issues that McLemore does. He has plenty of moxie to his game. And his measurements -- 6-foot-1.25 in shoes with a 6-5.5 wingspan -- were solid numbers for a NBA point guard.
Burke is roughly the same size as current NBA point guards Eric Bledsoe, Raymond Felton and Jeff Teague, but he's also taller than Chris Paul and Kemba Walker.
However, athletically, Burke's just not quite on the same level with any of those guys. His vertical jump numbers were on par (Burke measured a 36.5 inches max vertical), yet his lane agility numbers were the worst of that group (11.09 seconds).
Athletically, he seems the closest to Teague, who posted similar vert scores and was just slightly faster in the lane agility testing.
Will Burke's so-so showing hurt his cause?
"I don't think so," one GM said. "It's not what you'd hope, but if you watched him all year you knew he didn't just blow by guys. He's crafty, and he uses his strength and change of speed to get where he wants to go. It will be harder at the next level, but I think he'll be OK."
Most importantly, did anyone see either guy going No. 1 ahead of Noel? I talked to about half of the GMs in the league and while very few of them were excited about Noel, I couldn't find anyone who had either Burke or McLemore rated higher. Some might take either guy based on needs, but the consensus still seems to be that Noel is No. 1.
A sleeper at No. 1?
Victor Oladipo probably received the most positive feedback of anyone at the camp. Oladipo did not participate in drills either Thursday or Friday, but he was terrific in the athletic testing, measured out a bit taller than expected and impressed a number of teams in the interview section.
While no one I spoke with declared him the top player on their draft boards, a number of GMs told me Oladipo was their favorite player in the draft, possibly the player with the most upside of anyone on the board.
"Athletically he's so gifted," one GM said. "And he combines that with hard work both in the game and in practice. He keeps working on his game and getting better. His attitude was just special in the interview we had. He's humble, but confident. He doesn't draw attention to himself, but when he speaks he sounds like a leader. I worry about his jump shot a little and his ball handling, too. But I really feel like he's going to get better. And if he does? We'll all regret not taking him. All of us."
I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of this process, Oladipo ends up No. 1 or No. 2 on a number of boards.
Notables
• Indiana's Cody Zeller stopped his slide in the rankings on Friday with a terrific performance in the athletic testing. While NBA teams take the athletic testing with a grain of salt, Zeller's numbers were hard to ignore. Not only were his numbers terrific for a big man, they were great for a guard.
Zeller's stock dropped, in part, because there were several games in which he really struggled against long, athletic front lines. Seeing how well he performed in Chicago has given pause to NBA scouts and GMs who were ready to write him off.
If Zeller can come into workouts and show teams he has a real perimeter game (he and his agents are promising he does) he'll can make a stronger argument he has the foot speed and athletic ability to make the transition to the four. If Zeller can convince scouts and GMs of that, he could very well move back into the top five.
• Five other players, New Zealand's Steven Adams, Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr., Miami's Shane Larkin, New Mexico's Tony Snell and North Carolina's C.J. Leslie, also really helped themselves over the past few days.
Adams' name was especially hot all weekend. His size, athletic ability, defensive skills, soft shooting touch around the basket and excellent interviews all positioned him to move into the lottery from the mid-first round. His rise parallels, to a large degree, what Illinois' Meyers Leonard did last year at the combine. All year, teams feared that Adams didn't have the skill or the mental makeup to be a lottery pick. By Friday, virtually every executive in the NBA was predicting Adams would go somewhere between No. 9 and No. 14 and that he had moved ahead of Kelly Olynyk and Gorgui Dieng on their draft boards.
• Hardaway Jr. has been hiding in plain sight for the past three years. Whether it was comparisons to his father or the fact he was surrounded by so much talent at Michigan the past two years, he's struggled to convince scouts he's a first rounder. I'm not so sure that's the case anymore.
His performance at the combine, shooting the ball in the athletic testing, and in Friday's live action 3-on-3's put him in the same groupings with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jamaal Franklin, Glen Rice Jr. and Allen Crabbe for the next 2-guard to come off the board after McLemore and Oladipo get drafted.
Larkin has a lot of competition to be the first point guard off the board after Burke, C.J. McCollum and Michael Carter-Williams. Dennis Schroeder, Isaiah Canaan, Pierre Jackson and Lorenzo Brown are in the conversation, too. But during the combine, Larkin appeared to separate himself a bit with hot shooting and elite athletic testing numbers. Not only did he measure with the second-highest max vertical ever recorded, but Larkin also recorded the fastest time in the three-quarter court sprint. Add in deep range on his jumper and true court vision and Larkin could land in the late lottery or, at the very least, mid-first round.
• New Mexico small forward Tony Snell also appeared to make the leap this weekend from interesting prospect to potential first-round pick. He still has a long way to go as far as proving to scouts he can play with consistent effort, but the raw athletic ability and elite size for his position, combined with smooth shooting touch really improved his stock. I've heard his name as high as No. 21 to the Utah Jazz.
• Finally, Leslie's terrific athletic numbers reminded scouts he might be one of the three or four best athletes in the draft and alleviated fears that he wouldn't have the lateral quickness to guard shooting guards in the NBA. His combine-best 10.19-second score on the lane agility drill, combined with a huge vertical leap and a big wingspan, have teams curious. If he can go into workouts and shut down the other small forwards in the workouts, he's going to be a lock for the first round.
• Kentucky's Archie Goodwin, Texas' Myck Kabongo, Arkansas' B.J. Young and Marquette's Vander Blue really struggled in this setting. All three players couldn't really buy a jump shot, exacerbating fears that they lack the basic offensive skills to succeed in the league.
So what's next?
On Tuesday, the NBA Draft Lottery takes place in New York. Within minutes of learning which team will have the No. 1 pick, we'll have Mock Draft 3.0 up.
On Wednesday and Thursday the Brooklyn Nets host a league-wide workout for all 30 teams. It's filled with second-round prospects who (thankfully) will play 5-on-5 ball.
A second league-wide workout will take place in Minnesota the following week. By June 1, teams should be in full workout mode.